Security

Try this when it’s time to set up security for the RV:
http://www.phpkitchen.com/article.php?story=20030706063603763

2 weeks into full-timing

We are settled in now, and out of the house. It took 14 days to move! Yuck. I’ll never stay somewhere 10 yrs again!

A friend has let me know about insta-hot alternatives to water heaters, so we can shower. In the mean time, we’ll pretend by washing with disposable wipes and washing our hair in the neighbor’s sink.

I have yet to take some pictures. Guess the rain has stopped me there, and the exhaustion of moving. Perhaps this weekend I’ll have a chance, before Maya’s birthday party.

We take our first real trip to Pacific City next weekend. It’ll be a breeze; now that I have the hang of driving, parking, backing up, leveling, and turning on the systems. What I need before we go is the iPod connection to the house speakers.

I’m hoping the next weekend to buy a recumbant tandem bike to use for alternative transpertation. I’ll be cheaper and easier than towing the car.

Eventful week

We are almost at the end of 14 days of Hell. Moving from a 4-bedroom 2-bath house into a 31 foot motorhome is a challenge.

We’ve lived through 3 days of no heat, no stove, and incessent rain. The heat problem was indeed an empty propane tank, not the fuse. I just neglected to turn the gas on when I returned from filling it. Never assume the service dude has left it on!

Maya tried the shower tonight; too bad we ran out of water midway! At least now I understand the Command Center lights; E means empty! The hot seems to be intermittent (sp?). Bummer.

At the garage sale, I gave away as much as possible, and sent many large items to the ARC for consignment. They pick up, so that saved me a headache. I expect to have all the junk out of the house tomorrow afternoon, however. And on Sunday, all the garbage will be picked up.

Since I can’t officially close until Monday or Tuesday due to World Savings horrible policy of making me wait 10 days to get a payoff letter, I didn’t get to close on Wednesday as planned.

Sunday will be a day of rest, except for the client site I need to finish, and making Maya’s birthday invites.

First night in new home

Maya and I slept well in our new home (filled with stuff) and are trying to enjoy packing up the last bit of stuff, which seems to be the hardest, with everything else already taking up space.

The more I think I’m close to being done packing the sooner I see another room with junk laying on the floor that must be either kept, stored, boxed for giveaway, or thrown away. I was getting more and more depressed until I realized the problem was I had no where to put it–BOXES are needed. So we’re taking a break to go get lots of boxes. That should speed things up.

Electricity

So after 3 days parked with no hookup, I finally ran the battery down; though I don’t know which one. An alarm sounded and the lights dimmed, so I turned everything off and tried the generator, which didn’t work. So I ran the car engine for a few minutes, and voila! The generator started up and so the lights came on.

The extension cord I have would work if I had the muscle to plug it in. Oh well; I bought a new one at Searing Electric and the salesman put the adaptor in for me, which I will not take out (since I can’t get it back in). The cord has a light which helps to see where it is.

I’m starting to get the hang of things. . . the steps can stay out so we don’t use up electricity every time we open the door. One light switch will control 3 in the living room.

Packing up

We brought the RV home on Sunday and have been packing up. The house is slowly coming apart and looking baren.

I’m storing many books, baby clothes, memorabilia, and art at Philomath Self Storage in a 5×4 unit, which may not be enough. Do I really need 3 large boxes of books? Will I need the heated unit?

I’ve sold a few pieces of furniture and will probably sell the rest at our garage sale Saturday. The garage is filling up with stuff to sell. I have about 200 CDs, some of which I sold to Happy Trails. What do I do with the rest if they don’t sell? Ugh!

All the important stuff is fitting nicely into the RV; my art cart, canvases, clothes, books, and food!

Oder Eater

I found some stuff at the pet store that eats oders. The sales staff assured me that it would help eat away fumes from the vinyl in the RV. We’ll see how it does. The pet store uses them to eliminate animal and cat litter smells (it works).

I want to try the kind sold in Art Supply stores that supposedly rids the air of harmful fumes from oil painting.

Articles about WiFi

Why You’ll Really Want WiMax
Frank Rose. Wired Magazine. Forget broadband as you know it – 802.16 is faster, wireless, and works for miles.
Trailer Parks Convert to Wi-Fi
Joanna Glasner, Wired Magazine
Wireless Caravan: Geeks on Parade
Michelle Dilio, Wired Magazine
WiFi Caravan
Viarena

Fun Roads
Many articles

VOIP

Check into voice over IP Broadvoice internet phone and xten.com’s xlite free online phone software. We already have a headset; does it sound good?

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Recommended by Ben J. Reportedly distracts you from doing anything else, so may not be safe to listen to while in heavy traffic.

First Driving Lesson

Pat Brody, the Johnson RV Sales person I worked with this weekend to purchase my motorhome, gave me my first real driving lesson. He left the lot going South on 82 and stopped on a residential street to switch drivers. We proceeded through lots of traffic and up a hill to test out the overdrive.

Overdrive allows you to easily move up a steep hill when pulling a full load. Then it helps keep you “geared down” and breaked while descending.

I practiced viewing corners and stop sign poles while turning left and right, to see how close I am to curbs. Don’t want to snatch any poles or run over pedestians at corners. I have to turn wide, watch the mirrors, and remember the height of the rig so I don’t scrape the roof with low-haning branches.

I will have to practice judging 11’6″ so I don’t knock off hardware on top, or scratch so badly that I have to premeturely replace the roof.

I bought the RV!

Jayco Grawhawk 31SS
Yesterday, I put 10% down on a 31SS Class C Jayco Grayhawk! It’s fun to drive, roomy, pretty on the inside, and has all the amenities I need.

On Monday, I’ll hear how the credit report looks and which lender will take me at which interest rate.

When the home sale is final, I’ll refinance the RV at a lower interest rate and put much more down to keep the monthly payments manageable.

We’ll sign papers Friday and pick it up the next Friday or Saturday (March 19), at the beginning of Spring Break. That gives us the week to pack and play before Spring Term starts. We’ll move over to Cindy’s by March 31.

Follow your dreams.

Time to purchase!

Now that the house has sold, I will be doing my final RV shopping this weekend. I have rig picked out.

Maintenance

I’ll be consulting with a local RV Repair shop about how to maintain the RV. There is a lot to be learned from the experts not just the manual.

Driving Schools

To make my trips safer, I want to take an RV driving class. I’ll need to practice turning, backing up, getting out of trouble, etc.

Albany RV Driving School

Bon Voyage Party slated for August 2005

Now that the house is sold, we’ll be buying the RV very soon. After we get ourselves comfortable in the new rig by taking short weekend trips, we’ll be ready to head South in the Fall of 05. That gives me time to teach 8 weeks summer term.

I’ll set a date for soon after the term ends.

New and Improved

Moving forward with my dream at a rapid pace now, so decided to learn a bit of xml and rss to help me get my blog for i-journey started in a more serious way. This is the third location for it, and it’s resting place, since I have the domain.

Installing WordPress was a breeze and I finally found a way to add someone else’s news to it. I added Wired Magazine using What are RSS: and Feed: Links? soderlind.no Simple Aggregator.

Later, I’ll see what I want to do to the theme for this site.

Still want to incorporate a moving RV at the top.

National Women’s History Month is March

Find out what’s happening around the nation in March regarding women’s history, at the NWHP.org site.

Boxes

Desert MorningCigar boxes of light-weight balsa wood make great gifts. They are handpainted with acrylic on top, sides, and inside.

Keep memorabelia and other treasures inside these unique boxes. The price per box is just $17 plus shipping.

Choose a design from the list below, or make a request. Each box is signed by the artist.

WaterfallBlue MoonMcKenzie RiverPurple StarDesert Morning in MagentaDesert Morning with treeDeep WaterFall Trees

Initial analysis of financing a dream to live the full-time RV lifestyle

Our 31 foot Jayco Grayhawk motorhome
Our 31 foot Jayco Grayhawk motorhome.

I have found it hard over the years to really take a vacation, get enough sleep, or take a complete break from working 11 hrs per day. The jobs I’ve held have been exciting, invigorating, exhausting, and over time, not as rewarding financially as they should have been. After 20 years in the workforce, I am burned out, gray, flabby, bitchy, and itching to do something different.

Pam and Maya Van Londen driving the Loneliest Road in 2005.
Pam and Maya Van Londen driving the Loneliest Road in 2005.

So I’m going to travel full time and work part time. Yikes! How can I do that? I’m in debt, have no savings, and need a job that lets me work from the road. Plus, I’d rather be painting than working in a cold, dark office all day.

Voila! I’ll paint and teach online. I can always continue to build web sites for clients as well. This can be done.

Two sets of friends and I would discuss this idea of traveling full time but it seemed so daunting to get from here (day job, kids, car, mortgage) to there (anytime/anywhere job, motorhome, gas money, kids). One way I overcome a daunting future is to dream. So I visualized every aspect of living on the road…what would the motorhome have to look like? What tools would I need? Where would I park? Would I feel safe? Could I take the dog? Could I homeschool my daughter?

Personal Finances

Whether I’m dreaming or not, I like to get out the computer to help me. The following 3 screenshots are taken from Quicken’s customizable budgeting reports. Because I have used Quicken to track all home and business expenses for the past 7 years, it was able to automatically set up the budget for me! Quicken showed me my monthy and annual expenses and income based on past years.

Before I put the house on the market, I reviewed my budget from 2003 and projected what it would cost to live in an RV 1) while still in Corvallis and then live in an RV 2) while traveling for a year. The screen shots below are examples of these budgets.

Cost to stay in Corvallis but living in the RV. Cost to live on the road in an RV.

The budget shows me that I’m trying to live outside my means! But, the idea about working part time (not 11 hours per day like I have been), traveling, having and accumulating less, and having FUN will keep me alive longer, which, day to day, should cost me less per month. We’ll see.

Quicken allowed me to customize my columns and rows to generate a report that fit my mindset. I was able to hide/show detail of expenses depending on my needs for a report.

Budget Projections and Variations

The next thing I did was to project what it would take to get rid of the debt; pay a year’s worth of health, life, and auto insurance; and purchase the motorhome. For this task I switched to an AppleWorks Spreadsheet file.

The three columns below use a few common calculations to show what I have available to spend on the motorhome and other expenses if I sell the house for $190k or $180k. If I changed the downpayment amount then referenced cells will automatically adjust themselves. If I add more income then I can put more down on the RV or if I sell the house for less, I can see how much more income I need to maintain the budget. The columns adjust themselves.

If I purchase a used or lower-priced rig, and teach distance classes, paint murals, and continue developing web sites for clients, I should be able to stay on the road for a year (or more).
House purchase yields enough to purchase the RV. Other income each month helps pay expenses.

Who else is living this dream?

Thousands across the country are quitting jobs, selling homes, and living full-time in motorhomes and trailers. Some are what might be considered trailer-trash, but many are retired or semi-retired professionals who want to see the world and live where it’s warm. Many work while on the road.

WorkCamper magazine lists many jobs for fulltimers (as we’re called).
Workers On Wheels covers many topics for
And Full Time RVer tells us how to save time and money while on the road.

Motorhome Magazine published a great article about the cost of fulltime RVing in 1999. I haven’t seen another one since, it’s time to update the figures; I believe costs have doubled.

Barriers?

When I was asked to teach a distance course, I knew I was on my way to living my dream. And not one of my friends or family has tried to persuade me to continue life as is. The only barriers are time, organization, and money.

I project the process to go from fulltime worker to fulltime RVer will be about 9 months. I must stay focused on preparing the house for sale. I must continue to seek out other online teaching opportunities and start painting more.

Along the Path at Tryon Park

My first mural was painted at the home of Cindy Miller in Corvallis, Oregon during a peaceful snowstorm over Winter break. The 14-foot wall was white reflected too much sunlight in the large room, so I provided a cooler atmosphere by painting this old growth forest scene from a photo taken while we were walking along the path at Tryon Park in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
forest mural

Clear Lake Workshop

© Pam Van Londen 2007 Clear Lake #3 acrylic on canvas on 18 x 14 x 1 canvas Purchase this painting via PayPal's secure payment system $90 SALE © Pam Van Londen 2007 Clear Lake #3 acrylic on canvas on 18 x 14 x 1 canvas

I finished this painting after many years of contemplation. I had not painted water successfully in acrylic or oils, so I took a workshop from Mark Allison, art instructor at LBCC and Bill Shumway, owner of Pegasus Gallery, in Corvallis. Though I did not get to participate in the entire weekend’s activities, I learned vital skills which are always with me in my daily and plain air painting.

Road to Discovery ~ contest submission

© Pam Van Londen 2003, Road to Discovery 16x20 acrylic on canvasIn 2003, I entered a contest to provide art for the da Vinci Days poster. Though this piece did not receive the honor, I enjoyed working on each portrait . The large area of sky was left to add the theme title, Road to Discovery, which would be done electronically.

During the festival, this painting sat on an easel in the foyer of La Sells Stewart Center at Oregon State University. Other contest entrants were to display their work as well, but chose not to (what an opportunity for me!).