Making progress

While we are not at the stage of getting our RV we have certainly begun watching them. Recently we had another major brick wall to our travels dismantled so we are ever closer to going Rogue. I'd like to find an RV that has been full-timed in already, you know someone who is downsizing perhaps- as I am a blonde and Brad is damaged- I mean deranged- I mean retired with a bad back. It would be so great for our circumstance if we found an RV with the fulltime bugs (not literal) worked out.

Today I sorted out our passport renewals since our current ones expire in June anyway. I figured I'd get it out of the way and tomorrow we are having our passport photos done, then likely Thursday we will hand deliver them both to our local passport office since we are going to be in the vicinity. Sending them in via mail, while an option, doubles the processing time.

I have watched so many RV renovation videos that I'm thinking it would be a lot of fun to do just that. We built this house together last year, so how hard can RV renovating be?! I know, I know! The problem with renovating is that we just want to go. However, if we were to go out and buy an RV that was relatively useable we could bring it back to the house and do the renovations to it while also getting some of the things we already had planned to do to our property here. Access to materials would be easier done elsewhere but then we wouldn't have the space or the tools readily available. 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other.

Clearly we still have a lot of decisions to make but we are getting there, learning the ins and outs is still where we are at the moment though. Its easier to make decisions if you know what the questions are so thats what we are working on presently -ie. what are the questions we need to make decisions on?!

There are so many factors to consider. How will we travel? How will we park? Class C or Class A? Campground or Boondocking? Solar? How much? I will be going through the items we intend to take with us and calculating the energy requirements for each of those so that we just (theoretically) need to add the energy requirements of the RV unit itself and then - Make it so #1! (Yes, I am a Trekkie and a Jedi (shoutout to RV Jedeye here).

I have begun a list of items we will need from home. Brad's CPAP (and the battery I saw on The Freedom Theory's YouTube channel -Thanks for that guys!) is a prime example. There are some things (not the popcorn maker, Bradley) that we simply can't live without. So I am sifting through those to get some idea of the $Thousand it will cost us to Solar ourselves. That brings me to the question of how do we want to do Solar? DIY as per Pippi Peterson or buy them - and if we buy them do we want to put them on ourselves or go with my ever popular 'there's people for that'?

Aye Aye Aye... when we first started looking at RV Life people were saying how they prepared for a year or more and I couldn't grasp why the hell..... well let me be the first (or millionth) to tell you, THERE IS A LOT TO IT! And our plan (as least at this point - and open to reconsideration) is only to fulltime 6 months and spend 6 months at home and abroad (that compromising thing I referred to in a previous post reared its ugly head again) so I can now clearly see how it would take a lot of preparation if one were to sell their home and all their belongings to fit into a couple of hundred square feet - yes, that would take a bit of doing.

My favorite thing is to watch the growth of RV veterans. A prime example of this is Eric at Nomadic Fanatic I saw what at the time was a recent video of his and was so impressed we went back to the beginning of his videos and watched them through. I have to say, if I hadn't seen the recent one I'm not sure I would have stayed with it, but now when I watch his videos having seen his earlier stuff, it always amazes me how much he has grown and matured not just in his online persona but personally. Another good one is actually an International Traveller Todd at The Unexpected Life he has 112 subscribers and climbing quickly, his videos are quite humorous and most definitely insightful so 'high-five' to him.

While we are doing this preparatory stuff I feel like a fraud having created the blog, building an online profile and following. There are real people out there who have put in the time and made the leap and here we sit watching YouTube videos like some kind of digital stalkers. There are plenty of people who started out the same way we know but the feeling is what it is. I comment on a few videos here and there and have had some private conversations with RVers but it is awkward - for me at least. None of these people know us, and only one knows who we are.

I have deliberately kept our names and faces out of Rogue Less Travelled for personal reasons but intend to change that eventually however in the meantime its hard to 'get to know' people while wearing a cloak of sorts.

There are some great people out there doing videos and blogs like Carol-Anne at Roaming RV and Paul & Lorena at The Motorhome Experiment (both fellow Canadians) and Paddy from The Paddy Wagon who was our first follower. We have found that relative newbies are more likely to acknowledge your comments/messages than those with a strong following (mental note) while I appreciate its not possible to respond to everyone when you have 100,000 subscribers/followers as PsychoTraveller does (though she has responded to me) as a newbie it definitely gives you a warm fuzzy feeling when someone you admire responds to 'little old me'.

So a huge thank you to those who have knowingly and unknowingly helped us on this journey so far, I know I put this in most every blog I write but it really is true that the brave pioneers who have blazed a trail either in words or pictures make a huge difference to helping you find the confidence and conviction to 'Make is so #1'!

Katie

NoTube

I just finished watching Carolyns RV Life about abuse at the RTR on YouTube

Now, I've been giving a lot of thought to YouTube videos for the last couple of weeks, not sure if it was something we really should do. I created an account at YouTube when I set up this blog and we have a Twitter and Instagram accounts also.

YouTube though is different than the rest in that you are putting yourself out there - personally and with pictures which means you will be recognized, well we've done that already. The past 6 years now we have been experiencing what Carolyn speaks of in the first video linked above, day in day out.

You know those people who are never happy and always looking for your angle.  If you try to warn them they are about to walk in front of a bus they look at you like you have two heads, tell you your an idiot and then turn and walk in front of a bus - yeah. Hundreds of thousands of them barraging you on a daily basis really wears you down. Especially for 6 long and gruelling years.

I had a video posted on YouTube but I have now taken it down. I realized one of the reasons we want to do the RV Life is to get away from the ignorance and it would be crazy ridiculous to walk into that again. I admit quite freely to being blonde but no one ever accused me of being dumb. I truly thought that within the YouTube concept we could help 'represent' so to speak because so few Canadians are recording their RV Life - at least on YouTube.

The rude people have free roam on YouTube and they do it because its easy. Watch a video, complain, easy. However, Twitter is less personal and this Blog requires effort to read. Now it is my personal experience that 'troublemakers' of any age wont go to that effort, perhaps they can't read or it just takes too much time... whatever.

We had a Blog many years ago which had a great following and we didn't have any issues with it at all. Have times changed that much? I doubt it. So we have decided not to put videos out on YouTube because frankly, we've been through enough already. I will still keep our YouTube account open because I enjoy learning from those with stronger metal than I am made of, but...

Part of me is really disappointed about this because, I guess, it was something that would be a great distraction for me but at the end of the day I know it would be a mistake for us at this point.

You will just have to trust me when I tell you how cute I am ;)

Full-time? and Who are these people?

To Full-time or not to Full-time?

Not that we're in this conundrum but we are certainly standing on the edge of it. I was just reading a Blog on Roaming RV's website and thought it was a good topic to write about.

For a long time we were back and forth about whether to sell the house and had it listed online (kijiji and eBay) for awhile, but we absolutely love this house as the two of us built it just last year. Yes, we built a house together, something I said I'd never do because every couple I've ever met who did -broke up at the end of it. I can honestly say it brought us closer together.

I moved around a lot as a kid so find it very easy to get rid of stuff and go. However, my darling husband feels the need for a home base and since we don't have to sell the house to buy an RV it only makes sense to keep the house. There are other reasons we wanted to sell which I will not get into here, but at the end of the day I just want to go, my gypsy senses are tingling and I think it will do him a world of good to get away also.

I am hoping that we'll have so much fun out there we wont have a need to come back here and can just visit when we miss our friends. Though we hope to make many more.

We are a quirky couple to be sure. I am a blend of Edith Bunker and the softer side of Murphy Brown and he is Archie Bunker through and through. Not literally, but that is the banter we do with each other. He carries on like I should be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen and I threaten to Bobbit his ass (showing my age there) while playing the 'but I'm just a girl' card. We can do this because we both respect each other and we know who really wears the pants in this relationship, right honey? (teehee).

Seriously, though we definitely have 'disagreements' we always find a way to compromise or, alternately there is always one of us the issue at hand means more to and the other gives way.

We are beginning our YouTube channel videos very soon, likely today in fact, if I can figure out how, so I wanted to put this out there so people don't get all disjointed about our banter. In life, some people have been know to take it seriously until they get to know us and it can be quite disconcerting for some. Others get it right away.

It is well into January now and Spring is approaching fast, while we haven't really decided what we will be doing ie. RV or Globe Trotting we are definitely leaning towards the RV. With the RV it gives us a roof over our heads at all times (and we could still travel abroad), Globe Trotting requires spending your time at each place trying to find the next and the point of this is to relax, unwind and enjoy.

Until we get 'out there' this blog will likely be predominately about the learning process - I've been studying how to fix everything from painting walls to cleaning tanks. As well, there are gadgets!! I do so love my gadgets!! He has called me a gadget queen for years now, when we travel the dash looks like a space shuttle I have so much stuff attached to it, and my office - well....

I think, having just reread this that I at least am definitely planning for RV Life. We'd like to stay in Canada as much as possible with the occasional jaunt into the U.S., but I worry about the Canadian winters though I'm told it is possible. We have a large country up here with plenty to see and do, and having both lived and/or travelled across all of it a few times though not as tourists - I think that it will be great fun and very different from our working days with kids living at home. However, the U.S. is more populated with better access to the services we will require for an RV.

Time will tell and I for one am quite excited. Hope you will follow along and see what we see.

Special thanks to all those Bloggers and YouTubers who have put themselves out there for us to learn from. Undoubtedly, we will still make plenty of mistakes and even duplicate some we have already learned not to do from others' mistakes.

It will be great - you will see!!!

The Holiday

So its Christmas and as usual the movie which I believe is called 'The Holiday' was on so I watched it, as you would.

I got to thinking, I wonder if anyone has created a site for this House Swap idea, and sure enough there are a few. Turns out that you can swap houses for short or long holidays with other people, what a great idea. I am a Gypsy for sure and definitely love to roam- hence the RV plans. Life has a way of slowing me down though and because of this we are not able to start our RV adventure just yet -though we have decided to do it at some point in 2017. In the meantime, perhaps a little holiday. Air flights- while not cheap, are cheaper than hotels for a few weeks at a time... so me thinks a little swapping will go a long way to curbing my wanderlust.

Next problem is where to? I like the idea of Cuba, Thailand, Vietnam, France, Italy, Spain - lets face it I'd go to Iraq to get out of this place about now. Donetsk perhaps.. Not quite, but you get the idea. If you haven't read my previous posts I'm not happy with the place we are currently in -I'm full of understatements today.

To get anywhere from here is more expensive than most as we are nowhere near a hub but if you don't have the added expense of accommodation then it is really quite viable. Hubby was going to take me to Venice as a Xmas gift but its astronomical just for the flight, this house swap concept is the perfect solution. There is a membership fee of approx. $400 CAD/year and when you consider that equates to about 3 nights in a hotel I think its well worth it.  There is a validation process which helps you know your not loaning your house to a shmuck and that definitely goes a long way to letting you enjoy your holiday.

If anyone reading this (not many followers at the moment) has any insights on house swapping please leave a comment and let us know, even if we're doing it already your insight might help others in the future.

Also AirBnB is a great option as well. We have used it in the past several times and have even hosted ourselves but I just recently deactivated the listing as life at the moment is so uncertain. Besides, its cold here and most tourists only come in the summer. Though there is a ski hill locally it is mostly the summer activities which entice people here. We came here on holiday ourselves and fell in love with the place, moved here a few months later and bought a house, not much of a house but the lot is fantastic so after a few years we tore it down and built a brand new one just last year - not my idea, btw... jus sayin.

AirBnB allows you to rent accommodation either in someone's home or the whole home as your travel style allows. Cheaper than a hotel for sure and we have had great experiences. I had been searching AirBnB for somewhere to go prior to discovering the swap idea. And definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn't own their own place. I have seen listings for houses, condos, mother-in-law suites, RV's and Sailboats!!

However, if you do own a place (house or condo, cabin or even RV for that matter) you can swap houses with someone who wants to visit your area. From my online searches most swap websites allow you to search through listing by who wants to visit your area which really helps speed things up, you simply find somewhere you want to go amongst the list. Absolutely Awesome.

Well I think that's enough for today, since I'm talking to myself at this point.. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Edit:

My apologies to Sir Patrick, our first follower! (so I'm not alone out here in cyberspace, and not talking to myself which would not be good LOL)

An unprecedented life

So I know that I haven't posted for awhile, my heart just wasn't in it. I am really trying very hard not to put specifics on this blog about our current circumstance and I'm sorry but its very difficult to write a post without it so it takes me awhile to figure it out. Also, I don't want this blog to be a negative nelly either so please be patient with me. I'm pretty sure no one is reading this yet anyway so...

As far as whats happening, the crux is that we want to get out and enjoy all the wonders of life but are currently wrapped up in something which is very important not just to us but will also effect the rest of the country in due course. However, due to forces beyond our control which for the purposes of this blog I shall assume are incompetent -though malicious does come to mind, we are 'stuck'. Now by stuck I mean unable to move on. We need to get through this difficult period and then we can figure out what we will do.

I have been studying via YouTube, learning all the problems, fixes and glitches as well as different types of Class' and their functionality. I have pretty well set my heart on a LazyDaze Class C preferably with an Island Bed but... at this point I'd live in a cargo trailer (as seen on The Paddy Wagon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKooolzaQrE ) just to get away from this place. 

We had decided instead of Xmas gifts we would buy each other a holiday somewhere, however spending $$$$$ on a holiday that could go towards an RV seems silly and I will gladly forsake a holiday to get away from here even for a little while. I am so over it, I can't even tell you. Ironically it was my idea to move here, I wanted to be somewhere uncomplicated -- ROFLMAO. Oh, how naive I can be. 

I will continue to make posts about the journey and all that we are learning. The biggest lesson from watching YouTube videos is that you can never prepare enough. So I will be taking advantage of this delay to learn as much as possible from dumping the tanks to replacing a solenoid.

Anyway, onward and upward!

Congratulations are in order

Today we received an email saying that hubby's Blog has been named in the Top 100 Political Blogs on the web!!! Wowsers. He has had this blog for about 7 years and he really enjoys writing it. So a HUGE congratulations to him for obtaining that recognition! We had no idea this was coming so to make the list was a great surprise.