You're Going To Do WHAT?

On July 6th of this year, Art and I returned from a truly amazing adventure in our motorhome.  In 174 days, we logged 10,547 miles, traveled through 22 states and camped in 67 separate campsites.

We came home with many memories, a couple of new tee-shirts, thousands of photos and one really big life-changing decision.

That particular decision began, as many do, with an idea, a "what if" seed that was planted on the Gulf Coast of Texas.  It then sprouted in the Everglades and then grew and grew, watered and fertilized by all the marvelous adventures we were having.  By the time we had reached North Carolina, it had grown and matured enough that we knew we had a keeper.

The "what if" seed/idea became a dream, and the dream became a plan.

The plan?  To sell our house and full-time in our motorhome.

Really?  Really.

Seriously?  Seriously.

Why?  Why would Art and I, 64 and 61 years old respectively, decide to sell our wonderful house, get rid of virtually all of our possessions and live full-time in a motorhome?

Because every single stop we made on this trip of five months and 22 days was too short.  Way too short.  The Gulf Coast, the Everglades, the Great Smokeys, Merritt Island, Williamsburg, Washington D.C., Gettysburg, the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, Southern Utah...I could go on and on and on.  We wanted to stay longer, much longer, at each and every stop, but we couldn't.  We had commitments that drove us forward to our next stop, where - once again - we would have to depart too soon, leaving so much unexplored.

But...what if we didn't have to be back home?  What if we could stay as long as we wanted at each stop?  What if we could just keep on going?

What if, what if, what if...

What if we sold the house and went full-time?

And so the seed of this crazy idea was planted.  And grew and grew and grew.  And became less and less crazy the more and more we thought about it and researched it and thought about it some more.

Yet we wondered...when we arrive back home, back to our beloved house with its beautiful views of surrounding mountains, would we change our minds?

We've now been home for four weeks and I can honestly say there has not been one moment of uncertainty for either of us.  Yes, we love this house, but we love traveling and exploring even more. 

Family and friends who now know of our decision have been supportive and excited for us, yet concerned.  Their concern regards health issues and is justified and appreciated.  Yet those health issues will exist wherever we are - sitting at home or kayaking in the Everglades.  And we know where we'd rather be and what we'd rather be doing.  Yes, doctor visits and medical tests will take a bit more planning, but fortunately, we are not blazing a trail here...the Internet is brimming with resources shared by folks who have aleady been there, done that.

But (why does there always have to be a "but"?), we have so much to do: get rid of most of our stuff, sell the house, sell the current motorhome, get a new (and bigger) motorhome, figure out insurance, decide in which state to establish our legal domicile and try to anticipate any gotchas.  AND try to figure out in what order we should do all those things.  Picture two jugglers...right now, that's us.

And so, the blog.  Welcome to Viking Vagabonds, a blog that will endeavor to document the adventures and misadventures (because there are sure to be some) of a couple of 60-somethings as we transition from homeowners of 39 years to full-time RVers, living 24/7/365 in a motorhome that is smaller than our living room.

Through this blog, I hope to document the various aspects of our transition, as a way of keeping us on track and also keeping family and friends up-to-date.  And if it should, by any chance, help any other folks who dream of going full-time, so much the better.

In closing this first post, we'd like to thank our son Nick for the blog's logo.  He designed it for us back in 2011 when Art and I rented a motorhome in Scandinavia and kept a blog of that adventure.  But it is also perfect for this blog...and the resemblances are rather remarkable, don't you think?  :-)

We also want to thank Nick for his enthusiasm and encouragement regarding our decision.  His support means more to us than we can say.

Until next time...

"For all its material advantages, the sedentary life has left us edgy, unfulfilled.  The open road still softly calls, like a nearly forgotten song of childhood." - Carl Sagan