What made you start RVing?

[bluepinecones]

I've read most intros and many of your blogs. One thing I noticed missing and I would like to know: How did you get started at this? What made you think you wanted to try RVing whether once in a while or full time? Have most of you been camping in one form or another much of your life?
I assume most did not just wake up one morning and say, humm, think I'll go invest several (or many) thousand dollars and see if I like this. Although that could be a bad assumption, I suppose.

[Carolinagal]

Years ago, we started out in a tent, then progressed to campers on our trucks. Had couple of those. As we neared retirement age, we went to a MH, with the intention of having it paid for by the time we retired. Well, about the time it was paid for and we were ready to do all of our travels we had dreamed and planned and had so much fun thinking about , for so many years, here came cancer along and changed everything. My husband died Jan. of 2001. That summer I ran away so to speak, with our children telling me I could drive that MH, so I did, visited 3 of them that summer. I was scared to death, I had never driven it very much, 5 or so miles from home, asked the Lord was I crazy? But I kept going, wanting to prove my children right. I traveled in all 8800 miles that summer, It was more then a trip, it was proof, that I could manage the rest of my life alone very well, thank you.

I can't think of ever not having one, I have put 70,000 or so miles on mine and more miles with Liz in hers. I plan to travel until I know I have no business driving anymore, and then probably will have a hard time getting rid of the one I might have at that time. If anyone has ever had a traveling bug, or just plain couriousity about seeing and doing everything they possibly can, THATS ME!!!! I feel its safer traveling in my MH, then in my car. No one can see that I am a woman alone traveling, as they can in my car. Plus, I have my little dog, my potty, my bed and my food and all I need right with me, and whenever I am tired, and ready to stop for the day, I do.

In fact, I have been giving serious thoughts to traveling more then ever. So it was not a decision that I just woke up one day and going to do this, I traveled as a young girl, my Dad worked construction and we moved alot, so think this must be something in my blood, I know its in my head. I feel so confined when here in my stick house. Need to be movin'.
Nothing like the open road, especially out west and seeing all of God's creation, first hand.

Safe travels everyone!

Carol

[Liz]

I guess I could say that it was Carolinagal that got me started actually doing it. Her husband was my brother. After my dh (husband, Soos) died in Dec. 2003, Carol invited me to travel with her the next summer in her mh (motorhome, Soos). We traveled west, my first time in the Rockies, saw many beautiful natural areas including Yellowstone, and I was hooked. That November I bought my first mh, a Roadtrek. The rest is history. Carol and I have traveled a lot of places together, and we both have traveled alone as well. Now that I'm retired from teaching, I don't have to limit my travels to June & July, so am seriously thinking of putting the stick house up for sale in the coming year and going full time.

But, Carol is not where my story really begins. Do you remember the writer, John Steinbeck's book "Travels With Charley"? (Charley was his dog) I read it while I was in high school and have had a secret wish to do the same ever since. Now that I know it's possible....just call me "Travels With Roe!"

[retiredhappy]

Used to tent camp when my daughter was little. Retired in 1999 and moved to Texas into my small house. Whenever I got bored I redecorated. Felt like I was just sitting around waiting to die. Had a rental house that I found to be a pain in the neck so sold it and bought a used Class B and caravaned with my neighbors. Found I LOVED RVing but wanted something bigger so traded it for my Class C. Started with a month long trip and wasn't quite ready to go home. Took a 3-month workamping job to see if I would like "living" in my RV with my two Labs. LOVED IT! Went home, put furniture in storage, rented house and went fulltime. Yipee - no yard and if I don't like my neighbor or the weather or where I am, I can move my house. I workamp in the summers ( HATE Texas summers) and go home in the winter. The only reason I keep my house at all is that my daughter now handles it as a rental and someday, way down the road, it will be income for her in her old age. I probably will sell off my "stuff" from the storage unit when I go home in the fall. Why should I keep paying to store stuff I probably won't use again and can rebuy if necessary.

[mitch5252]

These are wonderful (not to mention, inspiring) stories. See - women can do anything!
Great topic!

[Cedar518]

As a child my parents built a log cabin and I loved camping there. We still own it and it is now used by my grown kids and grands. So the seeds were sown for minimalist living,... and enjoying natural areas. Fast forward many years,.... I was a young married with three young children,... at a 4th of July night waiting for firewords to start at nearby small town. We were parked along the road where we could see the area of the fireworks show. There was a pickup camper parked nearby. Lights on inside of it and the woman was standing in the door of the camper. I can still see it .... I said "I want that!"

More fast forward another couple of years. I bought a basic Wolverine truck camper,... new in 1972. We camped a lot as a family while the kids were growing up. The two boys had a puptent outside and our daughter slept in the dinette. We were in the master bedroom "upstairs" over the cab. The rest is history,.... since then i've owned three fifth wheels, buying used, repairing, remodeling, always improving and selling for a profit. Along comes divorce.

I started again with what i could tow with my small vehicle. Of course he took the truck so I had no way to pull the 5th. Sold the 5th, bought a popup. Sold that went to a tent. (divorce is very difficult, women never come out even, much less with any amount of $$) Eventually got another popup,.... then my Chalet.

OOOOps, along comes DH (or should I say not-so-dear husband) #2. Another 5th wheel. He wanted me to sell my Chalet. I didn't. Good thing. He left after just 13 months,... goodbye 4th 5th!

So there you have it,... my camping love has out-lasted two husbands and I hope to be camping as long as i am physically able. I'd still love a 5th again but know I'll never be able to afford another one. So be it,.... it's OK. I love my little Chalet and it is mine, the tow vehicle is mine... nobody can take them away from me.

[Sparkle]

Well Sarah, you were the one that found my Class A. I was just going to go for long weekends once a month, and in fact did that for a year I believe. Then I went to Florida and realised I didn't want to go home. So I sold practically everything, stored some stuff for my son to get at some point, handed in my notice to my Landlady, namely, you! and was off. No regrets. I said I would do it until I was 70 and then see how I felt. Reached 70 and said I'll do this until I'm 75 and see how I feel. Woo-hoo!!!!

[avalen]

I got the bug as a child actually, my parents got a Shasta tt and we used to go to
the beach and the lakes and rivers around California. Those were all weekend get
aways but I think the real cincher was the trip (car) I took with my grandmother
in 1962, from N Hollywood California to Bangor Maine, it was a 5 or 6 week road
trip and we stopped at every single historical marker along the way. My grandmother
made my sister and I keep a journal and all the mileage and we were in charge of
the maps. I so enjoyed seeing other parts of the country and it was interesting to
me to see how other people lived.
So, fast forward to my first marriage, we used to make road trips every couple
months to visit his family here in Arizona, a few other touristy trips around the
country with the kids when they were little, then just before the divorce I purchased
a camper to go on my pickup. The X wanted to borrow it one time so since we were
friends I said ok. The idiot didn't think about how high it was over the cab and drove
under a low clearance thing into a parking garage. Needless to say the damage was
not repairable. Fast forward again to husband #2, we had a little tt kind of like the
Scamp but it was made by VW and very few in the country but we pulled it with out
little subaru stationwagon and can remember many a time in the middle of the
night at a social gathering (poker night) with friends and spur of the moment we
would load up and head out. Then we had litecraft popup camper for the Jeep pickup.
But we never went anywhere too far from home, to him, anything an hour away was
a long way. Then we had the cabin, which we went to every weekend and then I could
not get hubby to go anywhere camping with the camper anymore. I continued to make
road trips by myself into Phoenix to visit family and after the second divorce I pretty
much started over. Ex #2 gave me the conversion van, it had everything except an
awning and I lived in it one whole summer, just me and Bandit to get out of the summer
heat of Arizona making a trip back to Colorado. Then I had to start working really
serious and make some money so trips sort of got put on hold. Purchased the fifth
wheel to live in because rent was so high in Arizona I knew I needed something cheaper
that would accomodate me and my dogs. Apartments were just too difficult to manage
with dogs and no yard. My next chapter will begin soon and put me back on the road
again, and I can hardly wait!

[AlmostThere]

I'm still a farm girl at heart and as a kid we slept outside whenever possible. We'd throw a blanket over the clothesline and stake out the 4 corners and had an instant tent! I love the outdoors and nature.

Over the years when I was still married we owned a pop up, class B (sold it because it didn't make good everyday vehicle in Alaska), tent, cabin cruiser, 25 ft 5th wheel and then a 31 ft 5th wheel. Loved both 5th wheels. He got the last one in the divorce settlement. It was to be our retirement together.
Life! Sometimes it comes at you sideways!

Now I'm hoping for a small MH as I still enjoy traveling and being a part of nature.

[Liz]

This is a very interesting thread; thanks for starting it, Sarah.

[Bethers]

I never liked camping - didn't like not having any amenities and sleeping on the hard ground. I loved the campfires and sitting around the fire, though.

But what got me rving? Well, several years ago my best friend wasn't feeling well. Doctors couldn't find a problem, so put her in the hospital for tests and then for exploratory surgery. They opened her up, closed her up - said, sorry, there's nothing we can do, you're full of cancer. In less than 3 weeks, she was gone. In less than 1 week she was on so many drugs that she didn't know what had happened. She was, if I remember correctly, 51 at the time. It scared the bejesus out of me and made me realize that I could continue working 80+ hours a week until I could "afford" to retire, or I could just wing it and do it anyway.

I've always loved traveling and always wanted to see the country via backroads and small towns. So, without ever having spent a night in an rv, and without having "camped" in years. I started my search for the perfect rv for ME - one that would take me on the backroads and through small towns. I thought I'd buy it and manage to somehow take a few longer vacations. Ha. I found it, and the day it came to my home, I made plans to full-time. My intention was to do it for a year, when I figured I'd be totally out of money and have to go back to work. I had some work and charity commitments, so sometime the end of April of 2005 I gave notice to my job and the two charities I was on the board of directors to - and by mid-June 2005, I took off. Needless to say, I'm about to enter my 5th year and I'm not looking back. (And hoping and praying I don't have to go back to full-time work again - but who knows, Alaska could force that - and that would be okay also).

I've never enjoyed any lifestyle as much as this one and have no desire to ever live another one again. And this month in NM is just reinforcing it - even with the couple bad days. I've had so many fantastic ones - and so many more fantastic ones to come.

By the way - I lost my water heater door latch (yes, Sparkle, I know they told me the correct name for it today - but who cares - I forget and no one has it anyway) - but to replace it they say I have to replace the entire DOOR. For a little 1 inch piece of metal on a spring? Ha - Right now that door is duct taped shut. Once upon a time in my life that would have devastated me -now I grin and say it's a bandaid on my rig.

[Sparkle]

CAM-LOCK. CAM-LOCK! Dammit!

[Bethers]

I remembered after I posted. Found it several places online for a whopping $1.99. However, I want it NOW and don't have anyplace to have it shipped to - so will have to start stopping at rv repair places till I find one who has it. Dang CW anyway - they only will sell me the entire door.

[Acadianmom]

I was very close to one of my aunts and spent a lot of time with her when I was young. She lived in Dallas and sold hearing aids all over Northeast Texas. She would let me travel with her and read the map. I loved traveling to all the small towns. My Dad was in the Air Force so we lived on or near Air Force Bases. I always wanted to live in the country and have a horse. I finally got a horse in high school and then my Dad retired and moved to a farm. I went off to college, married my first husband and went to work. That didn't work out and I married my current husband and moved to the country. For a while we did a lot of traveling showing horses. My DH thought it would be a good idea for me to take the boys camping so I got a small motorhome and boat. I also liked having the MH to visit my parents. The boys got on my Dad's nerves so it was nice to have our own room to get away to. It was nice to travel in with kids. They could watch TV and play games and not whine the whold trip. I am on my 4th MH. Started out with a 23' van type, then a 24' Class C, a 27' Class C and now I'm back to a 23' Coach House Platinum. I like to travel in my MH and have my bathroom and bedroom with me. I feel safe taking off by myself. If I don't like my surroundings I just move on. My DH doesn't want to travel and for sure not in a MH so I usually just make short trips. My sister and I like to fish so weekends she can get away we go fishing. I would like to see more of the country but for now have to settle for short trips. Hope I get to attend one of the GTG in the future. Sounds like everyone has a good time.

Martha

[mtngal]

Wow great thread! And very appropriate for me....this is my first night in my new (to me) Roadtrek. I am only 10 miles or so from home at Melones. Just wanted to do a test run on systems before she goes to shop for the experts to check her out!

So, my camping until now was in car, boat or horse trailer. No experience in an rv before this. In fact, just was remembering and I think this is only the
fourth time I have ever camped in an official "campground". Back to the topic.....my daughter moved to Texas AND had a baby, so I retired a bit early and bought a condo to be near them. I have made many car trips back and forth between CA and TX! A couple years ago I was surfing for some interesting
"retiree" blogs, but all were toooo boring, until I came across a gal who was traveling in a Casita travel trailer. I got really excited about that little fiberglass trailer, planning to pull it with a 4Runner, thought it would be perfect. Also that first travel blog led to another and another AND "womenrv.com". I was so hooked, and after selling horse, truck and trailer was ready for a new adventure. (I knew I would miss my horse, but was not prepared for how much I missed my truck and trailer!). THEN, I went to the gtg in Kerrville last fall to meet some of the gals and see their rigs. It took me another couple months of mulling over all my options before I decided to scrap the tt idea in favor of a "B". And here I am, my first night in my new rig!!!! The only thing I forgot was the bottle of wine, can you believe it? So no toast to new adventures, will save that for another time! Looking forward.........