Day Six – Friday September 6th 2013.

Not much happening today!

Slept in to 930am Central Time and had a nice relaxing morning under the patio awning with our coffee and Romeo checking out our peaceful place in our camp spot. This park is heavily treed with old growth Oak trees and rolling hills. No noise and very quiet even though the place is packed with campers. I almost miss the noise of traffic coming and going in the Wal-Mart parking lots! (Joking).

Speaking of Wal-Marts I read on Face Book last night (was able to use the internet at the restaurant we visited) that Cochrane’s new Wal-Mart will be a Super Center. It’s already causing a lot of negative verbage from the locals in our town who don’t want a Wal-Mart at all. You can stop change it seems and to be honest I’m a renegade and feel it will be good to add more retail competition. I will stop there as many wont like that statement!

Barb is spending the day doing what she loves best. Out in the Honda checking out the scenery and I knew this would happen; over to the outlet mall (18 miles back). I felt a day off needed to be just that for me so I am lounging back at the rig with Romeo.

By the way, Wisconsin is known for their cheese and the samples we had last night with our dinner were very good. Cheese is so much cheaper down here. After eating healthy most of the trip we decided the odd night out for dinner especially when we are tired is ok to do and actually one of our personal human rights. That’s a big thing down here (as it should be) due to the fact the news is reporting that the government spy agency can now hack into Face Book accounts, Health Care accounts and even your on-line banking. Add to the fact we have seen motorcyclists in all 4 states so far not wearing helmets. Personal choice and freedom to choose! I wont say anymore on that subject either!

SPONSORS, PREPARATION AND TRAVELLING FOR 6 MONTHS!

Before leaving home and after retiring for what may be the last time (who knows hahaha) I have been thinking. Barb reads and follows a lot of Blogs of travellers to get tips of what to do, what not to do and what to see and do! It’s been very good for us that she does this as we have seen and found some amazing things over the years. In fact it makes for quick learning too in a number of ways. Learning about the areas they (and we sometimes visit) and learning about tricks, short cuts etc. on travelling in a motorhome while towing a car. 

Many of these Blogs Barb follows are full-time RV people. They have sold their homes and live in their rigs travelling full time. It’s amazing what they learn and share for the rest of us. Also many of these people seem to have sponsors for their Blogs. How they get them I have no idea.

After having been in the sponsor ship business for many years I thought what a great idea! If we had even a couple of small sponsors they would help pay for our gas! We have already spent about $1,000.00 on fuel getting to where we are now. A little corporate help would go a long way on helping our expenses.

Before I go on any further I want you to know I have too much thinking time on my hands now and this is just a joke! However should you wish to email money to make my life even better than it is now I won’t say no to that either! Again I am just joking!

Every now and then I wonder would people reading this Blog want to know some of the highlights of what we do to prepare each year and what we do in order to do all of this? Do people want to do what we do at some time in their future or do they just read this when they have nothing better to do or because we are friends/relatives?

We could share a lot of that, as it’s not so easy as loading some food into the rig and taking off for six months. There is a lot of background preparation even before we leave town never mind once we are on the road.

There are a lot of little details one doesn’t think about until faced with this type of what we call an opportunity. Feel free to quite reading this section now as it might get a little boring for those of you not ever considering this type of lifestyle for your future.

Home:

This is our forth (4^th) winter away doing long-term travel. There are lots of details in getting a home ready for when you are leaving on long trips like this.

The first thing I think of is SECURITY. Now I’m not about to share “on-line” all of what we do with the security of our home when we leave like this. Let me say that what we do has been well thought out and yes our place is very secure in case you or someone else decides to visit and help yourself to our stuff. You will be in for a shock if you do and remember I am a retired police officer who happens to be paranoid after 27 years of that sort of work!

The next thing one wants to think about is saving costs on things at home that you will not be using. This can make a difference to your budget! Whether its programming the furnace to save or cutting back on cable, telephone or some of the other costs you may incur in your home. Having on-line banking certainly helps and many utility companies are a bit flexible in dealing with your requests.

CELL PHONES:

We have 2 cell phones when at home and I sometimes really wonder if we even need a house phone but we still have it so that people we do not know very well can leave us messages.

Some cell companies allow you to put your home cell phone on “holiday” while you are gone. However if you are on a contract they will likely tack on your holiday time to the end of your contract so that you have fulfilled it. Just ask them.

Others wont allow this so in that case the key here is to get your monthly rate as low as possible by getting rid of all those options that you wont be using anyhow. If they wont allow at least that then its time to start thinking about changing cell providers.

Remember in Canada cell laws are changing in November 2013 so I wouldn’t lock into a contract until sometime later on to see what kind of deals are being offered.

Unlocking one of your cell phones is a good idea. If your cell is locked (check with your provider) you can have them or someone else reliable unlock it. The price varies but you likely wont pay more than $50 for this service and maybe less. The reason this is good is that once done you can use your cell phone with other providers in the USA while travelling by simply changing to their SIM card. It’s always handy to use the same phone and have the same contact list on that phone while travelling.

I have an IPhone and to be able to keep using the same phone also allows me to use the internet and read/send email while traveling via either a USA cell service or by using a local free Wi-Fi service which you can find all over now at restaurants and other locations.

If both you and the person you call have IPhones you can use “Face-Time” and see each other on the call, that makes it a bit more personal especially if its family such as your children and grandchildren.
Another advantage is that if we come home for a quick trip such as Christmas you can quickly switch back to your home cell phone account by simply switching the SIM card in your phone. Saves you time and hassles!

If you cannot unlock and or switch SIM cards then you can buy a US cell cheap down here. Likely the best place is Wal-Mart or perhaps Best Buy. Be sure when buying a Cell Phone Card for airtime that you check and compare what they are offering to get the best deal.

COMPUTERS & SKYPE:

I-pads and laptops are handy too. If you use “Skype” and have an Internet connection you can call for free and even see the people on the other end if they have Skype too. Another good thing about Skype is that for a small fee you can even phone landlines and cell phones as well. In that way the person on the other end does not have to be on Skype. Of course you won’t be able to see each other using this method. I believe Google may have a similar system but not many people use it.

GOOGLE:

This is likely the best service (Free) you can use while travelling and we have been using it at home for years (before travelling) as well. It allows you to have a Google Email Address (Gmail) so that you don’t have to change emails addresses, use webmail or sign in when you are travelling. I can go on for hours about the Google advantages with things such as the free add-ons, apps (maps and other useful tools) and so on.

SIGN DOCUMENTS ON THE GO:

If you like me have to sign documents while travelling it can be a real pain. You can choose to go to a UPS store and get it faxed, sign it and then send it back (not free) or you can do something that is both easy, quick and free. I still have my Real Estate business but I do not have to sign as many documents as I used to do. However in the chance that you do there are now several FREE services for dong this. The one I use has a free App on my IPhone. Someone sends me the document to sign and date etc. and I can do it right from my phone. It is even considered a legal document in Alberta (likely everywhere) in most if not all cases of use. You do not need a special pen, you just use your index finger and sign your signature and whatever else you need to add or fill in on the document. Once done it can be sent back to the originator. No scanner, no printer, no paper, no fees, No UPS Store searching! The APP that I use for this is called “Sign Now” and you can find it on the IPhone App Store (I Tunes) and if you do not use an IPhone then search and see if they have an App for your device. I love technology! Can you tell?

I think before I go any further with all of this I will simply say; Email me if you want to read my new book! I’m just joking (I think) but I think I will start writing a Word Document that you can read if this topic really interests you. That way I can better break it up into sections on different topics that may be of interest and you can save it if you want. I will cover everything we have learned and add to it as we continue learning. Long Term RVing Tips!

Can you tell I have a day off with nothing to do? After reading all that I bet that you can. I will sign off now and hope that you have a great day!

Jim