We are about to make a huge change from our life of comfort and convenience to one of uncertainty, work, and little convenience. And we are doing it willingly!
At our rather advanced age, I should be satisfied with living my RV dream for six months of the year and then staying in an Arizona quiet, comfortable, well-planned, 55-plus community. But, alas, I am not so satisfied. As much as the living is easy, there is a sense of unease that we are just waiting for the next few stages—home care, assisted living, a nursing home before the final, inevitable trip to the morgue.
So, instead of enjoying the relative comfort and sometimes boredom of Easy Street, we are just about to place an offer on a gorgeous house on five acres in the high desert. The house needs work, has no furnace, no air conditioning (they tell us it is not needed), a dubious well, steep steps, and a bonus project house.
I no longer send the listing to my well-meaning friends who immediately call alarmed to tell us that we are making a huge, money-sucking, life-threatening mistake.
Yup, it’s an hour plus from medical help, 15 miles from the closest gallon of milk, and weather that is definitely warmer than Minnesota but much colder and windier than the Arizona Valley. But it is a dream house for me and has a huge Quonset hut with a resident owl for my husband. A spot to have full hookups for the RV. Plus room to breathe, a lot of physical work, and a purpose. A purpose beyond taking a walk or planning our next trip to Walmart.
We may not be able to get the property for a number of reasons, but just the planning and dreaming has brought excitement back into our lives that we have missed since the ease of retirement crept in.
Yes, I do feel some major hesitation. I do not like cold at all anymore. And how well does a pellet stove really heat? The well might never be usable and we would have to have water delivered. I never knew that was even a thing!
We are old, so how much stamina do we have for repairs, painting, drywall, landscaping and fixing stuff again? The windows are 20 feet high to clean, not to mention how do you change a light bulb 25 feet up?
And it is a money sucker—using up our children’s inheritance, for sure. Our planning includes all the things we could not do in our other houses. But, and this is the important part, my husband and I are in it together. The RVing dream is mine and he begrudgingly goes along with it. The retirement community house is his, never my choice. This is a dream together. And that excitement, partnership, and love are worth any amount of work and uncertainty.
More essays by Nanci:
- Rediscovering the camping I fell in love with so many years ago
- Why we had to prove a reader wrong about RVing
- The things we dream of doing… What’s stopping you?
- What to do when the joy of your RVing dream life fades?
##RVT1193
I have to admit, I’m envious! I, too, am looking at the inevitable ultimate trip to the morgue… 76+ now and finding that I’m having to slow down some, a great annoyance. Best of luck on your next venture!!
I hear ya Walt, I turned 77 last year and found having to slow down a tad very frustrating. Winter doesn’t help here in southern Nevada but life is still good.
I turned 76 once — nothing to it
Good for you! You are going head first into an adventure and living your best dream. With each sunrise may you know excitement. With each sunset may you know contentment.
Good luck to you! Wishing you all the best.
How AWESOME! Hopefully RVing doesn’t just disappear from your lives, but this sounds like an exciting leap. Just because we age doesn’t mean we have to give up dreaming, and many, many kudos to you both for your courage to take this on.
Go for it! Why not? Well, I am sure you have a zillion reasons given to you as to why not. lol
but…life is short and getting shorter. Purpose gives you a reason to get out of bed in the morning and exhaustion that will help you get into bed in the evening.
Pellet stoves heat really well, and the joy (and some challenges) of a project like you’ve described is beyond imagination and worth every penny spent and drop of perspiration. The connection to the land,.the work, and the earth are amazing gifts to the human soul.
Great! We all need a sense of purpose to keep life more interesting than that last trip you mention. That’s why I’m still working at the cusp of being an octogenarian. We would be ok without the income, but I’m about the polar opposite of Harry Homemaker, with no interest in puttering about the house, gardening, and generally making things more attractive than they need to be to keep from overly offending my excellent neighbors. So my work, and the occasional camping trip, keep us actively engaged with life and other folks, and help us stave-off the inevitable decline for the foreseeable future. Best of luck with your new venture! May it be as rewarding as you anticipate!
Good for you!! Camping keeps us young!
We are considering doing the same type of thing, Nanci! This is my 80th year and just RV snowbirding south of I-10 is no longer as exciting as it once was. But I doubt we will ever want a “fixer-upper”, as we should be doing more of that in the house we have had for 48 years! We love Tucson in winter, but we are now looking at more affordable Las Cruces.
FYI, swamp coolers work great in low AZ-NM humidity and the initial and operating costs are 10% of refrigerated AC.
And congratulations on your new, life-“reorienting” decision!
Congratulations Nanci and hubby!! Good for you for choosing to live your dreams. We too are older, and we are doing something similar. We opted to build a camper van for the weekend road trips we enjoy without having to hookup our huge fifth wheel. We asked ourselves if we really needed another RV to maintain and the answer was “Yes”! We thoroughly enjoy adventures RVing provides, so why not?! And who knows? Maybe we’ll like the camper van lifestyle so much, we’ll get a bigger one to convert and sell the FW!
I don’t know if there’s ever a “right” answer in the journey of retirement. Do what finds you joy and see where the path takes you.
Planning on predictive decline always seems sensible up to the point when life interrupts it.
Not saying go YOLO but if assisted living were truly the most plausible next step, there’d be thousands more retirement homes. The truth is, that lifestyle awaits just a small percentage so your high desert dream is actually an equally if not more realistic plan.
Add some extra hookups for friends…. 😉
I love your comment, Vince!
Me too!! 🥰
We are planning on the extra hookups for sure!
Best of luck to you and your husband Nanci, stay “young” as long as you can.
My hubby and I will be doing something similar later this year. We’ve been living the past 4 years full time in our 2008 26’ RV. We both love to travel, camp, and fish, but feel it’s time at ages 72 and 68 to make a change due to some health challenges. We’ll definitely be keeping our RV to use for some fishing and camping trips and making sure our 6 soon to be 7 grandkids develop a love for this lifestyle.
My wife, and sometimes myself watch home improvement shows on TV regularly. What we see with the type of home you are describing are very expensive repairs to things like foundations, mold, insect infestation, complete wiring replacement, etc. that are not apparent until other repairs are started.
I spent 12 years with my late husband in west Tx that fifteen miles to town helped me quit smoking among other wonderful adventures, like my New Yorker husband getting to be a cowboy, what every little Guido wants,for the last years of his life.
Reality is you can have anything you want if you have enough money. Why do offspring need an inheritance? Spend it all, you earned it and you taught your kids how to make a living without relying on you. Make sure to check into mini-splits for heat and AC.
Congratulations! In our late 50s, my husband and I built a house from the ground up. Sooooo much physical hard work. But in the end, it was worth all the soreness, bruises, fatigue, money & aggravation. BTW, pellet stoves work very well! 😁
Well somebody has to rain on this Parade.
‘
Clark Howard the consumer guru says you should Rent where you want to live, preferably for a year before you make this kind of giant leap. That gives you time to experience the community and the weather. It also gives you time to do some comparison shopping. There’s always better places and deals for sale. Usually right after you buy a place.
One way or another this is going to cost you a bundle of money. Can you afford to walk away if living in this primitive situation becomes untenable? This place may start out as “fun” but become a “grind” real fast or slowly.
No working Well? Trucking in water big hassle.
I am a big fan of Clark Howard. However, when he and his wife moved into his current home (downsizing), they didn’t try out the area. They just bought. When questioned, he said his wife didn’t want to rent. Happy Wife, Happy Life – as he also says. Sometimes you go with your gut. To feel the passion and energy is a lifestyle choice, and one I would make too – after a bit of time to think it over.
I got the vibe from Nanci that it’s not about the “financial investment” it’s about the “how and where to spend my time” investment…and time marches on…and sounds to me like the time for her is now! Why care about the future outcome…when what she wants is the endeavor now. There in lies the real value of this endeavor.
Good Luck with the property. At our age we’re better off living close to hospitals, pharmacies, grocery stores. Redoing a home is expensive. Contractors want to be millionaires quickly. Replaced porch on my house that is slightly smaller the 4 sheets of plywood. bids were from $7,200. to $20,000. Selected the $7,200. bid, contractor did an excellent job. I was ok health wise and with of a couple hours of a vehicle accident found I had cancer, but luckily survived. My neighbor was washing his car in driveway. Found him laying unconscious 10 months ago and still isn’t coherent. 10 years ago we moved closer to the above things. Wife isn’t mechanically inclined. In my old age I’m not ambitious.
Hey Nanci, be fair — at least tell us what State or region you’re headed for. “High desert” encompasses tens of thousands of square miles.
Northern Arizona- near the rim
Nanci, late last Sept. we were in a USFS cg. at 7,000′ near Williams. On a day that was 114 in Phoenix and 102 in Camp Verde, Williams set a new record high for the date–80 degrees! I hope you are above the rim!
Thank you, Nanci! I do hope that you get the property. Sounds as though all the work, if done at a measured pace, will energize you and make you feel less old. 🙂 Have a great day and safe travels!
Godspeed Nanci. Keep us posted and maybe start a blog about this but definitely keep a journal.
I envy you. We gave up fulltiming at my wife’s insistence, and bought a house. We sit on our butts all day long waiting for the grim reaper. I do get a couple of long trips in the RV each year (alone) so that gives me something to look forward to. Having projects will keep you young.. go for it!
How old is old. Im 84 and have 20 ft off the ground windows. I have a choice. Clean them or let them dirty. Dirty isn’t too bad.( I had surgery last fall and couldn’t get to them. Now it’s too cold.
pellet stoves work really well. Pellets come in 40 pound bags. PouR thm into a five gallon bucket now 20 pounds. I wish I had space like a quonset.
I talked to a lady in northern az and they have no well. Water is delivered 6000gals at a time. They drive into town 35 miles) to do laundry think hard to make the right decision.
it can be done
Together is what it’s all about! You got this…best of luck 👍Can’t wait to hear how it’s going ❤️❤️Best of luck 😍
Sorry, Lorna. I just noticed that our sometimes-overzealous filter put your comment into Spam. I have no idea why.🤔 Have a good night. 😀 -Diane at RVtravel.com
A new adventure to keep you both busy. And it’s a mutual interest and effort. I approve. Good luck!
All we have is “now”…Thank you Nanci for reminding us to make “now” count by filling it with smiles and things to look forward to! Wishing you all the best as you take on this next chapter of this thing called “life” 😃
Congrats on the new journey. I come from a family of adventurers, my wife became one independently. The future holds a downsized home for her, with a very oversized garage/shop for me. I’d rather have a large home, and my wife cares not for a garage, but here we compromise.
Hopefully, hubby will do some long trips, when you get wanderlust, and you indulge him with a home base that includes daily normalcies.
Blessings to you and Jimmy on your next adventure. Keep us posted.