Are you sure you want to do this?

I think the following captioned picture pretty much sums up all our feelings on that infamous retirement plan.

The concept of retiring, let alone deciding to retire early, before the age of 60, is a lofty goal. Following through on such a pronouncement is even more complicated.  We started the retirement-planning process early, as we found the prospect of retiring too late to really be able to enjoy ourselves objectionable.  Luckily, we were of the same mindset and Judy was quite open to the idea of early retirement. Let’s think, for a moment, about some of the pitfalls of retiring at the same time, as a couple, moving into a 380 square foot house on wheels, and roaming the highways and byways of America.  What could go wrong?  Errr,,, what could go right might be a better question. 

Top three troubling issues that come to mind when contemplating early retirement:

·         Can we afford it?

·         Will we get bored?

·         Can we live with each other full time?  (I can just hear some of you groaning, lol)

In August of 2018 we started to explore the RV lifestyle. We rented a 25-foot-long drivable class C RV, got a 45-minute tutorial of the most important issues like flushing the toilet, making sure the RV was level, and connecting to water, sewer and electric.  We were also warned that bridges under 12’ 6” were to be avoided at all costs.   With a handful of additional instructions as well as a toll-free number to call if we had any problems, we loaded this camper with kitchenware, clothes, food, and all the equipment we thought we would need for a weeks’ worth of camping and set off on our first RV adventure to Buffalo & Niagara Falls, NY.   Our first overnight stop was in the Lee, Massachusetts service area on the Mass. Turnpike.  It was exhilarating.  The morning saw us having brewed coffee and toasted bagels before we gassed up and headed off to our NY destination.  Was a great first experience, we learned a lot, and agreed that this was a lifestyle that could be both challenging and enjoyable.

In August of 2019 we were at it again, but this time we were more adventurous and more daring.  Our 2019 trip was a 12-day tour deforce of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, Canada.  This trip saw us renting a 31-foot-long Class C RV complete with an outdoor kitchen and TV.  We drove over 1,400 miles on this trip, crossed the 8-mile-long Confederation Bridge going to PEI, and even placed the RV on a ferry between the ports of Digby, Nova Scotia and St. Johns, New Brunswick.  Watching the astronomically low tides at the Bay of Fundy, walking a mile out into the bay at low tide, and roaming the pristine and solitary beaches of Cavandish Park just south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, were spectacular.  After this trip, we were hooked!  The biggest takeaway from this second excursion was that we needed more time at these destinations.  That the sightseeing and exploring that we squeezed into 3 days should have been expanded to a weeks’ worth of time, if not more.

We had another robust trip planned for August of 2020, but like most people, August 2020 was the summer of the Covid pandemic.  We were still able to RV but had to truncate the trip to 5 days in Lake George, NY.  Was a tough year to experiment and explore as many attractions were closed.  It was on this trip that we realized the importance of having some type of independent transportation.  Covid had made moving around Lake George difficult.  We had depended on UBER car services during previous trips, but there were no UBER drivers during Covid.  To make matters worse, Lake George had a robust system of trollies, and there was even a trolley stop designated at our campground, but in the year of Covid, said trolley service was spotty and undependable at best. 

One of our more memorable experiences on this trip was being picked up by a local woman who had observed Judy and me from across the street, as we stood in the pouring rain for 45 minutes waiting for a trolley to take us to see a museum in town.  This woman had yelled across the street to us as we waited, and felt bad enough for our plight that she literally jumped into her car, made an illegal U-turn across a major thoroughfare, and picked us up off the side of the road. A stranger, with no mask on, whisked us down to the museum parking lot. We didn’t know whether to be unbelievably grateful or incredibly horrified.  Life was very different during Covid.

Honestly, and I know I speak for Judy when I say that “living with each other full time in a 380 square foot house on wheels” is the least of our concerns.  Judy and I genuinely share a vision of what we both want our years in retirement to look like.  It has been that way for most of our 40 years together.  And we recognize how lucky we are, whilst working to continue to grow together so that we can tell… the Rest of the Story.

It’s a date!!

 So right about now you’re thinking,

“OK – so far so good.  I know who these people are, I know what they’re doing, but I’m still not sure where they’re going. And why now?”

You know when you’re having a really bad day at work, and you look at your phone for the 14 hundredth time, and then the line of emails on your computer screen, and you just ask yourself, “when will this end?”  Literally, there are so many other things I’d rather be doing, than what I’m doing at work, right now, and one of the options I’m seriously considering is a root canal without anesthesia.  Well, I was having one of those days back in 2014.  But this day was different, yes it was, because on this date, I got a blank white sheet of paper, and with outline markers of multiple colors, scrawled in large block letters, I’M DONE – 6/22/2022.

There were more significant life events prompting Judy and my desire to retire early.   There are tragedies in life, and no one is immune.  Early in 2012 and then again in 2014 we endured the deaths of people so, so close to us.  The loss of my extremely young mother in 2012, at 66, and the heart wrenching loss of Judy’s twin sister, Julie, in 2014 at 48 really shook us to our core.  These were people that never had “a chance to retire”.   Needless to say, it was not hard to sell Judy on the idea of retiring before we were 60.  The satisfaction of working and then retiring would NOT be snatched from us!

Now, an observant reader will note that this is 2023, not 2022.  What happened?  Ahh that’s a rather amusing story about how bad math caused a delay of retirement by 1 year.  And it goes something like this:

I was born in late 1963, and when I quickly calculated the numbers to scrawl this date, I figured that by 2022, I would be 59 ½ years old and that was my goal age.  So for the next several years 6/22/2022 was my goal date to retire.  And then one day in 2017, the branch manager, Randy, came into my office, says good morning, whilst glancing at my small white poster taped to the wall opposite my desk and inquires as to the significance of the statement, “I’M DONE – 6/22/2022.”   I quite politely tell him that is my retirement date,

“I look at it (the date) and imagine the possibilities when I’m having a bad day.”

Seemed perfectly reasonable to me. So then Randy asks one more question, “How old am I going to be?” 

I reply, “59 ½, I was born in 1963, so I’ll be 60 in 2023 so I’ll be 59 ½” in 2022.”

Randy pauses, as he is doing the math in his head.  Then he brings the hammer down on my retirement dream by saying,        

 “Hey buddy, I think you did your math wrong. You’re only going to be 58 ½ in 2022, you’ll be 59 ½ in 2023!” and starts to chuckle.

Sad truth was that Randy was 100 % correct.  Well, that date was still a long, long way away, and there were so many things that were going to have to happen first.  All I could really do at this point was jump out my seat, grab a black marker, go over to my 8 ½” x 11” poster sign and revise said date.  To 2023.  I’M DONE – 6/22/2022 3.  And that’s the way in stayed. 

I still work with Randy, he is one of those people I will miss when I leave the working world.  Last year, on June 22, 2022, on my way out the door from the office, I waved goodbye to Randy, then turned around and flipped him the middle finger, with a big smile on my face.  Randy looked up from behind the screen of his computer shoulders shrugged, with a confused look, inquiring what he had done to raise my wrath. I announce back,

 “If it wasn’t for you and you’re correcting my math, today would be my last day, as I would be retiring.  Now I have one more year, so thanks a lot!”, and I started to laugh.  As I turn, I flip him a thumbs up, announcing “it’s all good, it’s only another year!” as the storefront door closes behind me.

I had no idea in 2014 how important it was for me to write a date down and look at it and plan all the things that would be needed to meet that date.  Looking back, probably one of the most significant promises I made to myself and to Judy was that we would do everything necessary to meet that date, and even if we missed by a year or so, there was a date set.

It always starts with an idea, as in “hey, what’s the big idea?”

Creativity is a commodity that should not be treated lightly.  Creativity is the spark of invention, and that which begins the process of moving forward.  Think about it, whether it be business, movies, books, blogs and even Tik-Tok, what drives these entities is the spark of creativity.  And thankfully we live in a time where ideas & creativity can be acted upon, charted, and followed.   Case in point:

Back in August of 2012, we were on a family vacation.  A vacation that also included Judy’s most immediate family including parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces, and nephews. A wonderful trip was planned which had us leaving Seattle, Washington on a cruise ship & visiting the ports of Alaska.   We already had several great days after making stops in Juno & Ketchikan. 

Our third stop was Skagway, and we arrived on a cool overcast morning all bundled up even for mid-August.  The family separated at this point as we went about our respective excursions.  The cruise ship terminal is perched under the mountain cliffs around Skagway, and we walked down Congress Street to the main part of town to pick up our tours.  Maybe a 20-minute walk, and although I do not exactly remember the excursion, I do remember passing an RV Park.  I remember being a little surprised, because there is only 1 road into and out of Skagway and it runs directly into Canada.  What was an RV park doing in Skagway? And it was BUSY! 

By noon time the strong August sun had chased away the morning overcast, and it became warm and sunny.  A bit humid as well, and I could tell given the sudden appearance of a lot of flying insects, gnats and mosquitoes. (And they grow those mosquitoes quite large in Alaska, I believe the saying goes, “if you had a saddle, you could ride one of those bugs”).  The shore excursions & tours seem to work on a regular schedule, so most guests were back on the boat in the afternoon.  When there are 3 large cruise boats at the dock, they say the town of Skagway explodes to a population of around 10,000, and by the time the ships leave later in the evening there are scarcely 500 people who live in the town. Commerce is driven by the cruise industry, and when the boats leave port, the town is very quiet.

At around 3:00 pm I found myself alone and on the 14^th deck of my cruise ship looking out into the harbor (weird how there was no un-lucky deck 13 on this ship). I noticed some commotion below as there were people on the dock pointing to what I assumed was a seal frolicking in the harbor.  I could also clearly see across the harbor to a very busy helipad landing area ferrying tourists on sight-seeing excursions into the glacier covered mountains above and around Skagway.  And then I noticed, quite clearly, the ferry terminal opposite the cruise ship terminal.  The terminal was busy, there were lines of cars and motorcycles waiting to board, as well as a procession of hikers and backpackers with a plethora of camping and hiking gear, and even some bicycles. But what came next is really at the heart of where we are now.  That is to say, the next group of vehicles boarding the ferry were RV’s. Holy crap! There was a long procession of pull trailers, pop-up trailers, as well as many a class “A” RV’s all coming down the load ramp and being guided into the bowels of the ship.  

And that’s when I had my first spark of an idea.  By asking a couple of deck hands around me who worked on the ship, I found out that traveling by RV was popular in the summer months in Alaska.  That is why there was, and still is, an RV park.  Also, that these RV’s were able to move around to other small villages on what is termed, the Alaska Marine Highway. There is a coordinated ferry schedule, and this allows the RVers to migrate up from Seattle, Washington and move between the very isolated ports in the Alaska wilderness.  All the way from Ketchikan through Juno and on into Haines and Skagway. 

And right there I could imagine a future in retirement where these numerous life experiences could be investigated and explored.  Just how fascinating and enjoyable it would be to be in Skagway, in my own little home, roaming the town after the cruise ships had left, and then maybe a few days later, crossing over to Bellingham, Juneau, Yakutat and maybe Kodiak.  Without the 10,000 extra people.  Yes indeedy, this was an idea.  A BIG idea!  I just had to sell the idea to Judy.  And I did! 

And here we are. And although our first trip out starting July 7^th is not through the Alaska marine mainline ferry routes, (let’s not count this trip out, I do see a time when this kind of trip will be possible) we are still following through on an idea. An idea that was born on deck 14 of the cruise shipped parked in Skagway harbor in August of 2012. 

We had to start someplace; this seems as good a place as any.

 

Ohh my gosh, I really can’t believe “it’s” started.  “It” seems so fast, coming upon us so quickly. Truth be told, the path that lays out before us has been well planned, integrally choreographed, and strategically engineered for the better part of the last 10 years.  The “IT” I have so eloquently referred to is our impending retirement from the 9-5 working life.

The “Us”, or more plainly stated, the “we” referred to above, are Judy & Steven.  Two college sweethearts, who have made a life & family together for the better part of 40 years and have now decided to retire and find “our” next great adventure, together.

And that adventure starts with a 2023 Northpoint 5^th wheel luxury RV.  Yes, that’s correct, we have a house on wheels, and it is attached to “monster” pickup truck, and it is our intention to take this 52-foot-long caravan on the road starting on July 7^th 2023.

We have affectionately nicknamed the truck, “The Beast”, as there is really no bigger commercially made pick-up truck, and the sole purpose of this 3500 dually truck is to pull & tow a 5^th wheel.  (and to think, I traded in an outstanding Audi S4 supercharged manual shift sports car for The Beast). That Northpoint RV is called a 5^th wheel because of the way it is attached to the bed of the truck. 

We have nicknamed the camper “Couples Coach 23”, because the floor plan is specifically planned and engineered for people like us.  We are pretty much empty nesters, finished with our primary careers, and were looking for an RV that contains important amenities, yet doesn’t sleep over 7 people. (and believe me when I say 7 people would be a stretch in this floorplan.)  A very funny and experienced RV salesperson, named Jim, explained it to us this way.  Jim said,

                “A couples coach is an RV that can easily serve cocktails for 6 people,      

                can certainly accommodate 4 people for dinner, and sleeps 2 comfortably.”

The amenities include a fantastic gourmet kitchen including a 4-burner stove, full size oven, family sized dual fuel refrigerator, extended countertop space, and a real kitchen table and chairs.  A great master bathroom with a big shower and built in teak bench.  A huge bedroom closet, which will include a small, stacked washer & dryer.  Notice there’s not much written here about the number of beds.  Because there’s only really one, and OMG is it comfortable.  (Even when you’re parked in the biggest truck stop in NJ, just off the George Washington bridge, with the constant roar of the diesel trucks as they drive by a mere couple feet from your bedroom slide.  Will need a separate post to elaborate further on our first boondocking experience in the Vince Lombardi rest stop on the NJ Turnpike.) 

No, as I have been asked so often, we have no intention of selling our primary residence, for the nomadic life of full-time RV’ing.  Rather, our intention is to spend extended 90-day trips to explore the world.  The plan is to spend 75 % of the year out on the road and the balance at home, because in all actuality, we are just “homebodies” anyway.

So that’s the plan.  Crazy right?  And we’re mere weeks away from following through on the plan.  A plan that started a long time ago, with a goal.  Retire early.  Retire early and find something else to “feed our souls” each day.   A reason and a wanting to get up every morning and challenge ourselves to find something new to do and explore.  Everyday.  And as we approach the end of the 2023 school year, all the pieces are in place for us to write the “Rest Of the Story”, which also happens to be the name of this blog. (see how we came full circle there, I read someplace that’s a good thing to do).

This blog was born from the desire to keep in touch with the people who we have met along our life’s journey.  We are so fortunate to be able to follow through on our plans and want to bring our friends and family along for the ride.  Hopefully you’ll consider checking back to this blog to read… the Rest of the Story.