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westcoastas · 10-18-2015, 04:56 PM

This past October 14th was our first anniversary of life on the road. We had some rainy days and so I thought it'd be fun to put our photos to song. Thanks everybody for helping us out - we appreciate it so much!

Jeff & Coffee

BoldAdventure · 10-18-2015, 05:04 PM

That went by fast. Congrats.

Lily&Me · 10-18-2015, 05:08 PM

Congratulations, and may you have many more.

Maggie

westcoastas · 10-18-2015, 05:21 PM

Hmm... guess I need to donate for some stickers to upload my video. Oh well, maybe in a bit. Thanks anyway!

Tincampers · 10-18-2015, 05:33 PM

Congrats Jeff, we just went over 4 months.

Did you see the Madhatters fake field goal against Florida? Crazy guy.

AtomicNo13 · 10-18-2015, 05:43 PM

We're just shy of 5 years, it's awesome!

Congrats to you!

westcoastas · 10-18-2015, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrprez

Congrats Jeff, we just went over 4 months.

Did you see the Madhatters fake field goal against Florida? Crazy guy.

Ha! No, I didn't but I'm not surprised. Never a dull moment with Les!

Plan-B · 10-19-2015, 11:12 AM

Fantastic and congratulations!

meandmine · 10-19-2015, 12:23 PM

Congratulations, from a newcomer to fulltiming. We are on the road pulling the silver palace, first road trip. I'd love to hear how you feel about your decision to fulltime, now one year later...

Scottiesafar · 10-19-2015, 12:24 PM

Congratulations! Where are you now!

Kalamazookim · 10-19-2015, 04:35 PM

Congratulations! An year is a good milestone. I started my blog to celebrate my first year.
Towing Silver | Sold the house, bought the Airstream. No looking back!

It's now been almost a year an a half now.

Hope to see you down the road!

GuyGene · 10-23-2015, 09:33 AM

A BIG Congratulations! I've had this dream of full timing for many years. We have a house, some land, two full RV hookups at our place, but hey, I'd trade it all to be able to full time! Follow the weather, that's what I'd do.

westcoastas · 10-23-2015, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meandmine

Congratulations, from a newcomer to fulltiming. We are on the road pulling the silver palace, first road trip. I'd love to hear how you feel about your decision to fulltime, now one year later...

In a word...fulfilling. Do we have any regrets? Hmm... that would be a no. For us, the decision was a bit easier perhaps than for others in that we didn't have much to begin with. We never owned a house (our AS is our first owned home). I was part owner in a struggling environmental engineering business and so the math was relatively easy: we were treading water at best and more often than not draining our life savings. We could never afford to buy a house in southern California and so we bought a used home for about $36,500 and it happened to have wheels.

We've never had a moment of cabin fever or a feeling of being cramped. This is mostly due to the knowledge that this is OUR home - we own it, not a bank. Earlier this month I was sitting in a small cafe next to a fishing lake in the eastern Sierras. I started up a conversation with a young man, 30, who also lived neared where I used to in Orange County, CA. We both agreed we loved being out in the mountains, fishing. He told me had just bought his first house but shook his head at the prospect of taking 30 years to pay it off while working two jobs. He was a young man but with some doubts and worries. He loved to fish but was living in suburbia right next to Disneyland and Angel Stadium. I could almost see the thought bubble above his head: "I've just taken a huge step towards the "American Dream" but I'm not even sure I own it. I'm not even sure I can maintain it."

I wish I could have shaken his shoulders and tell him there's another way to look at one's path in life. I've seen it in articles about other young people, usually outdoor people (e.g., climbers, mountain bikers, surfers) who have decided to live in mobile domiciles, taking them from adventure to adventure. They're all fit and happy and I don't think they're faking it. I'm 56 years old and I once strived for that very same American dream and never really made it a reality. But now? Now I know there's a different way.

But I didn't tell him. I didn't grab his shoulders and shake him awake. We had fish to catch. As we parted I asked him where his wife was and he said she was home and that she didn't like fishing or the mountains. Oh.

Case closed.

BoldAdventure · 10-23-2015, 04:04 PM

Great photos guys!

Is there anything you would have done differently this year? Any regrets?

Climber · 10-23-2015, 05:48 PM

Congrats! You look very happy 😀

Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

westcoastas · 10-23-2015, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoldAdventure

Is there anything you would have done differently this year? Any regrets?

As far as set up I think we were okay except for a better converter, a three stage. My battery life stunk. I wish I had LED lights - need to convert soon. I wish we had passports to get in and out of the US when visiting Canada. I wish we were more disciplined in staying fit. I had it going for most of the year but then slipped the last couple months. I remember reading someone who said it was hard to keep up the exercise and I know now he's right. When I paid out for gym fees, I had no problem making use of the equipment. When you're on the road, it's easy to put off a regimen by sightseeing, going out to eat, etc. Obviously it's important to stay fit to ward off nagging illnesses. But I also figure it's important to keep up muscle in order to move the hitch around. I'm from California and so don't trust people enough to leave my hitch on. I guess I could get a locking pin but I just put it in the trailer trunk. It's important for both to keep up the muscle tone to help with balance as we walk up and down the steps. Little stuff like that can help prevent bad scenarios while camping in the sticks. Like my doctor told me, if you want to be healthy in your 60s, better get right in your 50s. (Haha... BoldAdventure, you can skip that last line.)

Watch your tire wear. Near the end of the year I lucked out by replacing my tires in time. We had some pretty old tires off our used AS - more than five years old! I was told that if you sit anywhere for a length of time, any tire will separate on the side wall due to weight alone. Find the date on the sidewall - I think it's a four digit number in a outlined box showing week and year of manufacture.

Hopefully solar in the near future.

Need to learn how to fly fish.

Lily&Me · 10-24-2015, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by westcoastas

Need to learn how to fly fish.

Have you seen Ray Eklunds Wyoming 2016 thread In the Boondocking forum? August 14th meet-up in Laramie....then into the wilds, en masse. He is limiting it to 15 rigs, and we are just a few short of that, so......

This will be a great time, you could see some new places, meet some great folks..... and would learn to fly fish.....and, Lily and I will be there.

I would love to meet you two.

Maggie

badkat · 10-24-2015, 08:16 AM

We hit our second anniversary on 4/5 and have not had any regrets. Our blog is lifeon thebluehighways.com Another AS blog written by full-timers is Watson's Wander. It is a wonderful life to be able to enjoy our beautiful country. Without full-timing we do not feel we could enjoy so many Nat'l Parks and Monuments. Good Luck!

westcoastas · 10-24-2015, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Have you seen Ray Eklunds Wyoming 2016 thread In the Boondocking forum? August 14th meet-up in Laramie....then into the wilds, en masse. He is limiting it to 15 rigs, and we are just a few short of that, so......

This will be a great time, you could see some new places, meet some great folks..... and would learn to fly fish.....and, Lily and I will be there.

I would love to meet you two.

Maggie

Wow, I just checked out that thread - it looks fantastic! I have to get back with you 'cuz we had our sights set on going up to Alaska next spring until mid-September or so. Hmm... man this looks fun with the right number of rigs, an experienced host and the two of you. We missed out on Wyoming this past year and we would love to see it. Darn... choices, choices.