Why is Everyone Quitting RV Life.?

msg · Guru

Why is Everyone Quitting RV Life.?

Whenarewethere · Guru

Just do a weekend trip. Then another one...

yobarr · Guru

msg wrote:
Why is Everyone Quitting RV Life? A SHOCKING Admission - YouTube
I think this lady speaks some truth though I don't think everyone is quitting RV life. However, I think there is a certain "changing of the guard" if you like.
Speaking personally, I haven't been on the road since before the start of Covid. Firstly, medical issues, then the fires and then covid, then the rain and floods. Excuses? Maybe. I have been in the process of getting the van ready and organising equipment etc, for those four or five years but not actually getting anywhere towards leaving.
At the moment business issues are getting in the way. "I can't go away until I get xX settled at the end of the month" I told Jules47 (Anyone remember?) when she rang yesterday. Her questions "why" really got me thinking. Indeed, why? No difference whether I am home, or away. I have the electronic equipment to communicate. In fact no difference. I am dealing with someone in SA while I am in ACT. I really have come to the conclusion that yes, I am procrastinating for much the same reasons as this lady expresses.
Are you having the same issues? How do you overcome it?

Like you, I procrastinated for some years although I was at the same time slowly building the car and van into what we wanted.

Finally decided to just go, sold both houses so no turning back, and hit the road. Have now been on road for 3.5 years, and have no intention of stopping while I still can drive!

Presently in South of WA, with morning temps down to low single figures, rising to 13-14 during the day.

On Monday I stopped in a small town with a pub and a shop, but little else, planning to stay overnight before moving on, but the locals are so friendly that I've stayed. During the day I walk around 6km in the local area, staying reasonably close to the car in case the overnight rains return. Water everywhere, with dirt roads turned to quagmires, but there's no rush.

Contemplating activating the Sat phone in case I decide to travel the Great Central Road. Decisions, decisions! Cheers

P.S Already I am discarding "stuff" I set out with and never used.

Last thing to go was the vacuum sealer, with the spare compressor, Yamaha 2800 inverter, and many blankets already gone. Cheers

Cuppa · Guru

Boring eh? Hmmmm not sure about that.

Sitting on a couch staring at a TV day in , day out - that could be boring

Losing one's ability to wonder at the new, to meet the challenges on the road - that could make life pretty uninteresting too.

I think it comes down to 'losing purpose'. Not knowing why we are doing what what we we are doing any more.

For me this is a regular occurrence which comes as part & parcel of not planning everything to any great degree. We have a rough plan of heading somewhere, knowing that the journey to get there will form part of the adventure, but there is also the 'maybe we'll find a way of staying longer when we find somewhere we like & which is different. Living for the past two years up on Cape York is an example. However without forward planning, when something comes to an end I generally find myself 'floundering' for a while.

By floundering I mean lacking purpose & having no plan.

I have grown used to this, & come to expect it. If it wasn't expected it could easily overwhelm me & see me feeling like 'giving up. However without occurrences of floundering I couldn't live the way we do, with the freedom & flexibility to take on 'opportunities when they arise. So whilst lacking purpose can be the antithesis of the life of carefree freedom I find that to have one I have to have the other. A life of anality or banality is not for me.

Floundering is not pleasant, wondering 'what's the point, why am I doing this is disheartening, but for me it's part of process that I have come to expect & to accept. My wife finds it easier to just go with the flow whatever the circumstances so never really flounders, but she knows I will. We worked that out. I enable her to live a lifestyle she also loves & she enables me to survive the floundering periods & to emerge revitalised for the next stage.

The good thing is that I have learned over our last 6 years of travel that floundering periods are generally fairly short lived & end with a new 'plan' (albeit loose) being hatched.

Our 5 years in the north came to an end recently with a plan to return home for a spell, with the hope of changing our travel rig more suited to our older selves, but which still allow us to travel well off the beaten track. But beyond that (which we are now in the midst of) we have yet to formulate a 'plan' for the next leg of our travels. There will be a period of floundering between our current activities of house & vehicle refurbishment & getting away. Arnhem Land has been calling for awhile, an isolated wet season somewhere along the Gibb River Rd, a house sit in Kununnurra, the Canning Stock Route, & the Simpson desert, a trip to try to photograph every species of Australian grasswren, WA wildflowers, a relaxing meander along the Murray. Who knows, sometimes places call & give reason for the travel, other times things to see or do give reason. We always feel that being 'out there' is more important than being 'there'.

My waffling may look like my current undecidedness is floundering, but it's not, that will come when it comes down to deciding. There will be a bit of procrastination followed by the excitement of a decision made. Even if that decision is to spend a while 'just wandering'

I couldn't watch the whole video, it was tedious. Maybe this post is too for some. We love travelling, & on the occasions we have found ourselves questioning that, the question of what is the alternative inevitably arises. To date we have been unable to come up with an acceptable (to us) alternative. If & when we do it will be something we look forward to with excitement.

Sooner or later age & health will make a travelling lifestyle no longer possible, & we envisage settling down with a garden & a dog (or dogs). We have already become quite good at doing not a lot in beautiful & interesting places where breathing in the ambience trumps box ticking any day, & see no reason why there should be any problem adapting this skill to living in one place when the time comes.

We won't need to be dismissive of the life we've left behind in order to feel ok about leaving it, we think whether or not it's a gradual decision or suddenly forced upon us we will always feel positive & grateful about having been able to live the life we wanted to.

-- Edited by Cuppa on Saturday 5th of August 2023 08:20:40 AM

Gundog · Guru

Not quitting have been at a CP in Nth Qld since the start of the Wu-Flu, and then my partner found out she has a very rare medical condition, after 2 years of treatment she is at the point of no more surgical intervention, just drugs now.

About 4 weeks ago Cheryle was invited to participate in a world wide drug trial for her condition, 320 people world wide are in it, there is only 4 places in Oz and 2 in Qld. for the first 12 weeks its appointments every 2 weeks in Brissy, the next 12 weeks its monthly and then every 3 months until Sept 2025.

That being the case we have deciced to relocate van and all to Brissy for the next 6 months, CP booked all good, departure day is next Tues, decided to hook the van to check the lights, bugger there cactus, flash into town a pair of replacement fitted them works great, now the fricken camera on the bacl of the van is not working, might do it saturday.

Jacked up the sides of the van and spun the wheels, activated the brakes all ok, while I was at Supercheap getting the lights, I decided to replace the towball, its about 8 years old.

The plan is after 3 monthly visits start we will start roaming again, getting back to Brissy in time for the next appointment (yeap we have the dates for them all to sept 2025)

Whenarewethere · Guru

yobarr wrote:
Contemplating activating the Sat phone in case I decide to travel the Great Central Road. Decisions, decisions!

We did Australia's Longest Shortcut from Leonora to Uluru in 2019. The mostly dirt road was pretty good, we let tyres down to 24psi & drove slowly.

There were 2wd cars on the road, some of them were not locals. In dry weather it's not a issue.

As always, layers of "tyre insurance". TPMS, repair kit & compressor. 2 spares. Watch your vehicle & fuel while in the small towns. Basically while getting supplies & fuel if needed.

Well out of town camping there were no issues.

yobarr · Guru

Whenarewethere wrote:
yobarr wrote:
Contemplating activating the Sat phone in case I decide to travel the Great Central Road. Decisions, decisions!
We did Australia's Longest Shortcut from Leonora to Uluru in 2019. The mostly dirt road was pretty good, we let tyres down to 24psi & drove slowly.
There were 2wd cars on the road, some of them were not locals. In dry weather it's not a issue.
As always, layers of "tyre insurance". TPMS, repair kit & compressor. 2 spares. Watch your vehicle & fuel while in the small towns. Basically while getting supplies & fuel if needed.
Well out of town camping there were no issues.

Thanks Jonathan, for that advice.Fortunately I already have all your suggested "tyre insurance" gear.

Just gotta work out what tyre pressures to run, with 1350kg on front axle, 2300kg on rear, and 1575kg on each of the van's axles.

Tyres are 265/75 R16 ATs, Maxxis and Mickey Thompson, so shouldn't be too hard to sort. Cheers

Whenarewethere · Guru

The only vehicle we saw with an issue was a Land Rover Discovery because it was wearing 20 inch stilettos!

Cuppa · Guru

yobarr wrote:

Contemplating activating the Sat phone in case I decide to travel the Great Central Road. Decisions, decisions!

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Just yesterday I got around to de-activating our satphone. It has been activated for a bit over 6 years non stop at a cost of $16.50 a month plus calls (Actually there was a price increase about 2 years ago from $15 a month - call costs remained the same).

We expect to be home for a while so have 'suspended' the service. We could have just cancelled it & renewed it when we head off again, but would have to get a new number. Suspending it continues to cost us $7.50 a month but we retain the same number. Just a phone call to re-activate it.

At these sort of prices we consider it a no brainer to keep it active whenever we are travelling as we we so often find ourselves with no mobile phone service. We almost never use the satphone for non emergencies. (I can only think of two occasions in 6 years. One 10 minute call cost us $10, & another hour long chat cost us 50 cents). $16.50 a month even though not using the satphone is very cheap 'insurance' for 'emergency backup' in addition to our PLB.

Whenarewethere · Guru

Maybe I need a satellite phone in Manly, Sydney.

Recently couldn't even get 3g. Spent about 5 hours on the phone with Telstra call centre.

It was fixed, but probably due to the cost of 5 hours of their time at that stage, & looking like it would continue. I was always polite but purposely used a lot of their time (I always waste the other party endless administration, ie money).

Telstra is turning off 3g middle of next year. If you have any systems like alarms or medical equipment which run on 3g, upgrade them before you run out of time.

It's funny that I cope & feel safer in the remote outback than in the city without network!

deverall11 · Guru

Increased costs.

watsea · Guru

Oops. Wrong post

-- Edited by watsea on Sunday 6th of August 2023 11:12:01 AM

-- Edited by watsea on Sunday 6th of August 2023 11:12:25 AM

Tony Bev · Guru

I watched the utube, so thanks for putting it up, msg

The lady claimed that people were leaving the RV lifestyle, because of boredom

All I can say is that, we are all different
Perhaps because I like travelling, I can not see the boredom

Yes I do remember Jules47, as well as her partner Billeee
And I hope that they both come back to the forum

What I see, (and what I am guilty of), is that since covid began, I have avoided others, while on the road

I always thought that it would be inconvenient, to catch covid, and perhaps better to be a bit of a recluse
I caught covid in January of this year, and although I am reasonably fit for my age, covid did knock me around, a bit
So unfortunately, I will stay a bit of a recluse, until covid has gone away

I have noticed that some people, are no longer contributing to this forum
I am unsure if they are no longer RV'ing, or do not wish to get caught up, in any verbal arguments, which seem to float around, every so often