The Joy of Full-Timing

We're probably singing "on the road
again" along with Willie Nelson.

It is interesting. No one in our generation seems to be neutral about the idea of full-timing; i.e. your home being wherever in this great land you happen to be. Of those who don't full-time or spend the majority of their time on the road, there are a fair number who think we're crazy. After working hard all your life, why would you want to give up all of the "comforts" of just staying home? There's obviously a debate built into that question which I will ignore for now. Suffice it to say, those of us who live this life don't see it that way. This is evidenced by those who are openly envious of our life-style.

The first great joy about full-timing is the ability to do it. Most people have too much debt. Conspicuous consumption is still a major behavior problem in the US. Then everything has to be bigger . . . bigger than before, bigger than your neighbor's, bigger than last year's model, etc. As a result we have people attempting to full-time and ending up trading their home mortgage for a big class-A RV loan, which can be as big or bigger than the mortgage, and still carrying their heavy consumer credit card debt. Other people are not physically able to hit the road. I really feel sorry for them because there are a lot of such people who would love and be willing to do what we're doing. Then there are those who are afraid to venture into the unknown. A lot of them will claim that they are morally or ethically tied to a town, but we know that's not true. Truth be known most of this group are people who are afraid of anything new or different. They don't want to try new experiences or eat new foods, and are really terrified of having to deal with and/or live among people who look, dress and/or act differently than "at home". I have sympathy for this group as well. There's nothing wrong with admitting that you're afraid to leave home or venture into the unknown. They're generally the ones who try to convince me that I'm crazy for doing it. The last, and probably largest group, are those who just don't care. They're perfectly happy sitting on the sofa watching television or on the porch watching the grass grow. But that's their choice and that's okay.

Why would you want to stay in an RV city when you can
stay in places like this. (Our first year on the road.)

One of our habits that makes full-timing a whole lots more affordable is that we do not use commercial campgrounds like KOA. There's nothing wrong with places like KOA, but we don't need or want the city-like set up. Since we started traveling we have only stayed in a KOA once. That was when we were making our way to Glacier. We had taken the middle route - straight across Missouri and Kansas to Denver and turn north. We selected this route because North and South Dakota were getting hit by blizzards. We got into the far western end of Kansas and found ourselves in driving rain with tornadoes in front and behind us. We got off the road and went to ground at a little KOA. They even had a tornado shelter which we thankfully didn't need. The next morning we arrived in Denver and turned north only to run into the snow we were trying to avoid.

Some people don't want to consider staying anywhere where they do not have full utilities. We don't care. The only things we have that can't be run by a 12 volt battery system is the microwave, air conditioner and television. We have only use our AC a couple of times in three years, so not having power to run it doesn't bother us in the least. The same is true of the microwave. The television is actually only attached to a blue ray player. We do enjoy watching movies but we don't do it a lot and it doesn't bother us not to have it. We see campers and full-timers who will run a generator 6 hours a day or want to switch camp sites because they think they can get better TV reception at a different site. If this is what they want to do, that's fine. It isn't what we like.

We love to stay in State parks, National Forests and National Parks. National Forests have places where you can stay for free or as little as $5 not counting the 50% off I get with my senior pass. We stay in such places whenever possible while we're traveling and are exploring larger National Forests for places we would enjoy spending some time. We're looking forward to trying a place in Arizona named Quartzite. It is a small town surrounded by BLM land in the desert where you can stay for free. The town makes its living during the winter months by having tens of thousands of campers and full-timers stay there for anything from a few days to a couple of months. You can stay at a full-utility campground in the town or boon-dock in the desert. The town has a different show or festival each week - antique car show, quilt shows, jewelry fairs, etc. Vendors set up tents and sell just about anything legal. Friends and colleagues who have gone there say it is something to be experienced at least once.

Of course we love living in Glacier National Park. At this point in our lives that's our raison d'etre. When my son-in-law asked why we didn't take one of the paid Ranger positions Pamela pointed out that we are two of twelve people who actually get to live in the park. Having seen the park, he conceded the point. This year (2016) we have the privilege of being here the entire camping season. We are the first ones, of whom we are aware, to have done this. We actually had two nights in May when we were the only humans inside the park on the west side of the Continental Divide. That was exciting. Imagine having about 1/2 of a 1,500 square mile park all to yourselves. We will be the last ones out of the campgrounds the end of this month. The thing one must remember about being a National Park Service volunteer is that you must really love it to do it. People who try campground volunteering just to get a place to park don't last long. We love what we do so much that it is hard to call it work even if our work days do average 14 hours long. If we ever get to the point that that isn't true, we'll quit.

When we travel from one destination to the next we stop at night at National Forest Service mini-campgrounds and pull-outs or at a Pilot Truck Stop. I don't like Walmart because they don't have any security. A truck stop like Flying J, Pilot, etc., keep a close watch on their lots. We love the west because we love the Rocky Mountains and you're not too far from the Pacific Ocean. We can easily find places to park our comfortable home, Sinni, near hiking, biking, kayaking, and scuba diving opportunities. Montana and the other Rocky Mountain states are also great if you just want to find a quiet and peaceful place with a magnificent view far away from the terror, perils and congestion of so-call "civilization." Such places are not as easy to find east of the Rockies.

Going kayaking with friends from northern Illinois in
central Indiana.  A great day!

We also quickly learned that having friends stretched out across the country makes for a lot of fun. It is fun to go from one place to another visiting friends along the way. The year before last we did a 1,400 mile trip that culminated in Jacksonville, Florida and stayed with or near friends every night. Not counting Montana, we know 43 couples or individuals in 21 states and two Canadian provinces from California to Maine who would be unhappy with us if we didn't visit them when we pass near them. Twenty-four of these are couples or individuals whom we met through the NPS. The park service is very much of a big family. If we were to travel from Glacier to northern Arizona we would have seven places along the way where friends would want an explanation if we didn't at least stop and have lunch with them.

Yes, some would call us crazy. For most of our days we have no idea what adventure the day will bring. The other day, for example, we finished our rounds and were visiting with friends who were camping with us. It was a beautiful Montana fall day in the mid-50s. We decided to take a bicycle ride. Before we got to the end of our campground we had changed the destination of the bike ride. By the time we had gone three or four miles we got talking about kayaking the white-water river next to us. That's all it took. We raced back to the campground, got our kayaks and finished the day taking our first solo white-water kayak trip down McDonald Creek. There was no agenda. For a fair portion of our year we have no idea, or perhaps an inkling of an idea, where we will be at the end of the day. When we made the 2010 mile trip from southern Indiana to Glacier last spring, we just pointed the nose of our truck in a westerly direction and pushed the gas. We spent the first night camped right on the bank of the Mississippi. The second night was on a lovely lake in southern Minnesota. The third night was in the "North Dakota Badlands" at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The last night was in a city park in north central Montana. At the beginning of each of those days we had no idea where we would be spending the night.

Some may call us crazy. However, if this life-style is crazy, I love being crazy!