Full timing or 3/4 timing?

[Coalman]

Sorry but can't get to the point of selling the house of 25 years and going full time. However we are going to leave it for 2-3 years , off and on, mostly on and travel the Great U.S. in Pudge, our FC 25. This is our first AS and we love camping in it. So, are we 3/4 timers or what ?? Please advise. WBCCI 04612

[KJRitchie]

I could see it would be hard to sell your house in Durango, Co. Easy to decide to sell ours in Nixa, MO. Got a much better price for it than expected so we are going to try full timing after I retire in about a month. Used an estate sale to get rid of everything prior to closing. Only things we are keeping are personal items in a 5x5 climate controlled storage unit. We have a desire to downsize so it was easy to get rid of most of our stuff. For us owning a house was a monkey on our backs. We are living in our Airstream in a local mobile home park while I finish my job. We still go out to the local lake campgrounds on the weekends. It's working out well so far.

[PKI]

Sounds like you are going to keep an anchor. It is a very good idea and you are wise to do it, especially considering the central location of your anchor. Perfection would be to have a garage for Pudge so you could duck into a safe place for Christmas and New Years, before returning to your adventure.

Hope to see your smiles down the road. Pat

[Piggy Bank]

It's an interesting question/concept.

What is the term if you plan on being gone from your homestead home long enough to be gone, but not permanently?

Here are some thoughts. Anyone else?
Long-termer
Base Runner (in between home base and someplace else)
Christmas and Easter homeowner (you will only be home for family holidays)
Part Timer
Road Tripper
Runaway
Waltzers? (¾ time ha ha ha)

[nvestysly]

We like the phrase any-timers. Not that you need a "name." Just do what you want for as long as you want when you want.

We sometimes go on trips for a few weeks and sometimes for a few months. We seldom go for just a long weekend as the prep time is almost the same as being gone for weeks/months. A trip for us usually involves one or two anchor events/places and takes shape from there. We're not opposed to going on similar routes to previous trips as the day trips and major stops along the way tend to be different from one trip to the next.

See Ya Down the Road!

[uncle_bob]

Hi

9 months a year is a *long* time to be away from a house. You might want to look into "creative" solutions to watching over everything. One is a live in house sitter .....

Bob

[dkottum]

We love our home, have been traveling south 6-7 months a year for the last 13 years. Extensive touring of the country, every state except a few in the Northeast, on our way to various winter destinations. We turn off the heat, winterize the plumbing, lock the doors and never give it a second thought until we return. No problems.

We bought a winter home in the Southwest this year, sold our Airstream FC 25 and are looking for something more nimble (Airstream Basecamp high on the list) to continue this great lifestyle.

Our neighbor does something similar, leaves a little heat on (50 degrees) but still winterizes, has cameras set up at home so he can give it a visual check through the internet whenever he wants.

[TwoSporks]

Clunky but accurate: part-time, full-time RVer. That is what we called ourselves when we still had a house but traveled for long stretches at a time.

After spending two years as a part-time, full-timer (6-7 months on the road, 5-6 at home) and one year as a full-timer without a house/home base, I definitely like the part-time travel better. Since we mostly wild camp without hookups, I sometimes just want an extended break from conserving water and electricity. I also miss having a big kitchen and a quiet office. Since my husband and I both work full-time, it is hard to get work done and enjoy traveling on a continual basis. I like traveling for two or three months while working a light schedule and then going back home and working more intensely to catch up before the next trip. That cycle is impossible when traveling full-time. We will have a house again at the end of September and I am looking forward to being a part-timer again.

Best wishes for your 3/4 travel lifestyle!

[JBBeaubeaux]

Welcome to the world of full timing. Today is 409 days on the road and we love it. To see what we've been up to, check our blog at www.livinginbeauty.net

[m.hony]

I think when we retire we will keep the sticks and bricks as a place to receive mail, register cars, and set up medical appointments and be 3/4 timers.
We may be gone 2-3 months at a time.
Go from caravan to caravan or rally to rally or just travel on our own indefinitely.
Go north in summer and south in winter.
Going/rolling with the flow...
Do what we want, when we want, and how we want to do it...

[Coalman]

Thanks to everyone for there great information, suggestions and good advice but, I should have clarified our plans in a bit more detail, oops. First off we are keeping the house (or sticks and bricks as m.hony calls it) and family will live in our house and watch the cats during or travels. We plan to rent a house or flat for maybe a month once or twice a year if we find a place we want to extend our investigation/good times. We also plan to park/store Pudge 1-2 times a year to travel to EU for a look around and to walk a Camino pilgramage lasting maybe 2-4 months a trip. So I guess that would classify us as part-time campers and full-time travelers, now that's a clunky term.

I should also point out that we have made 3 two month long camping trips in our previously owned truck camper. We really enjoyed those trips. They all went well for us in the truck camper but now we will be traveling in a pull behind AS.

Well I guess that about says it all for now so, any updated thoughts, suggestions, comments (good or bad) would be kindly regarded.

Pudge, WBCCI 04612, 4CU

[DreamStreamr]

Coalman
We're visiting Durango this week. Great place, awesome weather and vistas. We love downtown too - great time at the gallery crawl Friday night. Anyhow, we'd call you most-timers or full-timers. We met a guy a long time ago in Palmer AK who was full timing. Said he has five or six houses. "Why do you keep that many houses?" "My exes live in them." Still, he's a full timer.

We're ten years in but three years ago found a property in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's ours and we love visiting it. It doesn't tie us down. We love traveling too much to stop.

[Coalman]

[QUOTE=DreamStreamr;2009908]Coalman
We're visiting Durango this week. Great place, awesome weather and vistas. We love downtown too - great time at the gallery crawl Friday night. Anyhow, we'd call you most-timers or full-timers. We met a guy a long time ago in Palmer AK who was full timing. Said he has five or six houses. "Why do you keep that many houses?" "My exes live in them." Still, he's a full timer.

We're ten years in but three years ago found a property in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's ours and we love visiting it. It doesn't tie us down. We love traveling too much to stop.[/