That old fear factor

Overcoming fear is not easy. People deal with fears in different ways. Some never confront their fears and live their lives controlled by them. Some identify them, put them in context, and live their lives around them. Some know their fears, put them in a box and deny them the power to control their lives. However you deal with fear will determine how you face new challenges.

I hear from many women who want to join the RV lifestyle. Most want a weekend getaway vehicle and a way to enjoy their annual vacation. They find a good deal on a van or small class C and have a great time.

Some women have an RV that is theirs alone because of the death of a spouse and have no idea what to do with it. You'll see the ads in many RV magazines where they sell the RV at a loss just to get rid of it. A few sell because it's a painful reminder of the good times they shared with their absent partner. However, many have never driven the RV and are terrified to get behind the wheel. They never learned and never relieved the driver so they could learn.

So again, my message to all the fearful women who want to be RVers and who are reading this is to learn to drive the RV. Do it now. If you need someone else to help you learn other than your spouse, partner, or significant other, find an RV driving school that will teach you. Join your local RVing Women chapter and you'll be surrounded by helpful women from all walks of life who have learned how to drive their RV and will help you. As I've said many times, no one was born knowing how to drive an RV. We've all had to learn by whatever method works for us.

To the men who are reading this, be sure your wife, partner or significant other knows how to drive the RV. If you don't allow her to learn, her ignorance will incapacitate her more than you realize.

Overcome this easily curable fear and join us on the road, in the RV park or campground, and share your adventures. We're waiting.

Full-timing and voting

When you're a full-time RVer as I am and your mailing address is in one state (Texas) and you're living in another state (California), you'll have a problem trying to vote if your driver's license (CA) isn't in the same state as your mail.
I registered my RV in CA because if I and my RV spend more than 180 days in California (which I do), it must be registered here. My registration has the Texas mailing address on it. The RV insurance is based on the Texas mailing address.

My driver's license expires in November one day prior to election day. I wanted an absentee ballot from Texas but the Texas Secretary of State sent a letter stating I must have a Texas driver's license to vote absentee.

I checked on the cost of driving to Texas to get the driver's license: $1200 round trip depending on gas prices in October (no way was I going anywhere near Texas until the weather cooled). At the same time, I could also change the RV registration to Texas after the RV was inspected. I looked around the RV for that spare grand and just couldn't seem to find it.

So I checked the Amtrak website and could get a round-trip ticket to El Paso (closest city in the great state of Texas) for around $500. That was a better option but still expensive just to get a Texas driver's license.

I wondered what would happen if I went to the CA DMV website and changed my mailing address to Texas. What was the worst that could happen? The website could reject it and then I would need to call someone.

Amazingly, the website accepted the address change so now my current CA driver's license has a Texas mailing address. Next step was to call the DMV to find out how and if I could register to vote in CA. A very helpful woman gave me the web address.

I went to the CA Secretary of State website, printed the voter registration form and mailed it. I needed to list the current physical address and county where I'm residing.

My Escapees mail will be forwarded from Texas and I should receive it by Thursday or Friday. In the mail should be the response from CA accepting my voter registration in this state. The next step is to obtain an absentee ballot.

This may seem like a lot of effort just to vote but I take my voting privilege seriously. If a trip to Texas was required, I would have found some way to get there.
Hopefully, that won't be necessary.

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2008 Selecting An RV Home Base
For would-be fulltimers, which state to establish an official home base is critical. This book is an essential planning tool. The fact is, picking the wrong state to establish an official residence could result in spending thousands of dollars a year that could be saved by establishing a home base elsewhere. Learn more or order.