Preparation/Planning
QTN Hop 1: Fort Myers, FL, to Biloxi, MS
The Quick Trip North (QTN) won’t be quite as quick at the Quick Trip South (QTS). We are doing it in 3 weeks instead of the 2 that got us to Florida last November. But we are taking a longer route – Florida to Massachusetts via Mississippi – and there will be some very long … Continue reading
Budget review
We have now completed two months of our semi-retirement and it is time once again to see how we are doing on sticking to the budget. Not well. The bottom line is that we have exceeded our budget by almost $6,000 – almost 38% more than we planned to spend. The largest component is in … Continue reading
Happy birthday until we meet again
Saying goodbye is hard for everyone, but is particularly hard for Jett, who has a large, close-knit family. She originally had 7 siblings. Three sisters are gone now, but two sisters and two brothers remain. The older brother, George, lives in Rockport, MA, which Jett regards as her “home town,” despite the fact that she … Continue reading
On the road again for the first time
Yesterday was a big day in my new fulltimer life: I hauled the fiver on public roads and no one died. I didn’t even ding it. No problems at all, really. One of the fiver’s brakes was a bit squeaky, but that could just be rust. I hope. The truck handled beautifully. It accelerated well … Continue reading
Not quite retired
Last Friday was my last day of work. For three months. Then I resume working in California. So my status is “not quite retired.” I really intended to resign. I had my resignation letter typed up and in my hand. But on the day I planned to hand it to my boss – just over … Continue reading
Dropping the baby
I dinged the fiver. Not too bad – just the end cap of the canvas topper for one of the bunkhouse slides. But I feel like a babysitter who has dropped the baby. If only I had been more careful… The occasion was the tail end of a 3-hour driver training session at the campground. … Continue reading
S&B Homeless
One week from today Jett and I hand the keys to our house over to the renters. At that moment we will have no place to live other than our fifth wheel. This is a condition known amongst the traveling crowd as “sticks and bricks homelessness”, abbreviated to “s&b homeless” when talking to other RVers. … Continue reading
No looking back
I gave my notice yesterday. Four weeks until I am unemployed and income-less. Scary. And exhilarating. As luck would have it, one of my few teammates (there are only 4 of them) gave notice last week – something that I learned just minutes before giving my notice. That added a little extra drama to the … Continue reading
The battery backup lesson
It has rained every day for the last three weekends that we have spent in NH. This is unfortunate, of course, as we have tried to show off our new traveling home to friends and relatives each of those weekends. And I am still waiting for sun so that I can take a nice photo … Continue reading
Early retirement in name only
I was laid off on September 2. It is now September 20. So I have had 18 days to settle in to the “do nothing” lifestyle. Except that, so far, retirement has been more demanding than work. Every day has been busy from dawn to dusk. Much of my time has been devoted to transitional … Continue reading »