1st Year of Fulltiming Summation

Casa Grande, AZ

It's the time of the year when so many bloggers post a "year in review" or a summation of what occurred during the year.  Well, I've decided to follow the leads of others and do a summary of a few of the "key" points during our first year of fulltiming.

I'm not going to re-hash the places we've been, nor show pictures of significant stops. Hey, that's what the past blog entries are all about.  Please feel free to look back at our blog during the first year if looking for something specific.

Ok, here goes.

First, I truly cannot believe that we've already been on the road for an entire year.  We departed VA on 1/1/2012 (where it was pretty chilly) and headed south.  To steal a phrase from someone whose name I cannot recall "We wake up with nothing on the agenda, and by the time we go to bed we've only accomplished half of the things on the list".  The year has just flown by.

One of the good things about visiting many new to us places is that we've already discovered sights and attractions which we'll definitely put onto our list to return.
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Because I'm a bit anal when it comes to numbers and statistics here's a breakdown of our first year on the road:

Transportation Related

Motorhome:                     Miles Traveled                   9095 miles
                                         Ave. MPG                          8.58
                                         Total Cost of Diesel Fuel   $4162.53
                                         Ave. Price per Gallon        $3.61


Honda Fit:                       Miles Traveled                    8592 miles
                                         Ave. MPG                          39.34
                                         Total Cost of Gasoline        $777.66
                                         Ave. Price per Gallon         $3.56

Camping Related  (Figures include all utilities as well)

                              Total Cost                            $7387.21
                              Ave. Price per Day              $20.24
                              Shortest Stay                        1 night
                              Longest Stay                        60 days

        Types of facilities (separate locations, not nights)

                             Private/Commercial/Fairgrounds        18
                             State Parks/COE/County Parks           7
                             Membership Parks (TT, SKP)              9
                             Tiffin Service Center                             1
                             Dry Camp (Boondock)                         1
                             Total Locations                                   36

We actually camped in a total of 15 different states during the year of 2013 and stayed an average of 10.14 days in each location.

I have all of the budget line item figures for the year as well, but because this varies so much from person to person I've decided not to post charts for these figures.

Should anyone be interested in a "budget" item please do not hesitate to either leave a request in the "comment" section below or send us an email at the address listed in the top left portion of this blog page.

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Summation and General Comments Pertaining to the First Year on the Road

The phrase "we've had a blast" really sums up our first year as fulltimers. We have visited so many places we'd only read about prior to being able to retire.  We've found that you really can't get to know a totally new place until you spend at least a couple of weeks in one location.  You really need to get to know the area by visiting the downtown areas, going to the grocery stores, and stopping to talk with folks who actually live in an area.

We've visited some very small towns this year, but found that there are things to see, places to visit, and new things to discover about each and every area we were in.  Other than the freedom to go basically wherever we chose, probably the best thing about fulltiming is meeting new people.  With few exceptions, almost everyone we met was "upbeat" and loved to take a chair and relate some of their traveling experiences.

I hate to say this about our past "working" life and living location, but in the 25 years that we lived in our last stick and bricks location, we never really got to meet our neighbors.  We lived in a "bedroom community" where usually both adults worked during the day and had long commutes.  By the time everyone got home, it was late and not much socializing occurred.

Fulltiming has created a refreshing change.  We've met new folks (and have remained friends either thru blogging or emails) as we've traveled the country.  It really is amazing how many folks you will eventually meet up with again at a location clear on the other side of the country.

While I will agree with the statement that "fulltiming is not for everyone", it certainly is for us.  I would encourage anyone who truly believes that this is the lifestyle which they would like to pursue, to go for it.  One of the many reasons that Karen and I decided to begin fulltiming as early as we could is because we did not want to look back 20 years from now and "wish" that we had done this. We are very thankful to be able to actually live our fulltiming dream NOW.

Here's wishing everyone a safe travel year in the coming year.
Hopefully, we'll meet up with a few of you on the road this year.

(OF NOTE) We began writing this blog in December 2012, just prior to our fulltiming life on the road. We've now had over 50,000 pageviews to date. We never thought that so many people cared about what, and where we were.  We began this blog just as a "diary" for ourselves and to let our family know a bit more about our travels on the road.  THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS READ OUR BLOG!


Thanks for stopping by to take a look!