Well I thought it was about time I got round to putting an update on our adventures.... My last post was around March/April when I was getting excited about setting off fulltiming.
So we finally left home - Baz, Shell (me) and Homer (our Autotrail Dakota). We have spent most of the summer doing motorhome shows, model airoplane shows, visiting friends and relatives all over the country and generally having a good time. Things are going pretty much to plan and budget.
We had some interesting weeks at the beginning - our first visit to a weighbridge was frightening.... so off came a few non essentials (did I really need to carry 22 books on board and did Baz have to have 3 toolboxes?) and I think we lost a few essentials too! A few months on we have fine tuned what we really need and what we don't and are at present doing yet another 'have we used that at all?' analysis session.
For anyone considering packing it all in and going for it there are many things to consider here are one or two.
Can you truly leave all those trapings that come with living in a house behind? As a bit of a technophobe it was not a problem for me.... however Baz (gadget freak) did have a few tears over leaving behind of the TIVO, the playstation, the microwave (yes we only use the cooker and the b-b-q!) and many other toys. I have to admit they are in storage at present as we may one day have to return to normal life.
Can you spend 24-7 in a confined space with your loved one? We have had some naff weather this summer (some good aswell) and although you can get the waterproofs on and go out and about you still spend a lot of time vanbound if the weather is wet! Fortunately we get on pretty well...
Can you afford it? For many this will be an issue, if you are not totally comitted to your budget you could easily get carried away. We have stayed on some lovely CLs - remote and few facilities for as little as £3.00 a night. But the temptation of commercial sites could very easily have dragged us off budget. However we want to do this for as long as possible so stick to what we agreed. (The rising price of diesel has meant we have sometimes stayed in one place longer than originally planned)
So for us the next few weeks are fairly full. I have work for a week (I registered as self employed so I can take opportunitites when they come along) Then we are off on a couple of model airoplane flying holidays. Then a quick trip round the parents (both sets) to say farewells as we are off down south for the winter (France, Spain and Portugal are planned)
Anyway thought some of you might be interested in how we are doing. Take care all and if you see us around (we have a small Homer Simpson sitting in our front window) come and say hello!
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when was the last time you did something for the first time?
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Topic: Fulltiming
