# My first big step on the road to full-timing :)



## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

I put my house on the market today :hello1: 

And getting my bigger van next weekend, it's an Autotrail Apache, A reg, but getting it from a friend so I know it's OK.

Am getting really excited now \/


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## 88741 (May 9, 2005)

Fingers crossed for both van and house sale Denise, where are you planning to go when full timing?


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## 90618 (May 1, 2005)

*first step on the road to fulltiming*

 Go for it Denise, I really envy you, we have to wait until next year to put the house on the market and then watch out world here we come. We plan to buy an RV, we already have a Hymer 584 but its no where near big enough, we were going to struggle along just the two of us for a while and look for something as we drove around, but we have recently aquired a 15 year old granddaughter who is coming with us so need the space immediately the house is sold. Lets hope the housing market does'nt slump before we sell. Are you planning to travel in the UK or also in Europe.


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## 91932 (May 1, 2005)

*great news*

Hi Denise,

We have put our house on this week. We are looking at perhaps a new Lunar Champ 630 or a Swift Kontiki - bit worried about having to come back for MOT for an older model.

We have a touring caravan to sell yet and that is in the paper. Wouldnt you know the hot water has just decided to play up and so has the cassette toilet. Magic! Will have to sort them out first.

We are looking to just tour around Europe, subject to the limitations of the pet passport, and then winter in Spain. I have been offered the promise of a job in Andulucia if we stay there - but will we want to !

Years ago we had a Ford motorhome and we just used to float around and please ourselves. (But these we were holidays and we had jobs to come back to in UK)

Cant wait to be off now.

Good luck with everything 

Pips


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

Thanks  

I'm not planning on Europe just yet, lots in UK and Ireland I still want to see. I was hoping to have been out of the house earlier this year and to spend the summer in Scotland and the North, but it wasn't to be.
I'll probably do that in the spring now.

I'll stay around the south-east until the house is sold (I'm moving out in a couple of weeks while it's still clean and tidy after re-decorating, but will still come back once a week for post etc) then I'll head down to the West Country till spring.

When I get there I'll also start looking for a static caravan/mobile home as a permanent base in case I need one - I've not been well for the last couple of years (which is why I'm not at work) so I think a permanent base is essential in case I need a few weeks in bed! Not terminal, but it could be difficult to be on the road at times.

I thought of buying a newer van but decided I'd rather have the money in the bank - no chance of getting back to work so I'll need the interest!

I'm thinking of doing France next summer after I've had a chance to sort out the dog passports. My sister has just bought a place out there after travelling around France, Spain and Portugal. Who knows, I might even buy a place out there too 

Not making any firm plans though, just planning on doing what I want when the fancy takes me! Will be great to have a bit of freedom after devoting the last 24 years to raising a family! 

Pippa, sizeyuk, and anyone else in the same position - isn't this so much more exciting than selling a house and buying another one! :brave: :toothy10:


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## autostratus (May 9, 2005)

Denise said:


> Thanks  ..................
> 
> When I get there I'll also start looking for a static caravan/mobile home as a permanent base in case I need one - I've not been well for the last couple of years (which is why I'm not at work) so I think a permanent base is essential in case I need a few weeks in bed! Not terminal, but it could be difficult to be on the road at times.


Good luck with your house sale and your travels.

When it comes to buying a static caravan/mobile home do be careful.
Site rules and regulations vary so much it can be a bit of a minefield out there.
We've owned for over 12 years and recently moved one to France to avoid losing a lot of money on its sale.
Ask via PM if you think there is anything we might help with.


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## 91932 (May 1, 2005)

*reply to Denise and Gillian*

Really thrilled to have got a reply - dont feel like we are on our own so much now!

Tis brave to sell up and not buy again but so many of you have done it. I have reservations about not having a UK base, but what the heck lets go for it. If it all goes belly up we will come back and buy something else!

Still....... have husband, have dog, will travel!! 

Love to you all

Pips


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## zulurita (May 9, 2005)

*Selling up*

Good Luck Denise, Judy and I envy you. We can't put our house on the market until I retire which will be next year. We plan to travel throughout Europe then. Starting off with 3 to 6 months then if all goes well who knows! The worlds our oyster.  zulurita


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

autostratus said:


> When it comes to buying a static caravan/mobile home do be careful.
> Site rules and regulations vary so much it can be a bit of a minefield out there.


Thanks autostratus, I have a couple of friends who've lived in them for years and have been talking to them about it all.

I'm not going to do anything about it till the house is sold and I see exactly how much money I've got. I might be able to buy a small house further north, but I'm going to spend time staying in areas I like the look of before I buy anything.

But that can wait till the spring - I'm just going to enjoy having nothing to do for a good few months :sleepy2:

I'd quite like to do Europe or further later on, but wouldn't want to do it alone. Am happy to wait till the right travelling companion(s) come along - if I'm meant to go it will happen 
I'm going to try going alone to France to visit my sister, but not an extended trip travelling further afield. :?


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## 91785 (May 1, 2005)

... wish someone would hurry up and buy ours  

Good luck, and lets hope you have less hassle with your estate agents than we've had!


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## Raine (May 10, 2005)

Exciting times Denise! Have safe and happy travels, we've just got back from the Bristol Balloon festival, we have an autotrail scout, and we are more and more pleased with her every time we use her, shes just style and quality!! We also saw an old scout, really nicely looked after and it still had character!! So hope you will be just as pleased with your apache , is that 24' to? we stayed at a site in the Bath marina,next to the river avon, really nice! Gonna do a site write up on it soon! Week end not really long enough, but it wasnt too far from home, gonna be away longer next time. Been to Lincoln, Mattersley, Bristol all in the last month! Going away for longer next time, not as long as you tho.. will you be able to keep us posted when your away, i would find it interesting. I would like to go abroad, but as we,ve been travelling around a bit lately, feel i would like to see more of our green and pleasant land, cos it is!bless ya! raine


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

Ming, how long has yours been on the market? Mines been 2 whole days now - and not one call!! Not that I'm getting impatient of course! :wink: 

Raine, I'm not sure how long it is, but don't think it's as long as 24ft. It's got the door at the front just behind the passenger seat, the shower/loo just right of the door and the kitchen opposite the door, double bed over the cab that I'll use for storage, and u-shape lounge at the back which turns into a HUGE double bed.

It's sheer luxury compared to what I've got now, but I will miss my Bedford - it was my first van and I had great times with it, but it's just too small to live in - especially with 2 dogs!


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## Raine (May 10, 2005)

hi d, sounds like it could be 18', will you have to make the bed up as your using the overhead for storage? and do you know what engine size it is? just curious?Raine


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## 91785 (May 1, 2005)

Hi Denise,

6 weeks!


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

I won't need the whole double bed up, my friend puts it up to about half size and when it's only her in the van she leaves it up all day - handy for lounging around on! :mrgreen: 

The dogs will just have to sleep on the seats next to me, or, heaven forbid, on the floor! 8O (Although in reality they'll probably end up laying all over and suffocating me! :laughing4: )

Not sure what the engine size is, I think she said 2.3 or something  Don't seem to know a lot about it do I? But I've spent a lot of time in it and it seems fine  

Ming, I hope you get a buyer soon - I think I'll be frantic if i don't get a buyer in 6 weeks! Are you going full-timing too?


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## Anonymous (Nov 10, 2000)

Wow, we asked if there were any full-timers on MHF a few months ago and got no replies! We're really excited for eveyone who is/has taken the plunge, we're still really enjoying our new lifestyle and don't know why more people don't do it. Make sure that you manage to get good internet access so that you can keep in touch and share all your experiences. We have been onan awful GPRS connection and haven't been able to do much but maintain our business stuff for months. We started getting really cranky with each other whenever one of us downloaded even an icon! 

We are still 'doing' the UK and probably will for another year - there is so much to see. I think someone mentioned Scotland earlier? We started going up the west coast at the beginning of July, hopped over to Orkney, then the Shetlands and will be heading down the east coast in September-ish. It's really nice up here, everyone is very friendly, wild camping is happily accepted everywhere and we have met two couples up here who have taken 6months/ a year out to travel round the UK. 

Our conversations always start like this: 'where do you come from?', 'we live on the van','oh, are you enjoying your holiday?', 'we're not on holiday, we live on the van', 'what, you live on the van?', 'yes', 'and you work...', 'on the van, yes' and guess what we love it!

Good luck to all :wink:


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## 88741 (May 9, 2005)

I'm wondering if I am the only one left on the site who's still working and feeling very jelous about all these lucky so's who are fulltiming. Any hints on how to get 80 odd calves on board a Swift Sundance anyone?


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

Benandlizzie, you're doing what I'm hoping to do in the spring 

Want to do the Lake District on the way up, never been there and I'm sure I'll love it. And when I've done Scotland I'll visit the North Yorks Moors on the way down - been there once when the kids were little and can't wait to go again. 8) 

Got to time it right though, would like to try and avoid the worst of the midge season :wink:


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## 88797 (May 9, 2005)

Helenb have you tried beefburgers??


Hey even veggies have a sence of humour :roll: 

A


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

Have just heard I'll be getting my van on Thursday! :mrgreen:


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## 88741 (May 9, 2005)

Chuggaluggs said:


> Helenb have you tried beefburgers??
> 
> Hey even veggies have a sence of humour :roll:
> 
> A


I'm supposed to rear 'em not sear 'em :!:


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## 91932 (May 1, 2005)

*any misgiving about full timing?*

Hi guys, Its me again

House up for sale. That's fine. My husband now making lists of all the furniture and garden stuff which has to be sold, as we arent buying property again in UK. Will put a lot in storage but the big items have to go. Happy to go along with it but it is a big step - maybe us ladies are more materialistic and sentimental! How can he let my comfy old garden lounger go? - what will happen to my plants?

Has anyone else felt like this about the final frontier?

Been interesting reading all the comments - really exciting thinking about hitting the road. Want to set up in the MH and do consultancy work out of it - will have to be looking at internet options myself soon. (More confusion) :? 

Love to you all

Pips


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

Hi Pippa, when I very first started clearing stuff out I felt very much as you do now, but as the months have gone on I've sifted through the 'to keep' stuff a few times and have now got rid of most of it 

I'm getting down to basics now and have got the bug - I keep looking around for more and more stuff I can get rid of 8O 

I even gave my comfy garden lounger away! I lay down on it last week - and couldn't get up again!! So no use to me anymore :?


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## Anonymous (Nov 10, 2000)

Hey guys, getting rid of junk is such cool feeling! It started out as a mammoth task for us, but we made a lot of cash selling stuff on eBay and sent at least two car loads to charity. It's so cleansing and you really feel better about life when you don't have so much stuff to maintain and shuffle around. 

Now we tend to pull everything out of the garage and get rid of anything we haven't used every 1-2 months or so. Most of the things we thought we couldn't live without have gone and we don't regret any of it!

Happy clearing!


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## juliepoolie (May 9, 2005)

Hi Denise,

Good luck with the house sale and the start to your new life!

You will love every minute of it - guaranteed!

8) 8) 8) 8)


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

Got my van a few days ago.  

It needs a bloody good clean throughout, especially the loo! They had said it would be fully valetted before I got it but it obviously wasn't :roll: 

But it should be ready to be stocked up with everything I need by the weekend so hopefully will move into it Sept 1st when I tax it and swap insurance from my old van. 

It's still exciting though, I feel a bit like I did when I bought my first house! \/


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

Congratulations, Denise - it just gets better and better!

Barry


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## RobMD (May 9, 2005)

And may you have many Happy times and Miles


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## zulurita (May 9, 2005)

Hi again Denise, Any luck selling your house? We live in the West Country. My friend Judy and myself travel around in an Auto-Trail Cheyenne and planning doing more trips to France next year so if you need any company on your travels we could always link up. We have one dog a Springer Spaniel who has her passport and now says she is an old hand at this travelling lark. Rita :hello1:


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## Raine (May 10, 2005)

:lol: hey denise, someone is very glad the pile on his front lawn is getting smaller everyday, glad for both of you, enjoy, and yeah i know what it feels like to get rid of things, i am a hoarder (h boys h) but also know the freeing feeling of getting rid of stuff, i just don't have to let my right hand know what my left hand is doing, but my brain gets in the way, lol bless ya!


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

No luck selling the house yet, but it's only been a week.
Had two people coming to see the house at the weekend, first one found a house to buy before getting to me, so cancelled, and the other people woke up in the morning to find their son ill, so couldn't come.

And now I hear on the news that house prices are dropping 'cos of interest rates, and buyers are waiting for them to drop more 8O 

I've had this life-long knack of always selling/buying houses at the wrong time :roll:


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## Judy (May 22, 2005)

Hows the MH cleaning going :roll: Its a pity it wasn't valetted for you, still when you are done at least it will be to your liking. Soon it will be your home and thats a lovely feeling. \/ Its fun thinking and dreaming of all the places to visit and all the :brave:


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

Spent nearly an hour cleaning the loo today - you could smell it as soon as you got in the van uke: 


Will tackle the kitchen area tomorrow, pretty dirty too, with thick grime on cupboard mouldings etc.

I'm a bit annoyed really, not nice having to clean up someone else's dirt, especially in the loo!

Am going to buy some paint tomorrow to paint the loo/shower room, a lovely pale lilac I think  
And I might even carry on and paint all the internal walls and ceilings! Why are they always a dingy beige/cream?


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

In a tiny room like the loo, I'd consider painting it white all over, and use lilac towels, soap, mat, etc. It might become too overpoweringly "lilac" otherwise!  

Barry


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## 88741 (May 9, 2005)

I hope that was Sue repling there Barry, men aren't supposed to be into lilac touches, unless of course you are MotorhomeFacts.com's answer to Lawrence thingy-thingy :lol:


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

I have to own up to being a sad old git.

Yes, I'm afraid that I'm a bit "artistic" ("Ooooh! Get him!") and one of the secrets of decorating is to (generally) try to use just two colours/shades in a room, and nowadays, less pattern/more plain, plus lots of pastel-type shades. (God! I've just re-read that - what an anorak!  )

And if you're going to sell a house/motorhome, don't do what you like, decorate as least-controversially as possible so that the majority of potential buyers will like it.

I'm now going to crawl back into my little artist's garret, and you won't hear another word from me on the subject!

Barry Llewellyn-Fotheringay :wink:


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

Dear Mr Barry Llewellyn-Fotheringay
Thank you for your advice, but I'm planning a _very_ pale lilac as it's such a small room.
And the ceiling and fittings will all be white.

(See, I watch the programmes too :wink: )


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

I should have known, Denise. Please forgive me.

Barry


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## Judy (May 22, 2005)

*cleaning*

Denise
Can't believe how dirty some people hand over their motorhomes..........our friends bought a good secondhand one and the loo was still full  one would also think that the dealer would hand it over in a clean condition!
judy


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

Van all packed up and ready to go! Am leaving in the morning but will only be for a week or so at the moment - got a couple of appointments to come back for on the 11th & 14th. Might as well stay at home for those few days to get a bit more packing indoors.

See you later, have fun


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## 91958 (May 1, 2005)

Nearly forgot to tell you - had some great news on the morning I left (last Friday) - I've got a buyer for my house!!! :wav: 

They're first time buyers, so no chain, and they want to move in ASAP! :sunny: :thumbright: 


So I'm now back at my old home for a few days :wink: to do a bit more packing, two appointments, then off again next week for a few days


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