Keeping Up With The Joneses - Barb & Greg |
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Yes, our last name is Jones, and we were often the brunt of jokes about people trying to "keep up with the Joneses" but we found ourselves caught in the trap of trying to keep up with ourselves. We had healthy incomes and were always striving to get 'ahead' with nice cars, a nice home fully furnished with all the 'stuff' until we woke up one morning and asked 'why are we doing this?'. We were working to keep a home that we were never in because we were either at work, or out in the RV.
We had always camped, and got our first tow trailer in 1998. That opened up a whole new world to us. Now instead of going camping 4 times a year, we were going every other weekend, only the 19' foot trailer we thought would last us forever began to feel cramped. In 2001 we bought a 25' trailer with SLIDE! Wow - now we could even go out earlier and later in the year. By 2004 we traded up even further to a 32' fifth wheel with the idea 'when we retire' we could travel even more. We were in our early 50's so had a ways to go.
It was around spring of 2005 when we read an article in Trailer Life magazine titled "Take this Job and Love it!" about people who lived in their RV's full time and work camped to earn extra money. Wow - you mean we can do this earlier? That fall I came across a blog (RV_Dreams.com) about a couple named the Paynes who at age 42 quit their jobs, sold everything and hit the road. Now we were convinced that with some planning we could do this sooner. A short while later I ran across a radio talk show. It was Dave Ramsey talking about taking control of your finances. I ordered his book and immediately sold the sports car and paid cash for a little econo-car. Now we were serious. Paying off debts and building equity in our savings. We met with a financial planner who set us on track. Our plans were in place - we would sell the home in 2007 and take off in early 2008.
In March of 2007 we put the house up for sale and it sold in 2 weeks. By now we were way ahead of our financial plan and thought - maybe we can leave in the fall. We had reservations for a weeks vacation that August in Glacier National Park and an opportunity came our way - a chance to go on a 32 day Alaska RV tour that would be leaving a week after the Glacier trip. We decided to go for it and begin our trek even earlier and of course, never return to work as we knew it.
As you read the blog, you'll see fate put us on a different path that summer and we never did make it to Alaska, but we DID retire and have been enjoying life ever since.
We hope you have fun tracking our journeys as we crisscross the country, with no deadlines, going where and when we want to.
"WE TRAVEL, NOT TO ESCAPE LIFE, BUT SO THAT LIFE DOESN'T ESCAPE US"
Greg's Email: campingyearround-greg@yahoo.com
Barb's Email: campingyearround-barb@yahoo.com
Visitors
We had always camped, and got our first tow trailer in 1998. That opened up a whole new world to us. Now instead of going camping 4 times a year, we were going every other weekend, only the 19' foot trailer we thought would last us forever began to feel cramped. In 2001 we bought a 25' trailer with SLIDE! Wow - now we could even go out earlier and later in the year. By 2004 we traded up even further to a 32' fifth wheel with the idea 'when we retire' we could travel even more. We were in our early 50's so had a ways to go.
It was around spring of 2005 when we read an article in Trailer Life magazine titled "Take this Job and Love it!" about people who lived in their RV's full time and work camped to earn extra money. Wow - you mean we can do this earlier? That fall I came across a blog (RV_Dreams.com) about a couple named the Paynes who at age 42 quit their jobs, sold everything and hit the road. Now we were convinced that with some planning we could do this sooner. A short while later I ran across a radio talk show. It was Dave Ramsey talking about taking control of your finances. I ordered his book and immediately sold the sports car and paid cash for a little econo-car. Now we were serious. Paying off debts and building equity in our savings. We met with a financial planner who set us on track. Our plans were in place - we would sell the home in 2007 and take off in early 2008.
In March of 2007 we put the house up for sale and it sold in 2 weeks. By now we were way ahead of our financial plan and thought - maybe we can leave in the fall. We had reservations for a weeks vacation that August in Glacier National Park and an opportunity came our way - a chance to go on a 32 day Alaska RV tour that would be leaving a week after the Glacier trip. We decided to go for it and begin our trek even earlier and of course, never return to work as we knew it.
As you read the blog, you'll see fate put us on a different path that summer and we never did make it to Alaska, but we DID retire and have been enjoying life ever since.
We hope you have fun tracking our journeys as we crisscross the country, with no deadlines, going where and when we want to.
Greg's Email: campingyearround-greg@yahoo.com
Barb's Email: campingyearround-barb@yahoo.com
Visitors
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