Class of 2011

[smkyld1]

Good morning class of 2011. We are moving from the class of 2010 to this one. Our original date was March 31, 2010, but we needed to change it due to 2 kids in college. One is a junior and one is a freshman. We decided to wait until there was only one in college - so our date has changed to the summer of 2011.

 

We've already started thinning out and had two yard sales last summer. We will definitely need more sales this summer. Two complete households joined together 13 years ago, and have collected 13 years of stuff on top of it. WOW!! We have a lot to get rid of. LOL!!!! We also have some painting to do, and some minor repairs to get the house ready to sell. Looks like my summer is going to be VERY busy. LOL!!!!

 

Mike, I will ask my Dad what he thinks about selling a house furnished. He's a realestate agent.

 

Anyone planning on going to the Escapade in September? I made our reservations on Friday. I'm excited.

[Rick & Karen]

Hi DonnaRae

 

We are 2011 also. We are listing our house as soon as it warms up here in Missouri. Probably will be late March.

 

We will be at Escapade. Maybe if there are enough 11 there we can get together for a social and get acquainted. How many others are going to be there?

 

Karen

[Neo/Russ]

Well next March is my retirement date, and with this winter being cold and some snow here in TN, snow in TX and other areas that are supposed to be nice in the winter I'm wondering if I shouldn't have tackled a sailboat so we could sail further South. As I mentioned earlier our pacing item is the truck, but with business being slow I've had a lot of three day weekends so I am getting more done, just doubt it will be early '11. Fortunately Pat has a job with insurance so after I retire she can cover my boo-boos until we're ready.

 

With full time jobs at work and in the shop we can't do Escapade or the HDT event this year, but want to when we're FT'rs.

 

We hope your plans all come true. Just be careful since they are already predicting that the value of things (home values, equity funds, "the market" etc.) are starting to fall agin and it's predicted that we're headed toward another dive, but this time when we rebound inflation will bite us. So my suggestion is get some of the things you need now and be ready for one more tough bump.

[smkyld1]

Karen & Dave - I talked with my Dad this morning about selling a house furnished. He said that it is possible at times, especially in our situations. He said that it would probably be easier for people like us to sell it furnished than to try and get next to nothing by selling the furniture by itself. He said the best thing to do is make sure that you have the paperwork state "no warranty" on the items you are leaving with the house. He said that includes appliances as well. (washer, dryers, fridge, stove, etc. etc.)

 

Karen - I would love to get together at the Escapade and meet.

[Rick & Karen]

Karen & Dave - I talked with my Dad this morning about selling a house furnished. He said that it is possible at times, especially in our situations. He said that it would probably be easier for people like us to sell it furnished than to try and get next to nothing by selling the furniture by itself. He said the best thing to do is make sure that you have the paperwork state "no warranty" on the items you are leaving with the house. He said that includes appliances as well. (washer, dryers, fridge, stove, etc. etc.)

 

Karen - I would love to get together at the Escapade and meet.

 

Lets do that. We had so much fun last year at Escapade. Had more hugs in one week than I had had in the past 5 years! We can work out the details later.

 

See you then.

 

Karen

[skp087707]

Lets do that. We had so much fun last year at Escapade. Had more hugs in one week than I had had in the past 5 years! We can work out the details later.

 

See you then.

 

Karen

 

Hi Guys,

We are planning our get away in the fall of 2011. Planning on October retirement. Will head south for the winter and want to go to Alaska for the summer of 2012. Then workamp to help support our lifestyle. We bought our current double wide mobile home furnished and will probably try to sell it with most of the furniture next spring. Giving some stuff to the kids and selling some. Have been thinning out for the last few months. Trying to decide if we want to be Texas or South Dakota residents. We visited Escapees in Livingston, TX last fall and are pretty well decided on how to handle everything. Still trying to figure out Medicare and if we need to purchase supplement where we are residents or if it matters. Congratulations to all of you who have made the transition and to all of you who will in 2011! HAPPY VALENTINES to all!!

Lon & Sharon

 

2004 Hitchiker II

2005 Dodge Ram

[Spirit of '76]

Hi class of 2011! We are throwing our caps in the air, so to speak, with the rest of you in 2011. We are Kyle 37, Lisa 32, and Kylee 2.5 and will be fulltiming by January 2011. I will be working full time on the road and we are extremely pumped and blessed to be able to do this at our age. It is the lifestyle I have been seeking all along--just did not know it. We looked back on our 10 years of marriage and realized that many things that "happened" to us now seem to have been preparations for this lifestyle. Hope to make friends with many of you on the road and on the forum!

 

Kyle

[norahg]

We still have spaces for the First Class Rally in Boerne. I need to submit the list of attendees to the park no later than March 13th -- so ya'll still have a week or so to let me know you are planning on attending.

 

Things are shaping up for some awesome First Class fun..... this is for all classes and even those who haven't quite made to fulltiming yet. Click here for the First Class Rally thread for the details.

 

Send me an email letting me know:

• your planned arrival and departure dates
   
  
• rig type and length
   
  
• # of people in your rigs (and their names).
  

I'll reply with a confirmation and other information.

 

You will pay all fees when you arrive.

 

Hugs,

Norah (click here to email Norah)

[Hoppe]

Well Patty and I are on our way back from Lake Havasu City AZ. We now have a site reserved for this coming fall and winter.Now it is back home get Rv ready for this summer.

[Hoppe]

Well here's my question In 2-3 weeks we will be moving into our RV house is sold. We both will be working full time and part time at the KOA.Seeing we are living in the RV does this make us full timmers and have to move to the class of 2010?

[sandsys]

Some define fulltiming as when they moved out of the house. Some define it as when they hit the road. No one says you have the choice of only one class as many classes adopt anyone interested. Pick what suits you. Escapees are amazingly flexible.

 

Linda Sand

class of '08 but never did decide which month to count

[jjwicklund]

Well here's my question In 2-3 weeks we will be moving into our RV house is sold. We both will be working full time and part time at the KOA.Seeing we are living in the RV does this make us full timmers and have to move to the class of 2010?

 

Really does it matter? Do you want to be class of 2010 or 2011? You can always claim a redshirt year if the latter is your preference.

[Hoppe]

2011 it is that is when we hit the road and enjoy traveling and meeting other RV'ers

[wygolfnutz]

Hi all, things are moving faster than I thought, don't know if there is a sign up for Class of 2011, but that's when we'll be off. The economy bit us also and had to sell sticks and bricks 1.5 yr ago and that hurt but we downsized to a rental for now so everything is pointing us to the full time lifestyle. DW already has 5er picked out brand wise and we're off to factory tour on Fri. to see if we can narrow it down to THE one for us. Still haven't decided if domicile will be TX or SD. DW is changing careers and finishes school in May 2011 so I guess that's our date. The thought of retiring used to scare the pants off me lol now just looking forward and getting excited about being on the road and meeting some of you folks during our travels.

 

 

Greg and Jane

 

 

Life is what happens when you're making plans to do something else !

[jjwicklund]

Hi all, things are moving faster than I thought, don't know if there is a sign up for Class of 2011, but that's when we'll be off. The economy bit us also and had to sell sticks and bricks 1.5 yr ago and that hurt but we downsized to a rental for now so everything is pointing us to the full time lifestyle. DW already has 5er picked out brand wise and we're off to factory tour on Fri. to see if we can narrow it down to THE one for us. Still haven't decided if domicile will be TX or SD. DW is changing careers and finishes school in May 2011 so I guess that's our date. The thought of retiring used to scare the pants off me lol now just looking forward and getting excited about being on the road and meeting some of you folks during our travels.

 

 

Greg and Jane

 

 

Life is what happens when you're making plans to do something else !

 

Retirement was a day I knew would come, I just didn't think it would come so soon. Last day of work was 02/26/2010, WOW, not even a month!

Everything is going well, I'd say I'm taking it easy but there's so much to do but getting up at 4:15 AM is not one of them.

[Hoppe]

Well we have been in the RV for 3 weeks now. Starting to get things organized but is taking a while. Patty and i are still working full time and doing our work kamping on the weekend.

One thing i will tell everyone is DOWN SIZE and than DOWN SIZE more we still have to much stuff. And as my freind Bonnie tells me it is only stuff and Wal-mart sells stuff everyday.

If it stops raining and warms up I can go thru the stuff in the storage bins

If any of you are in the Madison WI area stop in at the KOA and say hi.

[catrobin]

I will be graduating to full timer status in summer 2011. I am retiring this year in August, and plan to take the next year to get things in order, figure out what RV to get, and then my 2 Poodles and I hit the road. I can't wait.

[joanhriley]

My plans are to buy a used Class A in March of 2011, with retirement scheduled for July 1, 2011.

I am very grateful for finding Escapees and so glad I joined. I have had so many questions answered before I could even think of them. I am reading alot of the blogs listed here and visiting web sites. I am having so much fun.

 

Joan in Oregon

[heyduke]

My bride and I plan to sell everything we own except what we can fit into our future home... a yet unknown RV. When the time comes we will hit the road and only look forward... The target date is anywhere from mid Jan 2011 to March 10, 2011...

[jjwicklund]

My bride and I plan to sell everything we own except what we can fit into our future home... a yet unknown RV. When the time comes we will hit the road and only look forward... The target date is anywhere from mid Jan 2011 to March 10, 2011...

 

Heyduke, Welcome to Escapees, keep reading and ask questions lots of knowledge here and many willing to share it and their experiences. Here's hoping you can stay on track with your plans. We've been on the road 32 days. I was walking the dog this afternoon and one of those WOW moments, just breathing in clean fresh rain washed air, to be retired and in such a beautiful place, it was such a rush.

[corter]

Hey guys, I'm Eric. I just signed up for the forums, and would like to join 2011 as well! My date is the day my lease is up: Sept. 1st, 2011.

 

My story and situation are a bit different than most of what I've read here, and I'm excited to read all that I can to prepare. I'm 23 (will be 24 when I head out), graduated college a year ago, and I'm a leather smith working for myself. I've been saving and getting rid of almost everything I own for the past few months (almost done with that), and I plan on buying something small and/or a bit older to be home for me and my 2 cats. I'll probably buy this fall or winter- I'm looking at toyotas and class b's. I'll be traveling around the country not only living wherever I'd like, but also working and bartering my goods with other like minded people. There's a giant independent artisan/designer/business owner movement going on right now, and the internet has created an amazing global community to make it all possible, so I hope to explore and document that. I've got a blog- www.thebarterproject.tumblr.com, where I've been writing about the process of simplifying and getting on the road- I'm not waiting untill things fall into place, but sort of forcing my life to let me do this.

 

I'm really excited I've found this website, as I've never really been in a motor home for an extended period of time. I'm excited to read all that everyone has to share, and most importantly really happy to see that a lot of other people are planning to do this as well!

[Neo/Russ]

Eric,

 

You should search out one of the posters by the name of Rae. She has a blog that tells of her tales and experiences as an early fulltimer. She works places she stays in rather than the craft business, but life for her will probably be similiar to what you'll find.

 

Good luck and safe travels.

 

Russ

[sandsys]

Welcome, Eric. We started fulltiming in a class b and soon learned we couldn't carry enough stuff and the holding tanks were too small. Having to dump twice a week could wreak havoc on selling at fairs and farmer's markets if that's what you have in mind. And leather and tools weigh more and take up more space than most people think but you probably already know that, right? You might want to start weighing your remaining possessions to see how much CCC you will need in your RV. Of course, if you don't bring a significant other you can carry more gear.

 

Linda Sand

[corter]

Welcome, Eric. We started fulltiming in a class b and soon learned we couldn't carry enough stuff and the holding tanks were too small. Having to dump twice a week could wreak havoc on selling at fairs and farmer's markets if that's what you have in mind. And leather and tools weigh more and take up more space than most people think but you probably already know that, right? You might want to start weighing your remaining possessions to see how much CCC you will need in your RV. Of course, if you don't bring a significant other you can carry more gear.

 

Linda Sand

 

Thanks for the insight! Fortunately, my business is mostly online... I've actually never sold anything to anyone in person, and I've never done a fair. I also work 100% by hand, so every single tool I use fits into a medium, tackle-box-sized toolbox. Because of the way I design my products, I also only use 2 weights of leather, meaning only 2 hides at a time. I'm not bringing anyone along (I can't imagine living in such a small space for so long with anyone at my age!), though I do have a lot of friends across the country that will tag along at points. My total load amounts to about 350 lbs (I've allready weighed it!), including only clothes, a bottle of soap and toothpaste, cooking supplies, leather stuff, a bike, my cats, camera, and laptop. I've minimalized my belongings to the Nth degree, and I'm hoping I'm going to be ok!

 

The holding tanks may be a bit of an issue, but living in a city for so long (Boston) and being a poor college student, you get used to finding bathrooms in the middle of things and showering every couple days. I've been to many a music festival where Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap and a gallon of water are a "shower", and it gets you just as clean as any regular tub would

 

Thanks for the welcome! I've been up reading the forums all night, and I have to say there's an amazing amount of info here.

[sandsys]

I do have a lot of friends across the country that will tag along at points.

Short, skinny, and able to pack as lightly as you helps. It sounds like you'll do fine, though. Welcome to our world.

 

Linda Sand