Needing Your Help, Helping While Cruising WOW

One of the disadvantages we quickly found out about the cruising lifestyle is the loss of attachment to our parish church and the stewardship with which we chose to help the community. Staying in a place for just 3 weeks max did not afford us enough time to build relationships and work on a ministry, at least not like our favorite Filipino-American Association of St. John the Baptist Church in Covington, Washington which we helped found, the Supper Clubs we participated in, and the Eucharistic Ministry.

We discussed our dilemma with Fr. Jack Walmesley of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Church in West Seattle and he broached an idea that we will pursue upon our return from the Philippines to the RVing lifestyle, going North East three months from now.  We will document best practices in community outreach all over the USA. But my greater inclination is to find something that takes from a developed country like my adopted home, the USA, to help my underdeveloped birth home, the Philippines, as long as it fits our lifestyle and resources. That means giving more of our talent, not time or treasure.

We found a competition of Seven Fund, the Fisherman Foundation, and the University of Asia and the Pacific. $20,000 will be given to the BIG (Breakthrough Innovation Grant) idea that will best help alleviate poverty in Metro Manila (Manila and 15 surrounding cities). So my only daughter who still resides in Manila, April, and I worked on an idea we have been dreaming to do and she entered it in the contest. In the meantime, my husband Bill and I, now pretty seasoned travelers, worked on another idea that we wished the Philippines could offer those interested to visit the country and he entered it.

The contest ends March 15, 2011. One of three criteria is the quantity and quality of promotional outreach the idea generates, i.e., number of likes and quality of comments. May I take this opportunity to appeal to all of you who have come to like visiting this blog, to read the 2 appeals below and click on the link you like better (or better yet, click both links!) and click the entry’s Like button and perhaps leave a comment! We will greatly appreciate your help.

Bill and April discussing their ideas

APPEAL FROM APRIL: When my mother and I co-wrote The Good Story (which won the online contest of the Morality of Profit Project last year), we had the germ of an idea for a social enterprise. I entered this idea called PinoySEEde into Seven Fund’s Think BIG competition. Pinoy SEEDE seeks to establish a network that links the Source of Expertise and Experience to the Development of Entrepreneurs. It will be similar in platform to Facebook, but it will be a community of volunteer experts in business matched with struggling businessmen. IA thrust like this will help generate more jobs and ultimately create a strong middle class, the backbone of good economies. You may vote for this idea by clicking the link below, clicking the Like button at the top of the entry, and leaving a comment. Thank you so much!

http://www.breakthroughinnovationgrant.com/pinoyseede-linking-expertise-to-struggling-entrepreneurs/

APPEAL FROM BILL: Since I retired, I have had a desire to do something as part of my “payback”.  Being a Filipina, Carol’s plan had always been to somehow help the Philippines. She asked me to join this Think BIG contest sponsored by Seven Fund. We entered this project: GEM, a substantial website to attract tourism dollars. The ultimate goal is to create jobs and alleviate poverty in the megalopolis. Please go to the following link, click the “like” button at the top of the entry and make a comment. Quality inputs/promotional reach are in the criteria for selecting the idea that would get the $20,000 seed money. We would surely appreciate your help!

http://www.breakthroughinnovationgrant.com/gem-go-and-experience-manila/

  

WOW: Maximizing RVing Resources, Part 2

the Chehalis library on a hill in the middle of downtown

Last week’s post talked about four kinds of campgrounds.  Over a year ago, after 5 months of cruising, even before buying M’A ‘turn (our 37-ft. motorhome,) we bought  a Thousand Trails membership with the Resorts of Distinction tucked in (a network of 81 and 125 RV Resorts, respectively). We experience Nature Parks at the national parks and we choose RV Parks when we want to as close to family possible. But this post talks about the resources for RVing fun other than campgrounds or the local sights.

Bing Crosby House in Gonzaga University

Being smart (translation, cheap) there are public centers like libraries where we borrow a steady supply of DVDs, CDs, magazines, and books. Visitor Centers are sources of info and discount coupons, great for outlying areas like the Yukon. Good substitutes for gyms where we can’t find Bally’s Fitness Centers are community centers.   But we continue to be in serious denial that senior centers are also a good resource!  We can also park in rest areas for the night and use sewer and fresh water stations when they have them.

a sculpture at Western Washington University

Other public institutions that are also gems for us cruisers are colleges and universities!  At Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, for example, we discovered the House that stored much of Bing Crosby’s memorabilia. At Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, there are 33 sculptures of renowned artists all around the campus.  Even the Virginia Military Institute was a fine piece of architecture in itself, with Stonewall Jackson’s Statue right at the center!

The Virginia Military Institute
with the statue of Stonewall Jackson

Then there are religious institutions. From the small quonset huts of budding Catholic parishes in the Yukon to the massive cathedrals in the large metropolis,  churches also have functions aside from Sunday services.  There was the Simbang Gabi Reception at the St. John the Baptist Church in Covington, Washington, a Marriage Encounter Enrichment Weekend in the Seattle diocese at a Quality Inn, and a Christmas Choir singing every hour every night of Yuletide at The Grotto in Portland, Oregon.
  

the oldest cathedral in North America
in Mexico City

And, of course, countless commercial establishments fight for our dollars. But, I repeat, being smart, my favorite shopping is done at The Goodwill Chain of Stores (also St. Vincent DePaul, Salvation Army or the Habitat for Humanity), especially those that are found near affluent communities! We have found great treasures like our slightly used Zojirushi bread machine for $6.50 (brand new, $100-150). We have also found big, juicy watermelons at farmers’ markets for $1 and flea markets run all year round in Florida!

the couples of the WWME
 Enrichment Weekend. Section 13

Factory outlet malls, usually too far from the city, have become ubiquitous for us. Great for the budget, they are also great as tread mill substitutes, being sprawling single-level complexes.  Even movies come much cheaper ($2.50) at second-run theaters that are slightly further away from the city centers. When the weather is right, there are even the wide open drive-in theatres where you can do your thing in the privacy of your car (I mean like eat your own sandwiches, have your own drinks, etc.) 

meeting like-minded cruisers at a Walmart lot

And, when we run out of time to reach a campground, we just park at a Walmart, whether in Canada, US, or Mexico! For the price of some groceries or household supplies you may need, you can park your RV for the night, meet like-minded new neighbors, and sit inside for free WiFi! Then when you run out of time to cook a meal, you can go into a Costco to buy some much-needed staples and have a quick round of the free samples for tasting to fill your stomach to your heart’s content!

our motorhome on the driveway of the Docks

But the resource you can always count on is your family or friends. Bill went back to his hometown in Pittsburg, Kansas where we found the best spot to camp in the whole wide world! Jack Dock, husband of Rosemary (Bill’s sister), cleared out the space along his driveway and extended an electrical outlet for us from his garage. In short we were close neighbors for almost a month and went about our sight-seeing together to Tulsa Oklahoma, Joplin Missouri, and Kansas City Kansas and Missouri!

our love resources in Marriage Encounter

The Thousand Trails membership we bought for thirteen years computes to about $1.50 a day if we use it for 365 days a year (which is what we did in 2010). And this includes light, water, all the amenities, and the activities (sometimes even with free movies, coffee and popcorn). This year we will use the system for 9 months and 2012 we will use it for the full year again. Later on, by the end of our contract, we will probably average out to 6 months a year or just $3 a day!

So what more can I ask for? There is absolutely no time for boredom. Last week  I even forgot to include the hiking and biking trails in each campground, the lakes they have for fishing and boating (if not a river or ocean front), and the fire pits for fireside chats at night or for making s’mores!  In this cruising lifestyle, I have found that the axiom ‘More for less’ which I learned from business, also applies.  That makes Carol a happy girl! And Bill becomes one, too…I mean…a happy boy!

Next Post: OLA: Elma, Grays Harbor, Raymond, Ocean Shores and Olympia, Washington.

Keeping Fit While Cruising

When we were in Pittsburg, Kansas, Bill and I had to see doctors.  A continuous tingling on my left arm had me alarmed while Bill developed a cold that wouldn’t go away.  Increasingly, we had been feeling out of shape, both literally and figuratively.  And so the topic of keeping fit within a cruising lifestyle has come up.  And this includes both the matter of food intake and exercise.

We used to go to Bally’s (a chain of gyms) three times a week.  Some nights we even walked to the supermarket or deli, roundtrip 2-3 miles. When we started our cruising lifestyle, through Boise, Denver, and Calgary (homes of our children), we invariably found a Bally’s or a community center with excellent workout facilities.  When we started to navigate the Alaska Highway, however, our routines changed.

We realized that the convenience of a nearby exercise facility is crucial. At first we thought hiking would take the place of a gym.  When we tried that, hordes of mosquitoes rejoiced! And then it got either too cold or too hot. So the habit refused to take hold. Then the thrill of Phase I, the sight-seeing phase, took over.  New routines were formed, not resembling exercise except for leisurely strolling.

Six months later, when we entered Phase II, the relaxing/seeing phase, and bought M’A’turn, we bought yoga mats so we can exercise right there on our new and spacious floor.  We did, for a month. But that habit did not take hold either.  We tried playing table tennis, billiards, mini-golf, and pickleball when we got to the North Carolina campgrounds. Sadly, those did not become habits either!  

But we thought there must be a way of keeping fit through exercise while cruising! I dreaded the thought that we may be slipping to the sedentary habits of sexagenarians. But I bravely reasoned that we have not yet formed good exercise habits simply because we are still in transition from our old lifestyle.  Discussing the matter with Bill, we now resolve to do the following every day:

1.       Exercise for 15 minutes immediately after waking up.

2.       Walk for 15 minutes before nightfall.

3.       Find the time to play at least 30 minutes of one sport (table tennis, billiards, mini-golf, badminton, pickleball or dance).

Now let us shift to the matter of food intake.  In Phase I when we were doing a lot of driving in the RV, we would cut up a lot of veggies (celery, jicama, and carrots), bring a lot of fruits (apples, bananas, cantaloupes, and grapes), and always have nuts for snacking on. We also opted for lots of water.  In Phase II when we settled at campgrounds longer, nesting in our ‘home’, we started to cook more meals.

 So, combined with minimal exercise and more food, would you like to guess what happened? Yes, we packed the pounds. So, now we also resolve to:

1.       Eat only one big meal a day, preferably dinner.

2.       Graze throughout the day with a small breakfast, a light morning snack, a light lunch, and/or a light afternoon snack.  

3.       Eat out infrequently, preferably only during an occasion or celebration.

Examples of a light breakfast are: a pancake, a toast, or a bowl of oatmeal or cereal. A light snack would mean a bowl of popcorn or chips, a cookie, a banana, or an apple. A hot dog, BLT or deli sandwich could make for a light lunch (in fact, maybe it should be half). And then we reward ourselves with a big meal (but not too big) at the close of day, like meat and potatoes and salad or pasta, garlic bread, and greens!

Wish us luck!

Next Thought: Nourishing the Soul While Cruising    

                                                                                                                                                                                  

Filling Our Cruising Days with Fun

You can define F-U-N with snippets…these are what I found in dictionary.com: enjoyable, makes you smile/laugh, makes you feel happy; not necessarily free-spirited or structured, ordinary or out- of-the ordinary or just lighthearted or deeply intense, or simply the first time and pioneering or repetitive and memorable, or alone or with someone, depending on who you are or who you are with.  I made a bucket list of things to do and places to see before I die! The list was filled with stuff that’s fun 

It has ordinary things I have not done before like flying a kite and riding a bike.  Bill’s has things he thoroughly enjoyed before like flying a plane, diving under a sea, and skiing on a mountain. Or it may contain things you greatly enjoy doing together like dancing and hiking, things you enjoy doing with others like karaoke sessions or those that don’t cost much like potlucks!  I even asked myself what will be my priorities during the end days?  And included the answers!

As far as places to visit, the list would include places I have not seen (like Yellowstone or Glacier National Park) or were different from places I had been to (so, if possible, no more hot springs, please…) or I thoroughly enjoyed before (like Yosemite or Key West).   If you look at my below, you will see what I mean.  In other words, the only criterion is ENJOYMENT, not wealth production, not knowledge generation, and certainly not reputation building.

You may say that the list is the same whether you are in a cruising lifestyle or not.  The big difference is  that one can definitely work his list a lot faster while cruising, especially in an RV, and most especially in Phase 2! Why?  This is because you easily can have the resources and facilities for any of them, there are many available people of like interests around, and you are already in places that are ideal for such activities! More importantly, you not only seem to have the time but you make it!

The campground we are in right now, Green Mountain Park in Lenoir, NC, has a 9-hole golf course, a tennis/pickleball court, two mini-golf courses, billiard tables, horseshoe courses, two pools, and all the board games you can think of at the adult lodge.  Each site has a deck around it for easy entertaining.    What Three Flags Resort in Wildwood, Florida lacked in facilities they made up for in organized activities: jam sessions, poker and other card games, craft times, karaoke, concerts, potlucks, etc. every week. 

On the other hand, The Oaks at Point South in Yemassee, South Carolina had neither facilities nor activities but Savannah, Hilton Head Island, Beaufort and Charleston were all within an hour’s drive from it. So it worked out well that we could tour our visiting friend from the Philippines from there.  Sometimes, a campground has all three, like Orlando Thousand Trails Resort! It was our base for the Disney and Universal Studios tours, days of spas and fitness exercises, and hours of dancing and singing.

Needless to say, it is a huge bonus if the campground is also near spectacles of nature! Like when we found the Big Sur State Park on a cliff right next to the glistening Pacific Ocean! Or the campgrounds right inside Yosemite, Joshua Tree or even Everglades National Park.  The one we cannot forget is Big Pine Key Resort at the Keys.  It was surrounded on three sides by water, a bus ride away from Key West and beside the forest where rare Key (mini) deer roamed. 

Yes, cruising in an RV is made for endless fun-filled days! Unbeatable.

So as not to forget, this is my matrix of fun things, cells all filled in, like thus:

                                     Alone                         With Someone

Free-spirited     Writing blog                 Tubing, canoeing or kayaking

                          Taking photos               Hiking a little known trail

  

Structured        Attending a talk             Playing bridge, poker, etc.

                         Hearing a good homily   Performing a choreography

                                                                                      

Ordinary          Planning/cooking meals  Having cocktails  

                         Reading a book             Dining potluck style

                         Sketching scenes/faces   Sitting around a campfire

                         Watching American Idol Working out at the gym 

                             DWTS, or a movie                                      

Un-ordinary   Planning trips                     Lstening to a great concert  

                       Finding a bargain/treasure Watching a great play           

                       Putting a party together      Riding a motorcycle

Lighthearted Riding a carousel                Having a picnic

                      Surfing on the net                Dancing/karaoke/jam session

                      Playing video games            Managing a complex project

  

First-time      Flying a kite                        Posing at the Arctic Circle

                      Riding a bike                       Riding a helicopter

Repetitive    Seeing bright yellow flowers Visiting family & friends

NEXT THOUGHTS: Keeping Fit while Cruising

                                                                   

                                         

The Economics of Cruising as a Lifestyle

So we have committed to cruising in an RV for the foreseeable future.  But now that we are retired and have no regular income except for Bill’s social security that began last month, some cash from rentals of our properties, and inflow from the sale of Bill’s business (we do not want to touch his IRA and my social security from the Philippines isn't much), we often wonder whether we can sustain the cost of living of this lifestyle, what with the galloping cost of fuel! But, guess what?  We are getting pleasantly surprised that it can actually be a very affordable way to live, if you know how!

The major expenses of this lifestyle are 1) fuel, 2) vehicle depreciation and maintenance, 3) campsite fees and other utilities, 4) food and other household expenses, 5) entertainment and other recreational expenses, 6) insurance and property taxes and, due to our age, 7) health maintenance.  Depending on one’s state of wellness, the last can be the largest expense.  Fortunately, for us it isn’t!  Let us now tackle each of these items in the two phases we know of, sight-seeing and seeing/relaxing, in comparison to the more common lifestyle, living in a house.

EXPENSES FOR FUEL

 It averaged about $4.50 per gallon during summer in Canada.  Most expensive was at $5.40 in Eagle Plains, the only campground before the Arctic Circle.  Next was $5.25 in Chicken, Alaska, right before the Top of the World Highway.  In Mexico, with the nationalization of the oil industry, gas was a constant low at $2.50. In the US we have often looked at gasbuddy.com to find out where is the cheaper gas nearby since the variance is wide (currently, lowest to highest state averages in the US are $2.706/gal for Colorado and $3.597/gal for Hawaii with just a little less in Alaska.  We have also found that there is some savings when you pay cash, especially at outlets like Sam’s, Costco, etc.

During Phase 1 our fuel expenses ran from about $1,500 to over $2,000 per month.  Back then we were using Star, our class C motorhome, to go to different places and staying only 2-4 nights at a place. We used Vino, our scooter, for going around nearby towns or around a campground.  Now in Phase 2, when we stay for 2-3 weeks at a place, even with two vehicles, we are at much less than half that (which comes down to practically the same expense as when we lived in a house)!

VEHICLE DEPRECIATION AND MAINTENANCE 

I have told you that we bought a new tandem, M’A ‘turn, (a Mountain Aire by Newmar and a Saturn SL1 dinghy), for this phase of our lifestyle.  Unlike houses, RVs do not appreciate in value.  They are homes on wheels that are regularly subjected to the rigor of the road.  So buying a brand new one did not make a lot of sense to us.  Like cars, their values take a deep dive in the first few years.  We would rather let other people take that hit so Star was a 1996 model and M’A is vintage 1997. 

Star had a few problems when we started:  the fuel pump issue in Provo, Utah ($870), exhaust manifold in Calgary, Alberta, Canada ($1195), transmission in Fairbanks, Alaska (speedometer sensing unit in the instrument cluster-$270).  M’A, on the other hand, had practically none (kudos to Lazy Days!).  All in all, our monthly cost of ownership (depreciation + maintenance) for our home on wheels will be around $350 should M’A last us ten years and double if five.  Not bad for a space of about 350 square feet (translating to about $1 per month per square feet, the same cost for rented living space in Kent, Washington, where our condos are).   However, those condos will be there for our children when we die but M’A is not expected to have any salvage value for them by then.

CAMPSITES AND OTHER UTILITIES

 During Phase 1 Bill and I only had a Camp Club USA membership which gave us 50% off for campsite fees on the first day or so.  Being a senior, Bill also had a Golden Passport which gave us 50% discount at national park campgrounds, too.  So, our campsite fees ranged anywhere from $10-35 a night. One of my routine tasks was to look for the best value campground we could find near the places we wanted to visit.  Frequently, that would include a night’s stay at a Wal-Mart parking lot.  They are smart because although we did not pay for a night’s stay, we bought most of our groceries and household needs there.  With all of these, our campsite fees averaged $350 a month.  

When we decided to take up the RV cruising lifestyle fulltime at the end of 2009, we purchased a membership with the Thousand Trails system of parks which included Thousand Trails, NACO, Outdoor World, Mid-Atlantic and preferential access to all Equity Lifestyle Properties (owners of the system).   The membership allows us 21-day stays at each of the 75 parks nationwide for free and we can go park-to-park.  This gives us, effectively, a campsite expense of a little over $3 a day, or nearly $100 per month for the next thirteen years.  If we used the facilities for only half the time or six months a year (we plan to be out of the country six months a year), then the expense would double at $200 a month

Costs of cell phones are the same except when we are out of the country (Canada and Mexico).  Internet access is more expensive since we want it even when we are on the road (we are using Verizon’s mobile broadband card).  Now that is erased by savings on cable communications which are sometimes free for some campgrounds or just $3 a night if we wanted (and we have not since watching movies have become free and tv broadcast is always available!).  And, since electricity is generally free (except for 50-amp service), even expenses for propane (heating and cooling) is eliminated.   

FOOD AND OTHER HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES

Now you should know that Bill wanted me to add one word to the title of this blog:  Generation Z. Cruising in an RV Frugally.  So our food and household supply bill is small, approximately $400 a month, especially since we do not eat out a lot (I just started cooking six years ago when I retired and looooove it so much still that eating in is always my preferred option). When we do, it is mostly courtesy of gift cards from children and, if not, it is usually a split burger or dog from a fast-food chain or a street vendor in a flea market.

 Variety comes from joining potluck dinners at campgrounds, getting invited (or vice-versa) to the RVs of campground friends for shared dinners, going to cook-offs, or to Costco (on weekends, they have free food samples from 1-5 pm).  We also noticed that our food bill goes up when we visit family and friends because we either cook for the whole family or take them out to special night outs.  Other household expenses include normal household supplies except for RV toilet paper which breaks down more readily.

ENTERTAINMENT AND OTHER RECREATIONAL EXPENSES

I told Bill when we were going to do this that the only thing I would not give up is watching American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, tennis opens, and DVDs on TV.  So we fitted a 32-inch LCD HDTV into our 24-foot Star and I was extremely happy.  By the time M’A came, the only two big additional investments we had to make was to fit a 26-inch LCD HDTV (the 32-inch one was too big) and to add a washer/dryer combo.  I felt extremely blessed.

For DVDs, we started with some two hundred copies from my son-in-law’s collection.  Then we discovered the phenomenon that is Redbox and got our hit movies and Oscar winners for only $1 a night.  Then we discovered flea markets where you could buy previously viewed DVDs for about $1-3 a piece which we then resold to campgrounds for $1-2, sometimes breaking even per DVD in the exchange. Now we have discovered public libraries which have extensive DVD collections and our expenses have been reduced to zero. It was a pleasant surprise that some counties allowed non-residents to have library cards!

Since the travels take us to new places all the time anyway, our entertainment and recreational expense has not been big.  The frugal woman that I am, we rarely spend much in admission fees to various attractions because we always opted for the free ones.  We were in Watson Lake at the Yukon when, the greenhorns that we were, we went to the Northern Lights Museum to view a show on the aurora borealis for $10 a person.  That was a big waste of money! 

In Fairbanks, Alaska, viewing muskoxen at the Palmer private farm would have cost us $8 per person but we found them at the Large Animals Research Station, University of Alaska, for free!  At their Pioneer Park, there was a Gazebo Night when a cocktail party was going on and drinks were flowing for $1 donation with free hors d’oeuvres! We just came from a Spring Night Out in Salisbury, North Carolina, where we feasted on refreshments and snack bites at different establishments along Main Street, all for free. 

The biggest expense we have now is the gas we need to go from one place to another: shopping for treasures in thrift stores, consignment shops, auctions, flea markets, craft fairs, etc. (our limited space is a great cap to our spending), visiting parks, gardens, natural wonders, vineyards, museums, and historical sites, or visiting friends and family.  And with our Saturn, that is just about 10 cents per mile.

Bill and I thought about how we would entertain ourselves if we were still living in our condo in Kent.  And the expenses we included in that scenario are for going out at least once a week, probably a movie and/or dinner, family outings, and an out-of-town visit every month or so.  These out-of-towners would mean fuel expenses for the car, motel fees, and other fees associated with the place we are visiting.    

HEALTH MAINTENANCE

One of the more problematic areas of the cruising lifestyle is expenses concerning health maintenance.  For one, we do not have a regular clinic to go to and prescription renewals are harder to obtain.  So we have opted for buying our supplements and other medicines online from Canada (much cheaper).  And we try to postpone other things (this may prove to be not so good a habit to develop) until we get to Seattle or Manila. Clearly, for aging Generation Z members like us, we need to solve this problem better.

Many people have opted for a location they visit annually for their health and dental needs, some in Mexico and many in Florida or Arizona. But this expense is computed at the insurance premiums we pay.

EXPENSES FOR INSURANCE AND TAXES (I have asked Bill to write this section)

Think of your RV as a second home, or, if you are full-timing, it can be your primary home!  That means that you should be able to treat the sales/excise tax on the purchase of the unit, interest on future payments , and any property taxes on your home on wheels just as you would on a traditional home or second home.   Since an RV is not real property, then property tax is nil.  However, insurance varies significantly from a trailer or fifth wheel to a motor home.  The insurance on the trailer/fifth wheel is lower than home insurance.   However, since a motor home is a motorized vehicle, insurance is higher. 

But another thought to consider is the cost of exterior maintenance and landscape maintenance on a traditional home.  The cost and the labor involved is significantly more for this than for an RV,  because you need to repaint, re-roof, take care of plumbing, carpet cleaning,  lawn maintenance – just for starters.  Campgrounds are maintained by their owners, much like condominiums. Here again, the thing to consider is the association fees, which average would be around $300/month (more than the cost of our campsite fees which includes utilities).

SUMMARY

In summary, the comparison goes like this:

                                              Home     Phase 1 RV     Phase 2

Fuel Expenses                         350            2,000             450

Vehicle Expenses                    150               300             400              

Campsite/Utilities                  850               550             350             

Food and HH Supplies             400               400            400

Entertainment Expenses           300                50              50

Health Maintenance                 750               750            750

Insurance and Taxes                500                 75            150

TOTAL                                3,300            4,125          2550

So, Phase 2 RV lifestyle is cheaper than living in a house. What additional expenses you spend for fuel and maintaining the RV you will make up for lower campsite and utilities fees, entertainment or other recreational expenses, and insurance and taxes. Health maintenance is about your state of wellness.   Food and other HH supplies shall always be dependent on how frugal the kitchen and house manager is, wherever one lives.  And I am proud to be a frugal one.  Bill, on the other hand, may not be.

Going Through Five Stages of the Cruising Lifestyle

Bill and I stumbled upon a cruise ship for our wedding venue.  Since then cruising has become our passion and way of life.  In fact, we are on our second motorhome in just 8 months!  Star (our first, a Class C) which we traded in for our second, has been quickly grabbed by another couple starting on their adventure.   We shifted to M’A (short for Mountain Aire, by Newmar), the Class A we bought at no other than the behemoth of the RV industry, Lazy Days. (Please see my post on ‘Buying Our New Home’.) We must have been at two different stages of RV cruising! What are the phases anyway?  I believe there are 5:  escaping, sightseeing, seeing-relaxing, sunbirding, and nesting (ESSSN).

We really did not have the opportunity to experience the first stage which I call escaping.  (You see we met at that time in our lives when we were ready to retire: he was about to sell his business and I was already tired of teaching in the US after retiring from the Philippine business landscape 4 years earlier). This is the phase when you actually have other things to do and you just want to pause, to experience the benefits of cruising (such as getting close to nature, going to new places, and experiencing new people and activities, visiting family and friends ; please see my post on Debating the Pros and Cons of Cruising as a Lifestyle). You want to gain these benefits but not suffer the disadvantages of cruising (such as losing income, being away from family and friends, and not having time for other pursuits).   It may be that you are still a student, an employee, an executive, a business owner, or a housewife.  You simply have the urge to cruise on a long weekend, be on a much-needed vacation, and escape from the busy requirements of daily life, so to speak.  

 

The second one is what I will call the sight-seeing stage. This is the phase at which Bill and I entered the groove.  This is when you finally have the time to see a lot of places on a looooong bucket list you have started to build.  So you pack up, make an itinerary, and go on a cruise! We wanted a motorhome that was not any longer than 25 feet so we downsized to the bare minimum.  Star was the perfect getaway vehicle!  We did not have to pack/unpack, we could cook our meals anywhere any time, and take showers and other daily requirements.  It was our moving bedroom, bathroom, dining room and kitchen! We bought Vino, our scooter, because we soon found Star still too difficult to maneuver in town, was a chore to unhook and reconnect from campgrounds, and was consuming gas at 10 miles to the gallon.  In 7 months we covered 21,000 miles sight-seeing from the Arctic to Mexico to Florida!  

But 8 months later, by March 1, 2010, we were in another RV for the second stage.  I call this third stage, seeing/relaxing.  Our children were right; they could not believe we could go on doing what we were doing: travelling almost every other day to a new place, as if we were running out of time. They were actually beginning to wonder when we would find Star too cozy for comfort.  However fond we had become of Star, we actually began to think of replacing her in December when we had April, my youngest, traveling with us from Mexico to Texas to Louisiana for about 2 and a half weeks.  If you can just imagine a 24-foot Class C motorhome (that means after the drivers space and engine we actually had a living area of 17 feet long by 8 feet wide (no slide-outs).  That means 136 square feet! Every night we had to transform the dinette into April’s bed (and tuck away the little Christmas tree that housed our collection of Christmas ornaments!).

At about the same time, Bill caught pneumonia in congested Mexico City.  So it was timely that we relaxed a little and made space for visiting family and friends.  What was holding us back was that we had just bought Star and we thought, if we could not trade it in for a good value, our lifestyle will end up to be quite an expensive one, something ‘frugal us’ could not live with.   But lo and behold!  Lazy Days had thought about such psychology a long time ago.  The secret of their success is to understand what goes on in the mind of those who want to enjoy RV cruising as a lifestyle and have the right gear available for whatever stage and whatever budget!  They gave us the marvelous opportunity to own a 37-foot quality Class A motorhome (albeit a 1997 model) that had a good-sized slide-out and was very light-colored and airy inside!  We even had enough money left for a workable dinghy!

So, now we have M’A ‘turn, the former (our Mountain Aire by Newmar) to take us to new campgrounds where we can relax and entertain and the latter (our Saturn SL1) for running around to see the many attractions around.  In spite of becoming poorer by tens of thousands of dollars, we now enjoy the best of both worlds, of both sight-seeing and relaxing.  We relaxed Three Flags RV Resort in Wildwood, Florida, and were tour guides for Dittas, my visiting friend from the Philippines, around Savannah, Georgia and Hilton Head, Beaufort, and Charleston, South Carolina from The Oaks at Point South RV Park in Yemassee, South Carolina (please see my post on ‘Touring the Low Country USA with a Friend’).  Right now we are again relaxing in Forest Lake RV Resort in Advance, North Carolina before we go sight-seeing around the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park with JingJing, another visiting friend from the Philippines, from Lynchburg RV Park in Gladys, Virginia and the Green Mountain RV Park in Lenoir, North Carolina.

Bill and I foresee that we will go through the other 2 stages of RV cruising as we become older, not that able to withstand wider differences of temperature and weather, and becoming more mellow  and,  hopefully, wiser.   The fourth stage, sunbirding, really means that, when we are in America, we will stay 4-6 months in the northern areas during late spring to early fall and the other 4-6 months in the southern states during late fall to early spring (much like what birds do, migrating to the south during winter and to the north during summer).  And the last stage, nesting, is when we would stay in a locale for most of the year , finally settle down, and ultimately establish our nest.  We imagine that we would just travel to go out to visit a child (or wait for them to visit us) during major holidays or birthdays.  We are now thinking that may be somewhere in Utah which is about 4-5 hours from each of our children’s homes. We hope that M’A ‘turn will still be with us then!

At what stage would you begin cruising in an RV? Up to what stage will you continue to do so?

Debating the Pros and Cons of the RV Cruising Lifestyle

I must admit there are several stages to RV cruising as a lifestyle: escaping, sightseeing, seeing/relaxing, migrating, nesting. Since Bill and I only met on the road to retirement, we did not experience the first so we jumped right into the second stage and are now on the third (we think). Let me discuss these various stages at a future post, however. Instead let me dwell on a debate that has been raging on my mind since we started this journey.

We have found the following benefits of RV cruising as a lifestyle:

new experiences and activities
new places and sights
being close to nature
new people you meet
a larger view of life
relatively lower levels of stress

And so we decided to move from stage 2 to 3. In only eight months we had traveled 21,000 miles, from Alaska and the Arctic Circle to Mexico and the Tropic of Cancer to Florida and Low Country USA! Because of the new experiences, activities, places, sights and people, we have not been a bit bored. Surprisingly we have developed a non-parochial view of life because we have not been rooted anywhere really. Finally, from the driven lifestyles we had (Bill, keeping a small business alive despite a flagging economy after years of corporate jungle and I, juggling classes at three institutions in a supposed reinvention after years of business pioneering) this crazy adventure was exhilaratingly refreshing.

But we have also found the following disadvantages:

inconsistency in bonds with people: family and friends
inconsistency in involvement with causes
loss of stability
loss of income
preponderance of unfamiliar situations

The very benefits of having something new all the time also gave the lifestyle the loss of stability and the preponderance of unfamiliar situations. This resulted in inconsistencies in bonds with people (both family and friends) or with causes (such as the church) that we used to nurture. Technology has definitely helped (skype, webcam, cell phones, broadband access, laptops, the internet, etc.) but the ‘propinquity’ is also essentially lost. What younger people would find most disturbing, however, is the loss of regular income. For retired people like us, that really is not much of an issue. But the loss certainly has made us more frugal than necessary and budgeting more of a regular to-do.

And what do you do if you enjoy the benefits so much that you want to continue the lifestyle but do not want to suffer the disadvantages? Well, you mitigate them, of course! I have already talked about technology to strengthen communications with loved ones. Work camping is an option to earn enough to sustain the lifestyle (see workamper.com). A payback vacation (like building homes for Katrina victims in New Orleans) is another way to work for causes. And not sweating the small stuff is such a valuable attitude to have when you have to adjust to so many varying situations, people, rules, facilities, availabilities, etc. For old folks like us, that may not be an easy thing to do…but we try.

What do you think? Do you think the pros outweigh the cons? Would you join us in the RV cruising lifestyle? Will you embrace the benefits and mitigate the disadvantages? At what stage will you enter?

Cruising as a Lifestyle

Dictionary.com defines the verb cruise as being ‘akin to Tom’…just kidding. The following are some of the definitions of the word that I consider relevant to this blog: 1) to travel about without a particular purpose or destination, 2) to drive at a constant speed that permits maximum operating efficiency for sustained travel, and 3) to travel at a moderately fast, easily controllable speed: cruising along the highway enjoying the scenery.

It is true that sometimes we cruise along with just a general direction, waiting to be surprised by what new things, sights, foliage, wildlife, for example, that we may encounter down the road. It is also true that, after driving for hours, we would shift to cruise-control to relax our tired muscles on the freeways of America. And it is true that we deliberately slow down because the scenery that is unfolding is just spectacular, like when the glaciers started to appear across the horizon at Glacier Highway enroute to the twin towns of Steward, British Columbia and Hyder, Alaska.

But the definition that I would like to offer is this: aimless (meaning no big aims), effortless (meaning no big efforts), timeless (meaning no big dictates on time), deeply personal and enjoyable drive through life, usually with a loved one(s). I would like to compare and contrast this cruising lifestyle with the driven one because, for years, I had to endure the latter, bringing up my children alone.

Whereas the latter is usually accompanied by big goals (building a home, bringing up kids, getting an MBA), cruising is characterized by little ones (baking a pie, spotting a deer, or finishing a book). Whereas the driven lifestyle needs lots of energy to sustain, cruising works whatever the energy level one may have (that is why, it is not about age). Whereas the driven lifestyle means deadlines, cruisers often say: ‘When I woke up this morning, I had nothing to do; when I went to bed, I was only half done.’

This is why the RV industry has grown. But, before I go any further, let me just categorically make this disclaimer.There is another definition of cruising in dictionary.com: to travel about slowly, looking for customers or for something demanding attention, i.e. taxi drivers, policemen, and…prostitutes.This is the definition not relevant to this blog!

This year the RV industry celebrates its 100th anniversary. A century ago, the automobile, better roads, and the American love of the outdoors gave us the first recreational vehicles. The website of the Michigan Association of recreation Vehicles and Campgrounds says ‘Through war and peace, booms and busts, fuel lines, fads and the cyber revolution, the RV lifestyle has endured.’ Other interesting statistics in their report are:

* There are more than 12,000 RV-related businesses in the U.S. with combined annual revenues of more than $37.5 billion.

* Nationwide, there are more than 16,000 public and private campgrounds.

* 8.2 million American households now own an RV—a 16 percent increase since 2001 and a 64 percent gain since 1980.

* Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA)estimates there are as many as 30 million RV enthusiasts nationwide,including RV renters.

* RV parks and campgrounds across the country report reservations in 2009 to be 8 percent better than in 2008.

That the RV industry has grown is undeniable.Thus, my next post on this subject shall be a discussion of benefits and disadvantages of cruising as a lifestyle. Maybe, it is because the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Buying Our New Home

I know this is a common occurrence for RVers but, for us, it was a brand new experience. And in just 8 months, we have already had 2 purchases! The first one was Star and Vino. Star was our white/beige 24-foot Class C motorhome, Telstar by Firan, and Vino, our electric blue Yamaha 125 scooter. Bill and I made the decision to run around North America visiting family (6 kids and 3 siblings) and friends. Back from the Philippines and Taiwan on the second week of June, we wanted to start in 2 weeks.

We decided on a small RV to save on gas, easily maneuver and park, and give us time for the major decision. We only compared 3 options: a 21-foot Class B+, a 22-foot Class C, and Star. There was no complex decision matrix. We liked Star the instant we saw it: there was enough storage space but the clincher was that the bedroom/bathroom could be closed off from the living/eating/driving area! Vino, on the other hand, has been so useful for going around town and campgrounds.

In 8 months we had taken Star and Vino through the Canadian Rockies, the Alaska Highway, around Alaska, the Top of the World Highway, up Dempster Highway to the Arctic Circle, down British Columbia, through Washington, Oregon, California, and into Mexico, then across the Gulf States, and into all of Florida, including the Keys and the Everglades. We had added 21,000 miles to Star, visiting 5 kids, 1 sibling and 1 cousin and going to 2 reunions.

We loooooved it! So much that, by the time we were in Palm Springs luxuriating in a mineral spring spa, we decided to be full-timers, RVers who choose to make the RV their permanent home. We will still be going around North America, and possibly Europe and Australia later, but we would also now like to stay at places for longer periods of time, to finally do some nesting. Whereas our average stay at a place was 4-5 days, we will now move to an average stay of 2 weeks. And we needed a new home.

The decision loomed larger when my youngest daughter joined us for more than 2 weeks from Mazatlan to New Orleans. It became too cozy for comfort. So we started knocking on RV doors at campgrounds in mid-December in Alabama, only 6 months after beginning our journey, asking the owners to give us a quick look-see of their rigs. And, by the time we reached Florida, after our first 21-day stay in mid-February in Wildwood, we had formulated a good idea of what might want.

It was during our third stay in Orlando when we got to view a 27-foot fifth wheel at the RV show on the lot. That was the size we thought we could afford. The salesman surprised us with a quote of only a $10K addition for the rig plus the truck minus the trade-in of Star! Financed it would mean just $140 a month! Bill could not believe how affordable a bigger RV could be! So I looked at 2 other fifth wheels on the lot and fell in love with a 32-foot Outback-Sydney edition in a predominantly white theme inside.

But we were slated to go to Lazy Days the following day for a complimentary stay arranged by Kurt Beachler who was referred to us by a couple (Charles and Evelyn Kuchta) whom we met at the potluck dinner in Orlando. What was originally supposed to be a 4 day/3 night stay turned into an 11 day/10 night whirlwind. When we left, Bill was ‘nervously’ driving a 37-foot fully equipped motorhome, Mountain Aire by Newmar, towing a dinghy, a red Saturn SL1!

Lazy Days is the largest RV dealer in the country, selling more than 7,000 rigs in a year. The motto on the main building says, ‘Lazy Days. If you love RVing, this is home.’ Their unique business model is based on the premise that the only really profitable relationship in the industry is a long-term one, looking at supplying all the RVs one may need in his lifetime. The 500-acre grounds are always busy with hundreds of RVs coming and going.

There are 270+ service bays and an inventory of thousands of rigs. On the lot is a branch of Camping World, Cracker Barrel, Quality Inn, and Flying J. A card-carrying member is treated to day-long Starbucks coffee, meals at the Café, a site at the campground, newspapers at your steps in the morning, a heated pool and spa, tennis courts, and free seminars about RVing and RV maintenance. Each staff greets anyone he sees, ‘Welcome to Lazy Days.’

So it was a foregone conclusion: when one goes into Lazy Days, he would leave it with a new RV! Our overall requirements were: maneuverability, drivability of the other vehicle, layout, airiness, and classiness. Our needs were: a big enough sink, ample kitchen counter space, refrigerator, microwave/oven/stove, a study desk/dresser, an entertainment center, bathroom suite, and a queen-size bed for the ‘queen’. We also wanted a dinette instead of dining table and chairs, a sofa bed instead of a jackknife sofa, a washer/dryer combo, a light neutral color/trim, more flooring instead of carpet, and bedside tables/lamps, high definition TV/DVD with iPod connections, and HDTV antenna.

Only the items in script were not there! Since it was much longer than what we originally wanted, I was very nervous during the test drive. But, Bill said he and I will get used to it as others have. I dropped the dresser idea since I don’t put too much make-up anymore (doesn’t help much at this stage), we bought a washer/dryer combo and a Vizio LCD HDTV on sale, and swapped our car radio which had iPod connections. Voila! The rig was made perfect. But the clincher was, Bill couldn’t possibly see me driving a pick-up! He had better hopes for a small compact car dinghy.

We formulated a decision matrix for evaluating the following 5 options: a 27-ft Designer by Jayco , a 32-ft Outback Sydney edition, 34-ft Paradise Pointe, a 34-ft Coachmen Royale fifth wheels and the 37-foot Mountain Aire motorhome by Newmar. It won hands down with a 2.6 score against 0.6, 2.4, 2.2, 1.8, respectively! The combined score was obtained from a 60-40 mix of quality and financial scores. The quality score was a weighted combination of scores for overall requirements, needs, and wants while the financial score was a weighted combination of one-time and recurring expenses and salvage value.

And now we have a new matrix…of things to buy for the new home! And in a week, we had already entertained 2 couples on 2 separate occasions and invited a host of others from around the world. The lifestyle is on! Our RV is our new home!

Cruising to a Life Together...of Cruising

This is an excerpt of the booklet, 'Cruising to a Life Together'

‘We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.’

At 8 PM on August 8, 2008 (8/8/8/08) Bill, 64, and I, nearly 60, started putting it all together in a way that matched our dreams. With loving family and close  friends we cruised to a life together…of cruising. We were both as much in search of a wedding ceremony of meaning as a marriage that will last (this will be the third for each of us) the remainder of our lives (the 30 or so years we have left). And we believe we found who we have been looking for!

Destination weddings have become such a byword. Wikipedia defines a destination wedding as ‘any wedding in which the engaged couple and/or a majority of their guests travel to attend the ceremony’. Bill and I, however, gave new meaning to the term: one, because our destination was not a specific place but rather a kind of lifestyle, and two, because it was not at the expense that the Cruise (Tom and Katie) wedding was.With the rising costs, real destination weddings have become the wedding of  choice only for the select few, the rich and famous. So we needed a twist, an option for couples who are not so fortunate, those whose first name may be Bill but whose last name isn’t Gates!

First we visualized the ceremony of our dreams: it had to be three things: fun, affordable, and meaningful. What a difficult set of values to balance! But then again, so is a marriage. And it had to be all three according to the circumstances, the preferences, and the dreams of the bride and groom. But, yes, more especially the bride’s!

I wanted a garden/nature-inspired wedding so it had to be outdoors. Our guests  should thoroughly enjoy THE PARTY! We had to be able to afford it (our travel plans for the future should not be endangered by the expense). The location, the ceremony, and the gathering must symbolize the joining of our lives. And the date must be numerologically lucky! Whew...tough criteria!

I originally wanted the wedding to be on November 28, 2008 because by then I would have reached 60 and, hopefully, reached the age of wisdom. But 8 PM on 8/8/08 (which the Chinese believe is the luckiest day of the century that is why they fought to have the Summer Olympics of 2008 in Beijing, which opened on the same date) beckoned with increasing force.

We looked at various options: garden estates, hotel courtyards, quaint B&Bs, even public parks with earthworks and lots of greenery. Luckily, we found that charting a cruise ship for three hours can be just as affordable! We wanted a guest list that is just right and the ship’s maximum capacity was a big help! We  chartered the only available ship left and luckily, it was the smallest Argosy ship (64 max). That certainly helped take care of…affordability!

Wikipedia defines a cruise ship as ‘a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience’. Cruising has become a major part of the tourism industry and cruise ships operate mostly on routes that return passengers to their originating port (ocean liners do "line voyages" and typically transport passengers from one point to another, rather than on round trips). A river (or lake) cruise ship, on the other hand, has similar amenities, however is shorter, narrower, and has a shallower draft, allowing it to travel inland waterways.

Fun for our guests…what can be more fun than being cozily trapped together in a cruise ship for a ritual that inspires and energizes in a setting that inspires and energizes? Many people have not had the chance to go cruising around together with ALL of the people they want to be with. In a short three hours you have romance, ambiance, food, booze, dance, music, games, banter, speeches, and THE sights. And we’ll talk about that in a little while!

Eureka! With all the bodies of water around us in the evergreen Pacific Northwest, the Pacific Ocean, the Puget Sound, and the lakes, an affordable, meaningful fun-filled lakes cruise wedding suddenly popped up as an affordable option for us! But for the last criterion…meaningful…we needed to have a good look at the real meaning of weddings on a cruise ship.

According to Cruise Lines International Association, cruise weddings have grown at a phenomenal rate the last few years. Five years ago, there were practically none, but this year ours will only be one of thousands. Carnival Cruise Lines alone estimates it will plan over 2000 weddings this year, and those weddings will also have a built-in honeymoon. This growth rate should not be surprising. You can have a wedding and then sail off on your/their honeymoon! No travel  time wasted between the "I dos" and the fun.

Cruise weddings can take place on board or on a romantic shore such as a  beach, a glacier, or a rolling meadow. Many couples get married while in a Caribbean port or before the cruise begins. That way the guests can come aboard, enjoy the service, and disembark before sailing. Alternatively, you could invite all your guests on the honeymoon! However, we will not be able to do this because our budget did not allow it (sorry!).

Besides the fun and the surprising affordability of a localized cruise wedding, the meaningfulness is unrivalled. I took this meaning of cruising from Dictionary.com: ‘to fly, drive, or sail at a constant speed that permits maximum operating efficiency for sustained travel’. A late-in-life marriage such as ours is really aimed at cruising along in life after years of hard work to provide for our families (I was, after all, a single parent for more than two decades). And what better way to do that than sustained travel for the years we are still able to do so?

This lifestyle is celebrated by the song of Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis:

“Baby let's cruise, away from here

Don't be confused, the way is clear

& if you want it you got it forever

This is not a one night stand, baby, yeah so,

Let the music take your mind, ooh

Just release & you will find

You're gonna fly away

Glad you're goin' my way

I love it when we're cruisin' together

The music is played for love,

Cruisin' is made for love

I love it when we're cruisin' together .”

Doesn’t that make you feel like cruising is the best form of existence for an ‘old’ (mostly because of Bill) couple like us? What better way than to cruise around a  lake that is named Union and to share a toast with loving family members and close friends aboard a ship named Champagne Lady?

Our life will be a looooooooong cruise that will take us through our bucket list, some 88 places we want to see and 48 activities we want to do together. This indeed became the dream wedding we wanted…fun, affordable, and meaningful. It was a lot of fun…executing it in less than three months and being with our friends and family in  three riotous hours. It was certainly affordable…under $9,000. And it was, best of all, meaningful, because…

We cruised to a life together…of cruising. It is not going to be a life of raising kids, building a home, and saving for retirement. This IS retirement, call it a reinvention. We will be cruisers in the last third of our lives. We will not buy expensive floating homes or huge mansions a la Gates. But we will travel many bridges that connect cities, countries and continents. We will revisit books, objets d’art, and places that made/make history. We will be entertained in sports, theater and other art forms. We will walk endless gardens, drive long roads, and sail many seas. We will commune with all kindred spirits, and we will have the beauty of nature and man’s achievements as a backdrop to a life of leisure and payback.

This is what the cruise meant to us, this is what weddings should be made of, this is how marriages should begin. And the quote we love which we have also printed on our wedding invitation, ‘We may not have it all together but together we have it all!’  now finally hangs as a cute little art work on our door. Our dream cruise wedding on the Champagne Lady around Lake Union at 8 PM on August 8, 2008, with our close friends and loving family was definitely the finest way to start getting it all together.