What was the trigger?

Jim

Jim

Ringleader
Joined
Jul 19, 2007
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Adria Panel Van.
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Since 1988
I know that most of you fultimers have your own personal reasons for fulltiming. But... Did the idea just creep up on you as a slow series of events leading you to it? Or did you just have a eureka moment one morning and want to hit the road? I also know that the process can be quite protracted expecially if you have property to sell, all that time for those itch feet to get cold! Must be quite scary initially, is it?
 
:Cool: I said from an early age that I was going to retire at 45. I didn't quite make it. I was 52. We had been in Spain for 2 years and done 2 Summer seasons of Karaoke in Benidorm. We were having a GREAT time. BUT. Every so often. A Dick head would spoil our enjoyment. I had been considering what to do about it for some time. I sat down and worked out what we had invested and in savings (not a lot). What income we had from pension and housing rent (not a lot). I worked out that we could live the way were living until I received State pension age. So. October 1996 I told the owner of the Star & Garter we were retiring. I went back to the UK. Visited my Accountant and asked what I needed to do to close down our business. We complied, payed our taxes and retired. 18 months to go and we are still in a good position to carry on as we are. :Wink:
 
Two and a half years ago I was working in a job that I despised, living in hotels and missing my perfect wife and family.
Then, a 50 year old friend went to bed thinking she was suffering a flu virus. She died during the night, leaving a devoted husband and 8 year old son.
A couple of weeks later, the 2 year old daughter of our good friends had breathing problems. She spent two weeks in intensive care before she died.

We now work as little as possible - just enough to pay the bills - while we plan our fulltiming life. We are cash poor, as they say, but time rich. Relationship rich!

Sorry if this is a little heavy, but how much of a trigger would anyone need?

It has taken us a while to sort things out but we will be fulltiming by next summer!
 
Hey thehutchies
It is not to heavy, that is the way life deals the cards sometimes. If I were you, I would be very grateful that you learned the lesson through someone else's misfortune and not your own.
Sharon and I used to have very demanding jobs which robbed me of my daughter growing up and also was affecting our life together as I was always traveling the world and Sharon kept long hours traveling around the UK.
We gave it all up 5 years ago and started our own business, which keeps us sheltered and fed and watered, it is amazing how the stress levels fall when you kick out the politics too :BigGrin:
Best move we ever made.....

Keith
 
My Story:

I was married to my first wife Nancy for 16 years, we had three sons, I worked hard offshore in the oil industry and also started a hairdressing business, we planned a string of shops and and beauty salons, I had everything a man could desire, lovely wife, 3 sons, beautiful house overlooking the Clyde, new car etc etc.. but I neglected my family's needs, had little time to give them what they really needed.. ME.. and so it came to an end one day, Nancy left me.. I won't go into the whole sorry mess, enough to say I was devastated.

But why do I tell you this you ask .. well, I decided that if I ever found another woman and fortunate to have more children things would be different .. very different.. money, although important would take second place in my life and I would travel..

I met Jan in 1987, I was penniless, jobless and in debt to the tune of 20k, everyone said our relationship was doomed., me , a separated man, her a 21 year old single mum and sixteen years younger than me, we came from different backgrounds, different worlds.. but we were determined to make it work.

And so we set out to to clear my debt and settle down, we moved to Essex for better money and I devoted my time to raising Jonathan, Paul and Chaz, my family always first, .. but we planned to travel, to leave the rat race.

Ten years ago we set the time table, by 2005 we would sell up and go "on the road" we finally realised our dream last year .. one year later than planned..

Just recently said to me..

"Do you recall what you said when we first met ? " I said no, she replied ,
"You said I would never be bored and I would travel.. and you kept your promise"

So, the motive, the desire has been with me all my life but it was only with Jan's support and encouragement that it was realised..

Sorry if I went into too much depth, but without the background the story would be incomplete..

Jim

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You are a very lucky man Jim, to have found your way in this life whilst all the odds are against you.
Well done mate, and long may it continue :BigGrin:

Keith
 
ScotJimland said:
My Story:

I was married to my first wife Nancy for 16 years, we had three sons, I worked hard offshore in the oil industry and also started a hairdressing business, we planned a string of shops and and beauty salons, I had everything a man could desire, lovely wife, 3 sons, beautiful house overlooking the Clyde, new car etc etc.. but I neglected my family's needs, had little time to give them what they really needed.. ME.. and so it came to an end one day, Nancy left me.. I won't go into the whole sorry mess, enough to say I was devastated.

But why do I tell you this you ask .. well, I decided that if I ever found another woman and fortunate to have more children things would be different .. very different.. money, although important would take second place in my life and I would travel..

I met Jan in 1987, I was penniless, jobless and in debt to the tune of 20k, everyone said our relationship was doomed., me , a separated man, her a 21 year old single mum and sixteen years younger than me, we came from different backgrounds, different worlds.. but we were determined to make it work.

And so we set out to to clear my debt and settle down, we moved to Essex for better money and I devoted my time to raising Jonathan, Paul and Chaz, my family always first, .. but we planned to travel, to leave the rat race.

Ten years ago we set the time table, by 2005 we would sell up and go "on the road" we finally realised our dream last year .. one year later than planned..

Just recently said to me..

"Do you recall what you said when we first met ? " I said no, she replied ,
"You said I would never be bored and I would travel.. and you kept your promise"

So, the motive, the desire has been with me all my life but it was only with Jan's support and encouragement that it was realised..

Sorry if I went into too much depth, but without the background the story would be incomplete..

Jim
Click to expand...

A great storie indeed Jim.But why the hell did you choose Essex?most people want to get out of there.:Rofl1:

steve
 
The Trigger

My story starts after thirty years in Army Uniform - one morning I decided that I wanted to wear something different. Mo agree, we jumped into the caravan and set off around the World - got as far as Cornwall where we ran a caravan site for 6 years.
Then we ran a stately home which specialized in weddings and we loved it - huge stately home, lovely couples to marry - absolutely on top of the World.
Then Mo fell down the stairs and broke her neck - in thirty seconds we were out of a job, out of our tied-cottage and no income!
We had our own house sited on the side of a 1 in 5 hill and I couldn't push her wheelchair up the hill - we couldn't afford a bungalow - so we bought an RV and set off around the World again!
The we couldn't find where to park the RV so we started a book on RV acceptable pitches - the rest is the history of the Big Pitch Guide and Mo and I are now working 24/7 from the RV!!!!!!!!
Anybody want to take over our thriving business so that we can go full-timing - oh, and by the way - we got as far as Cornwall again!

Dick

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What was the trigger

I've always hankered after full timing on the canal system, but it is quite expensive to purchase anything half decent. The trigger? Boring, but it was my 60th birthday. Why haven't I done this, Why haven't I bin there?? And I suddenly thought of full timing - never been near a motorhome.I mentioned it to 'er in doors and she thought it was a brill' idea. That was in March and we hope to be off in the New Year.:thumb:
 
Wife and I are shortly to go full timing. After running my own small business for 30 odd years I think the stress did it for me. That and the red tape and our PC society. In fact it was my wife's idea in the 1st place. She works in A&E at the hospital and sees all the doom and gloom.

ken
 
jacken said:
Wife and I are shortly to go full timing. After running my own small business for 30 odd years I think the stress did it for me. That and the red tape and our PC society. In fact it was my wife's idea in the 1st place. She works in A&E at the hospital and sees all the doom and gloom.

ken
Click to expand...


Hi Ken, do you have a fulltiming plan, or is your plan to have no plan. Are you going to follow the sun, or stay in the UK
 
Health Reasons mainly, but also work.

At the age of 60, my chest problems (COPD - they don't call it asthma, bronchitus etc anymore) was getting the better of me. Coupled with being right royally sc****d by senior management twice at work, I decided enough was enough. It took me two years to do it, mainly down to serious probs with the RV. Besides all this, there are parts of Spain that I have'nt visited yet such as the wonderful cathedral at Campostella. Now though I look at all the steps leading to the entrance and wonder if I could make it.

I was given a piece of advice when I was making up my mind and this is amply born out by some other posters - Do it now, tomorrow may be too late and the opportunity may slip by!

Ian:thumb:

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Jim said:
Hi Ken, do you have a fulltiming plan, or is your plan to have no plan. Are you going to follow the sun, or stay in the UK
Click to expand...

I know this sounds silly but I have spent all my working life governed by time costraints, other people, meetings etc and worst of all, governed by the phone. I now want to just go where I want and when I want. I am so looking forward to it. We are just going to get to Europe and take it from there, wandering nomads. This is how we have been holidaying abroad in our motorhomes for years, a form of escapism I suppose.

ken:Smile:
 
The short answer - I got to my 60th birthday and decided it was time to do something different (what a cliche). 43 years of work is enough in my book. For the long answer have a look at my blog - Link Removed
 
Well reading through your stories is very enlightening,
If you have been brave enough to do it then good luck to you all.
I have a plan to full time but unfortunately my childrens schooling comes first. Instead I am fortunate to get 6-7 weeks holiday a year which I use everybitof traveling in my MH with my kids. Reading through the posted stories, I would say that everybody wishes they would of spent more time with their kids, regardles of how much time they spend with them.

Not sure if I could give up everything in this country though. Despite reading about how some much prefer fulltiming in spain etc on another post I would say I love this country, and therefore would not want to leave it forever.

Good luck to you brave ones though and enjoy yourselves.:thumb:
 
What a great thread!!!!!!
We just sort of drifted into fulltiming when in our 30s (for about 7years) it suited our lifestyle at that time. We are now VERY impatient to do it again, although we are not as young and fit as we were then, we know how much we prefer that way of life to living the "normal way "
Watch this space!!:thumb:
Nigel
 
Hi Nigel, if you like this thread you will enjoy this one as well. Especially post 39 and on Link Removed


sundowner said:
What a great thread!!!!!!
We just sort of drifted into fulltiming when in our 30s (for about 7years) it suited our lifestyle at that time. We are now VERY impatient to do it again, although we are not as young and fit as we were then, we know how much we prefer that way of life to living the "normal way "
Watch this space!!:thumb:
Nigel
Click to expand...

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Hi Jim
God, that has made me sooooooo homesick, not for Spain, but for the way our lives once were, that description could well have been one of thousands of Med. places.
One thing I noticed missing from that was , when you arrive back "home" a local has left oranges or whatever is in season at your door, expecting nothing in return, I've made myself emotional again, time to go.
Nigel
 

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