Congratulations to Sharon Ortloff, winner of this week’s free drawing for an audiobook of Explanations and Advice for the Tech Illiterate by Randall Morris! We had 167 entries this week, and next week’s winner could be you! So stay tuned, another contest starts soon.
It got down to 40 degrees here in Tucson last night but it could be worse! When I hear from our friends in the Midwest, that sounds positively balmy. With this terrible deep freeze that has descended on so much of the country, all I can say is that I’m damned grateful for global warming or we’d really be screwed!
A fellow has to dress warmly in cold weather or he could get hypothermia or something. But don’t worry about me, I’m well covered. What do you think of my new headgear? Is it me?
I’ve been busy working on my newest Big Lake book, and here’s a teaser to whet your appetite. Somebody you have come to know from previous books in the series is going to die, and somebody else is getting married. Hmmm…, I wonder who?
Speaking of books and such, have you read John and Kathy Huggins’ new guidebook How to Survive an RV Show…and Make it a Great Experience? It packs a lot of excellent advice into just a few pages, and is well worth the paltry 99¢ it will cost you on Amazon.
We spent part of last night watching Paint Your Wagon. I love that old movie! I think I really was born under a wandering star! Which reminds me, after reading my year end blog, Looking Back at 2013, reader Stephanie Sikes asked if we had a map that showed our route. Here is a screenshot of the Microsoft Streets and Trips map that I update throughout the year as we wander around, to give you an idea of the territory we covered in the previous twelve months.
Another blog reader and wannabe fulltimer, Chris Armstrong, wrote to ask me if the 8,500 miles we traveled in 2013 was typical of most fulltimers. I don’t think there are any “typical” fulltimers. We’re all different.
I had not realized it, but looking at the numbers, I guess Terry and I are slowing down. In 2012 we traveled 12,000 miles in our Winnebago motorhome. That compares to 9,842 miles the year before. By contrast, back in the days when we were running back and forth across the country teaching for Life on Wheels, we covered right around 20,000 miles a year. I sure don’t miss that grueling schedule! How about you? How many miles do you travel on average in a year, and has it stayed the same, gone up, or down over the years?
Thought For The Day – There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. – Aristotle
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Our first two years as full-timers we were crazy running back and forth trying to see everything and everybody at once. We did 41K miles in two years and were worn out and going broke. Then we went to Life on Wheels and in your seminar on full-time RVing you said something that made a light bulb go on in our heads. You said “Stop trying to see everything out there because there’s so much that you’ll never live long enough to get to it all anyway. So slow down and take the time to enjoy what you CAN see!” Since then we have averaged in the neighborhood of 10K miles a year with the exception of our 2010 trip to Alaska when we clocked 14K. But part of that was leaving from the Navy famcamp at Key West and returning all the way to Harlingen TX when we returned to the lower 48.
We have avg about 12,000 miles a year over our 4 years of fulltime RVing.
11.8 k in ’13 & 12.9 k in ’12 (Alaska). Remaining years, ’08-’11, are less than 10k/year.
We are currently parked near Corpus Christi & will log 60k on the odometer during tomorrow’s run.
Wife and I are still working, for another five years. But in the last seven years of motor home ownership, we average about 5-6K per year.
First 4 years, avg 25K a year. Last three, avg 12K a year.
first few years on the road we put 10,000 + on the rig last year we did 7,000 we are slowing down and traveling less this year we figure only about 5,000 but who knows for sure.
Re: the hat. I think you need to find something a little more frivolous and not so serious. relax a little
We have been to all of the lower 48 states and ten Canadian provinces from BC to Newfoundland in 6 1/2 years on the road. We have traveled around 11,000 miles during three of those years. This year we stated in the Keys travelled to Louisiana, then Pennsylvania and west to Mesa Arizona while putting on only 5,600 miles. Average about 9,000 a year.
I wasn’t breaking it out our first 3 years on the road, but in 2008, 2009, and 2010 we did a total of 37,531 miles, for an average of 12,510 miles per year.
Of course in 2008 we went to Fairbanks, AK, and in 2009 we did Newfoundland, so those two probably made up most of the average.
In the last three years, it’s looked like this.
2011 9924 miles
2012 7151 miles
2013 7779 miles
Over the last six years we’ve done 60,386 miles total, for an average of about 10,000 mile per year.
Been fulltime for 19 years and on my 3rd MH which is 13 yrs old. Figured it was more cost effective to repaint & remodel. First three yrs averaged 5,000 and about 8,500 since then. Now my car is a totally different story at 25,000 per yr.
We average 9,000 miles a year – some a little less, some a little more 😉 Love it all!