Posted May 7, 2008:

Fulltime RVer: Looking Back on 606 Days on the Road

We’ve got a guest post today from my Dad, who recently ended a 606-day stint as a Fulltimer with my Mom. I asked him to reflect on his journey, and this is what he wrote back:

“After our full time journey in our RV, it was good when we were finally be able to settle back home in Central Arizona after visiting 26 states over the course of 606 days.

Would we do it all over again? It’s hard to say. We experienced the majesty of driving the coast of Big Sur, and we walked among the mighty redwoods of Northern California. We huddled in our 5th wheel as a Category 2 hurricane passed over our campground on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and we marveled at the splendor of the mammoth caves in Kentucky. We spent way too many noisy nights at “Camp Wal-Mart”, and way too few glorious nights at 5 Star RV resorts. We dined at 68 different Cracker Barrel restaurants, and used our oven in our RV exactly once. We had no traffic incidents, accidents, dents, flats, or scrapes, but we blew out our black water holding tank in a campground in Jacksonville, Florida because I wasn‘t paying attention to details! Our 2004 Ford 6.0L diesel blew a head gasket just outside of Truth or Consequences, NM and left us stranded there for 6 weeks, But… Truth or Consequences ended up being the best town we visited, with absolutely wonderful people, great BBQ, and delightful hot spring soaks under star studded nighttime skies! Through our journey, there were times we cried tears of laughter, and there were times when we cried tears of despair.

Our GPS was the best investment we ever made, and $4.00/gal diesel fuel was the worst.

We walked the quiet Florida beaches at sunrise, and held hands under the starry skies in Texas. The last night we spent in our 5th wheel was our second best night, and the day we sold our RV was actually sweeter than the day we bought it.

So… would we do it all over again? We’re just too close to look at the whole experience objectively, but IF we did it again, we’d do it a little smarter next time, a little sweeter next time, a little less hurried next time, we’d be more prepared next time, with a much bigger budget, and we‘d do it in a quality Class A RV with a small car in tow.”

A big thanks goes out to my Dad, Nick Spencer, for so graciously contributing his thoughts to FulltimerBlog.  Thanks!

-Brad