Well, I made it - with a lot of help from all you ol' timers (& some squared away rookies, too)!!!
I want to thank everyone on this forum who has encouraged me, taught me, forced me to suck it up whenever I felt a bit discouraged or plain overwhelmed with the steep learning curve this past year. Y'all have been great!
I still turn to you each time something goes wrong with my rig . I've had water leaks you helped me diagnose & obtain CW warranty fixes. My propane had a dangerous leak that y'all also helped me stay safe & find warranty help to fix. I've had a couple of generator woes that were finally diagnosed as improper installation at the Phoenix service center.
And some of you have been privy (pun definitely intended!) to my greatest challenges with the ongoing health risks & discomfort during my year long toilet plumbing & warranty battle w/Camping World. That issue was finally resolved by a family-run shop, who found the manufacturing mistake that Camping World denied & which completely blocked all but liquids (yes, human doggy bags mandatory for the duration!) since the first day I drove off on this fulltime odyssey.
There have been other challenges besides Camping World. I had to live on a very tight & fixed budget & still do. That means I can't experience whatever "glamping" means. I stay at Wally Worlds, Cracker Barrels, truck stops & rest stops probably more frequently than most, when I need or want to travel, just to insure the gas money stretches from point A to B.
My hook ups are only available when I can use the gas budget in exchange for one of the more inexpensive Military FamCamps, or when I camp host in exhange for those hook ups. Otherwise I'm stuck relying on my genie & that gets old fast, especially with the cost of gas, when boondocking. That tight budget (combined with my lack of tech skills) means my dreams of tech upgrades & my boondocking solar fantasies have to stay just that - fantasies - for another year most likely.
But despite all that, I have to say I've been happy this year. I think it's been worth every challenge thus far, to experience the freedom & beauty that can be found even on a budget, when fulltiming. I guess I've experienced a real satisfaction in the mere accomplishment of my 1st year goal of fulltiming for twelve full months.
Now I need to establish new goals. I need a plan for the year that is anchored in reality. I hope y'all can help me with that. I don't think I have what I originally thought would be an option of leaving the road life at the end of twelve months if I wanted to (& I'm not sure I will ever want to now). My loan remains upside down & my budget issues won't change in the foreseeable future.
I had thought I'd be in better financial shape before the first year was up. I thought I'd be able to easily change my insurance to fulltime once my "sabbatical" year was through, but that apparently isn't easy. Neither is getting refinanced, which I had counted on to grant more wiggle room in my budget each month & provide for an extended warranty at the end of the first year. Credit scores can really take a beating after a protracted divorce, I don't recommend it to anyone, lol!
I don't have the tech skills I want (not yet) to know which items are most likely to need attention next, or what an extended warranty should really cover & at what cost (I was quoted over $6000). If I could figure that out, maybe I'd know if what they're offering is on the level. But for now, I will have to keep one eye on the sky to watch out for whatever might drop on my head next.
I hope, with your help, to continue growing during this new year & to develop a realistic set of goals & an SOP for achieving them in the months ahead. I hope to continue learning from the many words of wisdom I read on this forum, and rely on your sage advice when things suddenly go wrong. Radar (the Service Dog) & I really appreciate each of you & cannot thank y'all enough for your past assistance, kindness & friendship. Thank you in advance for whatever happens next!
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