Gypsy Mom Ready to roll – NOW

Whether we choose a boat or an RV, we need to get rid of a lot of stuff.

My husband is totally leaning toward boat right now and, faced with MORE snow, I have to agree, cruising the caribbean sounds like a lot of fun. Although one minute in a bikini and I might reconsider.

It’s amazing how many THINGS children accumulate.  I wonder how traveling families do it. Do they ever argue with their kids about not letting the boat or camper get filled up with STUFF?  In my house, I don’t much care if the kids rooms are messy very much because they’re upstairs. In our caravan, it will matter more to me. And they’ll have less room. Will it be a point of stress?

And how will they feel getting rid of everything?  how will we go about it?  If we do the boat plan, we’d be getting rid of everything before we leave our house, putting a few key items in storage (maybe) and having a big yard sale, then sending the rest to a thrift shop.

At home, we have clothes for every season. In a boat, there isn’t much room for a lot of clothes. In the Caribbean we wouldn’t need to wear a lot of clothes.  In an RV there’s more room, because of the storage areas underneath, but would we really want to use it for clothes?  And how much clothes does one person really need?  Three pairs of jeans?  Two sweaters? I’m a thrift shopper and I don’t mind the idea of just getting rid of off-season clothes and buying new (used) ones every time the weather changes, but is that a stupid approach? I guess I’d decide based upon where we’re headed.

I’m noticing some areas of Texas, about 1/2 an hour north of Dallas, where RV campsites are $300-$400 a month, that’s really cheap.  In Florida I’m seeing higher prices on the Gulf Coast that max out around $700 a month.  That’s doable.

I love the idea of staying until we’re bored and then just leaving.  I love that we live in a world where this is even possible.

I remember the first time it dawned on me that I wanted to do this. I was 15 and my parents bought a Thousand Trails membership.  We stayed there once and then never stayed there again, my parents tried like crazy to get out of it because it just wasn’t their thing.

When we were there, we’d go for walks to see the other campers and on one little cul-de-sac, there were several campers with some really badass yards set up, with makeshift fences and fantastic umbrellas and potted plants, it was so cool. I made a comment to my parents about how silly it is to bring potted plants on vacation, but it looked neat. My mom said “Those people live here, they just pick up and move to another park every few weeks.”

THAT was a big moment for me. You can do that?  I haven’t ever stopped thinking about it. mom said it was mostly retired people.  I always knew that when I retired, I’d be a gypsy.

Working from home for the past year or so has really been hard. I’m working my butt off to keep us here in this house and I’m learning about all these people who are living on the road, and it’s not costing anything more than life in a house.  Why are we stuck here, then?

I’m totally abusing the freedom that working from home is giving me.  It should be a crime.  I need to hit the road. or the sea. Whatever. I should be looking over my laptop ad different scenery every week.

Soon.. very soon.

The big dilemma at our house today was whether or not it is smarter to buy an RV and drive the US or buy a boat and cruise the world.  Planning around Florida’s hurricane season seems to be the major calculation of the day. Do we buy in Florida and explore there from Nov-June, passing through the Panama Canal right before storm season starts, or do we buy in the Great Lakes in June and spend June-November heading through Montreal (is that the Inter-continental waterway?) and down the East Coast, ending up in Florida in November. Being that it’s December now, I think I prefer plan B because that means I don’t need to wait a year to leave. I want to go NOW.

Thinking and planning for boating is so different compared to thinking and planning for driving. I want to do both. This is why I’m a gypsy. I just want to go already. Being stuck in this same city for 7 years is driving me nuts. And I don’t even like this city.

I’ve always been a wanderer. I don’t think it’s an insane escaping-reality thing, I think it’s an expansive embracing-reality thing. The real world doesn’t exist in one teeny town, it exists everywhere.  That’s where I want to be.

Personally, I don’t care either way.

As long as I have internet access and can still do my job, I’m cool.  I think that if we’re doing a lot of filming and a lot of blogging we’ll be able to build up a readership. Not many families hit the road with 6 kids. Or the seas. Wherever we go and however we get there, it will be a great adventure.  I can’t wait.

Do serious full-time RV families use these programs?  I’ve come across a few. The KOA rewards program is $25 a year and you get 10% off of your daily fee, plus you earn points you can use for free nights. You also get discounts on insurance, they waive the application fee for RV financing and a few other things. You get access to opportunities to work at RV resorts in exchange for… it doesn’t say very clearly.

KOA ValuKard (I just hate that it’s mis spelled)

The Passport America program gives members 50% off their nightly fees at 1600 RV resorts in the US, Canada and Mexico. Membership is around $50 a year and comes with a  directory (I imagine KOA does, too. )  The directory is on a CD or hard copy, which is nice I guess if you’re in an area without internet or don’t want to use electricity to find a camp.  It would be nice if it were downloadable for updates or whatever. Dues include a subscription to RV America magazine (nice touch)

Passport America

I guess the only smart thing to do is compare a few similar camps to see if 50% at one camp is comparable to the benefits of a 10% KOA discount plus the rewards.  50% is a lot.

Chime in, seasoned RV families, are you a member of any of these programs?

That in the UK, an RV is called a caravan and RV parks are called Caravan sites.  isn’t that interesting.  Gypsies have caravans. Coincidence?   I think not. I wonder what they’re called in Canada.

I know the Gulf of Mexico isn’t in our immediate itinerary but a mom can dream, right?  As I sit here snuggled up under blankets with the heat on, I wish I could be wading in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico with my kids. They’ve never been before and I have such fond memories of my time in Saint Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida. If I had a camper and the cash we’d leave today. I’m writing about RV parks (because writing is my job) and my topics today all seem to be about Florida and Texas RV Parks and resorts. I feel like my heart is just going to explode if I don’t go NOW.  It’s totally not hurricane season either, we’d be fine.  Plus, my husband is shopping for luxury yachts, so that’s making me want the sea even more.  I can’t wait to hit the road. One thing I am learning is that a lot of RVfamilies take advantage of free opportunities to camp, and I don’t mean parking at Wal Mart (although, they’re just about everywhere and just because you spend the night there, it doesn’t mean you need to spend your paycheck there, right? Anyhow, I found this website called FreeCampgrounds.com that lists over 1900 free places to cap or park in the US.  Also, VisitUSA.com is another one I found. And probably my favorite site so far, Happy Vagabonds, helps people get jobs on the road, mostly caretaking for Campsites, but there are others, too.  I clicked on my state and discovered that “my dream town,” the place I am just itching to move to, could be mine for free for a month if I had an RV to live in, because the state park gives free hookups to the person who volunteers to work the gift shop at the state park.  I can’t recall a time when I’ve only had to work those short hours. The rest of the day (and the weekends) being free to BE.  Imagine.

As I research and plan, research and plan, trying to envision what life on the road will be like, I find comfort in reading the journeys of other families.

The Watkins family (Where the Fuhkaui) inspires me. I just love the name of their blog, I think I mentioned it before.  She posts great pictures, too.

Tara  (The organic Sister) and Justin (Not too simple) inspire me.  She’s a sweetheart and he just started blogging. They planned to set out on this journey, as part of a 5 yr plan and because of the economy, his lay-off, they’re leaving a lot sooner. They’ve renovated an old RV and are leaving their Las Vegas home to explore.

I wish I could speed up our trip. I made a declaration a while back. If this sweet travel documentary doesn’t get us on the road soon, we’re going to buy a dumpy RV and fix it up. My Gypsy husband isn’t into that idea, he wants something shiny and new. He’s handy, though. I’m sure when he catches me googling “How to rewire an RV” or “how to replace the whoozit feature” he’ll step in and rescue me. I’m much more of a princess than it might appear

Anyhow, I just want to go already, to explore the nation with my kids.  Soon. It’s snowing. I’m not a fan of snow.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely. Broad, wholesome, charitable views can not be acquired by vegetating in one’s little corner of Earth.” – Mark Twain

I keep feeling an urgency to get on the road as fast as possible.  My husband is holding out for a big camper (we do have a large family) but cramped quarters don’t seem like the end of the world to me.

When I was a kid I’d say we traveled a lot. Looking forward to a trip was always exciting, each day held more “hope” than the previous day and the longing to just GO already was sometimes uncontrollable. I’d lay in bed at night, every night, imagining what fun things were in store. Who would I meet? What would I see? Where would we eat?  The excitement before a trip was always close to maddening.

When we’d finally leave, I felt like the world was mine, and indeed, it was.  Once you visit somewhere it becomes a part of you. You’re never the same. You can never hear the name of the town again without conjuring memories and stories to tell.

At home, visiting the local museum is old news, but in a new town, it becomes fascinating. The aprks and beaches in your neighborhood are host to plants, animals and bugs that you’re familiar with, so you almost stop looking, don’t you. When you travel, though, your eyes are open.  Everything is new. Everything deserves a second look.

Studying the history of a place you’re visiting is far more relevant and interesting than studying the history of a town you’ve never heard of. My 4 yr old told me the other day that China isn’t real.  It’s pretend, mommy.  She doesn’t have any point of reference that it actually exists. I can’t wait to take her to Chinatown in LA this summer.

Upon returning from a trip, home looks different.  That phrase “like coming home” really is special. It’s a time to unwind and reflect. You’ve changed, but home hasn’t.

In my quest to take the kids on an extended RV trip, I think of these things.  The RV would be our home. I know our upcoming tour of the Pacific Northwest wouldn’t exactly be like living on the road.  However, the experience of traveling with the kids is something that I want for them, a gift I’d like to give them.

When I decided that I wanted a big family, the only “reason why” that I could think of was because “The world is an amazing place and I want to share it with them.”  Now, surely, they have traveled so much more than their friends have traveled.Up until now, we probably average 2 out-of-state trips per year.  It’s just not enough, though.

I just keep picturing us in one of those makeshift backyard-areas that people build outside their RV. We’d have a grill, a picnic table, perhaps a potted plant and some Xmas lights and bug-repellant tiki torches. One day we’re parked and set up at the coast, watching the waves crash and the sun set.  Another day we’re up in the mountains, with a little stream running past. Another day we’re at the edge of the Grand Canyon. I want to see it all, I want to do it all, and I want to provide that for my kids, too.

This, is why we do this.  What’s better than being a homeschooler? Being  Road-Schoolers.