What do you do all day?

[dymndgyrl]

My story:
My husband and I are considering retiring and living in an AS. Buying two properties, one where we live now in the Gulf Is. for summer and one somewhere in the southwest for winter.

We may do some travelling but our main motivation is cheap living. We figure that putting an AS on a lot would be much less expensive than building any small house.

If we sell our waterfront home, buy the 2 lots and Airstream, we could still put away a good amount for retirement fund.

My husband is eager to pursue this dream - I am the reluctant one.

I've been reading all the threads on downsizing and I do understand the benefits and positive feelings of getting rid of all the "stuff" in our lives, however almost all of my interests and hobbies are very "stuff" dependent.
Downsizing would mean letting go of everything I do and enjoy right now. But I may be willing and able to accomplish that, I just have to have some ideas on what to replace my interests with. In essence what to do with my life.
The idea of having two permanent bases is to be able to create gardens and outdoor spaces to live in - I love to garden. Also, we could have storage sheds, maybe even a garage.

So I guess my main question to all you folks (fulltimers and otherwise!) is :
What do you do all day when you're living in an Airstream?
Seriously, like from one hour to the next.
And what hobbies have you taken up that do not require space?

Thanks so much for any insights.
Cheers,
Cindy

[kennethowens]

Good questions - I have had them too.

It aint for everbody!

I would have to have a workshop of some
kind and a place for storage of things.

[n2916s]

We volunteer with the National Parks. Last summer we spent 10 weeks at Yellowstone and 8 weeks at Devils Tower. Back home for the winter (Miami), we volunteer at Biscayne National Park.

At Yellowstone and Deto, we were provided with a free 3 point rv site in exchange for our labor. We worked in the visitors center, did education walks, answered a zillion questions. Loved it.

Between the National Parks, National Forests, Corps of Engineers, State Parks, Habitat for Humanity etc. etc. etc. the opportunities are endless.

I highly, highly recommend it. All of the places listed will be grateful for the help, you will meet lots of great park personnel and visitors, get to see places and do things that the general public seldom does (we went looking for bears in YNP).

mike

[MDSilverado]

Originally Posted by n2916s

We volunteer with the National Parks. Last summer we spent 10 weeks at Yellowstone and 8 weeks at Devils Tower. Back home for the winter (Miami), we volunteer at Biscayne National Park.

At Yellowstone and Deto, we were provided with a free 3 point rv site in exchange for our labor. We worked in the visitors center, did education walks, answered a zillion questions. Loved it.

Between the National Parks, National Forests, Corps of Engineers, State Parks, Habitat for Humanity etc. etc. etc. the opportunities are endless.

I highly, highly recommend it. All of the places listed will be grateful for the help, you will meet lots of great park personnel and visitors, get to see places and do things that the general public seldom does (we went looking for bears in YNP).

mike

Your living my dream! I hope I get there one day, it sounds awsome!

[AIR-Quarius]

I just got off the phone with a girl named janet (not our janet) who represents 'Cherokee Landyacht Harbor in Parkhill Oklahoma...she mentioned a fellow who has a lot for sale for 3500.00 You might call her and get more details...All I know about Cherokee is it is sitting right next to a huge lake...(fish fish fish!) Her number by the way is....918-304-9364 Will that help? She said it had everything (hookups etc)

[AIR-Quarius]

P.S. I paint out in a shed/barn behind the AS...mam..you will get used to it. You will feel the advantage of having wheels under you, and the freedom will slowly absorb into your blood! What is your hobby?

[RangerJay]

Retirement is a busy time - the waking hours shake out as:

• 1/3 of every day is devoted to yourself (workout, dogwalking, navel gazing, reading, TV - whatever)
• 1/3 of every day is devoted to volunteer work (community and charitable organizations)
• 1/3 of every day is devoted to some kind of household project (yard, trailer or workshop)
• 1/3 of every day is devoted to household chores (domestic and property - daily and seasonal)
• 1/3 of every day is devoted to family (kids just never leave ... no matter how far away they live)

You are right - the math doesn`t add up - so we pretty much just run our asses off ..... but we generally have a good time doing it .... sometimes we think we should go back to work so we can have more free time .....



Jay

[dymndgyrl]

Originally Posted by redhawkerII

I just got off the phone with a girl named janet (not our janet) who represents 'Cherokee Landyacht Harbor in Parkhill Oklahoma...she mentioned a fellow who has a lot for sale for 3500.00 You might call her and get more details...All I know about Cherokee is it is sitting right next to a huge lake...(fish fish fish!) Her number by the way is....918-304-9364 Will that help? She said it had everything (hookups etc)

We are still in the contemplating stage - but would happily start researching places to live.

Originally Posted by redhawkerII

P.S. I paint out in a shed/barn behind the AS...mam..you will get used to it. You will feel the advantage of having wheels under you, and the freedom will slowly absorb into your blood! What is your hobby?

Well, right now I am seriously involved in the aquarium hobby, with four large and expensive tanks of fish. So obviously that would come to an end . I also keep fish in a 5000g ornamental pond.

Gardening - yard and pond.

Then there is antiquing (which involves collecting things!), another no-no.
I have a bunch of, shall we say, lesser hobbies that a whole bedroom in our house is devoted to - sewing/costume making and various crafts, plus husbands model building.

Plus I am a singer and have a bunch of recording equipment and I would have to quit the 2 choirs I belong to if we are no longer here in the winter.

But, as I said, there is a lot I am wiling to give up. We are both sick of working (my husband more so than me - he is 61 and 10 yrs. older than me) and we always knew that the only way we can retire is to sell this house.
Some aspects of my old life can carry over - I can still garden, maybe even put in a pond with no fish that have to be cared for over the winter.
I can still scour antique shops, but only for stuff that can live outside in the garden!
Maybe, if we have enough storage, I can keep sewing stuff out there and have a craft table set up - after all, we will only be where the weather is nice enough to work outside

Maybe I am worrying needlessly. It does help, though, to talk with others about these things.

I did think of another "hobby". Instead of just selling off everything at once, I could store it and get into selling off bits at a time on EBay (I have a lot of collections!) Auctioning off a new selection of items every week would be kind of fun and at that rate it will take me many years to finish . . .

[dymndgyrl]

Originally Posted by RangerJay

Retirement is a busy time - the waking hours shake out as:

• 1/3 of every day is devoted to yourself (workout, dogwalking, navel gazing, reading, TV - whatever)
• 1/3 of every day is devoted to volunteer work (community and charitable organizations)
• 1/3 of every day is devoted to some kind of household project (yard, trailer or workshop)
• 1/3 of every day is devoted to household chores (domestic and property - daily and seasonal)
• 1/3 of every day is devoted to family (kids just never leave ... no matter how far away they live)

You are right - the math doesn`t add up - so we pretty much just run our asses off ..... but we generally have a good time doing it .... sometimes we think we should go back to work so we can have more free time .....

Jay

Thanks, Jay! And I'm worried that life will get too boring?

[sd90mac]

Hi,

We lived in Bertha for 14 months. I had my sewing machine and made quilts for the kids, and other crafty stuff. Terry (Overlander63) had a small train layout that he would set up on the table. Everything was scaled down from prior living areas, but we managed to continue doing what we liked to do.

Got kind of crowded at times, but doing what you love to do is as important as downsizing. I had a little garden area when we lived in tampa Fl, in an RV park and kept small plants alive.

You learn to work on only one or two things at a time, unlike the craft room I had in the house.

good luck and keep us posted.

Marie

[RavenDog]

Photography and Photo Processing.
Astronomy, including the use of a telescope.
Learning a foreign language.
Reading.
Dog.
Keeping in contact with friends and relatives.
Internet forums.
Attending sports events around the country.
Golfing.
Hiking.
Swimming.
Fishing.
Meeting new friends and entertaining.
Visiting friends from various states.
Sight-seeing and museums etc.
Exercising.
Cook outs.
Vehicle/Airstream maintenance and cleaning.
Ardently follow Women's Basketball (Pro/College) year round.
Music.

Basically, the world's at hand. Get involved and enjoy.

[Jim Foster]

Along with many of the things listed above, we took up kite flying and kite making a few years ago. Not the kites we had as kids mind you, but hi-tech, beautiful sport kites. Some we buy, some we make.

YouTube - KiteKids WSIKF 2008

We, like may people, can't figure out how we had the time to work.

[AIR-Quarius]

Lordy Lordy...what a grand homemaker you must be!!! I feel for you about your family of fish...I hoard ...and BOARD stray cats. I have felt sometimes in my head that if I died, and went to the other side...there would be all these thousands of cats that I've nurtured all my life--waiting right there for me. Ha!(better pack the MEOW MIX.) Whenever we live somewhere for a short time I meet up with stray abandoned cats. It's just in my heart to support them, and so, I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL LADY...it's like saying goodbye to brothers and sisters, and you know THAT emotion. You need to hire a loving manager or sitter to take care of all your stuff (belongings) ..like a caretaker you know. There are old buildings sometimes that are used for large storage...but your fish? ...wow But you both ARE making a great sound decision ahead of you. Good luck.!

[dymndgyrl]

Originally Posted by Jim Foster

Along with many of the things listed above, we took up kite flying and kite making a few years ago. Not the kites we had as kids mind you, but hi-tech, beautiful sport kites. Some we buy, some we make.
We, like may people, can't figure out how we had the time to work.

Wow, that was beautiful! Thanks for posting.
Is that two people controlling two kites?

[garry]

The major problem you have already figured out.....

What happens if it turns out the life style you can not tolerate??

You really need a back-up plan but as far as being bored I just can't see that happening things just keep cropping up to take up your time some planned and some unplanned.

I am one of the "how in the world did I ever have time to work" as in a real job.

We have a home in OK and and a small stick house in MS with a RV pole barn.

I retired in 2003 and we are tired of trying to keep up the two places and will sell the OK house and "retire" (what ever that means) to MS where we have 40 acres and can keep up with a real garden that gets away from us every year.

Now when we take off in the camper it will be a vacation instead of running back and forth to do maintenance and up keep.

Longest we ever stayed in the camper was 4 months and was glad to have the MS house to go to. (Camper stays in MS under cover).

Today we are in OK, tomorrow we will be in MS, Thur we will take camper to Memphis, TN to help out with the grandkids for a month or so.

As for the cost taxes in rural MS on 40 acres (farm land) with house $400 yr. so having a permanent place does not have to be expensive.

For us having a place we call home seems to be important and having the camper to vacation in is priceless. We no longer take long trips there are plenty of places to go within 300-500 miles of MS home from the mountains (north) to the gulf coast (south).

[Jim Foster]

Correct, two people, two kites. Each kite has four control lines, usually 100 or 120 feet long, depending on how many fliers are in line flying. They can fly any direction in any position. Sideways, backwards, diagonally, inverted etc. And yes, the lines to the kites do get twisted, and the kites do fly around each other creating "wraps". No problem. In an 8-10 mph wind these kites will go from 0 to 40 mph in one second and from 40 to 0 in 1/10 second, nearly an instant stop.

We fly in teams which have as many as sixteen fliers.

We have done many things during our lifetime, but this hobby has taken over our lives as much or more than anything except, perhaps, having children.

It gets us outside together, gives us lots of exercise, and takes us all over to fly at Kite Festivals.

Making kites of this type, and competing in hand crafted events at Festivals is another whole story.

The wind is free, and the kites don't take up much space.

Fun stuff

[safari 28]

Well not to sound flippant, but I start the day with e-mails and phone calls. Days that do not require personal calls are filled with old rv parks throughout the western US that I can use my folding bike. I ride over 5 k miles/year @home and in another 1500 miles in Colorado so biking is a key time killer. Any idea that has ever made money was on a long ride lost in in time.

Currently in Arcata and lots of cool roads to explore. Still, those damn phone calls/ e mails are waiting. You ( FULLY) retired folks have my envy... I guess??

[Rebee]

You may want to give some consideration to renting your home out. Put it in the hands of a "Trusted Agent", reale state company or a property manager. House hold belongings can be placed in storage. Try full timing for several years and if it does not work out come home.
As we get older so does out health. Being home with doctors and medical facilities we are comfortable with is a big concern.

[Melody Ranch]

I noticed that your from Gabriola Island. A friend of mine, here in Texas is has his Summer "Lot" on Gabriola" and Winter "Lot" here in Texas. Seems to work for him.......the problem is he can't seem to schedule the swapovers correctly and ends up with several airline roundtrips and ferry crossings.

[bob34787]

we bump into each other alot, complain about who is going to control the thermostat
and keep thinking we should have got a 34' with a slide out.