Plan of Action

I am one of those people who love to make lists and set goals.  So, after perusing the two RV books I bought I've come up with a basic step-by-step plan to get from here, living in a condo in Chicago with no car, a ton of stuff and two steady jobs to where we want to be:  traveling the continent in a travel trailer with only a few possessions, a big truck and wages from various gigs along the way.

I don't have deadlines set for the steps as of yet, but I will add them later.  So without further ado:

Step 1:  Research as much as possible - I might order some more books and I'm looking for good fulltiming blogs to subscribe to.  I also found a few RV related podcasts.  I have to be careful not to go too crazy with research though (I have a tendency to do that - I want to kick myself when I think of how many beautiful summer days I wasted researching the perfect whatever for my wedding that was all over in four hours).

Step 2:  Network with other fulltimers - I imagine I'll have to the this mostly through the internets, forums and such, since I don't personally know any fulltimers and the nearest campground is over over an hour away by the car we don't have.

Step 3:  Set a budget - A very important step.  We need to figure out not only what kind of trailer and vehicle we can afford but also try and predict what our monthly expenses will be on the road so we'll have a baseline for what we'll need to earn to get by.  I'm hoping that fulltiming will be less expensive for us than the stationary life. 

Step 4:  Determine how we will make a living - Also very important.  I recently started a freelance writing business but I'm not making much dough at it yet.  I definitely intend to continue writing for dollars on the road but I'm pretty sure we'll need to supplement that income.  I recently read about a guy who made a living while fulltiming as a traveling bicycle mechanic, which would be perfect, since that's what my husband does now. But I imagine we'll take whatever jobs we have to. 

Step 5:  Take an RV rental vacation - This is a hard one for me, not because I wouldn't love taking a trip but because renting an RV is so expensive.  If we decide to do this it will suck up a good deal of the money we've worked so hard to save to buy a trailer.  On the other hand, it seems ridiculous to say that I want to spend my life doing something I've never even tried even if I feel 110% sure that I'm going to love it.

Step 6:  Select a rig - We've kind of already started on this.  I don't think I could ever be happy living in an ugly house, so that rules out about 90% of contemporary RVs with their beige hideousness.  What's left are vintage RVs, Airstreams, and a few teeny trails like the Shasta Airflyte and the Tada.  It's looking like a new, or even late model used, Airstream is going to be beyond our budget, but there are plenty of vintage ones available too.  As to the ultra-tiny trailers, I know that there are people who live in them full-time, but my husband is trepidatious because we'll have also have two cats and a small but flatulent dog we'll be taking along.  So it looks for now like we'll probably be taking the vintage route. For a while I was checking out all the old '70s Avion and Airstream-type 30 to 34 footers because they offer so much room and so many features at a comparative bargain, but now I'm wondering something like a 23 footer might be a better idea since it would have everything we need, would be able to go just about anywhere (e.g. National Parks), be easier to tow and cost us less in fuel.  As to the trailer or motorhome question, the hubs is pretty set on a trailer for the perfectly logical reason that if the engine craps out on us, we'll still have a place to live.  I'm a bit more open to the idea of a motorhome and keep getting crushes on adorable little 1970s models that I could buy right now and use right away.  Paul (my husband) thinks this is a monumentally bad idea but neither one of us knows enough about  motor vehicles to really say for sure, in my opinion. 

Step 7:  Select a tow vehicle - I'll leave this one up to my husband, perhaps with some help from my dad.

Step 8:  Purchase tow vehicle - The trailer is more important to me than the tow vehicle so I want to select the tow vehicle based on what the trailer model we've decided on needs to pull it.  However, I think actually buying the tow vehicle first makes the most sense so we'll have something to tow it with especially if we buy it from a private party.

Step 9:  Purchase the trailer - I can't wait to complete this one.

Step 10:  Take a trial run - To work out all the kinks.

Step 11:  Sell our condo - Fingers crossed!

Step 12:  Deal with minutiae - Stuff like mailing addresses, internet connections, domicile, etc.

Step 13:  Deal with possessions -I've already started on this.  Yay me!  I've been selling books on Amazon and clothes at the consignment shop and we'll be having the first of probably at least two garage sales this weekend.  Just getting rid of the clutter feels pretty good.

Step 14:  Fix up the trailer - Make any mechanical or cosmetic repairs or upgrades that are needed.

Step 15:  Work on storage solutions - Figure out how all of the stuff we need is going to fit in the trailer.

Step 16:  Create a maintenance plan - There are checklists for this, right?

Step 17:  Fix up the tow vehicle - Like Step 13 but with a truck.

Step 18:  Deal with bikes and/or scooters - Figure out how we will transport our bikes.  Consider purchasing a scooter as a low cost getting around vehicle for non-bikeable distances.

Step 19:  Make sure everything is safe and secure - Fire extinguishers, first aid kit, locks and all that.

Step 20:  Prep the pets - Shouldn't be much to this but we might need to buy a few travel friendly accessories.

Step 21:  Move into the trailer - I love thinking about how I'm going to arrange and decorate our new place.  I'm such a girl about things like that.

Step 22:  Hit the Road!

What do you think?  Did I miss anything?