Friday, September 28, 2007

Inner tubes
No, not the kind that go in tires - I'm referring to what a friend of mine calls the "riding on the inner tubes of the web". In other words, surfing the net. I've spent some time taking a look at used RVs to get some ideas of what might be available and how much we may have to spend in 2, 4, 7 or 10 years. I've learned a couple of surprising things. The cheapest used RVs in the US happen to be located in 2 hours or less driving distance from our house - whether for sale by owner or a dealer, Central Texas has very low prices on used RVs. I've also discovered that pink is/was a very popular color choice for interior decorating, ugh. Give me green, blue or brown, but please no pink. Or white - seriously, some folks have WHITE upholstery in their RV which has to be the most impractical choice ever selected for a "recreational vehicle".

I also did some research on the 'net to see what might be our best choice for full-timing it. I didn't really come up with much, but turns out the best advice was given to my by my mom & dad who traveled around with a travel trailer extensively for years (not full-time, but 3 or 4 months at a time.) Also, my mom's younger sister and her husband have been full-timing it in a fifth-wheel for the last eight years and while I didn't talk directly to my aunt, my mom had plenty of info about how well that was working out. Based on their advice, it looks like the best choice for what we want to do is a good-sized fifth-wheel and a 3/4 ton truck. That's not a cheap route to take, even used, so "best" might get redefined as finances are taken into more consideration. And of course, living on the road isn't free - there's gasoline (or diesel) and propane, food and campground fees, repairs to the vehicle/trailer, medical expenses and all kinds of other things. Rob won't be working while we are on the road and he might not be working full-time once we get to our next destination - all that has to be taken into account. It is, no doubt, a very risky proposition and I hope that I don't end up squashing the dream by trying to plan things out somewhat. I should be okay as long as I remember that if plan A doesn't look like it will work out then I need to move to plan B or plan C or even plan Z if that is what it takes.

Fortunately we've got a good amount of time to figure out something. Plus, it gives me something to do while I'm working this mind-numbingly boring job. If I don't get fired and spend two more years doing this, I'm likely to be brain-dead at the end of it.

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