Living The Dream ?

[treasuredgiftsuk]

Often I see this advice given to those contempalting full timing, “ Just do it , Live The Dream” ..
but what do they mean, what do they imagine The Dream is ?

I would like to hear peoples views, those who are full time, and those who are not.

In particular.

1. How long is the Dream, where will it be in say five, ten, fifteen years time, and is there an end plan ?

2. How will it be financed?

Even modest Dreams need capital, a sustainable income.. A modest Dream may need as little as £10k per year , but more ambitious Dreams need much more .. and over a ten year period .. that's a lot of capital ..

Is The Dream to travel, to see Europe and beyond, maybe the USA .. or is it simply to retire and put your feet up.. In either case .. what do you do when you can't afford the Dream.. ?

Life without purpose is boring .. so how does The Dream fullfill this most basic of human needs ?

3.Who has tried The Dream and found it wanting and who is doing The Dream and finding it less of a Dream and more of a nightmare ?

Is fultiming not a way of life rather than a dream and if you agree.. what kind of life is it ?

For the purposes of these questions, the “fulltimer” has sold up and is living FULL TIME in a motorhome or caravan and is totally self sufficient.

We see it as a way of life but everything is subject to change / not written in stone. If everything goes pear shaped then we shall have to rethink but until such time...nothing ventured nothing gained.

 

[treasuredgiftsuk]

Hi Jim
Just joined today and read with interest this topic and answers, my wife and I are living the dream albeit in a yacht in the Med for the last 11 years and thoroughly enjoing it we have got to the stage now that we want to carry on the dream on land hence buying our motorhome at xmas, but until the boat is sold we will be splitting the time up between both, we regard ourselfs as very lucky that we can do this, so at the moment we can be considered as part time motorhomers. It was amazing visiting countries by sea and we always wanted to go to places further inland for longer periods that is what we are looking forward to doing, I will say though that if anyone is considering living the dream the hardest part is making up their mind to do it once that is done its amazing how quickly the rest falls into place.

Sandy

Oh its so nice to have this postive outlook, I like it.:thumb:

 

[treasuredgiftsuk]

Of course I have no idea how much rent you pay, but generally speaking, I would say the rent saving will easily cover the cost of your fuel and pitch fees, especially if you do some wild camping and spend time parked on friends and relatives drives. So all things being equal, ie, you do not spend more on food, drink, clothes, entertainment than you do now, you will be better off. If you have bought carefully you'll find that vans over 6 years old don't lose much money at all. Also motorhomes are not to expensive to insure. So if worse comes to worse and you hate the lifestyle you can move back into rented accommodation with little actual losses for your experience. Best of luck, I'm sure you'll love it :thumb:

Hi Jim, thanks for the thumbs up. This was our line of thinking exactly. We do plan to do some wild camping and use friends drives etc where possible. I know we need to do a lot more research but with the help of your wonderful forum I am sure we will learn along the way. Certainly won't be spending a lot on clothes and entertainment. No storage for many clothes and all we want to do is enjoy the countryside with lots of walks and cycle rides. I love simple one pot cooking on a barby and have bought foraging books for the countryside and coast so will have fun finding wild food and trying not to poison us along the way.

 

[Jim]

Hi Jim, thanks for the thumbs up. This was our line of thinking exactly. We do plan to do some wild camping and use friends drives etc where possible. I know we need to do a lot more research but with the help of your wonderful forum I am sure we will learn along the way. Certainly won't be spending a lot on clothes and entertainment. No storage for many clothes and all we want to do is enjoy the countryside with lots of walks and cycle rides. I love simple one pot cooking on a barby and have bought foraging books for the countryside and coast so will have fun finding wild food and trying not to poison us along the way.

Great news. Rightly people are quick to point out the financials of full timing; mainly because there are so many people who think the lifestyle is there for the taking and will cost next to nothing. It will cost more than you think, especially if you don't camp for free. But unless you choose to do thousands of miles in a gas guzzling American motorhome stopping only at the best campsites; living in a motorhome will always be cheaper than renting a commercial house and paying the taxes and other bills associated with it.

The sums don't work with council housing. In a council house, and with the benefits that a proper address allows you to claim, then if you are unemployed this will be cheaper than full timing in a motorhome. A simple spreadsheet will soon let you know what your financials will look like. But no matter how poor you are, you won't get help with pitch fees or heating if you live in a motorhome.

 

[treasuredgiftsuk]

Great news. Rightly people are quick to point out the financials of full timing; mainly because there are so many people think that the lifestyle is there for the taking and will cost next to nothing. It will cost more than you think, especially if you don't camp for free. But unless you choose to do thousands of miles in a gas guzzling American motorhome stopping only at the best campsites, living in a motorhome will always be cheaper than renting a commercial house and paying the taxes and other bills asociated with it.

The sums don't work with council housing. In a council house, and with the benefits that a proper address allows you to claim, then if you are unemployed this will be cheaper than full timing in a motorhome. A simple spreadsheet will soon let you know what your financials will look like. But no matter how poor you are, you won't get help with pitch fees or heating if you live in a motorhome.

Thanks Jim I see where you are coming from and appreciate your words of wisdom.

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[carsan]

Living the dream

hello, carsan here -that is carol and sandy- also new to motor homing and proud owners of an old (but perfectly formed) ford glendale. we are/were in pretty much the same situation; we have a boat and have been travelling around the med for the past 12 yrs.( picking up work as and when) but not ready to settle down just yet tho' wanting to see more of the family and have a base in scotland ( one that didn't involve sleeping on various family/friend put-me-ups!! ) soooo motorhoming is the answer for us. we love it and so do the children and grandchildren even if sometimes we don't go very far from home. we have grand plans and love the freedom of 'just going' .It feels as good as being on the boat but without having to give the weather a thought !! we are sailing to the french canals this spring so that the boat is nearer (cheaper) to home and we can escape to the sunshine if the weather gets to dire. can you not register on the electoral roll using a family/friends address ,we use our daughters-and just make sure you are there on required registration date (usually october) if you want to actually vote. try 'saga', for insurance and also 'comfort'.we are in scotland just now and it is dire, wet and windy, so flying off to spain to visit friends for a week but back on the road when we get back. you will enjoy your van just as much as us i'm sure and soon get into a whole new way of life. looking forward to hearing all :thumb: c&s

 

[treasuredgiftsuk]

hello, carsan here -that is carol and sandy- also new to motor homing and proud owners of an old (but perfectly formed) ford glendale. we are/were in pretty much the same situation; we have a boat and have been travelling around the med for the past 12 yrs.( picking up work as and when) but not ready to settle down just yet tho' wanting to see more of the family and have a base in scotland ( one that didn't involve sleeping on various family/friend put-me-ups!! ) soooo motorhoming is the answer for us. we love it and so do the children and grandchildren even if sometimes we don't go very far from home. we have grand plans and love the freedom of 'just going' .It feels as good as being on the boat but without having to give the weather a thought !! we are sailing to the french canals this spring so that the boat is nearer (cheaper) to home and we can escape to the sunshine if the weather gets to dire. can you not register on the electoral roll using a family/friends address ,we use our daughters-and just make sure you are there on required registration date (usually october) if you want to actually vote. try 'saga', for insurance and also 'comfort'.we are in scotland just now and it is dire, wet and windy, so flying off to spain to visit friends for a week but back on the road when we get back. you will enjoy your van just as much as us i'm sure and soon get into a whole new way of life. looking forward to hearing all :thumb: c&s

Fortunately we can use my parents address and I have just registered on the electoral roll online, downloaded the form to sign and post off. Strangely enough whilst doing it I found we were still listed at an address we lived at over 10 years ago so have never actually been off it.

We may be able to insure with our Portuguese company for a maximum of 3 months for 172 euros. We are waiting to hear from their head office if they will register and English plated vehicle. Fingers crossed!

 

[SuperDuty]

Hi Jim,
Thats a very long Thread!
Ok, we are 60 and 62 years old. We’ve always had the intention to live in retirement somewhere else. It should be warm, we need lots of sun.
On our second USA-trip (2008), it became sure: We don’t want to go to the same bakery every morning. We’ve been dreaming of a life as full timer.

Since mid-2011's our dream has become reality.
We‘ve no more house, nor apartment. We are full timers – due to my illness earlier than planned. And this dream helped me to get back on my feet.

A definite end is not planned, perhaps at the age of 75 or 80. Our income consists of our old-age-pension.
The decision for full timing grew in Monika and me at the same time. We both love to live as fulltimers and are very happy with it. We can’t imagine anything else at the moment.
Full timing is not an experiment, full timing is not a dream, full-timing is a way of life. With sufficient funding it is a carefree life.
We don’t play any longer our roles, not in front of the family, not in front of neighbours, not in front of colleagues, not in front of anyone. Full timing is liberating.

Important is to find his own way in full timing. We are not Dr. Richard Kimble, we are not constantly on the run. Full timing is not travelling, travelling and travelling again.
We are weeks and months at the same place. When we are filled up with all of the surroundings, we take our RV and our Jeep and leave the region as snowbirds do.

Stew wrote it aptly:
Full timing is just one way of realising the dream and the dream is freedom, freedom to live your life as you want.

Our way back from full timing?
Once a year to the good old Germany.
Doctors are everywhere, Ryanair also.
We know very well that full timing must come to an end – sometimes.
What will be in 10 or 15 years, cannot be planned today. We will see. Maybe a senior residence with a very large parking lot.

Everyone tries to convince himself, that his special life were beautiful, be at home with house and garden or at full timing. Everyone has his own dreams.
If you can life your dream be happy - only a few can do that.

 

[BreweryDave]

A great thread which I have just read.
Lots of great opinions - as usual !

Thought I'd bump it as it's still as relevant today as 5 years ago and many of you may find it enjoyable. I did

Shame many of the contributors have dropped of the site - be interesting to see how they got on if they went for it!

 

[Brian and Jo]

our dream for 2015 is to go away in the motorhome as often as possible but always to return to our home which we love so much.Fulltiming,living the dream ,whatever you want to call it is definately not for us
Brian & Jo

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[chaser]

A great thread which I have just read.
Lots of great opinions - as usual !

Thought I'd bump it as it's still as relevant today as 5 years ago and many of you may find it enjoyable. I did

Shame many of the contributors have dropped of the site - be interesting to see how they got on if they went for it!

Always the case when you read old threads, I always wonder what happened to them , most of the ones obviously only came on for the one thread, but it is three years ago now, must have done a lot since, even if it was to abandon the idea.

 

[Deleted34567]

Interesting thread.
Everyone is different, the dream is different for everyone.
We want to "winter" in warm climates, our " dream" is to spend extended periods abroad while we are young (relatively!)... Both in our 40's and have worked from our early teens in our own business and are fortunate to be debt free in all regards.
Reality needs to keep hold in any case.

 

[Wildman]

I also have just read the thread from end to end, the many read only funsters is appalling, and wonder as already said just how many followed their dream and are still living it. My own dream would be to winter in the sun, but that does not appeal to Sue who would miss her horses and dogs, an no I am NOT going to tow the buggers behind me. Mind you it is an idea hee hee

 

[FULL TIMER]

I've just had a quick glance through the whole thread and can see that "Fulltiming" as a word means different things to different people, we sold up everything back in November 2006 and have been fulltimers ever since, to us it simply means living in our vehicle fulltime, we use my parents address as ours for officialdom and I'm also on the electoral roll. We had no great desire to travel to far and as I'm self employed and still work around 20 - 30 hours a week most of the year we very seldom leave Norfolk except for various forum meets. For us it has been a great way of life we mainly stay on a select few CL / CS sites and we certainly havn't considered going back to bricks and mortar.

 

[Don Quixote]

Well firstly one of the best threads I have read to date on Funsters.
The biggest problem with any dream is at some time you have to wake up. All points have been covered from post to post, but my twist on the subject is this: live your life as you want to live it, if you make a mistake you learn, but life is just to short not to try things, as you never know whats around the corner.
So is it "living the dream" or "living life to the full"

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[Deleted34567]

Well firstly one of the best threads I have read to date on Funsters.
The biggest problem with any dream is at some time you have to wake up. All points have been covered from post to post, but my twist on the subject is this: live your life as you want to live it, if you make a mistake you learn, but life is just to short not to try things, as you never know whats around the corner.
So is it "living the dream" or "living life to the full"

Sums it up nicely.
Lying on our death bed saying " I should have ?????? " doesn't hold much appeal to me.

 

[Neckender]

Sums it up nicely.
Lying on our death bed saying " I should have ?????? " doesn't hold much appeal to me.

When my time comes I hope to say that I've lived my life to the full, and not knowingly hurt anyone along the way. So far I don't regret anything that I've done in my 65 years.

John.

 

[mariner]

Some of us are still here, only the name has changed.

Still Fulltiming, but in a slightly different way.

 

[Gromett]

Still fulltiming and still here

 

[thehutchies]

i still don't understand what other people think 'fulltiming' means.
Next week we are fulltiming for five days at Center Parcs!
Four bedrooms, en-suite bathrooms, sauna and maid service.

Then back to our van.

Have we failed at motorhome fulltiming because we only managed 360 of 365 nights?

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[John.]

What a really great read.
Got a lot of points of view from different walks of life.
Although I doubt we would ever be "Full time"its given us plenty to
consider regarding our winter trip planning.

 

[Cobweb]

Personally I hate the saying " Living the dream " . What ever you do can never live up to it . Many people tell us we are living and I admit it sounds pretty good . Summers Motorhoming in Europe and winters sailing in Florida and the Bahamas . People who have never done it get a dreamy look in their eyes and tell us how lucky we are and wish that they could do the same . But although there are some perfect moments in beautiful places it does not always live up to expectations . Life becomes more complicated when you live either on a yacht or a motorhome . Domestic chores become much more difficult as does shopping for everyday supplies . It may look like paradise but today on an island in the Abacos after a hot trek to town we tried to do some shopping and because the supply boat had not come in there were just some shrivelled veg on the shelves and we ended paying a fortune for some banana bread and a few old potatoes and later paid a kings ransom for doing some laundry . I suppose that it beats a wet weekend in Whitby ! But living the dream ???

 

[scotjimland]

Personally I hate the saying " Living the dream " .

thanks.... so do I, and why I asked the question almost five years ago..

A Dream is just that and to tell someone to go 'live the dream' is total nonsense.

Life is life whether we live in a shack or a penthouse.. To tell someone to 'Just do it' is crass and stupid.. if it were so good why don't they 'just do it' .. for it seems to me it's people who have never tried it that advise others to 'just do it' ..

That's not to say Fulltiming is not fun, it can be, that's not to say it isn't an adventure, for that it surely is.. but it's not a utopian life style.. it's just another way of living.. albeit in a less conformist fashion.. life goes on, everyday problems do not suddenly disappear.. it is certainly not a dream.

My last word.. yes .. if you like the idea, have thought it through, done the financial sums, then give it a try.. we did it for 3 years with two children... and have no regrets.. and who knows... maybe one day we will try again..

Thanks to all who have contributed down the years..

 

[buttons]

It would depend who's bed you are in when you have this dream. To some of us who are happy with our lot it would be more like a nightmare.

 

[scotjimland]

. To some of us who are happy with our lot it would be more like a nightmare.

yes indeed..
if someone came along, evicted you from your home and told you to go live in a box on wheels for the rest of your life.. I guess it would be a nightmare. ..especially when it's a VDub.. Cali

for others it would be a challenge.. all depends on attitude..

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[2657]

The main reason that I have not contributed to this thread in the past was the use of the word 'dream'.

What I and many others are doing is living our lives in a manner that suits us, it is not a dream or a 'fantasy' as some have suggested but real life as we see it.Prior to doing this we had toured Europe for many years with a tent or caravan and had spent three 2/3 month Winter trips to Spain & Portugal on 'recce' tours (can't spell reccon.......ce)


Our version of fulltiming may not fit with others definitions and has evolved since we sold up our bricks and mortar in 2008.When we sold up we already had a static caravan on a very 'French' site in Southern Brittany which we intended to use for 2/3 months of the year intending to tour in the recently purchased fifth wheeler the rest of the year.

As time has gone by, and we are 6 years older(now 66&67),things have changed for various reasons and we decided to site the 5'er permanently in Portugal. After a disastrous experience at an ex members site in the Western Algarve we are now happily sited at the other end of the Algarve for around six months of the year.

We now also have a touring caravan which we use for.....'touring'.....in the other months and a return to the UK in the Summer months. This will be our first full Winter with this arrangement and the plan is to take occasional trips into Spain and the rest of Portugal whilst based here.As this is our 'life' we also plan to take an occasional holiday on an aeroplane to who knows where.

We intend to do this as long as we can, we aimed at ten years but hope to carry on until we are 75 or even more if possible, who knows, no one can predict the future. The important thing is to have an open mind and be prepared to change plans as circumstances dictate. We have always intended to return the UK and rent something eventually but who knows.

Some friends on our current site have an expression 'everything is fluid', which sums up our life and attitude.

 

[Welsh girl]

I've re-read this thread again and I too am surprised by the many read only funsters! What has happened to them I wonder?
We started living in the van nearly 7 years ago after selling up and using the van , just until we buy another house.
After 3 bad surveys on houses we decided we liked living this way, going where we want when we want, people being more friendly on sites than housing estates.
So fell into the way of life really.
This is only our second year enjoying the warmth of portugal for the winter and feel that if we owned a house we would worry about it whether it be burst pipes/burglary/grass getting too long, anything really that keeping a house in the uk entails.
We intend doing this as and when we are forced to do anything else ie, health issues or anything else which might or might not force us back into bricks and mortar or a static van as funds dictate.
Very interesting thread Jim!

 

[CazPaul]

We tried it and it didn't work out for us, Caroline hated it and I loved it, she missed children and grandchildren too much.

No way would we try it again together, back in the house now and working full time again, motorhome is used for purely pleasure which is how she likes it.

Have a bash and see if it works, at least we tried and failed.

Its better to have loved and lost than never loved at all, I,m sure someone once said that.

Paul.

 

[dippingatoe]

Obviously I didn't see this thread first time round as owning a motorhome couldn't have been further from my thoughts let alone my dreams. I really more or less drifted into it almost unintentionally, and it has certainly never been a 'dream' of mine.

Check out my journal www.thebusphoebeandme.us to see how it all came about.

Its been a year now since I bought Thebus, thinking that if I didn't like the life I would just sell him. When I started I had a house which was on the market and the intention was to buy as soon as that sold. Now I am undecided. Where would I want a house, and what would I do with it. I am enjoying travelling too much to want to go and live in a house again, and it would just be something else to worry about.

Of course as people have pointed out one can't foresee the future, and who knows what it holds, so in that case is it worth planning for and worrying about. Of all the things I might have imagined about my future, travelling in a motorhome is about the last thing that would have come to mind, but I have to say I am loving it.

I think if I was in a bungalow somewhere there would not be much to life. I would probably feel very differently if I had children or grandchildren of course, and I would guess that is what pulls most folk back to base.

 

[Armytwowheels]

We have just started on our Fulltimers DREAM and yes it was a dream/desire/want/need, call it what you like, to do something different to the run of the mill. To escape the treadmill of someone else's idea of work. We worked ourselves stupid to finance our "Dream" and hope to live it until we want to do something else.

There has already been mishaps and disappointments but these are/have been overcome and has not put us off from following this path. If everything was perfect with no challenges wouldn't life be dull?

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