This post is pretty tough to do because there is so much data but we also have done a not great job of tracking things the last couple of years. I am going to do my best on this one, but keep in mind we have been sitting still for the last couple of years.

Every year I post my travel map, and in honor of year 10 I hand drew our routes in a different color every year. It’s not perfect but it’s important to note our trailer’s wheels have touched 49 states.

As I look at the map what stands out is the places we have been the most. Charleston, SC (where my oldest daughter lives, San Antonio, Tx (where Cori and Greg live), Minneapolis (where my middle daughter lives), Columbus (our parents), and Oregon (where we worked three summers top the list. We have also been to Las Vegas several times either to meet family and friends or for Lee’s work. We’ve spent the least of time in New England, mainly because we lived their for 15 years and there isn’t much left there we haven’t seen! Our youngest daughter by the way was in the military and we saw her in Monterey, New Mexico, and Connecticut.

Overall Truck Mileage – 197,707. I will say the Ford F350 we bought new before heading out was an outstanding purchase and I truly believe the truck has another 200K miles in it. Keep in mind we only had a second vehicle the first and last year of our travels so this truck mileage includes trailer pulling and almost all of our non-towing driving.

Overall Trailer Mileage – 65,800. The RV has held up really well for all these miles and I am really happy that we are still in the same RV that we went on the road with. As a side note, Deb/Steve and Kelly/Bill who started full timing the same time we did and are still full timers are also in their original RVs. My best piece of advice to prospective full timers is buy your last RV first! They will last longer than you think!

Ten Largest Expenses

We started the lifestyle with about $40K in the bank and an additional $20K in an emergency fund. We burned through the $40K for sure, but the other $20K stayed in the bank until I finally spent it several months ago buying a second car. Although we have largely spent what we made the last ten years, we were able to put money in a 401K the three years we worked in Oregon and much more in the last five years with me working a corporate job. It’s been tempting a couple of times to touch our retirement money but to this point we have not spent a cent of that which I feel really good about. All that being said large expenses do come along just like in any life and here were the ones that hurt a bit.

1. $13,760 for tires – Yes this is absolutely true I added up the numbers. This includes tires for the dually truck and tires for the trailer over 10 years. Some of these replacements were from flat tires but most were just normal wear and tear. I will say it always hurts a bit when it’s time to replace tires but Lee is adamant about having good tires for safety. I will say i’s absolutely worth paying for better tires. The cost of flat tires (an the inconvenience) isn’t worth the little bit you save.
2. $10K for Lee’s heart attack life flight – We were working remotely in Texas five years ago when Lee had a heart attack. We called the ambulance and since we were so far from a hospital they life flighted him to San Antonio. We were given no choice in the helicopter company and had no insurance specific to that cost so were shocked when the $56K bill came to us. Ultimately the company took the $10K my insurance paid and another $10K in cash from us (wiping out our HSA account) which shows how quickly things can change. One of the main reasons I decided to get a corporate job was to replenish the HSA account and by maxxing my donations the last five years we are now up to $20K in HSA which is awesome.
3. $7K for my middle daughters wedding – I knew when we went on the road that a wedding would be part of our expenses so part of the $40K we had set aside was to cover this expense. This was roughly what we spent on my oldest daughters wedding. If you are wondering how we kept costs that low we did as much of the work as we could ourselves and were realistic about what was affordable for us.
4. $6,200 for RV Tech school – Although Lee never made enough money working on RV’s to cover these costs, we agreed before going on the road that he needed the training to feel comfortable taking care of our RV. This money was also included in our original $40K.
5. $5400 for Solar – The best things about our solar system is the options it gives us. It has held up very well for 10 years and every time we do need it I am so glad it is there.
6. $4K for electric bikes and mounts – The bikes and accesories themselves cost $3K and the mounts to hold them (along with attachment to the RV) costs another grand. To be honest I wish we wouln’t have gotten them. Lee loves having them but I am not a huge fan and just don’t think we use them enough to warrant the expense.
7. $3,600 for Mor-Ryde suspension – This is the one item I wish we could have gotten immediately. Our RV took a beating in Alaska, but as soon as we got the Mor-Ryde it felt stabler and the damage lessened. You are rocking your house kind of constantly when you are on the move and the Mor-Ryde gives it a strong suspension foundation. Huge improvement with the disc brakes as well.
8. $3,000 for Residential Refrigerator – We thought long and hard about going from a propane fridge to a residential electric model but when we finally pulled the plug I did see an instant improvement in my quality of life. I would love to say we finally replaced the old one when it died, but that one was still going strong.
9. $1863 power steering pump/gasket for truck – Tires aside we have been incredibly lucky with expense for the truck. We invested in a full 5 year warranty that got us through the early years but even without that we have been incredibly fortunate in the repairs. Yes oil changes etc are not cheap but we have avoided any major mechanical incidences.
10. $1100 Surge protector and Voltage regulator – I am so glad this made the list because I remember when we first got them I thought the expense was excessive. I can tell you ten years later I cannot name the number of times we have been on low voltage or saw spikes and this system has saved our RV’s electric system. A full replacement of electric run around five thousand so this expense has paid for itself many times over.

Top 10 Things we saw this year (in chronological order)

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