Have It Your Way

It was household duty day at our house. After all that fun in Hilton Head, we were in desperate need of some time to clean the place up and do some laundry. So, that's exactly what we did today. Then, because it was sunny and 75 degrees, we went straight to the beach.

Yes, it was a very good day.

As the sun sets here along the South Carolina coast, we're taking notice of the many different types of rigs that are here. There's a couple from Quebec in an old no-slide Rexall AirBus across the road. A couple of sites away there's one of those nifty Hi-Lo trailers that pops up to twice its height. There are one or two 40-foot diesel pushers in the place that we've gawked at as we've passed by. And, we just met a lovely couple from North Carolina that are traveling in a Born Free Class C. They wanted to know what we thought of our Winnebago as they are close to a deal on a Journey. We've seen several fivers come in of different shapes and sizes. And, heck, there are even a few folks here in tents. Such is life in a campground. Yep, it's a real mixed bag.

The thing about being in a campground in the middle of the week in October is that most of the people you see are fulltimers of one sort or another or extended travelers. And, we're noticing that these good folks travel in all kinds of packages. And, that reminds us that there are many ways to approach this lifestyle of ours.

When we were soaking up every piece of data we could about what it was to be a fulltimer, we found ourselves looking for "the right answers." What kind of rig should we buy? Where should we travel? What campgrounds should we go to? After all, we were the first to admit we didn't know a damn thing. So, we were eager to hear from "the experts", and that would be any and all who were down this path before us.

What we quickly discovered is that, as much as we wanted to find one right answer, there simply isn't such a thing. There are as many ways to fulltime as there are fulltimers. There are folks who sell the house and those who don't. Some get a storage place, others don't. Some buy a motorhome. Some buy a fiver. Some buy new. Some buy used. The combinations are limitless.

There are those who would like you to believe that the only way to fulltime is to sell your house and all of your belongings, buy the biggest fiver you can afford and pull it with the biggest diesel with duallies you can find, camp in COE spots with the "it factor" for a month at a time and workcamp along the way.

Dear readers, we want you to know that is just one of many ways to approach this lifestyle. It's like when you pull into Burger King and order lunch or dinner. You really can have it your way.

After all, four months ago we loaded up a 32-foot Class A gasser and called it home. And, from the very beginning, we knew we'd want a bigger one. And, in a couple of months we'll probably have it. We have a 7x7 foot cube of stuff we're paying to store every month and someday we'll probably come to conclusion we don't need any of it. But, as we said before, it was what we needed to do at the time. We have no plans to workcamp anytime soon. But, hey, we might give it a try somewhere down the road if we feel like it.

So, sports fans, that's OUR way. We don't expect or recommend that anyone else try this at home. But, hey it works for us.

There are people who would gasp that we're traveling in a short little gasser. There are others that would say we can't really call ourselves fulltimers because we have some of our stuff stored in a box somewhere. Others would say we've screwed up because we're already shopping for a new rig. To that, we give a great big "WHATEVER!"

The point of this ramble is that there is no one right (or wrong) way to approach this fulltiming gig. What is most important, above all else, is that you make it work for you.

If your life long dream is to travel the country on a bicycle with a tent on your back, for goodness sake, please proceed! Whatever your dream, the most important thing is to make it yours. And, to anyone who gasps at your choices you can join us in a great big - say it with me now - WHATEVER!