How much healthier did you get?

[TherapyBound]

As we're moving closer to our "start date" one of the things we've been asking ourselves is, how much healthier will we be by doing this?

Right now we work 12 hour days, 7 days a week, mostly (but not exclusively) sitting at our computers. We get very little exercise, and when we do get it, it tends to be in intense bursts, on our feet morning until night at media events, sometimes for up to 5 days in a row.

Are we correct in thinking the RV lifestyle tends to encourage a LOT more movement? A lot more ability to take advantage of fresh foods (I'm thinking local farmers markets, etc)? A lot more mental engagement outside the confines of "home"? A lot more inspiration and excitement about getting up each day?

Or did your S&B lifestyle simply follow you on the road?

[$ Spot]

1 hour ago, Bigthinkers said:

Are we correct in thinking the RV lifestyle tends to encourage a LOT more movement? A lot more ability to take advantage of fresh foods (I'm thinking local farmers markets, etc)? A lot more mental engagement outside the confines of "home"? A lot more inspiration and excitement about getting up each day?

Yes because the environment is ever changing & calling you, & the very nature of many RVers is adventurous.

1 hour ago, Bigthinkers said:

Or did your S&B lifestyle simply follow you on the road?

No because the environment is never changing & holding you, & the very nature of many S&Bers is sedentary.

     Spot

[trailertraveler]

In my opinion, what you live in has less to do with improving one's health than other factors such as stress and amount of physical exercise and mental stimulation. While retirement can be stressful to some, it can reduce stress for others. If you will still be working the same amount, just from an RV, then I doubt your health will change much without a concerted effort to do so. If you have allergies or sensitivity to common air pollutants, or altitude; travel to some locations may affect those health issues. If you will be worried about your finances on the road, that stress might adversely affect your heath. Everyone is different. It is hard to predict how each will react to change.

[TherapyBound]

23 minutes ago, trailertraveler said:

Everyone is different. It is hard to predict how each will react to change.

Of course.   

I'm interested in hearing how it worked out, in general. Are you more active than you used to be because the lifestyle encourages that? Or do you find you still sit around reading or watching TV as you did in a permanent home, but maybe with a better view?

Not looking for a hard-and-fast rule, just whether or not people do tend to BE more active, or if they've noticed an improvement (overall) in their health because of the lifestyle.

[chuckbear]

We carry our TV, Satellite system, stereo and DVD player with us in the RV to give us a variety of entertainment. At night, on rainy days and for other reasons, they all provide us with some form of relaxation and entertainment. During the days we are usually out hiking, biking, kayaking, climbing, swimming or any other outdoor activities we can find. We are pretty active while at home so these are just bonus activities while traveling. But yes, we do feel better while on the road. Whether this translates to better health, only our doctors could tell and they don't travel with us. Chuck

[trailertraveler]

5 hours ago, Bigthinkers said:

Of course.   

I'm interested in hearing how it worked out, in general. Are you more active than you used to be because the lifestyle encourages that? Or do you find you still sit around reading or watching TV as you did in a permanent home, but maybe with a better view?

Not looking for a hard-and-fast rule, just whether or not people do tend to BE more active, or if they've noticed an improvement (overall) in their health because of the lifestyle.

When I worked, I had to pass an annual physical fitness test and my employer had a program to promote physical fitness. That all ended with retirement. On the other hand, I do a lot more hiking. I have gained weight and added a couple of prescription medications, but that may be as much a factor of age as anything else as I retired 15 years ago.

Dear Wife has changed her home routine little other than we do go places of interest much more frequently while traveling.

I do think we have both benefitted from a reduction in stress after retirement. I suffered from fairly frequent migraines when working. I have not had a migraine in the 15 years since retirement. 

Edited July 13, 2019 by trailertraveler

[richfaa]

We began this Rv adventure 14 years ago and two trucks two 5th wheels and over 130K miles we are still on the road. We are 14 years older my knees hurt, my eyesight  is worse, my hearing is worse. We are slowing down. We are in comparatively good health but not the same as we were 14 years ago.IMO the RV lifestyle is less stressful than our job was so in that respect we are healthier. . We no longer hike, bike, climb, run  boat belong to a health club. We did all those things in years past but we still got old  eyesight and hearing deteriorated knees went bad.  Mother nature takes its toll and we can not win.

[sandsys]

We walked through way more museums and living history sites when we were RVing. We also took up geocaching. Which doesn't mean we didn't still spend hours in front of our computers; we had to research all those places to go. Being retired made it possible to do it all. As to formal exercise, I found stretch bands to be easy to bring along for strength training.

Linda

[2gypsies]

Definitely...... you can be MUCH more active and healthy when RVing..... if you set your mind to it.  There are so many opportunities for staying active.

Still.... we know of some who go to a new place and basically just sit at their campsite.  I think if you're not interested in being active in a S&B then you probably will have little or no interest in pursuing activity while RVing.

[sandsys]

4 minutes ago, 2gypsies said:

I think if you're not interested in being active in a S&B then you probably will have little or no interest in pursuing activity while RVing.

And if you don't make time for activity in your S&B you may have even less time in an RV since RVing itself makes demands on your time.

Linda

[LiveWorkDream]

As you can see, it's an individual thing. But since your situation sounds a lot like ours, I'll share our experience to hopefully give you some insight on how it can work.

We do work long hours, more than we did before we hit the road in 2007 because the Internet has changed customer expectations. Whereas before we had work hours, today it all blends together. As you know that's the nature of being self employed. But...

Pre full-timing we were outdoorsy people but our physical health was just meh. Sure, we biked and hiked more because we started living in beautiful places. But we never challenged ourselves physically. It was pretty much status quo, just in more beautiful places.

Twelve years later, hitting 50 made something click. We just ran our first marathon and plan to continue doing so well into our later years. This didn't necessarily have anything to do with full-timing, but the ability to train in freekin' awesome places is quite motivating!

So yeah, we're in better shape than when we started. We still work crazy long hours, but without the burden of homeownership and all that accompanies it, we have waaaaaay more free time to pursue a higher level of fitness. 

Good luck to you! Keep in touch and let us know how your adventures go. See ya down the road!

[TherapyBound]

Thank you for that insight, LiveWorkDream! If you're the LiveWorkDream I think you might be, your situation is a LOT like ours. The demands can be crushing at times, and working from home it's just too easy to sit down at 8am and not get up again for 12 hours, other than to grab a meal and use the bathroom. We plan to change that with a change to our business. Although we'll still be working, it will have a slightly different focus.

It does seem like the changing scenery and the chance to see new places and meet new people would be a big inspiration. Even if it isn't a massive change physically, the mental side of it seems so much healthier, and that counts for a lot.

Interesting to read the replies. We're definitely interested in being active, but our current workload doesn't really lend itself to that, hence the need for a life-changing move in another direction.

[Kirk W]

12 hours ago, Bigthinkers said:

Are we correct in thinking the RV lifestyle tends to encourage a LOT more movement?

There really isn't a pat answer to this question as living in an RV is not enough to cause a change of personal life habits, but the majority of those who RV fulltime or even extesively do tend to be more active people. I'm not sure how much of that is due to a change of lifestyle or if it may be that most of us were at least somewhat active before our RV living began. If you actually enjoy active persuits, there is little doubt that being retired will allow more time for physical activities and scenic areas do tend to offer more new and varied places to walk, hike, or move about and it can also offer opportunities to do new activities. But what you most enjoy will probably not change. If you work in a pressure job, retired fulltimeing can be a huge stress reliever and help a great deal with things like blood pressure and probably also eating habits. We were square dancers before we retired and we found that to be a very available activity while traveling and an excellent way to meet new people and develop more friends. We also did a lot of volunteer work with parks and wildlife refuges which tended to be outdoor work that was physically active. Pam's health did improve partly due to getting her out of the cities where air is poluted, since she had a breathing issue. We had always done a significant amount of walking and that did increase and our consumption of fast foods decreased. I am not sure that I can actually correlate to an improvement in health.

I can offer one other observation that may support what you are thinking. We left fulltime to take up a home-base in a community where the majority of residents are former fulltimes and the average age is well above the official life expectancy that is published. We have several neighbors who are past 80 that still TV and who take part in volunteer maintenance chores in the community. I really do believe that most fulltimers stay healthy and active much longer than do the average retirees, but I can't document that belief. 

[TherapyBound]

1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

I really do believe that most fulltimers stay healthy and active much longer than do the average retirees, but I can't document that belief. 

Empirical evidence works for me in this instance. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so there's no guarantee when it comes to health, but it does seems like a lifestyle that encourages new perceptions, more movement, and an overall better attitude, if that's the change you're looking for. And we are.

 

[Kirk W]

8 hours ago, Bigthinkers said:

if that's the change you're looking for. And we are

Just remember that the change of activity level will not happen by accident but must be planned and worked at. It is going to be much like joining a gym in that if you walk far more than usual on one day you will have sore muscles the next day but to make progress you have to stick to the activity anyway. Plan to spend time in places that offer a lot of activities and walking. When you get to the places that offer active choices, go for it! When we spent our summer near Yellowston NP, one of the rangers told me that studies have shown that 80% of the visitors there never get more than 1 mile from the automobile the arrived in. Our observation supported that opinion. My point is that when you get places that offer a lot of walking, it takes more than just being there and the rewards for your efforts are great. If you want a prime example of what walkers see in Yellowstone that most visitors do not, check out this map of the gyser basin around Old Faithful Gyser. Most of the national parks and monuments are much like that. The most beautiful ocean shore that we have ever seen was in Olympic NP after a 3 mile walk(6 miles round trip). Get yourselves some good daypacks (not the cheapest ones) that have water bottles and such, pack your lunch, rain gear, sun protection, but spray, and a first aid kit as well as your lunch and just spend the day where others only take a few pictures and drive on. We are not hikers any longer but just go for long walks. If properly equiped you can go a surprising distance by walking slowly, taking time to read all of the storyboards, take pictures, and sit down to observe things. Our typical walking day we will spend at least an hour to cover 1 mile and sometimes more. This style of walking (not hiking) means that you see things other pass by, and it takes far less effort with better results. The beach hike took us 2 hours to walk the 3 miles out, then we spent more than an hour there and ate our lunch, then spend another about 2 hours on the 3 mile return trip. It does take comitment and planning but the rewards are great.

[FL-JOE]

We never worked from our RV.  From day one we were fully retired.

I think just starting out we were like most, we leaned toward "vacation" mode more than we should have.  We didn't stay in one place long enough to really explore everything and tried to see too much the first year.  We ate out more than usual and exercised less than when we had the sticknbrick.

We have learned to slow the pace down.  Compared to the first year of full timing we are eating out much less and exercising a lot more.  My walking routine averages between 10 and 15 miles per week and the DW uses her bicycle for most of her exercise.  We also started using 2 kayaks this past year for additional exercise and entertainment.  

I think we live a pretty healthy lifestyle but maybe we would be doing about the same thing if still in the sticknbrick, who knows.

[richfaa]

Well I am 82 when we started this Adventure 14 years ago I was  68 big difference between 68 and 82.We have been Rving  for 30 years and tenting and backpacking before that so we have  done it all.We are in very good health as is Helen but time takes its toll.Many of you may not understand that but you will.

We no longer bike. We no longer take long hikes.We like to eat out and do often. We finally purchased a permanent lot in Florida as our Rving Days are drawing to a close  and perhaps a single wide is  in the near future  but we will not do Ohio winters till we can no longer travel at all. We have a club car  golf cart at our Complex in Florida as it is a very large complex but we do walk Helen Golfs . 

We have Rv'ed the lower 48.Have not been everywhere but did over 130K miles.Everything has a beginning and a end. We are nearing the end of a great adventure. We all will in time.

[TherapyBound]

richfaa, would you say you've had more adventure, more mental stimulation, more interest in an involved life than you might have if you had stayed in a permanent home and been somewhat confined to your community most of the time? None of us can "know" what we'd have done, but as a guess, would you have been as active and involved had you not taken to the road? At 82, and still enjoying your great adventure, it seems to me you're an excellent example of what I'm getting at: being in a situation that encourages new horizons, literally and figuratively, offers more reason to get out of bed and enjoy a fuller life. I just wonder if it's harder to be in a rut when your view is ever-changing.

[fpmtngal]

I think Kirk's comments are right on.

I'm not necessarily the best person to answer since my house hasn't sold yet so I'm not a full-timer. I'm also solo, something that's not uncommon but isn't the norm. On the other hand, I have spent a lot of time in my RV, both living in it at one spot (4 months), as well as taking multi-month trips, some covering a lot of miles and others being more of a wandering, where will I go tomorrow or gee, this is a great place, think I'll stay here for a while type of trip.  I've stayed at a number of different types of camping situations from lovely, destination type campgrounds to open camping somewhere.

It's all about attitude. My experience is that I take my health and fitness attitudes with me. I can be as active or a sedentary as I want.

If I'm feel lazy, I don't get any exercise.  If I'm staying somewhere that doesn't promote walking, I'll stay inside on the computer or watch movies up to a point, I get bored with such things easily.  If I'm camped near a national park or somewhere with fascinating places to go hiking, I'll be at the trailhead with my camera(s) early because that's what I enjoy.  

As far as food goes, if I've driven a lot of miles (350 is a lot for me) and had to break camp in the morning and set up later on, I can almost guarantee I'll pull something out of the freezer for dinner, the last thing I want to do is go somewhere to find something to eat.  Doesn't matter if it's a market or a restaurant - I'm tired and just want to sit.  I figured that out very quickly, my original intention had been to carry less food and buy locally but quickly discovered that wasn't practical for me as a solo RVer.  Now I carry more food and make sure I build in "down days" whenever I'm traveling.  That way I'm more likely to eat properly and not depend on Stouffer's.

Local farmer's markets?  Too often I'm camping where such things don't happen.  In fact, most of the time I'm camping where there's only limited local markets and their choice of produce and products could be very limited.  That's my own personal choice for camping.

My personal experience is that traveling RVers have to have a certain amount of agility and ability to do things because that's the nature of it.  Current rigs don't necessarily take a lot of strength but you still have to bend over or squat down for hookups, moving stuff around if you set up chairs or a grill on your front patio, etc.  I have to have the ability to climb a ladder to clean off my roof-mounted solar panels, do roof maintenance and clean the slide roof since I don't have a slide awning.  That's the nature of my rig.  Would I lose those agility things sooner if I didn't have an RV?  Perhaps, but perhaps not (houses take more effort and energy for housework and basic upkeep, too).

I had a reasonable amount of fitness when I bought my RV, about 4 months before I retired.  My fitness level does seem to go up when I'm living in the RV - I have a small trailer and it's harder to be lazy in it.  Plus as a part-timer,  I've been camping somewhere I want to visit, whether it be for a couple of days, a week or whatever.  That in itself means I'm active.  Will that continue once the house sells? Probably, because it drives me nuts to be stuck at the house for more than a month or so.

[TherapyBound]

2 hours ago, fpmtngal said:

my original intention had been to carry less food and buy locally but quickly discovered that wasn't practical for me as a solo RVer. 

I've wondered about this. We eat a healthy diet at home, with almost no processed foods, but produce in Florida is just appalling. All the prime produce gets shipped to other states for greater profits. I was shocked by that when we moved here from Michigan. I remember great farmers markets in Michigan that had produce that actually came from farms. Here in Orlando all of the farmers markets we've found get their produce from the same distributor as Publix. Some don't even bother hiding it, and just leave their produce in the distributor's boxes.

I was hoping most states have much better fresh produce. Maybe not?

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, richfaa said:

Well I am 82 when we started this Adventure 14 years ago I was  68 big difference between 68 and 82.

While you have 5 years of experience on me, I must agree with your point. I was 57 when I retired and we went fulltime, and back to part time after just under 12 years. We were completely off the road for 2 years while Pam was getting somehealth issues under control and since that we are part-time RVers once more, but being retired we are out longer than in our working days. 

1 hour ago, Bigthinkers said:

I just wonder if it's harder to be in a rut when your view is ever-changing.

I'm not sure that this is always the case, but it can be. I suggest that you make some advance plans and set some goals before you begin, just to keep yourself from falling back into the same pattern that you have now. Goals could be to play a round of golf in each state, or perhaps to take a hike in each state, or maybe to visit each state capitol, or to visit all 47 national parks in the lower 48 states and possibly the 61 national mounuments as well. We attended a preretirement planning course as part of my employers early retirement program and they had us make a plan with goals for our first year, a rough outline of a plan for 5 years and some target goals for them. It was their belief that anyone who has a great first 3 years will have a great retirement.  I think that it is more challenge if you are changing your activity level than for one who has always been active. 

[TherapyBound]

The goals we're setting in place are the reason we can't start until May 2021. We do love our work, and we'd be lost and unhappy without it, but we need a re-focus that involves less time sitting and more time experiencing. The RV lifestyle seems to encourage that.

Along with the two-year goals we're already setting in place, we've got several that are work-related but don't involve churning out copy for 12 hours straight. I do like the idea of adding State-specific goals once we're underway, too. We've been to most States, some of which we probably won't visit again, but the ones we do want to see might be even more fun with a "themed goal" in mind, as you suggest, Kirk W. Interesting thought!

We love to kayak, hike, paddleboard, go boating, and get under the skin of an area's history, all of which are terrific fodder for our work AND have the benefit of being healthy pursuits. It's figuring out how to transition so that there's TIME for those focuses. Great idea to choose a State-specific goals that move in that direction.

[richfaa]

3 hours ago, Bigthinkers said:

richfaa, would you say you've had more adventure, more mental stimulation, more interest in an involved life than you might have if you had stayed in a permanent home and been somewhat confined to your community most of the time? None of us can "know" what we'd have done, but as a guess, would you have been as active and involved had you not taken to the road? At 82, and still enjoying your great adventure, it seems to me you're an excellent example of what I'm getting at: being in a situation that encourages new horizons, literally and figuratively, offers more reason to get out of bed and enjoy a fuller life. I just wonder if it's harder to be in a rut when your view is ever-changing.

We worked for the Government  (FAA) in a highly technical  job so the mental stimulation was something I was glad to leave behind when we retired. We also traveled the country in the job and had been to most of the USA in my travels. Wife and I have always been involved in our community however since we are not in our community very much anymore the only involvement we have is with the Lions organization.

Being retired and On the road is a entirely different lifestyle and you are active and involved in different ways. Time means little.We do not own a watch. . We do what we choose to do when we choose to do it. Yes Rving encourages new horizons and new adventures and we have had 14 years of new adventures.We get out of bed when we choose to after having a alarm telling us when we had to.Yes the view is ever changing there were times when we had no idea were we were going  other than let's head west, or south.Wife looked at the weather radar once  when we were traveling west noted a big line of bad weather in our path and said...take the next left to Albuquerque another  time I asked  where are we spending the night... she replied   how about devils towers..where is that said I.. it is that big hump on the horizon off to your right said she. We spent 5 days there and yes we walked completely around it. 

Kirks idea of goal setting like visiting all the national parks is a good one  we once decided we were going cave /cavern hunting and spent a very long time traveling around to different caves and caverns all over the country.It was a great experience but we do not care if we ever see another cave  or cavern. Did you know New Mexico has a Dormant cinder  cone Volcano. Actually New Mexico has many  dormant  volcanoes. Capulin national monument in Capulin New Mexico.Who knew so we headed that way spent a few days in the area and yes we did hike around the cone.Spent a few days with the outline of a Volcano  in our rear window.

[2gypsies]

2 hours ago, Bigthinkers said:

I've wondered about this. We eat a healthy diet at home, with almost no processed foods, but produce in Florida is just appalling. All the prime produce gets shipped to other states for greater profits. I was shocked by that when we moved here from Michigan. I remember great farmers markets in Michigan that had produce that actually came from farms. Here in Orlando all of the farmers markets we've found get their produce from the same distributor as Publix. Some don't even bother hiding it, and just leave their produce in the distributor's boxes.

I was hoping most states have much better fresh produce. Maybe not?

We're from Michigan also and loved the markets!!!  We did a lot of canning and freezing.

While RVing we found that a lot of  "Farmer's Markets" are geared toward crafty stuff or handmade soaps, etc.  We've been so disappointed often by them.  However, if you drive the secondary roads through farming or orchard areas you'll find lots at roadside stands.  We also found a good market in Santa Fe and also in Oregon & Washington.

[trailertraveler]

3 hours ago, Bigthinkers said:

...produce in Florida is just appalling. All the prime produce gets shipped to other states for greater profits...

It is not just Florida and not only produce. A few years ago in central Kansas, we were talking to the owner/chef of a local BBQ/steak restaurant. He told us that it was getting harder and harder to get the best grades and prime cuts even though there seemed to cattle everywhere you looked.

If you travel to many of the more remote areas with National Parks, National Forests and BLM lands; in my experience you are not going to find a lot of farmer's markets. In fact you may have to travel considerable distance to find any market at all.