Mjmnklm
Advanced Member
Hey Jon,
Good on you, man. I’ve camped one way or another since I was 10 years old. I say this with all sincerity, something about the lifestyle DOES change people. I rarely meet an ************** camper (campground managers, sometimes, but rarely campers).
Although sadly, while they were growing up, I did not have the resources to take all of my kids camping while they were little, We did eventually get them all to go with us at some point. Some of them really love it too, and do it with their kids. It’s a great way to get them away from the screen time and spend real, quality time with each other.
I wish you all the best as you look to upgrade. This forum is a great source of information as you do your research in preparation.
Joined the forum recently as we now have a 295RL. Browsing the forum, which is mighty expansive, and found this thread. Our Lance camper was our home because that's what we had when the house sold. Of course, for the two of us, we knew full well that as much fun as the 21' trailer was (the camper's actual size was 8'X18', trailer was 21' ball to bumper) eventually we would grow into a larger rig. The Lance camper had only the dinette as a seating option, and this coupled with the "crawl over bed" up front were the two main issues we tolerated. The trailer did haves gobs of storage for it's size though, and when we moved into the 295RL we noticed that the GD had storage to spare after we made the switch, not surprising though. Overall though we may have lost some storage due to the truck bed hauling a 5er now vs having the cap on the truck bed which gave 154 cubic feet of storage. We continually downsize though so this was just another opportunity to do so. We downsize because we discover that we simply don't wear or don't use something often enough to keep carrying it. When we began to full time nearly three years ago, we had already whittled down the tools that we would keep, and after camping for most of our lives which mostly consisted of 4 or 5 week road trips, we knew what camping tools to keep. Mechanic tools have been duplicated two and three times over the years, so we set up tool boxes for the grandchildren who were just starting their own families. Some tools are unnecessary in an RV but required in a house, pipe wrenches come to mind, and in the end I kept one somewhat large portable tool box for tools and two small ones that contain hardware & spare parts. The kids each wound up with a fully stocked tool box ready for home ownership (I wasn't really aware of how many screwdrivers, open end & box wrenches, and hammers we had until we made piles in the garage). The garage was now usable after the three garage sales we had, and anything left from these we donated (mostly clothing) or added to the dumpster. Some family heirlooms were kept within the family and some were not, the latter being the tough part. Furniture was mostly given to family, although during the garage sales we still sold some. When we decided to sell the house we did some repairs that were on my to do list and that's it. We didn't try to improve the house by doing things that we couldn't recoup our money on, and my time is valuable as well. This along with our physical conditions & age basically had the house sell as is. After all, the first thing folks do in a new to them house is paint, so that's one big job we didn't do. The house sold in three weeks and after all the research on domicile, mail service, RVs, etc., we were finally rolling. I had already set up our mail service about two years previous to ensure that everyone that needed it would have our new address, and the last thing to do was a change of address at the Post Office while the house sale paperwork was being drawn up. Essentially, it was a seamless transition to full time RV life, with the exception of shedding some tears as we left our home of 26 years. We became grandparents in that house, and they knew the house as their own. Both inside and out, the house and property held memories of a large part of our lives together. However emotional this time was, we knew that our hand was forced and we could no longer stay there, but this certainly didn't make leaving any easier. When we were both working we brought home more money, and when retirement came along our overtime wages stopped. Fixed income living became a reality and we couldn't keep up with the house both financially and physically. All those times of discussion as our road trips were coming to a close, racing back home to make it back to work on Monday, times when we said "Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to be back by Monday. How far off is retirement anyway?" Well these times are upon us now, and the adventure is truly uplifting. With the exception of a year lost to the effects of Covid, this full time lifestyle is right where we belong. But even during 2020 we were blessed to have found a park to wait out the storm. And here we were able to receive packages without going to the Post Office for General Delivery (life's simple pleasures, aye). This made our efforts in modifications for the camper we once had, as well as the mods that needed to be done to the truck in going from a travel trailer to a fifth wheel, so much easier. And this is where we find ourselves now as I will remove the paper tags on the trailer and put on the license plate when it arrives in the mail today. The full time RV lifestyle parallels the sticks & bricks lifestyle, with a few subtle differences. They both have their requirements, and they both have their pros & cons for sure. (One item that comes to mind is something I heard a while back... The 
