I found scads of YouTube videos by people of all ages, who are living full time in their RVs; from huge, 40-foot Class A motor homes and renovated buses to tiny little pop-up campers. I learned this is an especially viable lifestyle for people like me, who can work from anywhere, as long as they have a good Internet connection.

Breathtaking Revelation

This was an almost breathtaking revelation to me. Here, suddenly, was the answer to so many things I wanted to do! Some of these full-time RVers were youngsters barely in their 20s, and some were seasoned travelers in their 70s. All I could think was, “By God, if they can do it, so can I!”

The reality is, I’ve never been more free in my adult life, or had less to lose. And I’m 56 years old: If I don’t do it now, I probably never will. So I’ve already started massive downsizing (I’d begun to feel burdened by all my stuff anyway). On January 19, I took delivery of a 1996 Thor America Prism M-20PG travel trailer and have already started planning its customization to use as my traveling home and office on wheels.

The Plan For Now

If all goes to plan, right after the holidays next year, I’ll be getting ready to head off to Arizona and the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, a huge ten-day event geared to full-time RVers. There, I’ll learn a lot about my new lifestyle in informal classes given by others already doing it. I’ll also meet lots of other folks like myself.

If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to meet some I feel kinship with, enough to caravan with them for my first year of fulltiming, or at least a good part of it. That would be a great way to get my “sea legs” under me without having to be totally on my own before I really know what I’m doing. I’ve heard the RV crowd, especially fulltimers, tends to be really friendly and caring, so that makes me feel much more secure in heading out on the road. I do have my own skill set that includes being rather handy with tools and very resourceful, so I can bring something of value to share with the group and earn my place in it.

I’ll boondock (camp off-grid) mostly, with a few campground stays now and then to dump my tanks, do laundry, recharge batteries and take long, hot showers. In May, I’ll start back east and spend the six warm months back in Pennsylvania, though not always in the same place. I’ll stay through the end of November, then head up to Maine to spend the holidays with my family, then back south after New Year, to follow the warm weather. And that will pretty much be my new rhythm, for at least the next five years.

Motivation and Hope

One of the reasons I believe I became so restless in 2017 was watching the absolute schism that separates my beloved country since the punishing presidential election campaign the year before, and the truly ugly things that have been happening ever since. I find myself trying hard to understand it all, and to reconcile the things I see happening around me every day with what I know America to be.

So one of the goals I have for my travels is to really get out there and meet lots of new people, both those like me, and especially those who are not. I want to find the real America, the one that doesn’t get sound bytes on the evening news; the one that gets drowned out and ignored in the blaring of hate speech and bomb blasts and school shootings. I want to find the America I know again—one mile, and one person, at a time.

I currently drive a 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited that I’m absolutely smitten with, so I’m not wanting to get rid of that any time soon. However, that means my towing limit is 3500 lbs. Wildheart—my travel trailer—is 2600 lbs. dry, so I can conceivably stay under my limit. But I have the feeling I may soon find myself having to move up to a more beefy tow vehicle. But for now, it will be me, Wildheart, and the BumbleBeep Jeep (named for her lovely yellow-and-black color scheme, which Wildheart will soon sport, as well) hitting the roads next year.

Right now, I’m still researching and trying to figure out how to finance everything. I’m beginning to gather the materials I’ll need to redecorate and tweak the layout of my trailer to accommodate my living and working needs, which include traveling with Idgie, my soon-to-be-16-year-old blind cat.

Sharing with You Here

I’ve started this blog to record and share the whole journey with those who may be thinking about doing something similar, or those who just want to enjoy my adventures vicariously, without having to leave their armchairs. Either way, I hope you’ll find my ramblings informative, entertaining, humorous, and maybe sometimes touching or even enraging. It’s all part of life in this country which, although it has stumbled mightily, has never yet fallen (though I believe we’re as close right now as we’ve ever been).

I tell myself that we are still less than 250 years old, and we need to take the long view, as historians do. As nations go, we’re still in those awkward, often ungainly and unattractive adolescent years. I’m willing to suspend judgment for a while, to see how we recover.

I want—and need—to go see for myself that in the end, we Americans have more in common than we have that keeps us apart. I want to reassure myself that the complete morass our nation’s capitol has become does not represent who we are as a country; that instead, we really are—for the most part—decent, loving and compassionate people, who still deserve the reputation earned by those who went before us until this horrible public spasm we’re now experiencing. And maybe, in the process—if I’m very, very mindful and paying attention—I will learn a little something about myself, as well.

I hope you’ll come along for the ride, and I’d love to hear from you, even if you disagree with my views. I ask only that you be respectful of me and other visitors in your approach, and show the kind of restraint grownups are supposed to have. If not, you’ll quickly be shown the virtual door, like all misbehaving children. But I think we can be better than that, don’t you?