Thanks to the RV blogging community

I started this blog in 2010 when we began seriously researching early retirement. Through this research we discovered other fulltime RVer's blogs and really appreciated their background stories - how they got to be on the road. It quickly became clear that blogging would be a source of education and community among the fulltime RV crowd. Some of our favorite fulltime RV blogs are in the links on the right.

The blog was made public after we gave notice at work a couple of weeks ago. To date I have documented some of the soul searching we've gone through to get to this point. Retiring early is not a decision made lightly! We both had to get to a point where we felt comfortable knowing our funds would last for the next 30 -50 years; without having to work unless we really wanted to. Some sites that helped us with the financial aspects of early retirement have been: Mr. Money Mustache: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ and the forums at: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/.

The fulltime RV blogging community is a wealth of information on exploring cities and towns and back country and history; where to camp; where to hike; how to handle RV maintenance issues; and much, much more. With this blog I hope to pay it forward to the community that has helped us so much over the past two years and will continue to help us for years to come.

Here's where we are in the process of moving:

Lots of good-bye dinners going on in the next week as we purge and pack. Good byes are not too bad because we know we will be back in San Diego on a regular basis as our parents and siblings families are here. I don't even feel retired yet because I am so busy with closing out the house! I feel like retirement is really going to start on August 7th when we get in the truck, loaded to the brim with our possessions, and head for Oregon.

Back to packing...Lisa

SOLD!

It's official, and only a few days later than expected, the house is SOLD!

My last day of work will be July 27th and Hans' will be July 31st! That was a wonderful sentence to type! We have to be out of the house on August 7th, making our way to Oregon and a whole new life!

Now I'll try to write a sentence that doesn't need exclamation points... :-)  We are now renting back our own house for a period of 3 weeks, allowing us to get rid of everything inside it. We still have most of our furniture even though most of it is allocated to friends, so living here still feels pretty normal. That's going to change dramatically over the next 3 weeks!

Life is most excellent!!!!!!

I love Friday the 13th!

Looks like Friday the 13th will be our new favorite day...that's the day escrow is supposed to close!

Removal of escrow contingencies was delayed for a week due to the banks being overwhelmed by so many people refinancing their homes that it took longer for our buyers to get final loan approval. This added an extra week of mild stress as we waited for the good word, but now we are on the downhill slide!

When escrow closes and the money is in the bank, we give two-week notice at work, and are out of the house on August 2 or 3. It's amazing to think I only have 3 MORE WEEKS of work left!

We are going through our belongings a little every day; determining what goes in storage (art mostly), what will go in the RV, what goes to my daughter, and the rest is for sale or donation.

You really don't have a good feel for how much stuff you own until you have to go through every single piece of it and make a decision. With each item I eliminate from my life, I feel lighter and free-er and ready for anything!

Since obtaining Oregon residency is supposed to take about 60 days, we've got a little time to fill before we buy the truck and trailer. The current plan is to stay with my daughter and SIL for a week or so at their home in Southern Oregon; then we have a house sitting gig in Portland for 8 days covering Labor Day; we'd also like to take the Arcic Fox manufacturing tour at their headquarters in La Grande, OR where we will see our future home being built (or one just like it).

Metamorphosis is awesome!

Purging is Liberating

There's nothing like getting rid of virtually all of your possessions to make you feel free!

We're just about 2 weeks into a 30 day escrow and we've already sold at least 75% of the stuff that needs to go. And the best part is that most of the big stuff is going to our friends who are fine with taking it once we no longer need it. This takes a big load off our shoulders and makes it all not seem so overwhelming.

We'll have one last garage sale after escrow closes then any remaining goodies will be donated.

Serendipity has been showing up left and right. This feels good and right and we are ready for change. This is the purge phase, next is transition out of work, to be followed by exploration!

So happy!

The Metamorphosis has Begun!

We are in escrow!!!!!!! Such sweet words! The house sold after only 7 days on the market! We've still got to get through the inspection and appraisal, etc. but we are optimistic. With a 30-day escrow and 21-day rent back, allowing us to give notice at our jobs once escrow has closed (don't want to put the cart before that horse), we have to be out of the house on August 2nd.

Boy do we have a lot of stuff to get rid of! Despite regular purging over the past 2 years we still have all the accoutrements of daily living and working. Luckily there is a community garage sale coming up in 2 weeks so we should be able to unload a bunch and make a bit of money to boot.

It's going to be a frenzy of activity for the next few weeks!

We went to Oregon over the Memorial Day week and believe we have decided what 5th wheel we'll end up with...the Arctic Fox 29-5K:

It's a good $25k less than our previous first choice but still a well rated, quality built, rugged unit that will suit our lifestyle perfectly.

Here we go....!

Let the Metamorphosis Begin!

Well, it's been over a year since I've posted. After deciding not to market the house last spring, I needed to back away from constantly thinking about early retirement. I didn't actually succeed in blocking those thoughts, but it helped not to to have to write about my yearning!

Another year of saving under our belts, some recovery in the housing market, fuel prices have stabilized somewhat, various projects have been completed around the house making it as ready for marketing as it can be...so we have decided to list it come June. The agents we have spoken with sound optimistic that we can get the price we want because it's not often that a house this size comes on the market in our neighborhood.

Sooooo, right now we are full of positive energy, slightly reined in excitement, with a dose of nerves thrown in for balance! And the purging of possessions has regained momentum...Even though we've been purging bits and pieces for two years, there is still a TON OF STUFF to get rid of!

In a couple of weeks we will go to Oregon to visit my daughter and son-in-law and see their new house. During that trip we'll tour some Arctic Fox 5th wheels and probably drive a couple of brands of diesel trucks. We'll open an Oregon bank account to start the process towards residency. We've decided to make Oregon our domicile because my daughter has agreed to be our mail forwarding service and their home will be a regular landing point for us.

We still love the NuWa 345 LK WTB 5th wheel, but haven't decided if it is fully worth the additional cost for the premium brand (about $20k more). So we'll check out the Arctic Fox which is known for good quality, four season, rving at a lower price point.

Let the fun begin!!!!

Metamorphosis...Delayed!

On Dictionary.com one of the definitions of metamorphosis is: 

3. any complete change in appearance, character, circumstances, etc.

Since this blog is about our transformation from the working world to the retired world, I'd say change in circumstances fits our story just fine. And we currently have a change in plans.

About a year ago, when we started this blog, we had agreed that we would ready the house for sale starting January 2011 and put it on the market in the spring of 2011.

We've been painting the interior, scraping ceilings, replacing carpet, etc., etc., etc. Lots of little cosmetic things to make the house more appealing to someone who wants a house they can live in immediately, and eventually tackle projects here and there to make the house their own.

While all this has been going on, Hans has taken on several large projects at work and in the meantime, fuel prices have gotten higher and higher. These pressures have had us discussing endlessly the pros and cons of selling now or waiting a while. Ultimately we have decided that now is not the best time for us to proceed with marketing the house. We've decided to see how the work situation plays out and continue to save money, building our fuel nest egg. Perhaps some time in the next year we'll be ready to sell the house and hit the road.

The metamorphosis continues, just at a slower pace for now!