October, 2017

My travel plans are still in the works.  I’ve pretty much decided my travel trailer will be a used Casita.   At this point, the only hold up is the pets.  If I could sell the house today, I’d make a nice profit to put into savings and would start workamping gigs right away.

I put a new roof on the house, new flooring, exterior painting.  I refinanced my mortgage and pulled out money to take care of these projects.   The credit card debt is gone and last March I purchased a 2012 Toyota Tacoma (YAY, my tow vehicle).  Of course I had to finance the purchase, but will have it paid off before I hit the road full time.

I’ve set a tentative date of August, 2022 to begin my full time adventures.  I would like to get the Casita in 3-4 years so I can get to know its features, how to dump, practice towing/backing up, hitching up, etc.  I also want to have it outfitted with Solar and make sure it is set up for boondocking.  I want to boondock as much as possible.

At this point, both dogs are 10+ years old, and both cats almost 15.  We are a very happy, healthy family.  They are my loves.

I just turned 49 years old last week.  I’m ready for this next chapter to begin.

A year goes by so fast

Today is 10/26/15, it’s been more than a year since I’ve written anything.  I went back and read my entries, my life has had a few twists and turns, but overall I still have the same dreams and aspirations.   I have realized something about myself though, I overthink everything!  Home/work projects, organizing, writing.   I get so wrapped up in minor details that I end up tossing the whole project/idea.

Breaking things down into smaller, more manageable tasks is a must, otherwise, nothing gets accomplished.

Be ready for a little change now and again

July and August were tough months.  I had a very dear friend go into the hospital on June 30 with pneumonia.  He lost his battle after fighting for 47 days.  I was in his hospital room in the ICU when the machines were turned off.  This was unexpected to say the least.  He was probably one of the healthiest people I knew, or so I thought.

I helped his family clean out his apartment a couple of days after he passed.  Talk about a hard thing to do.  Not only would he not have been happy to have all of us rummaging through his things, but making decisions on what stays and what goes, figuring out who would take his beloved pet.  Then a memorial celebration, then his family had to head back up North.  Ugh.  This has been a hard couple of months. My spiritual side has taken over for the most part and my need to understand why this has all happened is so consuming.  Rest in peace my dear sweet Eric.  You are missed so very much.

This whole thing brought me to the point of really cleaning out my home and ridding myself of stuff that has been sitting around for far too long.  I cleaned out 2 closets and the attic!  Now the attic is quite an accomplishment for me.  And I had a really nice load of stuff for The Salvation Army.  It also set me back a month or two with my financial plans, along with unexpected car trouble.  Things never go quite as planned now do they.   But, it’s alright, I am here another day.  I need to be more grateful and thankful for the life I have been given. 

I am more determined than ever to be a fulltime RVer.  The daily grind of my day to day has really gotten to me lately.  Throw in the 95 degree plus days and you’ve got yourself  some misery.  I am going to make more of an effort to write on a regular basis.  Today is my Monday, another week of work, another week of pretending to be someone I am not, another week of putting on a happy face when I am not.  Oh well, at least I am still on this planet right? 

August in Florida. UGH!

It never fails, come August I am yearning to escape!

Escape the heat, humidity and crazy daily storms.  I walk my dog  pretty early, around 5:30am.  At that time of the day you would think it would be fairly nice outside.  But the humidity is so thick it feels like I’ve hit a wall.  It sucks the life out of me.  I go through my day zapped of all energy.  Work becomes less enjoyable because I just need to get it over with.  I am very thankful for our crazy daily storms though, and if we have more than two days without them, I get a little antsy as things dry up very, very quickly.  My wish is always the same around this time of year…I want to be in the mountains, maybe Tennessee.  Ah, yes, that sounds pretty terrific.  But, I can not be where I want to be, so I will go from my air conditioned house, to my air conditioned car and then to my air conditioned workplace.  Basically Summertime in Florida means HIBERNATION!

Escape the traffic.  My commute to work is only 14 miles.  It takes me at least 45 minutes, and that is on a good day.  My drive to and from work is ugly.  I drive through run down parts of town, past abandoned shopping plazas and dilapidated apartment complexes.     Pedestrians darting in and out with no mind to use the crosswalks.  I can certainly understand why Orlando is number one for pedestrian deaths.  Public transportation is not an option for me, unfortunately.

Escape the people.  Oh so many people.  One stop at Super “Crazy”-Mart is enough to send me into a tail spin.  Rude, loud, abrasive people.  No manners, no concern for others.  I try to stay away from these discount stores, but every once in a while it is just, well convenient I guess.  And then after I leave the store I always come to the same realization…there is nothing convenient about this place.  I get over it and then do it all over again and have the same exact reaction.  Apparently, I don’t learn my lesson, lol.  Gluten for punishment?  It sure seems that way.

My daydream at this very moment goes something like this:  I am pulling my new to me 17′ – 23′ travel trailer with my pickup or Jeep, heading to The Smokey Mountains.  My, also new to me 25 pound pup is in the passenger seat with his head out the window, ears flapping, The drive is a pleasure.   Once there, the cool, fresh mountain air is intoxicating.  I am in awe of the perfection of my surroundings.  There is nowhere else I want to be, at this moment anyway.

Where did all this STUFF come from?

I have so much stuff!  It’s ridiculous.  I moved to Florida from Pennsylvania in 1992, I still have Winter coats hanging in a closet that I wore when I lived in PA.  I have never used them here once.  I also came across a bomber jacket given to me by my brother, circa 1986 when he was in the Blue Angels.  Its a silk white bomber jacket with US Navy Blue Angels embroidered on the back and my name on the front, how cool is that!   But again, this jacket has been on a hanger for 25 years.  I really don’t know if I could ever part with it.   Hmm, I wonder if silk bomber jackets will ever make a come back?  I could be a trend setter and start wearing it around the streets of Orlando, everyone would know my name because its prominently embroidered in dark blue :).

I think I am going to figure out how to list and sell on eBay.   Sitting here in my office I think about all the stuff in the closet that I could actually make some money from.  The office closet is the place where I put things that are never seen or heard from again.  Countless coats and jackets, prom dresses, even a graduation gown.  I guess those things that I could never bring myself to get rid of so I stashed away.

    

What exactly is the holdup?

My current situation is this:  house with a mortgage, 4 animals and credit card debt. 

I have owned my home since 2000.  I would definitely make a little profit by selling it now.  And If I were able to sell it now, I would use that money to buy a travel trailer, tow vehicle, pay off the credit card and hit the road basically broke, but nonetheless the dream could begin. 

The reason it can’t happen this way-  my pets.  Specifically the 2 cats.  Both were adopted when they were 8 weeks old.  They are now 11+ years old.  Statistically speaking, they could easily live to the ripe old age of 20 years.  There is absolutely no way I can travel with them.  Not possible, nope, never, no stinkin way!   Since this obstacle is immutable, I will use the next several years to get my ducks in a row.

Credit card debt– I have implemented an aggressive payment plan to get this paid down within the next 18 months.   I will be paying three times the minimum amount due each month.  If funds allowed, I would send even more, but that really isn’t an option.

The house– My house is going to need a new roof any day now.  I really am hoping It can wait until the credit card is paid off (otherwise this whole plan will need to shift) and I will then take out a low interest personal loan and plan on getting that paid off within 2 years.  So at this point financially, I will be able to start seriously looking at a dependable tow vehicle and travel trailer to purchase. 

As for my 2 dogs, they are both around 7+ years old now.  I love my pets so so much and I am very loyal to them.  When each was adopted it was a permanent commitment on my part.  We are a very happy family and I plan to keep it that way.

Now, as long as my job is in tact for the next several years, this plan isfeasible. 

 

 

 

So why a blog?

Why in the world would I start a blog?  Why would anyone want to read anything I have to write about?  Well, I really don’t think anyone would.  This is more of a personal journal to track my thoughts, ideas and goals.

About me (in case I decide to share this exciting life of mine):  I am a divorced, fortysomething year old woman with a house that is too big for 1 person, 2 dogs, 2 cats, a full time job and debt.  I am stuck in the house until the pets are gone,  probably another 8 to 10 years.  Then, I am planning to sell, downsize on a massive scale and go full time RVing.  I suffer from wanderlust something terrible.

I have a feeling much of my writing will be about my daydreaming of living and traveling in an RV.  I have been researching and reading blogs on the subject for about 4 weeks I guess.  Its kind of odd how it all came about actually.  I was researching cell phone plans and was reading posts about the Wal-Mart Smart talk plan, when I read a post with this link having some good information http://www.wheelingit.us/.  One click!  That started the ball rolling.  That one click took me to a site about this couple who are full time RVers.  I thought it was for retired or wealthy people.  Boy was I wrong.  I am now following several full time RVer blogs and researching the heck out of the lifestyle.

Oh the excitement of it 🙂

Well, next post I will go into a little more detail about why this is probably going to take me 10 years…………………………