Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum > GENERAL DISCUSSIONS > Full Timing in your Montana
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 07-08-2006, 08:19 AM   #41
Glenn and Lorraine
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Clearwater
Posts: 10,917
M.O.C. #420
Quote:
quote:Originally posted by dsprik

Thanks, Gary!

We are really getting excited at this point. I asked Cheryl today if she was starting to get excited yet. She said it still all feels like a dream, yet. She said she kind of feels numb.

The journey to this point in our life seemed like an impossible "pipe dream" a few months ago. Everything that could go wrong, did. Everyone around us was telling us that we couldn't do "this", and "that" was impossible. I think that this experience that Cheryl went through (including the perceived intense stress that she felt her husband was going through), makes it difficult to believe it really happened.

Maybe the best way to explain would be to give the example of someone being told continously "NO! NO! NO!!!" for 12 straight months on your dream of a lifetime, then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, out of the haze, there is the "Prize" sitting right in front of you and someone says, "OK, you can have it." The disbelief is EXTREMELY hard to overcome in that situation. That's what she's going through right now.
Lorraine and I know your excitement. Back in September 03 we thought our departure date of Oct 20th would never get here. It is now going on 33 months and we love it and have no plans of stopping now or later.
 
Glenn and Lorraine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2006, 08:24 AM   #42
jrgwdenner
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Wetumpka
Posts: 4,936
M.O.C. #1105
Wendi and Phil. Altoona isn't that far from Goshen, Indiana, site of the National Fall Rally for Montana owners. How 'bout joining us?

My sister lives in Milo, Iowa, which can't be too far from Altoona. Where are you workamping?
jrgwdenner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2006, 09:44 AM   #43
dsprik
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Fort Myers
Posts: 5,933
M.O.C. #4282
Thanks, Gary and Glen! And EVERYONE ELSE! The MOC really was a huge part of our Dream being strong enough to fight through these "impossible" walls. Don't think we would have made it without this forum. We are excited abour our adventure, and counting down: 11 days, 1 hrs, 14 mins until we pull out of our dealership and start our new life with with our new 3400RL.
dsprik is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2006, 07:40 AM   #44
Longwell
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Grove City
Posts: 1,357
M.O.C. #5192
Hey Glenn, how about negative numbers? (lol) We won't be starting until approximately April 30, 2011, (earlier if we decide to sell the house before the wife's retirement date) but all our efforts are now on getting ready so it won't be traumatic/stressful. We already have travel packets from all the US states, Canada and Mexico. We have trips planned for the first two years (always changing). We are already getting rid of almost all our clutter and have planned what we will take with us and how to get rid of the rest when we sell the house.

So, if you enter us on the list, it would be: Time = minus 4 years, 9 months and 21 days (but who's counting?); Rating = 10, plus excitement/anticipation; Still to go = until we can't.

(Of course you may not want to have negative numbers on your list since it would then be so long, in which case we'll just keep going until we can get "listed.") In the meantime we'll try to keep up with MOC (where else!) to be even better prepared.
Larry
Longwell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2006, 08:52 AM   #45
Devildog
Montana Fan
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Ooltewah
Posts: 360
M.O.C. #4958
I have been following this thread with interest, and want to post a question.

My wife and I have been considering full timing when our oldest leaves home (he's a senior in high school), but also leaving our current jobs and workkamping. I am currently 45 and 12 years away from retirement with the US Postal Service. My thought is to work it out, and enjoy retirement, but the other side says why spin the wheels, enjoy as many years as possible and see the other side of things after all the rest of the world I have already seen as a US Marine.

My question is this: How many of you have done the same thing, left your position before retirement (not independently wealthy), and started over? Ups? Downs? Do something different?
Devildog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2006, 09:23 AM   #46
txkrumm
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Livingston
Posts: 575
M.O.C. #5920
I don't know if we count yet or not, but Steve, myself and the three pets will be full timing it officially on Aug 15, 2006 when we leave MT for southern CA. We will be living in our rig for at least 14 months while I finish grad school. We are in the process of selling one house and have tinkered with the idea of selling the other! I can't wait to visit all the national and state parks in California. We are, like Dave and Cheryl, counting the days and minutes until the start of our new adventure!
tara krumm
txkrumm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2006, 01:18 PM   #47
Roamingusa
Montana Fan
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Beaumont
Posts: 244
M.O.C. #4995
Hi,
Albert and I have been fulltiming since 1994. He is a union pipefitter and we travel with his work,( I do temp. jobs) our first RV was a 1995 35' Kit Roadranger 5er, we kept that unit until November 2005, then traded for the Monty.I will sure take the trailer over Motel 6, which we did that route for 5 years! Ughhh... Never thought I'd get tired of eating out and maid service! He has 7 years to go till retirement, and guess what we will do???? Buy a house and settle down somewhere! LOL Yes, we are doing things backwards. I sure am enjoying the lifestyle right now though. Lots of new places, jobs, and made many, many friends along the way.We travel with "Miss Kitty", and she loves it as much as our cat before her did.Good little furry travelers.
And I do enjoy this web site!
Chris
Roamingusa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2006, 06:00 AM   #48
gkbutler
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Naples
Posts: 658
M.O.C. #4049
Send a message via MSN to gkbutler Send a message via Yahoo to gkbutler
Jim,

That is exactly what we did. We had talked about fulltiming for a couple of years. Hadn't really planned to do anything until we retired, but long story short, a good friend of ours who wanted to fulltime with her husband died unexpectedly; she was 44. It didn't take long for us to realize that life was too short to wait to see what retirement would bring.

I left the Army at the end of my enlistment (14 years active duty). I qualify for a Reserve pension, but not until I am sixty. Karen was able to transfer to Florida, but is now enjoying "retirement" for a few months. We sold the house and gave the kids their inheritance early.

You don't have to workkamp. There are several companies that will allow an employee the opportunity to transfer from one place to another. Those that I know of are The Home Depot, Walmart, Walgreen, and CVS pharmacies. I work for The Home Depot and transfer back and forth between Florida and Illinois right now, because we still have to work.

We aren't independently wealthy, but do we love this lifestyle, YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!! Like I have said before, we feel like we are on an extended vacation although we are limited in our pulling adventures for the time being. We wouldn't trade this lifestyle for anything in the world!!!

gkbutler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2006, 04:44 PM   #49
dsprik
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Fort Myers
Posts: 5,933
M.O.C. #4282
Jim, our situation was that Cheryl's parents and my parents both retired late in life. Both mothers went down almost immediately with teminal illnesses. My personal situation turned from a teaching job I loved (and thought I would love for the next 10 years), to a incredible nightmare in one school year (2004-2005). During that same year I faced an overwhelming barrage of injuries/failed operations/illnesses. More times in the ER, and more times under general anesthesia, than my ENTIRE 53 years before that, combined.

Before last summer, Cheryl and I have never met anyone who was FTing in an RV. Last summer we all of a sudden began running into couple after couple, in rapid succession, who were FTing and told their exciting stories to us.

The State Retirement Office (Teachers) in a surprise move last summer, strongly urged me to file for permanent Disability Retirement - NOW.

Last Fall, my Dad sat across from his kitchen table from me and, as tears started to well up in his eyes (I've seen my Dad cry only once in my life), he said to me, "All those plans your mother and I had for retirement... Now we'll never be able to do them..."

I do not believe in coincidence. You don't have to hit me over the head more than 2 or 3 times for me to get the message. While this process has been far from easy (understatement), we have been intensely motivated, relying on a tremendous amount of Faith... And

WE ARE GONE!!!
dsprik is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2006, 04:40 AM   #50
Devildog
Montana Fan
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Ooltewah
Posts: 360
M.O.C. #4958
Dave and Gary,

I appreciate your responses, and this has started the information I am looking for. While I plan for what I want to do upon retirement, I have seen too many times illness/setbacks that restrict what we thought our lives would be like. Sometimes, just the effects of aging on the early aged crowd (sight, mobility) are an effect.
My current billet with the postal service is a Postmaster, with much work in productivity, growth planning, inspections and other areas related to field operations. After I posted the original message above, I talked at length with my wife about the possibilities of leaving this area in around 5 years (I would be 50 at that time, with 23 years active post office and 7 years military for retirement) and possibly downgrade to a smaller office in an area we would like to live in for a couple of years. Then, do the same thing in a couple more years. For example, Devils Tower Wyoming has a post office right next to the KOA at the base of the tower. Small, but still drawing full pay. Live in the camper, wife work part time with KOA, still drawing full benefits. After a couple of years, move on to something else. This would allow us to 'shed' our property that you must have in home ownership, and allow us to explore during my vacations, the area of the west coast or the southwest. My retirement is based on my highest 3 years, so, it doesn't matter if it is in the middle or the end. Anyway, this has been my thinking, and I wanted to test the waters to see what other experiences have been, and look forward to hearing from others about their experiences.

Alomost wish we could retire between 20 and 40 year of age, then start working until we are 65. Just think of what experiences we could take to our employer.

Thanks for the response, and best wishes in your travels.
Semper Fi!
Devildog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2006, 06:20 AM   #51
Parrothead
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Fallon
Posts: 6,064
M.O.C. #1989
Send a message via MSN to Parrothead
Jim
Your thinking is in good order. I have known so many people who die soon after retirement in their 60's. I had a close call - retired May of 2005 and in Feb. this year had a heart attack. Thank goodness the doctors were able to get me back on my feet rather quickly but the whole experience made me want to live life to the fullest. We will start full timing sometime next year. 2 homes to sell first then we are off. One of my best friends filed his retirement papers and died several weeks later. He had been wanting to retire for several years and his wife thought they wouldn't have enough money. She ended up traveling alone. Retirement does take the stress out of your life or changes the level and stress does bad things to our bodies. Have a great life!
Happy trails.........................
Parrothead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2006, 08:05 AM   #52
FulltimeFollies
Montana Fan
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Sunnyskies
Posts: 145
M.O.C. #5656
We worked out of our rv for 22 years, stressful is not the word for it. Made bunches of money, traveled, everything, In 2003, I told the wife we should give it up and enjoy the life we worked so hard for , we had all we would ever need. Nope, gotta work till we reach 65 regardless of the money. Relunctantly, I mentally said ok. Five months later, the first heart attack, I said the hell with this working, closed the company, and begin to relax, 6 months later, the second heart attack. This at 60 years of age.
Stress is the killer, or so said my doctor. I can and will tell you that when the sh_t hits the fan, you wake up.Money is not the end all to life. Happiness and enjoyment of life SHOULD be your path.
FulltimeFollies is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-15-2006, 05:27 PM   #53
dchafer
Montana Fan
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Madoc
Posts: 130
M.O.C. #4203
Send a message via Yahoo to dchafer
Touche, on that fulltime Follies. Life is so precious, we did the same went out west to work last year, worked so hard and didnt take any time off. BP went up and no time to play. Now retired again and loving it. had a ambulance ride few weeks ago that scared the jeebers outta me, thought it was my heart, lucky for me it was the new BP pills doc prescribed. All is well and hubby and I are counting our lucky stars that we still are able to enjoy this beautiful life. We are here for such a short time, make the best of it and do what really matters in life. Enjoy!!!! Diane
dchafer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2006, 03:05 AM   #54
smc
Montana Fan
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Where we are parked
Posts: 226
M.O.C. #3125
Fulltiming since May 04, loving it still, no plans to quit soon.
smc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2006, 04:22 AM   #55
drifus
Seasoned Camper
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 78
M.O.C. #4711
Send a message via Yahoo to drifus
Just wondering how many of us MOCers are full timers?

Actually I consider us Work-Timers as to me Full-timer means retired, but i'll play along.

How long you been full timing?


1 year as of June 24th, 2006

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being best, how do you rate your experience?

Well seeing that it was a dream of mine for 32 years and I have completed year one Ill easily give it a 9!

How long do you plan on continuing full timing?


Picture me holding up a 50amp cord saying "From my cold dead hands". Get the idea? hehe

drifus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2006, 05:49 AM   #56
Glenn and Lorraine
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Clearwater
Posts: 10,917
M.O.C. #420
My retirement date was set when my father died. Starting in 1924, Mom and Pop raised 8 kids through the Depression, WWII, and Korea. In the late 40's, he and my 2 older brothers started a dry cleaning business. My Dad spent most of his next 25 years devoted to this new business. Finally on December 31st 1972 at age 67 he retired selling his half of the business to my brothers. His doctor considered both him and Mom in excellent health. Hell he played 18 holes of golf 3 days a week. Two years to the date of his retirement, Dec 31, 1974, at age 69 he dropped dead from a stomach aneurysm. It was on that date I told Lorraine that we would be retired by age 60 and that's exactly what we did. Oh yeah, we still do some odd jobs from time to time but for all intent and purpose we can and do come and go as we please. Tomorrow I will be returning to a very part time job I had last winter but I have already notified them that I will be taking off after Labor Day and will probably be back sometime in October.
Glenn and Lorraine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-22-2006, 08:39 AM   #57
Rocky2
Montana Fan
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 217
M.O.C. #2840
Fulltiming since June 15, 2005. And still loving it.

Work camping too.

Sold the house June 2005 and moved into the 3400 with 3 dogs.

Currently "work camping" for a relative in Northern California.

Laura & Joe Lantz
Rocky2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-22-2006, 02:03 PM   #58
richfaa
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North Ridgeville
Posts: 20,229
M.O.C. #2839
We have never looked at this thread because we are not full timers. Don't know why we looked today but glad we did.Had no idea there were so many full timers and loving the lifestyle.Helen and I have discussed full timing at length and decided that the lifestyle is not for us. We do not want to live in Florida or Texas or Arizona. We want one day to live here in Northern Ohio near family, Old friends, Familiar places and things . We like to come back home..Guess we need roots..However we would never say never. I am a retired Fed. retired 6 years ago.Helen is also a Fed and retires in 99 total days 42 working days. We will be long timing. We figure we could be on the road for 6 months of the year, more if we want to. In some of the seminars we have been to that would qualify as a full timer..In our opinion a full timer lives in their camper, that's it. We have good pensions, are in good health and are financially secure, sort of. We will enjoy traveling, seeing new places and meeting new folks as long as we are able to do so but home is here..for us the Montana is great but there is truly no place like home.We wish all full timers and future full timers good health and pleasant journeys.
richfaa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-23-2006, 08:43 AM   #59
Sunshine
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: La Pine
Posts: 2,654
M.O.C. #2018
We also like to have a place to come home to. Our area here in Central Oregon is a year round playground and people pay lots of $$$ just to come and enjoy what we have right outside our door. Our backgrounds also make having a "piece of dirt" to call our own important. We would like to be snowbirds because summer is our favorite time of year, and we will see what happens with that idea. But for now, we take the Montana on the road in spring and fall for longer trips, shorter ones in the summer, and are pretty content. I do love to visit with the full timers and hear all about their lifestyle and adventures though. Safe travels.
Sunshine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2006, 08:23 AM   #60
Diamond
Established Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Spring Branch
Posts: 49
M.O.C. #715
We have been fulltiming since April 1, 2004 and thoroughly enjoying it. Yes, there are the moments when you question your sanity, but overall we would probably rate it an 8. Plan to continue as long as we can and as long as we are having fun - more realistically another 2 to 4 years. Then settle down in a much smaller stick home than we owned before fulltiming, but keep a rig for travels during the "hot or cold" months of wherever we settle, or whenever we get the bug to go!
Diamond is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Full Timers GaryM Long Timers 5 02-28-2024 03:30 PM
Need some full timers for the Full Time Roundtable DQDick 2016 Annual North American Fall Rally 13 05-12-2017 08:05 PM
New Aspiring Full Timers Beleng68 New Member Introductions 12 12-10-2016 01:41 PM
Must be full timers! ARJ Sitting around the Campfire 3 12-09-2009 03:44 AM
Soon to be full timers RADHAZJOE North American MOC / Mid-Atlantic-Virginia Region 8 03-05-2005 02:47 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Montana RV, Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:41 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.