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Being on the road seven years, as described here, is certainly impressive, and I think it represents one extreme of a continuum. But if someone wants to sample this life, they could try a shorter version first and see how they like it after a while. As ChrisC (I think it was) pointed out so well, it depends on our temperament.
For example, I took a six-week road trip a few years back in my compact car which was wonderful, but which probably represents the minimal end of the continuum in the context of this thread. Stayed at times with friends and relatives, at times in motels, had a tent and sleeping bag just in case, but ended up not using them. I saw lots of museums, lots of old friends, lots of beautiful country. From Los Angeles I headed north as far as Edmonton (Alberta), then as far east as Buffalo and Washington, D.C., then back to Los Angeles. Was so glad I did this, but was also glad to get back home.
For me personally, six weeks is probably the outer limit.
I did it for almost 4 months, on a bicycle riding cross country. It was the best 4 months (well, almost) of my life. Secretly, I have been wanting to get back on the road, but with a vehicle this time. The wife is on board and we are planning our stragedy as to how we can make it work.
He said it takes alot of planning and is not really that cheap.
Depends upon where and how you travel and how fancy the accommodations, whether in an RV or a tent or out of a backpack, but fairly true overall.
We are in our early 50s have an 18' travel trailer stashed in storage out in the western USA that we leave Alaska to fetch every winter and spend from 2 to 6 months in, traveling where we want to go for the past 3 years. We have been limited to the southern half of the USA due to traveling in the winter but will amend that in a few years.
We have seen a lot of places and met a lot of people. We aren't particularly extroverted and don't tend to make instant camp buddies like some do, but something about the lifestyle lends to meeting more people than one does at home. We tend to like smallish state parks rather than RV parks or heaven forbid, those that call themselves resorts (Where rigs can be too small, too old or the people too young to be accepted.) because they are more casual and the people tend to be more varied.
People don't necessarily change on the road though. In those big parks (more especially in the big parks) there are people that bunker in after dark watching TV, insulated from their neighbors as much as in any suburb in the USA which was surprising to me.
My husband and I are doing fine relationship wise even in a very small trailer, but we both find that we enjoy having a home base to come back to. This is why starting small is a really good idea. Upgrade only after finding that the life of travel really suits. By then, travelers will have enough experience to know what they will want or need to continue or whether they've had enough and will just take long vacations or get off the road entirely. We see ourselves as eventually traveling less so we are happy with our decision on a smaller and more nimble trailer. We have met plenty of folks that sold their houses, plunged their life savings into a big rig only to find that one of them hated it, admittedly more often the woman. The secondary market for those huge campers is as bad or worse than the real estate market in the hard hit areas, and stuck is a fairly accurate term for quite a few.
Anyway, we have immensely enjoyed ourselves. I discovered that I really like Death Valley and the desert in general (in the winter) and we've helped or been helped by some wonderful people. A special shout out to the people in Bowman, ND in that regard. There's no way to know unless you try. Good luck.
Give it a try. Like the person from New Zealand wrote, it can be done in a variety of ways depending on one's needs and abilities.
My husband and I lived full-time in a motorhome back in our 20's and we had a blast. He was an engineer in the high-tech industry and there was always contract work anywhere we wanted to go. It was a wondeful experience.
This is how my wife and I spent 10 months of 05 into 06.
The pic is labled wrong it's somewhere Nebraska. I wasn't lost, I just didn't know where I was. I woke up in morning and rode away from the sun till I hit Caliwagg O' forina.
I was about 55 years old then I am 59 now and want to do it again to hit the 8 states I missed.
I'll not bore you with tales of my life on the road. Instead, I simply refer you to a scene in the classic movie The Magnificent Seven. This joins the movie a bit late, but I think you can get the general picture:
Chance - go to the Escapees forum and read the fulltimer's section for a while. There's people there who've been on the road for 10 years or more. Some of them spend $30k a year staying in parks, seeing the sights and eating out a lot. Others boondock as much as possible and spend a fraction of that. A lot of them do volunteer work at BLM parks or other places to help keep expenses down. There's bound to be unexpected expenses, so some savings you can draw on is a good idea.
Most of the fulltimers seem to be the sociable type and they help the newbies with things they don't know. I'm not really that sociable, but I think I could get along with most anyone, when I know I'm leaving in a week or two.
My sister had a rig a few years ago and travelled out west with her family for a couple weeks. She complained that, when they stopped to refuel, the "nosy" people in other RVs would always ask where they were from and where they were going. I don't think they're really being nosy, I think that's how they find out about other interesting places to go. Almost all of them like to share where they've been and where they're headed. That's what their life out there revolves around! I wouldn't be offended if they asked me that. Now if they asked for my home address or some personal business, I'd probably just give them a puzzled look and say "why do you need to know that?" That always shuts them up.
I'm sure there's a few nosies out there, but most are just friendly and genuinely interested in hearing each other's road tales. If you talk to them, you'll find out about the best places to go and things to see.
i quit my 9-5 job and went over the road trucking. i spent 12 years out there on the road, and loved it. i'm currently out of the truck and back to restoring musclecars, but i will return to the road again within a couple of years.
when i first started, i got rid of my apartment and just stayed in the truck. no rent, utilities, nothing. i had a p.o. box, a storage unit for some of my stuff and an aol account. i felt as free as a bird.
it gives you time to think about life in ways that never occur to you when you're in a 9-5 type of rut. the world really opens up, and most people are too buried in life responsibilities to even get a taste of this kind of freedom and independence.
i quit my 9-5 job and went over the road trucking. i spent 12 years out there on the road, and loved it. i'm currently out of the truck and back to restoring musclecars, but i will return to the road again within a couple of years.
when i first started, i got rid of my apartment and just stayed in the truck. no rent, utilities, nothing. i had a p.o. box, a storage unit for some of my stuff and an aol account. i felt as free as a bird.
it gives you time to think about life in ways that never occur to you when you're in a 9-5 type of rut. the world really opens up, and most people are too buried in life responsibilities to even get a taste of this kind of freedom and independence.
Harder to do if you have a family you're responsible for. I don't have one currently, just a GF, but a career I like. Maybe one day, I'll be able to hit the road.
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