One year ago today, November 2nd, we started our adventures with full-time traveling. We have traveled through many states and we have some thoughts on the things we have seen and experienced.
Government Protection
Daniel and I have spent most of our lives in Michigan and we’ve come to realize that Michigan really protects its citizens well compared to other states, especially compared to the west coast. The west coast high-traffic mountain roads lack guard rails and shoulders, you can walk right up to the edge of a cliff in a state park without any barriers, and speed limits seem to be minimums rather than upper limits. Survival of the fittest is alive and well in some parts of the country.
American Wealth
America is poor. There’s certainly wealth in some areas but mostly we have seen a lot more poverty than we expected. Certainly the reasons for poverty are far outside the realm of this blog but I do believe financial education needs to be a top priority in K-12 schooling.
Housing
Home prices are outrageous. Daniel and I like to look up the asking price of the homes for sale that we pass by. Sometimes the homes are in rough neighborhoods and are not in good repair and they are being offered at $500,000. We laugh. We wonder how rent and purchase prices have become so high. In 2001, fresh out of grad school, I rented a 3 bedroom house in Mississippi for $425 a month, utilities included. That’s back when renting was a more affordable option to buying. Today’s starter homes may be older and need rehab for which a lot of our current population lacks the necessary skills.
New home sizes have increased quite a bit. 1000 sf used to be an average home size, now most homes are 2000-3000 sf. Why do homes need to be so big? Is more space better for family cohesion and benefiting our children – society’s future decision makers? Or has our society’s consumerism taken over to the point that we need bigger homes to store all our junk? We have seen storage unit companies in even the smallest of towns. We see perfectly good items thrown in the trash rather than being donated or sold at garage sales or on Facebook Marketplace. Making better choices on the things people spend their money on won’t make housing more affordable but will help bolster a rainy day fund or investment account.
Full-Time Traveling
Traveling full-time isn’t for everyone. It requires a great deal of flexibility. You have to be good with the lack of continuity that living and traveling in an RV offers. When Daniel and I first talked about the logistics of traveling full-time, I really wanted to own property where we could hunker down if need be. We have that safety net in Tennessee where we could park the camper and live on a very low budget.
Some people are drawn to the full-timing lifestyle because it can be a very inexpensive way to live. Currently, you can boondock in Quartzsite, Arizona for 7 months (September to April) in the long-term visitor area of BLM land with a $180 permit. Boondocking requires you to source your own electricity, water, and dump station. Quartzsite does have a dump station and a water source but we’ve heard the water quality is pretty bad. Other low-cost options include the Escapees affiliated campgrounds where you can buy a campsite for $5000-10,000, pay an annual HOA of $1200-3000, and then be refunded the cost of the campsite if/when you want to leave. You are responsible for paying for your electricity at these campgrounds. We’ve met many people who have been full-timers for 10-15 years. The only thing that seems to halt the lifestyle is advanced age or ill health.
Some people like traveling to see the country or feel most at peace with the freedom that full-timing affords. With the right circumstances, you can work from anywhere especially now that remote jobs are more common. Daniel and I often remark on how we wouldn’t have experienced something we stumbled upon and have loved if we had been traveling by plane. We love living wherever our RV is parked. We have met a lot of people who tell us they would love to do what we are doing – travel full-time in an RV. We say “Do it!”
America’s People
We have found the people of our country to be friendly and welcoming for the most part (we’re pointing fingers at you, Washington and Colorado). We felt so welcomed in Texas that we can’t wait to go back for a winter. People all over were eager to tell us about their areas and the things we should see and do. It’s hard to reconcile the political division in our country with what we have experienced on a face-to-face basis. We have seen that people are, as a whole, overwhelmingly friendly and helpful. Our hope is that in the coming months and years, Americans will see each other as Americans first, cohesive and neighborly, tolerant of ideological differences, and find peace and happiness in community.
We would love to hear your thoughts on these topics. Leave a comment!
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