My first real exposure to RVing was in the summer of 2013. I was joining my friends for a weekend at Starlite Trailer Lodge in Globe, NC. They had rented a vintage 30′ Avion from the campground, one of a few rental units they had.
Our campsite was right on the river, right in the middle of the campground. Surrounded by lush green woods, a picturesque small babbling river and flawlessly maintained grounds, I was completely enamored. At the time I just finished “restoring” my Volvo 240 DL wagon-“Ingrid“. I paid $500 for it, not running, figuring I could get it running, and it would be a decent run-around utility car. Not to mention it was practically disposable for that price. I ended up falling in love with it and doing a lot more than I originally intended. (a full post on that to come at some point) Anyway, I had just gotten it all shined up and decided it would be perfect to go on this camping trip. There was limited space in the Avion. So, I decided to camp in the car. The space in the back was perfect for a twin air mattress. I packed it full of everything I would need that weekend, and spent three amazing days and nights with my friends in my own little home away from home,
“Ingrid”. I had always enjoyed camping, and had always liked the idea of having a mobile domicile. This trip was the real start of my interest in having an RV of some kind. Actually, it triggered a yearning and eventually a quest to have an independence only achievable through the ability to be mobile. It is that which I am still working toward now. The rest of that year and the next year, I spent as much time as I could with my friends at Starlite. They ended up buying a 36′ 5th wheel, and leasing a permanent site at Starlite. The atmosphere there is much the same as any description of a campground or nomadic lifestyle environment I have heard. The people…It’s always the stories of the people, that people want to tell when they talk about a particular place. It’s this, among some other reasons, that led me to start looking for an RV of some kind.
I started looking at travel trailers. At that time, in addition to Ingrid, I had a 2008 Volvo S80 V8 AWD, with a max towing capacity of 3,500 lbs.
Believe you, me, it is not easy to find something that isn’t a pop-up under 3,500 lbs, much less something reasonably
livable. The R-pod and Forest River Wolf Pup were at the top of my list. Light weight with reasonable amenities. I was hoping to find something pretty cheap, so as to not get myself into to much of a financial commitment. I never succeeded in finding something in my price range. Which, probably worked out for the best. In the summer of 2014, I got the LR3. So, a lot of things changed, in terms of what sort of travel trailer I could tow. A lot of other things changed around that time too. My two best friends at the time had been planning their move to Costa Rica. Check them out here. They were approaching middle age and wanted to pursue their dreams. When they did officially leave in September of 2014, I was left wondering what I was doing with my life. I felt like there wasn’t anything here in my area for me. The logical conclusion was to be able to travel, to be able to really experience life and eventually find what I was looking for. I was going to buy a bigger travel trailer and be able to work and travel, making my own way and going wherever I wanted. That’s all a very romantic notion, but the practical implications are another thing. I didn’t have a full understanding, at the time, just how bad my financial situation was. When I finally did a full audit of my finances and added up all the debt, I nearly lost my mind. I wasn’t really sure how it had gotten that bad, but it sure did motivate me to get busy fixing it. As part of the journey between then and now, I got the idea through reading blogs and watching YouTube, that an older motorhome might just be the ticket. Mobile, cheap living, or at least a cheap way for me to get my feet wet with the whole RVing thing.
To be continued in Georgie Part 2