Wednesday, December 31, 2014

THE END and THE BEGINNING

The last day of the year.  I spend my days reading travel blogs and living through others adventures.  This is the last year for this life style.  2015 will be the beginning of my new traveling life.  First I must get my house in order and then I must sell my business.  Last but most important buy an RV!!!
Yeah for 2015!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!

Saturday, December 27, 2014

A NEW YEAR IS COMING

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for the New Year!

It was a wonderful Christmas with family and friends.  My daughter Saunya does a great job of hosting all of us for Christmas day.  Thank you Saunya.

Today was my first day back to work and I've spent it catching up on all the travel blogs I read.   How exciting it is to know I'm headed towards that life.    I will now spend the rest of the day searching for rv's for sale.

2015 will bring great changes and I'm ready.

Friday, December 19, 2014

WE HAVE SUNSHINE

We have sunshine today.  Amazing how much difference a little sun can make.
It's time to get the house ready for the kids to make their cookies and ornaments on Sunday.  I will make a chili supper also for Sunday.  The kids love my chili which includes lots of cheese and fritos.  But first I must wrap the presents that are sitting all over my couch and end tables.
I would write about what I've been doing but I spend most of my time reading travel blogs.  As I read and admire the pictures I can dream about being there.  Jealously is not pretty.  I should be on the road by the end of this year.  Can't wait.
Have a great day!

Thursday, December 18, 2014

MY BROTHER

Dec 12, 2014
Yesterday was the first time in my life that I knew my brother would not wish me a happy birthday.  And for the first time in as long as I can remember I didn't make myself a note to call my brother the next day.  I was born 1 year and 364 days after my brother.  His birthday Dec 12 and mine Dec 11.  I was the intruder in his world.  We were the oldest in a family of 7 children.  We didn't always have an easy life but we always had food and clothing and a roof over our heads.
I loved my brother but I didn't really know him.  We hadn't lived in the same city since we were in our teens and that makes it hard to know one another.  He had a type A personality, a workaholic and a alcoholic. Although Mike had stopped drinking more than 30 years ago he still considered himself an alcoholic and still went to meetings.  These are the things I know for sure.
Mike died this spring.  When I went to the funeral I saw his grown children and met some of his grandchildren.  His family talked about what a good grandfather he was and about how he had helped each one of them.  This was the first time I had seen the relationship between him and his children.
This was a different Mike, the loving father, the patient grandfather, the helpful son in law.  I'm very sad that I didn't get to know that person.
I love you Mike.

ROUND AND ROUND WE GO

Business has been good, which is great because if I choose to sell the store I can ask a higher price.  Today I found out there will be a thrift store going in next door.  That will ruin my business and blow any chance I have of selling this store.  Every time I feel positive about my store something else negative happens. 
I've got my Christmas shopping done.  I've got gifts for everyone except the grandkids and they are getting gift certificates or cash.  We will be making cookies and ornaments with the great grandkids this Sunday. 
We will go to my daughters for Christmas day.  I'm fixing mac & cheese and low carb sausage balls to take for Christmas.  Everyone brings a dish and we will exchange presents.  We tried drawing names for a few years but now I just get everyone a gift.  It didn't feel right not giving presents to my daughters when we were drawing names.  I don't spend a lot on each person but since I only support myself I don't feel bad about the money I do spend.  After so many years of being a single mom it feels good to give whenever I want.
2015 will be a year of change.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

THE BEGINNINGS

Everyone starts their rv journey from different places.  This morning I was reading a blog about a woman that had filed bankruptcy and lost everything - her home, her car, her business.  She started over with a truck and used trailer.  I've read many blogs like this and I've read many blogs where people chose to sell their house and go fulltime rving.  Sometimes they are out of work and can no longer afford their house, sometimes they have retirement money available as well as social security.  Some people choose to live in a van or small rv to avoid rent or house payments.  Some people choose to live in a high end rv and pay rent at rv parks and resorts.  Every story is a little different but in the end we all want the freedom to travel and see what is out there.
I know I would be happy keeping a house here near my children and traveling several times a year but I don't see that as an option.  (I think I've written this before.)

It is 11 am and I've only had one customer this morning.  Sales have been declining since the beginning of November.  Sales during September and October were up from the previous year which gave me some hope that maybe I could turn the store around.  I gave myself a goal in August to save $300 a month on average.  (I say "on average" because when you own a business you know that money does not come in on a regular basis so you may be up one month and down the next.)   So far for the months of September, October and November I've saved exactly $300.  In October I did have to pay the business insurance so I knew there would be no saving during that month.  The disappointing part is November sales were so bad I not only didn't save but I couldn't pay one of my bills.  So roll that bill over to December and hope that I have an unusually good month just to keep up with my bills never mind saving.  Then the new year brings taxes and more worry.
I hate being so negative but I'm trying to be honest about where I am with respect to meeting my goals to travel.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

HOLIDAYS

Things I'm thankful for:
My children
My grandchildren & great grandchildren
My health - thankful for no serious illnesses
My home - warm and secure to come home after working all day.
My business - a blessing because I have the freedom to do the work I want and a curse because you can't just close a business for weeks while you travel.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
We had Thanksgiving dinner at my house this year.  We had 28 people in my small house but I think everyone had a good time.  Two of my daughters came over the night before and early on Thanksgiving day to help prep and cook.
The next holiday, Christmas, will be at my oldest daughter's house.  She has 6 almost grown children and 3 grandkids.  For years they all came to my house but the last two years we have all found it easier to celebrate Christmas day at her house and let all the kids come and go according to their work and family schedules. 
Between now and Christmas we will get together to make cookies and ornaments at my house.  Holidays with my girls and grandkids is something I would really miss if I traveled full time.  The cost of gas to come home for the holidays plus just trying to stay warm in a little trailer when the temps drop into the teens would make holidays very difficult.
I am constantly waffling back and forth, stay or go, stay or go the question never seems to end.
Back to work for now.
Happy holidays!

 

Friday, November 14, 2014

MORE THOUGHTS ON FULL TIMING!

I've spent most of today reading a blog about volunteering and living in housing provided by NWR.  This is very interesting to me.  If I did something like this, instead of buying an rv, I could buy a van for traveling and stay in the housing provided.  This way I wouldn't have to sell my house to buy an rv.  The idea of selling my house and spending all of the money on a rv does bother me.
While I love to travel I haven't really spent much time in an rv.  I like to hike but my hiking is limited to 1 or 2 mile trails with company.  I haven't done any alone  hiking or climbing hilly areas or dry desert area hiking.   When at the Valley of the Gods a few years ago I enjoyed walking around but I tend to stay in shady areas.  I burn very easily and have a family history of skin cancer.  I know this should not stop me from doing something I might enjoy,  just use lots of sun screen and wear hats.
I like the nice a/c and heat in my house.  How would I feel about leaving the rv if it was hot and humid or cold outside?  I don't know the answer so it's very hard to make the commitment.
One fear is spending all the money I have on an rv then not liking it.  There would be nothing to fall back on.  Another fear is not being able to make enough money to travel.  Many fulltimer's that I follow have retirement money coming in, and earn money on the road.
A paying or volunteering job that would provide housing while I travel sounds like the ideal situation to try out this new life style for six month to a year.  I am going to do some research in this area.
I hope this post is not too hard to read, my thoughts are jumping all over the place.
Have a great day!

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Slow Day

Work has been very slow today.  Cleaned and stocked 2 boxes of books and waited on a few customers.  Spent the rest of the time reading travel blogs.  Business has been picking up a little so I can pay the bills for another month.  Tina was going to come in and work today but she hurt her ankle this week and cannot walk on it for a few days.  Hopefully it will be better when she has to go back to work on Monday.
I've eaten several pieces of chocolate candy today which is not good for diabetes but sometimes you just want something special.  I'll have to come up with something very low carb for dinner tonight.
Speaking of low carb, Thanksgiving is at my house this year.  I've got to come up with some low carb recipes for side dishes.  The kids all want mashed potatoes, bread stuffing and mac n cheese.  We'll see what substitutes I can improvise.
That's it for an exciting day at the office.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Saturday, October 11, 2014

STILL NO VACATION PICTURES


When on vacation I'm usually the first one up.  I make coffee and go for a walk or sit by the water and enjoy nature and my morning coffee.  When in parks we don't usually hike very far but I enjoy the short walks and if my daughter is with me (she likes hiking) we take longer hikes which I enjoy.  I dream of waking up every morning in the woods or near water (a lake, river, ocean) or viewing the snow cap mountains in the distance.

I can't find the cd for my camera so I cannot download the pictures from my trip to Michigan.  Even with no pictures I can tell you it was a great trip.  We saw all the lighthouses from Cheboygan to Port Huron, MI that could be seen from land.  It was a very relaxing trip, no rushing around and very little getting lost.  Sometimes getting lost is part of the fun as long as you're on back roads and enjoying the views.

While staying in hotels we watched a lot of HGTV which only makes me want to do some remodeling to my house.  Since being home I've revisited some of the numbers for keeping my house and I always come back to the same problem.  NOT ENOUGH MONEY TO KEEP THE HOUSE AND TRAVEL!  I'm not particularly attached to my house but I'm not thrilled about living in a trailer the rest of my life either.  I feel that when the time comes to get off the road I'll be forced into an apartment community that I may not want, or worse yet I'll be a burden on one of my children.

I've been reading a lot of blogs and information about the lifestyle.  I'm not sure I want to be alone 24/7 with nothing to do for weeks on end.  I enjoy going for short hikes, walking in the woods, sitting on the beach and exploring new places but I'm not a great outdoors person.  Right now I work 5 days and have 2 days off.  I have no trouble doing nothing on those days but when I get day 3 off I need to go somewhere and do something.

From what I have learned most full timers fall into 2 categories.  Group 1 stay in the wilderness most of the year enjoying nature and  their survival skills, often joining up at campgrounds for the winter months.  Group 2 stay in camp grounds and socialize on a regular basis. Obviously this is simplifying things quite a bit and I'm sure there is also a large group that do a combination.   I don't see myself falling into either of these groups so how well will the full time life style fit my personality.

I think of myself as a loner but I've come to realize since I've owned this store I've made a lot of friends who would be missed very much if the store closes.  Maybe this indicates the work camping or volunteering plan might work out for me.  Working in an environment that requires some interaction with campers but allows me the freedom to visit and explore on my own may be the right answer.


Friday, September 12, 2014

Is anyone out there?

I haven't been blogging for the last couple of weeks, I was just wondering if anyone noticed.  If so please leave comments.

It's been a busy couple of weeks.  I've ordered a lot of new books for the store and started some new advertising.  Hopefully this will increase income for the end of the year.  If things don't get better I will be closing the store next year. 
Sometimes I just want to give up on the store but then other times I remind myself that it would benefit me to actually make enough profit to sell the store.  When I started this store it was never my intentions to work 6 days a week forever.  I dreamed of taking on a partner so we could each have time off to travel and do the other things we liked.   However, the store has never done well enough to support 2 people so I'm on my own.

Change of subject...
I'll be leaving on Sept 21st for Michigan.  We will drive to Frankenmuth on Sunday then onto Cheboyan, Mi on Monday.  The rest of the week we will travel down the east coast of Michigan visiting lighthouses, state parks and any waterfalls we can find.  I can't wait, this will be my only trip this year and I'm getting very antsy.  It's time to travel!

This is the bed & breakfast we stayed in when we were in Natchez, MS in 2010


Saturday, August 23, 2014

IRELAND PICTURES

A few more pictures of Ireland
9 members of my family traveled to
Ireland in 2007
 
 
 
 
My daughter & niece





My brother Mike passed on this past spring
 




 
My mom in the white scarf

Thursday, August 21, 2014

TRAVELING ALONE

I've been giving the fulltime RVing a lot of thought.  I've been thinking about type of tow vehicle and type of trailer.  I've been researching Casita and other travel trailers.  Then last week I started thinking about traveling alone.
I've never given it a lot of thought.  I love to travel.  I've taken short trips by myself for a night or two but I've never camped alone.  I've tent camped with my children and traveled with friends. Whenever I've thought of traveling I saw myself driving from destination to destination but never really saw myself sight seeing alone.  Very interesting, I may have to rethink this fulltiming plan.
I decided to go hiking alone and that was a failure.  It was only a 1 mile trail and I only went about a quarter of the way before turning around.  There were ticks and spider webs and it was hot and humid.  I never think about these things when hiking with other people it's just part of the experience.  Not a very good showing for my first experiment in hiking alone.
Maybe I should buy a van and try a couple of week long trips before I waste money on the RV.  In the mean time I am working  on getting my house ready to sell by next summer.  I'll be ready no matter which route I settle on.

Here's a little touch of Ireland from our 2007 trip


Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Up Comming Trip

I love planning trips.  We will be traveling along Lake Heron in Michigan visiting lighthouses. We plan to spend one day at Frankenmuth to check out their Christmas store, and to eat German food.  I can usually skip the tourist towns but I do like good German food so we will give it a try.
Last year we traveled the Upper Peninsula and along the coast of Lake Michigan.  Just a few of the lighthouses we toured:








 
The first picture is the Mackinaw bridge as seen through the window of the Old Mackinaw Point lighthouse.
Have a great day!

Saturday, August 9, 2014

RAINY DAYS ARE GOOD!



My normal morning routine requires getting up early, walking the dog, exercise, eating breakfast, fixing lunch, preparing food for dinner and getting ready for work. I'm tired before I reach work.
This is why I love rainy days.  I fix tea or coffee and I sit on the front porch watching the rain, my small pond and the birds.  It's so quiet and peaceful.  This morning I drove to McD's for coffee and stopped by the little river near my house and watched the ducks playing in the rain.  Okay, so maybe they weren't playing more likely fishing. All things must end though so off to work I go.

I have been following a blog: http://rvsueandcrew.net/.  It's very interesting.  Sue was in a somewhat similar situation when she decided to full time RV and she is very happy with her decision.  I enjoy reading about her adventures and how she made her decision to go fulltime.  If you have ever considered RVing fulltime you should check out her blog.  She tells it like it is living on the road. Also try: http://www.hitchitch.com/links.html

I've been rather amazed by all the blogs.  There must be blogs on almost every subject.  If you have a dream and feel unsure about following through just start reading blogs about that subject.  The blogs cover successes and failures exposing the good, the bad and the ugly, helping you to learn from others.

Wishing every one the very best with their dreams.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Yellowstone Trip



These are pictures from our trip to Yellowstone in 2013.

 
baby bears

 
hiding moose

 
elk

 
 
This is my experiment with uploading pictures.
 
Yellowstone was amazing.  We saw a large variety of wild life.  We had a coyote cross a path about 20' in front of us and we saw wolves crossing the road but were unable to get pictures of them because they were moving so fast.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Travel is in my future


My dream situation would be having my house paid for and being able to save money for travel.

 Here I am in my mid 60's and still needing to work to pay the bills.  I don't mind working but I'm not able to earn enough to make the house payment, upkeep and save to travel.  And I will be in my 70's before the house is paid off.

My business is not doing well and barely pays for itself.  This small income and social security just covers my living expenses.  There is nothing left over for savings.  If I close my store and go to work elsewhere at my age I'd be lucky to make anything above minimum wage.  Financially I don't believe I would be better off.

In 1995 I traveled with my mother and step-father to California and back.  They drove their small motorhome and I drove my mini van. It was a wonderful  6 week trip, but at that time I didn't think I would buy an RV because of all the expense and work involved in traveling in an RV.  We stayed in campgrounds - some state parks, some privately owned - I enjoyed the experience but it seemed like a lot of work and of course gas was expensive.  Gas is twice the price now.  Please don't misunderstand.  I loved the trip.  The freedom to travel for 6 weeks was amazing.  Every evening we would sit down and decide how far to drive the next day depending on what we wanted to see along the way.

Now I'm contemplation living in an RV full time.

 If I close the business and sell my house I could buy a RV to live in and travel some.  My days would be filled with work camping jobs and maybe some volunteer work.  When not working I would have to stay at boondocking sites because I wouldn't be able to afford a RV park.

I have spent a lot of time in the last six months reading blogs by fulltime rv'ers.  RVSue, Simple living, Travels with Emma and many many more.  Their experiences have made me believe this can really happen. 

For now fulltime RVing is the direction I am working towards.  We will see where I end up.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Why am I doing this?

As with so many of us baby boomers, I've reached my time to retire and find I don't have the funds to do so.  On this blog I hope to work through which direction the rest of my life will take.
I've worked since I was 16, I've raised my children, and I've helped out with my grandchildren.  The children and grandchildren are adults and now I have great grandchildren to enjoy.
Travel has always been a part of my life and full time traveling in my retirement years was my dream.  Now I just need to figure out the best way to accomplish this.

Getting started

This is a test.  I've been thinking about this blog for awhile.  Hopefully this first post will be successful and I can start posting about the point of this blog.