Caution!! Personal opinions ahead.
I came across this blog Man vs Debt and his entry yesterday got me thinking.
It seems that some in the full-timing community think that unless you go to their rallies or seminars, buy their books or donate to their web site then you really aren't qualified to become a full-timer. Guess what? It really isn't that difficult.
Here's 4 easy steps to becoming a full-timer.
1. Sell house. According to the experts you can't really call yourself a full-timer if you still have a house
2. Sell stuff in house. This is the hard one as most of us can't bear the thought of not having some stuff
3. Buy 5th wheel, or motorhome
4. Put key in RV and drive away
Really folks that's about all there is to it. While the order may vary for some folks, that's it. If you don't own a house or you already have an RV you can omit some of the steps.
Everything else is just a version of what you do when you were living in a house. We make it far too complicated. Do we really need seminars on how to pack our stuff, prepare our food, learn where to stay, what toilet paper to use, and yes even how to dump our holding tanks. I sometimes wonder how any of us made it in the "sticks and bricks" world. I don't recall someone telling me I needed a seminar on all this stuff before I bought a house or a car. I sure don't recall going to any "rallies" on home ownership or car purchasing.
It has never been easier to full-time. With the evolution of the internet and cell phones you can now stay in touch almost anywhere. You can handle your financial, banking and insurance online, you can make reservations online for most state and national parks, sit out in the desert boondocking with full internet access via Motosat, and even read what other full-timers do on a daily basis. Heck you can even keep up with Farmville on FaceBook. In short it's just like living in your old house. And with GPS you can even find your way home.
Maybe that's the problem for some of us. We are trying to drag it all with us. We want to take all of our stuff with us but unfortunately we take all of our old habits with us too. Full timing is the perfect time to start over with a clean slate. Start by throwing away some of those old habits. I'll quit preaching and list a few new habits I'm trying to develop.
1. Less TV
2. Make better choices regarding the quality and quantity of food I eat
3. Read More
4. Learning to live in the moment
5. Learning to be content with what I have
6. Grow in my personal faith
There is a new generation of full-timers out there and I enjoy reading their thoughts as well. They go to rallies too, but theirs have weird names like Burning Man and SXSW. These are people who are living simple uncluttered lives, people who aren't afraid to just go out and do it. Here are a few examples.
wheeling it
Bumfuzzle
Technomadia
Man vs Debt
Magic Bus
So turn off the TV, sign off from Facebook, and whatever your dream is, just do it.
Need more inspiration? You probably won't find any single ply toilet paper recommendations or ten year exit strategies here. What you will find is some refreshing can do attitude.
A QUOTE FROM STERLING HAYDEN'S BOOK, WANDERER
To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. "I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life? Sterling Hayden
What do you think?
Until later.
