How We Survived Our First Christmas On The Road

Journal entry Sept, 9 2016

I sit hear feeling the comfort I have searched for in the infancy of what is sure to become a great and wondrous adventure into retirement, travel, and freedom. Our going away party is tomorrow evening and the big liquidation sale is two weeks away. Closing is coming in 20 short days.

My mind is filled with summer plans with grandkids that will now be uninterrupted by my going to work; winter climates spent with Champ where a cool day will be 50 degrees, a cold day will be 40 and sub- zero weather expected in an Iowa January will be a distant memory.  The only hitch is how will we ever survive Christmas 1,000 miles away from the kids and no chaotic, noisy Christmas gathering at our home? We’ll have to find our way across that bridge when we cross it in December.

Here we are on December 27^th. At the wildlife refuge where we will volunteer till April. The weather is quite mild, mid 70’s during the day and upper 60’s at night. Windows are opened and the songs of the coyotes lull me to sleep each night.  Christmas was 2 days ago, now in the history books.

It is said much fear lies in anticipation.  Our first Christmas away proved the theory.  We survived better than we thought we would this first year away from our three kids and their families. At last count, we have 24 when our little clan comes together.  How did we survive?

After 15 years of having dibs on Christmas Eve, we have held our Christmas gathering with the kids on the Saturday before the 25^th   the past 2 years. They are all grown and have their own families and in-laws.  It made sense to move it from Christmas Eve. That being said, we are used to spending Christmas Day together at home by ourselves. Some years we would venture out and drop in on the kids depending on the weather and road conditions.  The hard part this year was not holding the big gathering at all.

The key for us was keeping perspective on the facts:

• We have 2 other traditional gatherings with the kids, one in late October (our pseudo Thanksgiving) and Mother’s Day Breakfast.


• Christmas is but one day a year out of 365


• Technology makes being in touch by phone or face time quite easy


• This lifestyle places one in the company of others going through the same emotional journey, away from their families. The community of the Full Time RV’er indeed will hold each other up during these challenging times.

We talked a lot about what we missed leading up to the big day. We decorated our RV inside and out.  Put up a small tree and stockings over the RV fireplace and carried on. This year we cooked a nice meal & exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve.  Christmas Day we talked to all the kids and a few others.  Facebook provided lots of pictures of the gatherings of those we were missing. In the evening, we went to the home of a Refuge Employee who hosted a gathering for the volunteers.  We had a full day.

My biggest regret about not being home is the knowledge that our three kids did not see each other. Without out us there as a hub to draw them all together, they went about their holiday plans independently of each other, the weather was frightful and roads were terrible in Iowa so any plans would likely have been foiled by the weather anyway.  The kids were cheerful when we talked on the phone and pictures on FB and via text indicated traditional holiday cheer associated with families with small children.

Christmases and winter birthdays will always be a compromise that we chose, to live the dream of travelling and work camping our way through our golden years. Nothing comes without a price and we’ve accepted that holidays away are part of the very short list of cons.

I’d love to hear your stories of how you manage holidays away from loved-ones whether you work camp or simply live a long distance from your kids and grandkids. Feel free to comment with your thoughts.

5 Things We Hate To Give Up

5 THINGS I’LL HATE TO GIVE UP

I was sitting in my familiar chair, last fall at the stylist who has been cutting my hair for the past 12 years. I had shared my news with her and we were talking as usual about camping, campers, and places we both have or want to visit. She asked me “Is there anything you think you’ll miss when you start living in the camper?’  It was an interesting question.  I have been very focused on giving up time with the grandkids and kids 4-5 months a year and the sense of security and normalcy that comes with owning a brick and mortar home but I hadn’t given much thought to the everyday material things that I may miss.  After thinking about it and living in the camper now for nearly 4 months I came up with a short list of small but important things that I think I will always miss. I’ll give it a year and see if I get used to not having these things.

1. Multi-ply toilet paper. I know it seems weird but we are as Americans very spoiled with the small comfort products. Yes, Scott single ply gets the job done, but the truth is, the quilted, soft, and poufy brands are much more pleasant to use.


2. Garbage Disposal. Everyone asks if I miss having a dishwasher. Not really, there are only two of us. We eat a lot differently and lighter now that we are retired and no longer work 9 hour days. Besides, I need things to fill my time and I don’t mind doing dishes by hand, never have.  However, I really miss having a garbage disposal to chuck the scraps down. It’s not so much the convenience of getting rid of it easily, it is the smell of having the food scraps in the trash.  I’ve look at composing buckets but I don’t have as much need for compost as I used to and counter space is premium real estate. So far, the solution is to simply take the trash out every evening. It kills me to put a ½ full bag in the dumpster.  Of all the things, I’ll miss I think this will be the hardest to give up.


3. Unlimited Wi-Fi at home. Streaming TV and news and all the other things I have become accustomed to doing with little thought about how much data is transferring or bandwidth, has proven to be something tough to give up.  The irony is, the more remote and wild the area, the happier I am. These places are also the hardest to get a reliable signal.  Many of the places we have stayed so far offer ‘free’ Wi-Fi. The hitch is they limit bandwidth, monitor usage and aren’t secure. We are headed to a wild life refuge in the next few days and the cell phone signal there is spotty, so even my hot spot will be temperamental.  It is also a challenge to be mindful about whether I’m using my hot spot (secure) or the free service in my area (not secure).  I caught myself logging into a credit card account to pay the bill the other day, using the free unsecure Wi-Fi. Luckily, I caught myself and immediately logged out, got on my hot spot, and changed the password to the site. When I want to Skype with my kids I may or may not be able to do it from my camper..  In an ever more electronic world Wi-Fi will continue to be a challenge for those living the full-time RV lifestyle.


4. Letting the cats out to run. Let’s face it, they miss it more than I do.  Our cats have spent their entire lives, free to roam about and come and go through the door at will.  Putting them on a collar and line in our campsite is proving to be tough for all of us.  I would love nothing more than to let them run free, but that isn’t possible any longer.  It breaks my heart while I simultaneously fall over laughing when one of them launches after a bird or squirrel only to be reminded that they can only travel about 20 feet before reaching the end of their line. I wonder everyday if they hate us for bringing them along; then in the evening they snuggle up on our laps and watch TV with us and I know they are adjusting along with us.


5. Whirlpool tub and 50-gallon water heater. We are both primarily shower takers but occasionally a hot soak is nice.  There will be no whirlpool soaks unless we go to a nice hotel. What we miss more than that though, is hot water capacity.  Full hook ups allow one to let the shower run as long as one wants but even that is limited by the capacity of the water heater.  A nice hot shower can end abruptly in this lifestyle.  I think I will always miss my whirlpool tub and a water heater larger than 12 gallons from time to time.

I’ll give it a year and put a note on my publishing calendar to revisit this next December.  It will be interesting to see if we become accustomed to living without these things, or maybe some other items will become more desirable than these 5 as we adapt to our new lifestyle.

If you are a full time RV’er reading this let me know, what do you miss?

Observations Of A Rookie Snowbird

This is our first winter away from the frozen world of an Iowa winter.  It’s safe to say we are not ‘dreaming of a white Christmas’! We have however made some curious observations that likely go unnoticed by a native Texan or seasoned snowbird. I thought I would share just for fun.

 

1. The Salvation Army Bell Ringers are often in shorts and can work on their winter tan while volunteering at the kettles.


2. Thanksgiving weekend is a big camping weekend. Forget about Memorial and Labor Day weekends with their paltry 3 days. You get 4 days for Thanksgiving!  Our campground had several groups together for the long holiday weekend.  In Iowa, most everyone’s camper, even us diehards, had been winterized for several weeks by the time Turkey Day rolled around.


3. Walking around the campground looking at the outdoor Christmas decorations (yes full timers decorate their campsites much like their former homes) it occurred to me the crickets and tree frogs were singing. Two things that would never occur together in Iowa unless we were attending a Christmas in July event. Curious!


4. Kids are visiting Santa in shorts.


5. Christmas trees and grills share the same area at the local home improvement store and both are selling equally well. Not a snow blower on display anywhere to be seen!

 

I’d love to hear from other snowbirds about things that seemed out of the ordinary the first time you went south to get away from winter.

Traveling with cats

 



Traveling with cats is  tricky. Let's be serious, most things about cats can be tricky!  We have 2 cats. Buster,  our male Tabby and Annie,  a sassy female who is the epitamy of the Calico.   The biggest challenge for them is making the change from being free roamers on our acreage in northern Iowa, being able to come and go from the house on demand, to travelling with us and being forced to tollerate a collar and 12' line when outside.

I read many blogs written by feline lovers who travel and took some great advice away to put to the test with these two.

The first hurdle was to figure out what to do with the litter box.  Many use the shower as a resting place I even met a woman home schooling her kids on the road, who had two cats and a dog.  She travelled in a motorhome and the litter box sat in the drivers seat. Not my first choice but it worked for her.  We have always been partial to 5th wheel campers so my husband made a cat door in the stairs leading up to the raised living area. We put the box in the compartment and the cats have free reign to come and go as needed.  I enter the area from the compartment door and scoop it everyday for them and we all enjoy a nice odor free indoor environment.



I'll talk about the cat condo another time. They really seem to like having their own space when they don't want to deal with their human roomates or visiting miniature humans aka preschool aged grandkids.

Once we committed ourselves to making this lifestyle change we decided to start acclimating Buster and Annie to the lifestyle.  Normally they stayed at home in their outdoor quarters and had free reign of the property and wherever else they decided while we left for the weekend.  Self feeders, numberous water sources and neighbors, for longer absenses, left them pretty free to do whatever they liked. We started taking them on the weekend camping trips close to home. Over the course of the summer and a dozen or so short trips they eventually got used to being tethered when outside, not to say they enjoy the experience but they do nap in their kitty chairs and relax after a few minutes outside.  The frustration ensues when one of them sees a squirrel, or grasshopper or other fun thing to chase and takes off only to be reminded that their travel distance has been limited. That ends the fun and they usually decide they've had enough of outside at that point.

So far we have let them ride in the camper. They have quickly chosed their spots to hunker down while the rig is in motion. There is much to consider in this regard. I read many blogs of those who that let their cats select their own travel nook.  Others adamantly promote putting them in a carrier in the truck with them or in the camper for their own protection.  I will take to position, that these are your pets and you decide what you are comfortable with.  There are some dangers, cabinet doors come open and projectiles can be a threat.  A fast stop can cause loads to shift and a sleeping cat on a couch can quickly become a projectile.  Ours hunker down under the step where their cat door is and the other tucks away between the bed and the closet, so I am pretty comfortable letting them choose their spot, that way they can move about when we stop to fuel and get a drink or use the litter box which they do. They travel quite well as long as we keep a travel day arouund 4-5 hours.  We pulled 7 hours one day in bad weather, high winds and rough roads and they were obviously stressed when we arrived at our destination. They recovered quickly and were in their positions on our laps for TV time after dinner that night. We decided not to make a steady diet out of long travel days for their sake.

It's been 10 weeks of full time camper living so far and they are adapting well. They certainly have made the camper their castle as only cats can do. They reign, pure and simple. They know it and as long as we let them enjoy their perceived status as king and queen of the camper everyone is happy!

Hello world!

This is an exciting time for us.  People know us as Champ and Britt.  This is my  blog about our new lifestyle of living full time in our 5th wheel.

A little about this blog.  My plan is to post twice monthly on topics related to our lifestyle change, anticdotes about travelling with two feline roomates, camphosting and other things that amuse me or inspire me about living this wonderful lifestyle. I welcome questions or topics you want feedback from me about.

A little about us.  Champ and I have been married 14 1/2 years and have owned a camper 13 of those years. We actually met at a campground when my good friends invited me to visit their campsite and he was there. Yes, we were set up and it worked like a charm.

From the beginning we  talked at length about how to handle retirement years with a 13 year age difference. I'm the younger of us.  Champ retired 3 years ago when I was 48. The fact that we are happiest when in a campground and we both have a rather noisy travelling bone rattling most of the time it was not far fetched for us to embark on this lifestyle. We are each others favorite person so the small space was never an issue.  We were seasoned campers and had taken our rig on many long trips, no problem there. The problem was two fold: First, our kids and grandkids were all within an hour of our home. Some people's kids are scattered across the country anyway so they are used to long absences.  We have always been very spoiled to have them all nearby. Second, was finances. Me leaving the workforce at the ripe old age of 51 seemed daunting. We worked out several scenarios on paper.  The one we kept looking at was keeping the house and snowbirding, while I worked part time at our winter destination and tried to work out something seasonal when we were home in Iowa in the summer to afford the upkeep of the house, the travel expense and the cost of my health insurance since I would lose the benefit of an employer sponsored plan.  I began researching the work camp lifestyle as a way to fund our fantasy, while doing that I was working on a budget one night and the light bulb came on.  My salary was nearly equal to the cost of maintaining the house and the extra vehicle.  We started talking in terms of why not just camphost at one of the parks that we spend most of our summer in anyway! All of a sudden a plan came together and the next thing we knew we were talking seriously about diving in full time. Within 60 days we had the house on the market and had told the kids. ( Another future blog post topic or 5)

There is a different story and scenario for nearly every full time couple, family or individual out there doing this. Ours is pretty common. We sold the house and our stuff (more on that in another post) , we will camphost about  10 months out of the year to give us the opportunity to live inexpensively while being able to stay in a given area for several weeks or months to really get to experience the culture and the area. We'll go home to our northern roots in Iowa each summer and venture south in the winter. The good news is there is a cornucopia of possibilities to make this work.

So here we are with our first year orchestrated and lots of resources to find volunteer opportunities all over the country to engage in this lifestyle for as long as we chose to live it. 10 weeks in we can only say, 'why didn't we do this sooner?"  It feels very comfortable and natural for us both.

Let The Adventure Begin!

Stay tuned, I hope you enjoy following us.