Fired! Now here's the plan...

M

madeit!

Dryer sheet aficionado
Joined
Jan 27, 2006
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I am retiring from my 25 year career tomorrow. We will be loading up the Truck Camper to travel from North Carolina to Colorado this Sunday for a family reunion in Boulder. Although I would love to show my eastern bred spouse, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glacier etc., I know that August is not the month to do it. We will come back to these places later. So I plan to visit some of the lesser known areas in Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota. Later in the fall we plan to go to New England. In December we might go to Key West. In the early spring we are definitely going to Alaska for at least three or four months. My camper is a super well equipped expedition vehicle and we plan to boondock camp as much as possible, hike trails, rent kayaks and canoes and eat gourmet dinners back at the TC. Later we will go to Canada and Mexico - am I leaving anything out?
 
madeit! said:
In the early spring we are definitely going to Alaska for at least three or four months. My camper is a super well equipped expedition vehicle and we plan to boondock camp as much as possible, hike trails, rent kayaks and canoes and eat gourmet dinners back at the TC.
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Congratulations! :) Are you planning on taking your camper to Alaska in early spring? Have you been there before? Alaska is a very different kind of place, especially outside of Anchorage, and you may want to check your options carefully before going camping there. Even getting from point A to point B may be an issue since much of the time you simply can't get from here to there except by water or air.
 
Thanks. I have been there before and I know something about Alaska. I hope to drive the Dempster Highway all the way to Actic Ocean...
 
Don't,--Put your tongue on a pump handle! :LOL:

65 below zero, ain't just another chilly day!

When it gets dark, it may stay that way for 4 months.

Moose,--do not read road signs! :D

Have a good trip!!

J.D.
 
madeit! said:
am I leaving anything out?
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Not as long as you take great pictures--and post them for our enjoyment :D

I envy your wife her first drive West, watching the Rockies rise on the horizon.
 
congrats - I'm one week into it and I feel as if I was born to do this.
I'm traveling in a Casita. If you see one; it might be me.
 
I'll wave as you travel I-70 through KS.

If you want to eat well, stop by Abilene at the Brookville Hotel on the north side of the interstate, one of the best fried chicken dinners ever. Make sure that you are hungry as it's served family style then hop on over to Russell Stover candy factory on the other side of town for dessert!

Have a safe trip.
 
madeit! said:
Thanks.  I have been there before and I know something about Alaska.  I hope to drive the Dempster Highway all the way to Actic Ocean...
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Hey, thats my plan, even bought an old Jeep cherokee to do it. This years trip got deferred by family funeral arrangements but we did get a week in on some northern Arizona backroads.

I want to kayak up there in Inuvik or Tuk. My wife asks me why and I show her pictures of the great empty north and she shows me pictures of Hawaii & Tahiti and says, hey, if you paddle in her places and fall in you don't die, all you do is see pretty fish.

Getting to backroads and empty places, part of my retirement plan.

yakers
 
Brookville Hotel?? It's in Abilene, Now?? :confused:

Used to be in Brookville. Man, ---the food was great!! I remember something, about it closing down but, lost track after that.
 
Thanks for all of the nice advice and wishes. I will try to set up a website where I can post a journal and pics. I'll keep in touch.
 
Hi all!  Just a quick question - what exactly do you mean by a "well equipped expedition camper truck?"

Thanks,
Laurie
 
Thanks ReWahoo. 

Madeit, the photos of you CT look great!

DH and I are 18 to 36 months to RE.  I want to travel, DH is a homebody who just tied us down further with a new puppy (very cute though).  I am coping by ordering the book 99 Days to Panama with a Motorhome and a Dog from Amazon.  The motorhome idea with a dog is new for me so am now interested in all things "motorhome"

Cheers
 
Sundance Kid said:
Brookville Hotel??  It's in Abilene, Now?? :confused:

Used to be in Brookville.  Man, ---the food was great!!  I remember something, about it closing down but, lost track after that.
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They had to close down because the original hotel was not connected to any city sewer system and the septic field couldn't handle the load. So they basically "crapped out" at their old location and they built a new place over at Abilene. It is much larger and the food is just a good as always.
 
LLinden said:
Thanks ReWahoo. 

Madeit, the photos of you CT look great!

DH and I are 18 to 36 months to RE.  I want to travel, DH is a homebody who just tied us down further with a new puppy (very cute though).  I am coping by ordering the book 99 Days to Panama with a Motorhome and a Dog from Amazon.  The motorhome idea with a dog is new for me so am now interested in all things "motorhome"

Cheers
Click to expand...

Sounds like a great book. We travel with two dogs. They have been all over the US and part of Canada.
 
I enjoy some full-time RVing blogs--even though I've never RVd. I've done a fair amount of backpacking and camping, though. Outhouses and public showers and seeing the country on $10/day are not so intriguing as they were in my 20s & 30s, so I'm looking forward to renting an RV and giving it a whirl. The following blogs are interesting in part because the bloggers were mroe or less new to LBYM when they ERd and went full-time, but mostly because they write well about personal things such as being an introvert on the road and practical aspects of life on the road. They've all created unique online personas that I assume are accurate reflections of themselves.

Andy blogs occasionally in a professional style (former tech writer) with exquisite pictures and personal thoughts.
http://www.andybaird.com/travels/

Howard blogs daily. Great info on the financial and other practical aspoects of ER and RVing plus details about what he & his wife do at each locale (they like to walk, bike, kayak, and espcially watch birds).
http://www.rv-dreams.com/

George blogs daily in a unique style. I find the chapter on his reasons for vagabonding very moving.
http://vagabonders-supreme.net/
 
astromeria said:
Andy blogs occasionally in a professional style (former tech writer) with exquisite pictures and personal  thoughts.
http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
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I especially enjoyed reading about Andy's decision to retire.
http://www.andybaird.com/travels/fulltime/fulltime01.htm

But one friend—Gertie's former owner, Judie—suggested that I look closely at what I really needed in order to live, and think creatively about ways to reduce my living expenses. When I did, it began to dawn on me that if I took a few simple steps (mainly getting out of expensive central New Jersey), I didn't need anywhere near 80% of my salary; in fact, I figured I could get by on about 30%. The key assumptions were that I'd sell my condo, get out from under the mortgage, taxes and condo fees, and live fulltime in my motorhome.
 
I also have a truck camper and have been/plan to do some major traveling in it with DW and kids. We are going to the Adirondack mountains in Sept for a family reunion(from N.CA) - then Maine to eat lobster til we are sick of it! TC are a great way to go - you can easily cruise through downtowns and park at the little hole in the wall resturants that are off limits for the larger RVs. Have a great time!
 
Martha said:
I especially enjoyed reading about Andy's decision to retire.
Click to expand...

Yes, all of the chapters on his momentous decision as well as actually leaving his workplace, home, and friends are awesome--I reread the early stuff occasionally (coz I have time!).

Ah, whaddya do all day...have plenty of time to reread favorite passages! If I were a better googler, I'd probably do that here, too (where's the thread with pictures of audreyh1's fifth wheeler?).
 
http://www.andybaird.com/travels/

Mr. Baird had always updated his blog/website every few days; and now has not updated it in over 6 weeks. I'm concerned that perhaps his health may have failed him. Don't know how else to explain it. He did always seem to be beset with health problems. Living constantly on the road and in such a small space probably didn't help either.
 
Andy just upgraded from an old, small Lazy Daze RV to a much newer (used) mid-sized one. He's also doing some customizing on the new rig, which I'm sure takes up lots of his time. I think he said something about redesigning his web site, too, plus he moderates more than one board. Andy isn't one of those bloggers with an urge to tell everything he thinks and feels (he's an introvert). He seems to add an entry only when he has something compelling to show or tell (he's a wonderful photographer). He also works part time on the road--computer-based graphics, I think. I check his web site daily and try not to get my hopes up! He posts frequently on the Yahoo "Life with a Lazy Daze RV" forum, where he is one of the moderators.
 
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