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Family sold everything to visit 400 national parks in an Airstream.

Runningmom80

By Runningmom80,
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Butter

Butter

Posted
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400 NPs??? There are only 58 National parks in the US.

 

It says 400 "National Park sites."  They are including the non-park locations.

 

I can't imagine even wanting to do this.

 

Maybe I am alone?

 

No, you aren't.  I think it's really cool that people do things like this, but it's not for me.

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hornblower

hornblower

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I don't like driving & I despise being a passenger so I'm hesitant but at the same time, there are many parks and similar places I'd like to go.

Though dh & I have a running gag about seeing the Grand Canyon. He wants to drive down. He's a geologist & a nature guy and really keen to see it.

I'm sure I'd be so irritable and car sick by the time I arrive that I'll get out of the car stomp to the edge and say "yup, it's a %^&*! big hole. Big deal. Are we done now?"  Still. I'm sure we'll end up doing it some day.

I'd like to do Yosemite & Yellowstone as well.

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Pawz4me

Pawz4me

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I can't imagine even wanting to do this.

 

Maybe I am alone?

 

I'm right there with you. ;)

 

And we have an RV -- a big, roomy Class A (or at least it's much roomier than that Airstream trailer).  And it's still not something I'd want to do.

 

I do enjoy traveling in the RV, and when the boys are on their own and DH is retired we'll probably upgrade to an even nicer RV and take more and longer road trips.  But we'll always have a home base, sticks-and-bricks house to return to.  I can't imagine not having a home base.

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ErinE

ErinE

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I don't like driving & I despise being a passenger so I'm hesitant but at the same time, there are many parks and similar places I'd like to go.

 

Though dh & I have a running gag about seeing the Grand Canyon. He wants to drive down. He's a geologist & a nature guy and really keen to see it.

 

I'm sure I'd be so irritable and car sick by the time I arrive that I'll get out of the car stomp to the edge and say "yup, it's a %^&*! big hole. Big deal. Are we done now?"  Still. I'm sure we'll end up doing it some day.

 

I'd like to do Yosemite & Yellowstone as well.

 

 

My parents took a three week vacation when I was younger where we drove to a number of geological sites in all the Southwestern states. It felt like we drove forever.

 

And when we arrived at the Grand Canyon and I got out of the car, I thought, "Big hole in the ground. Who cares? Can we leave?"

 

Now that I'm older, I look back on that vacation with fond memories. I'd love to do the same for my kids. ;)

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Guest

Guest

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I would love to do this, and other things equally adventursome and open-ended. My nephew is currently on the Transamerica bicycle trip. He will bike over four thousand miles in two months. He is due to return home a month before his wedding. Now - I can't begin to fathom biking four thousand miles, but I envy and admire the experience.

 

I also really want to do a Europe tour. I need no less than six weeks to do it.

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ErinE

ErinE

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I would love to do this, and other things equally adventursome and open-ended. My nephew is currently on the Transamerica bicycle trip. He will bike over four thousand miles in two months. He is due to return home a month before his wedding. Now - I can't begin to fathom biking four thousand miles, but I envy and admire the experience.

 

I also really want to do a Europe tour. I need no less than six weeks to do it.

 

A friend used to go to Europe and take bike tours. It sounded wonderful. She could bike the easy roads, all her bags traveled separately to the next stop, and she burned calories so she could eat whatever she wanted on the trip.

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Bambam

Bambam

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I'm afraid I've never understood this idea of selling everything and just travelling for a year. 

 

If we were independently wealthy, I could see it.

 

Does the bread winner just quit the job? Any guarantees to get it back or another one just as good? Times are tough for many.

 

What do you do about health insurance? What if someone gets seriously ill while travelling? If you are in one location, friends will help out and you know who you can trust. If travelling, this seems pretty iffy at best. Having a new doctor each time can be troublesome.

 

Giving up income for one year? What about saving for retirement? Saving for college? Saving for emergencies?

 

As an extremely practical person, this idea seems irresponsible to me. Fun? Definitely! But there is life after that year of travelling. Is it worth $20K or more in school loans to travel for one year? Not to me. 

 

Why not just pick three weeks each summer and an area of the country and spend that time investigating it? Seems like a more reasonable and practical plan to me. 

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Posted
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I'm afraid I've never understood this idea of selling everything and just travelling for a year. 

 

If we were independently wealthy, I could see it.

 

Does the bread winner just quit the job? Any guarantees to get it back or another one just as good? Times are tough for many.

 

 

 

Apparently both parents were computer consultants, and were able to do work (full time?) remotely while traveling.

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Butter

Butter

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I'm afraid I've never understood this idea of selling everything and just travelling for a year. 

 

If we were independently wealthy, I could see it.

 

Does the bread winner just quit the job? Any guarantees to get it back or another one just as good? Times are tough for many.

 

What do you do about health insurance? What if someone gets seriously ill while travelling? If you are in one location, friends will help out and you know who you can trust. If travelling, this seems pretty iffy at best. Having a new doctor each time can be troublesome.

 

Giving up income for one year? What about saving for retirement? Saving for college? Saving for emergencies?

 

As an extremely practical person, this idea seems irresponsible to me. Fun? Definitely! But there is life after that year of travelling. Is it worth $20K or more in school loans to travel for one year? Not to me. 

 

Why not just pick three weeks each summer and an area of the country and spend that time investigating it? Seems like a more reasonable and practical plan to me. 

 

In the article it says they quit their regular jobs and started freelancing.  I have heard of people who work their regular job from the road.  Usually they are teleworkers already.  Some take a leave of absence (see, for example, http://www.sixintheworld.comand, most of the same family on their current trip, http://www.200daysaway.com/ ).  The article also said they have some bills still and insurance was mentioned.  If they are teleworking from the road, they would continue their insurance with their regular job.  I have heard of people dealing with serious illnesses while traveling.  It's stressful, but a serious illness always is.  They aren't necessarily giving up income at all.  People have many reasons for travelling extensively.  Sometimes it's totally reasonable and practical.

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shawthorne44

shawthorne44

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I would love to do this, and other things equally adventursome and open-ended. My nephew is currently on the Transamerica bicycle trip. He will bike over four thousand miles in two months. He is due to return home a month before his wedding. Now - I can't begin to fathom biking four thousand miles, but I envy and admire the experience.

 

I also really want to do a Europe tour. I need no less than six weeks to do it.

 

Six weeks is about right.  I did it while in college, and at about 6 I really wanted my bed.  I guess unless you were a nomad at heart.  

 

Wouldn't the parks start to get repetitive after the first 200?   

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Garga

Garga

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I'm an indoor girl. Give me an Airstream and a bunch of outdoor parks and I'd be an allergic, sunburned, mosquito bitten mess. But give me an Airstream, take me to all the major cities and let me roam the air conditioned museums and I'm in!

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creekland

creekland

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I'm afraid I've never understood this idea of selling everything and just travelling for a year. 

 

If we were independently wealthy, I could see it.

 

Does the bread winner just quit the job? Any guarantees to get it back or another one just as good? Times are tough for many.

 

What do you do about health insurance? What if someone gets seriously ill while travelling? If you are in one location, friends will help out and you know who you can trust. If travelling, this seems pretty iffy at best. Having a new doctor each time can be troublesome.

 

Giving up income for one year? What about saving for retirement? Saving for college? Saving for emergencies?

 

As an extremely practical person, this idea seems irresponsible to me. Fun? Definitely! But there is life after that year of travelling. Is it worth $20K or more in school loans to travel for one year? Not to me. 

 

Why not just pick three weeks each summer and an area of the country and spend that time investigating it? Seems like a more reasonable and practical plan to me. 

 

We haven't sold everything to travel, but it's incredibly tempting.

 

We have traveled extensively around the US and the eastern half of Canada, not with a camper, but a combo of tent camping and motels.

 

Hubby owns his own Civil Engineering company and can work remotely from his computer.  Income issue solved.

 

We are part of a Christian Health Sharing group (Samaritan Ministries) that reimburses us for medical costs with any doctor or hospital worldwide.  Health "insurance" solved.  

 

I'm not particularly fond of the doctors we have around here, so finding new ones elsewhere could be a benefit (never had to do this though).

 

We've found others, esp in campgrounds, to be super helpful the rare times we've needed anyone.

 

Savings aren't much different when we are traveling and when we aren't since our income is still there are we don't spend tons of money extra.  One thing we don't need to do is save for travel IN our retirement!  My grandparents and hubby's parents did that - and were/are in no condition to travel when they reached that age.  There's so much they missed out on by waiting IMO.

 

But we haven't sold everything to do it just yet.  We've taken up to three months off in a calendar year though with a max trip taking 2 months.

 

Anything less than a week doesn't seem like a vacation to us.  Shorter things can be a nice break, but not a true vacation.

 

When my oldest was young and in ps, his teacher informed us that he got involved in an argument with a classmate... the classmate considered a jaunt an hour away to visit his grandma to be a "trip."  My 5/6 year old told him that a "trip" had to include at least one night away from home and NOT spent at a relative's house.   :lol:

 

If given the option, I could be ready to go in about an hour... but at the moment, our next trip is in August (I think).  We've already gone on two this year (one month and one week) plus a handful of smaller jaunts.  We do smaller jaunts often.  Our next one of those is later this month, and there might be two before month's end.

 

It could be REALLY helpful not to have a house/farm to keep up on our travels - and a big money savings from that.

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creekland

creekland

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I'm an indoor girl. Give me an Airstream and a bunch of outdoor parks and I'd be an allergic, sunburned, mosquito bitten mess. But give me an Airstream, take me to all the major cities and let me roam the air conditioned museums and I'm in!

 

Ok, we might be able to be friends IRL, but we'd best not travel together if we want to stay friends!   :coolgleamA:

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bettyandbob

bettyandbob

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Wouldn't the parks start to get repetitive after the first 200?   

 

??

 

They all have different experiences to offer. They are geographically different places, with different history and geology. I like to learn about new places when I vacation, so I think I would enjoy everyone of the sites. However, if you are like my brother who says he doesn't go on vacation to learn anything then maybe visiting all the park sites would be boring.

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Soapy

Soapy

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Our friends were going to do something similar but decided not to at the last minute.  They'd already sold almost everything too.  I feel like they're going to regret not doing this.  They already had the majority of the trip planned through.  

 

I would love to do something like this, especially right now with my kids.  These are those memory building years where the root of their childhood takes hold.  It would be lovely to have those shared experiences.  I don't think this will ever be a reality for us though.  :)

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Butter

Butter

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Now I'm going to go crazy wondering which 7 they skipped....

 

I assume they just rounded down for the article.

 

Or they just really hated those extra 7 and refused to go there...

 

Actually, there are National Park locations in Alaska and Hawaii, right?  Alaska is doable via vehicle.  Hawaii not so much.  Are there 7 in Hawaii?

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Guest

Guest

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If given the option, I could be ready to go in about an hour... but at the moment, our next trip is in August (I think). We've already gone on two this year (one month and one week) plus a handful of smaller jaunts. We do smaller jaunts often. Our next one of those is later this month, and there might be two before month's end.

creek, what do you do with the horses while you are gone? Do you have paid animal care?

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Guest

Guest

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I assume they just rounded down for the article.

 

Or they just really hated those extra 7 and refused to go there...

 

Actually, there are National Park locations in Alaska and Hawaii, right? Alaska is doable via vehicle. Hawaii not so much. Are there 7 in Hawaii?

There are two parks in HI, and seven in AK. http://parks.mapquest.com/national-parks/national-parks-by-state/

 

P.S. Also one in American Samoa and one in US Virgin Isl.

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arliemaria

arliemaria

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This past fall we did a big trip for us.  We drove from St. Louis through Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona to Nevada.  We stayed two days in Vegas for a tax law conference for my husband.  On that leg we visited Colorado National Monument and Arches National Park.  Then we ventured down to a monastery in Arizona called St. Anthony's.  On the way home we went to Petrified National Forest (Painted Desert).  Once we were home my son also did a Jr. Paleontology badge via mail.  We drove through Rocky Mountain National Park, but I don't count it because we didn't explore anything.  It was a drive by. That was a lot for being pregnant and thinking I might be or might have lost the baby, and with our two year old and five year old.  I pray that we can go for another long jaunt in a few years when Vivian is a little older and I won't have to stop every few hours to nurse.

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kiwik

kiwik

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Also, with regards to the "irresponsible"comment, I think you are highly underestimating the amount of planning and forethought (and budgeting) that goes into a plan of this magnitude.

 

(But still, definitely worth the effort.)

I think it depends on how secure your financial situation. If you have experienced unemployment or homelessness giving up your job or a home and risking losing everything not just for yourself but your family is irresponsible in your world. If you can telecommute or take leave and will not end up financially stressed it is not. I couldn't do it from where I am.

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creekland

creekland

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creek, what do you do with the horses while you are gone? Do you have paid animal care?

 

Our neighbors (2 different families we can choose from) take care of all our critters,  currently 8 ponies with 2 more due, 7 chickens, 2 cats, and an abundance of houseplants - in our younger life there were more critters - far more - but we're selling down as we get older and we haven't replaced the cats (and dogs) that have died over the years - none died while we were gone!.  For our shorter trips, we just trade off chores (when they travel we will do theirs and when we travel they do ours).  All of us "intimately" know each other's place as far as farm chores are concerned.  All of us have a similar critter "load."

 

On our longer trips, yes, we pay (usually the kids) to do the chores as our travels tend to be far more plentiful than theirs.  It costs us about $10/day.

 

Since our ponies live outdoors, there are no stalls to clean.  We also don't have them feeding grain in our absence (and don't always feed it ourselves either as we're dealing with ponies and tend to think nature itself does a decent job).  All but one pony has auto access to water through either an automatic waterer or a pond.  Hay gets delivered in round bales when we don't have grass.  There's no need for grooming or other non-essentials.  They do, however, do a nose count and a visual check daily.  They also know what to do when things are off (as this can and does happen occasionally).  They're also good at fence repair if needed (extra bonus presents upon our return when this happens!!!).

 

The cats live outdoors while we're gone (heated cat house available to them in the winter).  They get food and water daily.  Any other food they supplement (like if they want fresh meat ;)  ).

 

The chickens just need to be fed/watered and eggs gathered.  They don't have to clean the coop.  We do that when needed.

 

Plants get watered once a week or so.  Some plants don't survive our longer trips.  I don't shed many tears over plants.  I just replace them.

 

Then they gather mail (and on longer trips open important things for hubby work-wise).

 

I pay all bills either before we go or en route (via computer) for the things that can't be paid ahead.

 

They check our house for any heat or water issues.  Our furnace is old, so sometimes needs a reset button pushed.  We keep the temp low when we're gone, but want it above freezing (generally around 50 or so).  Our basement has a sump pump that needs to be checked if there's significant rain or melting snow.

 

If we're gone in the summer, they might mow our rather large lawn a time or two.  (Riding mower.)

 

I have a checklist I save and modify according to the specifics of when we're gone.  They do the same.

 

It works out VERY well.  I love the area we live in...

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Runningmom80

Runningmom80

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My husband telecommutes, so there would be no lost income. I think for us it wouldn't be longer than a year, and it would prob save us some money.

 

I'm starting to estimate the costs, just for fun. I think I'm too nervous to really do it, but it's fun dreaming.

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creekland

creekland

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but it's fun dreaming.

 

No doubt there.  This thread has me contemplating selling the farm... but I don't know that we would actually do it until our boys are all settled.  I definitely think about it though.  There would be a bit of money savings to doing it.

 

I don't regret raising them here AT ALL.  It's been a terrific place for them to grow up and be boys, but while dragons live forever, not so little boys... (from Puff, of course).

 

The older I get, the more I want to see.  It truly is like an addiction I think.

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Liz CA

Liz CA

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I can't imagine even wanting to do this.

 

Maybe I am alone?

 

The "selling everything" part would be too difficult. When we were younger, we may have considered something like this - less to sell :) but as we are getting older, we like a home base. Now traveling and having a home base sounds very good.

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creekland

creekland

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The "selling everything" part would be too difficult. When we were younger, we may have considered something like this - less to sell :) but as we are getting older, we like a home base. Now traveling and having a home base sounds very good.

 

And over lunch I confessed my "dreams" to middle son.   :coolgleamA:

 

I also told him we're likely to stay put until he graduates from med school, but if the right person came along and made an offer... all bets are off!  I'm definitely not attached to much of our accumulated "stuff."

 

We sold a "retirement holding" property two years ago because the right person literally knocked on our door and asked - making an offer we couldn't refuse (one well above current property values).  It could happen. ;)

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Liz CA

Liz CA

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And over lunch I confessed my "dreams" to middle son.   :coolgleamA:

 

I also told him we're likely to stay put until he graduates from med school, but if the right person came along and made an offer... all bets are off!  I'm definitely not attached to much of our accumulated "stuff."

 

We sold a "retirement holding" property two years ago because the right person literally knocked on our door and asked - making an offer we couldn't refuse (one well above current property values).  It could happen. ;)

 

I was not even thinking so much in terms of real estate but more in terms of keepsakes...but you can rent storage for that. :) Does the Airstream come with bathroom???

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Pawz4me

Pawz4me

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I don't care about stuff -- we're minimalists, and if I had to walk out of my house in an hour and knew I'd never be coming back, the stuff I'd take would easily fit in a reusable grocery bag.  But what I need is to be grounded.  I need to feel like I belong.  I can do that here, in the county I was born in, where many generations of my family were born.  I know the people and the places.  Anywhere else makes me feel just a bit lost and untethered.  I'd always have to come back here for a recharge.  There's nothing very special about this place, but it's home.

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Guest

Guest

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No doubt there. This thread has me contemplating selling the farm... but I don't know that we would actually do it until our boys are all settled. I definitely think about it though. There would be a bit of money savings to doing it.

 

I don't regret raising them here AT ALL. It's been a terrific place for them to grow up and be boys, but while dragons live forever, not so little boys... (from Puff, of course).

 

The older I get, the more I want to see. It truly is like an addiction I think.

Me too. I was talking to DH about my nephew biking trans-America. I said I admire it a lot and that I want to do "something like it." DH laughed at me. So did DS15. Said I would not do a long trip like that in a million years. :( That really bums me out. Am I really that boring?

 

I have talked about doing the park tour for, say a month, or six weeks. Talked about it for years and years. But DH's work is not compatible with it. The last time I seriously talked about it, he said Ten days is the absolute maximum he can be away from here. :( This is why the plan has always stalled on this point.

 

The Europe tour has more potential, because DH doesn't want to go to Europe and DD does. So we could go together. But it does bother me some that this would not be a shared experience with DH. In this respect, I think he should go just because I don't think it is such a great thing to build those memories separately. Also, I believe he would like it more than he thinks. He's just weirdly Nationalist.

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