Moving To Europe I – Overcoming Fear & Inertia
As you all probably know by now, we’re in the midst of planning our move to Europe. It’s a BIG move that requires a lot of major change; selling the home we’ve lived in for 8 years; leaving the friends and family we have in the US; leaving our US RV community; starting a new life. It’s exciting, but frankly it’s also terrifying.
You’d think that after living in Asia, Europe and the US, moving countless times and traveling fulltime for over 8 years that we’d be old hands at this. Just another move, right?
But the truth is that big changes are never easy, even for the folks that have “done it” many times. We may seem like we breeze through the whole thing, simply because of how it looks when it’s written down (it’s easy to transform chaos into order in a blog post), but the truth is that we go through the same doubts, fears and (sometimes) freak-outs that other folks do.
So, I wanted to write about that, because this is what we’re going through right now, and I think it’s important to share. Maybe you’re contemplating a big change in your own life? And you’re wondering if all those crazy feelings you’re going through are normal? Do other people experience fear? Or despair? And how do they overcome them?
Well, that’s what I hope to help you with today.
Fear Is Normal!
I think the very first thing I would tell anyone going through a big change is this. Fear is totally normal!!
When I was a teenager there was a really popular self-help book called “Feel The Fear, And Do It Anyway”. It was classic 80’s pop psychology literature, but it made a big impact on me. At the time I was going through quite a bit of depression, and angst. I was confident of certain things, but felt a lot of fear in other things. After reading the book I realized I wasn’t alone in this. Everyone feels fear at some point, and although it may not seem logical, it’s part of the process. So, I learned to deal with it and every time I felt fear, I’d chant the mantra…
Feel the fear, and do it anyway
Life Changes are almost guaranteed fear-inducers. As humans, we get comfortable in our situation and in what we know. Change of any kind is, by definition, exactly the opposite of that. It’s unknown territory with unknown outcomes, and for that reason it evokes feelings of fear and angst. What if my new situation is worse than my current one? What if I don’t like it? What if I don’t succeed?
Feel the fear, and do it anyway
If you’ve made a goal and you’ve made it for the right reasons, and you’ve done your research, and you’ve planned and done your best to line things up to go smoothly, then at some point the only thing left to do is…..jump! You can do things to mitigate the fear (see below), but you’ll never get rid of it altogether. Once you realize that and you realize that fear is normal, then action becomes possible.
Planning Is Critical, But You Need To Break Down The Task
I’m a planner & a researcher by nature. Give me the task to buy a hole punch and I’ll probably spend at least an hour understanding hole punch technology and researching the best punchers on the market. That’s do-able for a hole punch, but when you’re planning a life change it can quickly become overwhelming.
By definition a life change involves A LOT of details, so if you try to think about it all at once, your mind can very quickly go into meltdown mode.
For example for our move to Europe we’ve got to sell our home, figure out the pets, get our health insurance in line, store or sell all our stuff, change our residency, figure out our visa issues, decide where we’re going to live, figure out the pets (wait, did I do that already or not?). What about money? Or bank accounts? Or cellphones? What if the RV sells before we leave? Crap, what if it doesn’t sell? What will we do?? It’s all too much! We’re never going to make it! It’s impossible!
Stop…breathe….take 40 steps back
In my experience the only way I can mentally handle these things is to break down everything into smaller, more manageable pieces. I start by writing down everything I can think of. Then I make a general timeline and then I break down the questions into individual days. If you’ve ever done project management it’s exactly like that, except for life stuff.
The nice thing about doing it this way is that, once it’s all written down, we don’t have to figure everything out right now. Instead we can break it down into 2-3 easy(ish) goals that we dole out between the two of us, and work on each day.
For example take the pet issue. I knew we needed to think about this one well ahead of time, so a few weeks ago we both started researching travel documents and requirements to Europe. Then, the next day I looked up where we could actually get those documents in S. Fl. Then, a few days later Paul started calling around to make all the necessary appointments. So, within a mere week we went from knowing almost nothing about pet requirements to having everything scheduled out, and in the end it wasn’t that bad. The big, overwhelming task (which seemed almost impossible at first) had been broken down into smaller, more manageable tasks (which were easy to complete). Suddenly it all fell into place and it was DONE!
We take this same approach with healthcare, and visas, and living arrangements and so forth. We can’t possibly think about it all at once, but if we focus on breaking it down and taking mini steps (every day) I have confidence that we’ll eventually get it all sorted out.
Having A Fixed Date Is Key
The other thing about big life changes is that it is soooooo easy to procrastinate. If you make the goal to move “in a few months” you might well find yourself those few months later having done nothing at all.
It’s human nature. Your current situation is comfortable (more than likely) so the impetus to actually make a change can wane very quickly.
In my experience there is only one real way to overcome this and that is to fix a date and draw a line in the sand. Then, you just do it! You focus all your energy and all your goals on meeting that date.
For our move to Europe we have a date. In fact we just finalized it two days ago. Tickets are booked and pets are confirmed, so unless something earth-shattering happens in the next few months to change our trajectory, we are leaving Mar 30th. And yes, that’s only 10 weeks from now!!!! Eeeeeeeeeeek!
Feel the fear, and do it anyway
Keep Your Eye On The Prize
The other thing about big life changes is that no matter how much you plan, at some point in your transition process you will feel despondent, or you’ll panic about the fact that you might be making the wrong choice. Perhaps you’ve hit a big set-back in your plans. Or things just aren’t moving forward the way you hoped. Or the obstacles just seem so big that you’re wondering if it’s worth all this angst to get there?
Let me assure you right now that this is totally normal too!
In times like this, I feel it’s important to refresh your mind about WHY you’re doing all this, so you can re-invigorate your energy on the task at hand.
I’m pretty good at maintaining focus. In fact I have a tendency to hyper-focus, almost to the exclusion of everything else in my life (a different kind of problem altogether), but Paul is the type of person who derives motivation from keeping his eye on the prize.
So, for our Europe trip he’s been researching European RV models (I think we may have narrowed it down to 3 or 4! We’ll have to see when we get there and get into them), as well as collecting all kinds of interesting places to see and visit once we get over there (e.g. did you know that the French equivalent of Harvest Hosts, called France Passion offers over 10,000 free stop-overs in France?!!).
For Paul, this kind of stuff keeps him excited and motivated about the change, which is an important part of his process. Plus all that excitement rubs off, so it’s fun and motivational for me too.
Understand That You’re Not Alone
Sometimes your immediate friends and family might not understand why you’re doing what you’re doing. Why would you leave your beautiful home? What about your job, your friends etc.? Why are you doing this crazy thing?
In times like this, talking to other people who are doing what you’re wanting/planning to do may be just what you need to keep focused. And these days it is SO easy!! From Facebook groups to Blogs, Forums, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube or whatever other media you prefer, if you just search around a bit you can find your tribe. Not only can these online outlets help you work through whatever phase you’re currently going through, but they can provide invaluable support and guidance for the actual change itself.
Other people have done this before you, so you don’t have to go it alone!
I’m already on several European forums, and we’ve been chatting to our friends Iain and Kate (Tales from the Scenic Route) who are planning to go RVing in Europe this year too. It’s been fun to share our excitement, and it’s great to have someone to talk to about the challenges too. We are not alone….
Take A Break Every Now & Then
When you’re in the midst of a big life change there is SO MUCH to think about, that you can easily spend every minute of every day just researching, planning and doing the change. After about a week of that your mind will likely go to mush and you will start to feel overwhelmed with the task.
This is a good time to take a break!
No matter how crazy your change, try to plan some time away from the whole process every now and then. A whole day off is great, but if you don’t have time for that even an hour or so will make a huge difference to your mental state. Get outside, go for a walk, or a bike, or a run. Go for a meal with your loved ones. See a movie. Go for a nap in your hammock. Whatever you choose just make sure it’s something where you don’t have to think about your upcoming change AT ALL. The goal is to clear your mind and refresh yourself, so you can dig back into the task with renewed energy when you get back to it.
Trust me, this will make a BIG difference to achieving your goals.
And Finally, Remember That NO Decision Is Final
This is my final tip of the day, and although it may not seem that useful, it’s actually just as important as the other ones.
Many folks have a tendency to feel that every life decision they make is final. I think it’s partly from fear, partly from inertia and partly just human nature. If I leave my job, or sell my house, or move, this part of my life is gone forever!
Well that’s simply not true.
Apart from death and taxes, there’s really very little in life that can’t be changed. Yes, your life will change and yes, if you end up hating your new life you likely won’t be able to come back to exactly the same life you left. But you can always come back! Maybe you’ll end up in a slightly different job, or a different part of town, but you CAN make that happen.
Every single move we’ve made in our lives we’ve made with the knowledge that if it didn’t work out, we could always go back. We’ll try this for a year and see. That’s how I ended up moving to the USA (from UK after College), it’s how we ended up in Asia (through work, many years back), and it’s exactly how we started fulltime RVing (with a one-year plan). It’s the same approach we’re taking for this Europe move. We’ll try it for a year and see.
Oh, and a final little secret? Every big life change decision we’ve made so far has been a good one. We’ve had our ups and downs, our hard times and good, but overcoming fear and inertia has afforded us SO many incredible experiences. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Hopefully some of these tips spoke to you. Maybe you’re going through a big change yourself, or you’ve got some tips of your own? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Very much loved this post! and wanted to wish you happy trails! Hoping to continue following your European adventures!
Thank you Gunta. Sure wish I could pop back to the Oregon Coast for a quick stay before we leave, but I fear it may be a few years before we see it again. I’ll be keeping the dream alive with your pics.
Nina
Hi Nina and Paul,
This is a great post with lots of good tips for us all. I’m a planner by nature, so most of what you say is familiar but the one tip that resonates with me most is that you can always go back…..nothing is written in stone. That thought in my mind has made so many things possible for me. We wish you the best of everything and hope to see you down the road……some road, some time.
Me too! Paul and I often talk about the fact that we can always go back. I think it makes the fear (of change) a lot easier to handle. Its a good little piece of mind therapy.
Nina
So glad you’re sharing your thoughts and experiences about this whole process, Nina. From the outside, it’s always easy to think that someone else can do/handle something better than you can… because you don’t get to see the inner thoughts/concerns/doubts. So it seems like they don’t have any! Sharing your inner world this way will undoubtedly help others to overcome their worries and give it a go, too!
Wishing you both the best of luck in this exciting endeavor… and can’t wait to read about it all, too!
Totally! I feel exactly the same way every time I view one of your RV “how to” ideas. Those RV Geeks make everything look so easy! That’s a talent too, of course, and another way to gain confidence and motivation. It’s all about overcoming those inner fears.
Nina
Very well done as always!
Best wishes to you guys ☺
You are on the right track
It will be a great new adventure
Fingers and paws crossed! Once we’re over there, and all the pets have safely arrived I’ll feel much better. I know it’ll all work out, but I still freak out a bit now and then.
Nina
Oh My Gosh! This is a big deal post! Moving to Europe sounds exactly up your alley. I wish you the best in this new adventure. I look forward to reading all about it! Much love from Bandon Oregon.
How lovely to hear from you Gina! We often think of Bandon and hope to go back there someday.
Nina
Oh My! Was this for me or what! In November we fell in love with a place in New Mexico. We found out there were some great rentals there and a place to store the RV at no charge. So we went home and sold our house, sold a lot of furniture, and here we are waiting for the movers to come on Tuesday with our furniture. We are only on the road 5-7 months out of the year. But we are in our late 70’s and do need a place to roost now and then. I’m wishing you all kinds of good luck and hope you have great experiences. We traveled in Poland last year by car and stayed at AirBnB’s. People were so awesome. I know you will find the same.
How wonderful! Some good RV friends of ours settled in NM last year, and some other friends just bought a part-time house there last month. It’s the land of enchantment after all! I wish you all the best in your new life plan!
Nina
This is so exciting to read! I love your steps and your logic in the planning. One big dream of my husband and I is to spend a year in Europe. Unfortunately it won’t be for at least 4 years from now but it’s been a dream for a long time for me ever since Frances Mayes and Peter Mayle wrote books about their experiences. So for now it will be the occasional one to two week vacation overseas. I can’t wait until your next posting! Cheers!!
I definitely hope your dream comes true one day, even if it’s a few years away. Dreaming is a good thing.
Nina
Nina,
What is the maximum time can you stay in Europe on your Visas?
All the best,
Lindy
I’ve got a European passport so I’m good in all the EU countries. Paul can stay in Schengen countries 3 months and then he has to be out 3 months. We plan to move him to UK at that point where he can stay another 6 months. In the meantime we’ll likely apply for residency or a long-term visa for him. I’ll be writing all about this in another post.
Nina
Not sure if you are aware of Brexit, which is UK’s departure from the European Union. It happens at the end of March 2019. Negotiations are ongoing, but it could impact access to UK, as the current free border access is one of the main Brexit drivers.
Yup I’m well aware. I’ve looked into the visa details already on gov.uk. Nothing changes until the official exit in 2019, and then there will be a new process. The official statement:
“A new scheme will be available for EU citizens and their family members to apply to stay in the UK after it leaves the EU”
So, it’s a wait and see thing. For now, the rules stay as they are. I can travel freely and Paul gets 6 months.
Nina
I wish you nothing but happiness in this move and as you say, you can always come back. That is, if the immigration laws don’t change and the USA doesn’t decide we have enough people here. Wish I could feel so casual about uprooting family, but I am 73 and hubby is 85, not likely to undertake such an adventure. So we will read your posts and pray for your safety.
Our priorities naturally change as we age, and honestly there’s nothing wrong with that. I figure we may settle down ourselves someday. Likely in the PNW? As for immigration, we’re both US Citizens (I became a citizen last year) so all is good. We definitely plan to come back someday.
Nina
Excellent information. Great ideas, especially when we find ourselves “stuck” at some point. Very helpful. Even if we are not moving to Europe anytime soon, these ideas provide a lot of help moving on to the next stage or chapter in our lives. At our age, there seems to be changes around the corner all the time. Thanks for the well thought out encouragement and good luck as you move forward.
Great post! Most of us had these similar feelings as we embarked on our new fulltime RV life. People would look at us like we were crazy when we said we were selling our house. What is you don’t like living on the road? Then…we’ll buy another house! Oh, ya!! But big moves are scary. I am feeling the same way as we plan to looks at houses in our next life change. Is it time? Should we? Shouldn’t we? As you said, we can always U turn and change it up again! Sounds like you have everything under control. Wishing you and Paul smooth sailing as you look forward to more exciting adventures:)
I feel your excitement, Pam. Hope you find the home of your dreams. I think you’ll know it as soon as you walk into it.
Nina
Thank you so much Nina for sharing your thoughts. When I have something big brewing, I’m fine during the day, but I wake up terrified in the middle of the night! My defenses are down, and I can review all the nightmare scenarios in vivid detail. “Feel the fear, and do it anyway” is such excellent advice!
I do the same thing! I’ve had a few nights this past month where I’ve woken up in a panic. Did I think of that? Did I remember this? What about that other thing? It’s all part of the process. Sure wish it wasn’t, but that’s life. Feel the fear, and do it anyway….
Nina
There’s now a Post-it note hanging in front of my face that says, “Feel the fear, then do it anyway.” I’m hoping that will help me take my next step.
I’m sending you {{vibes}} of strength. Hope you get through whatever change you’re working.
Nina
I have enjoyed your posts and wish you both the best in your move to Europe. I have stayed in campgrounds because of your reviews or not stayed in them because of your reviews. I have taken your pet advice (traveling with 3 dogs and 9 cats in a 40′ motorhome). Whenever I have a question about anything RV, I go to your posts first to see if the answer is there. I enjoy your flow of writing and the way you paint a picture with words. We have been full-timers for 3 years but are about to come off the road and actually buy a house in the mountains. We’ll be part-timers from now on. My best to you. Tren
Great advice for facing changes, big and small. The final tip is the most important for me. Except for those huge gauges people expand in their ear lobes, we can always change our minds and undo choices we’ve made!
Having a day to leave is really big – and very exciting!!
I am 68 and essentially alone. I live in Glendale, CA and I’ve only really lived in southern California and Albuquerque, NM, where I grew up. My family is gone, my friends are leaving California or leaving altogether, and I’ve no idea where to go at this point. I loved all the detail you put in about making a plan and doing things in increments. I have a serious illness, which throws me a curve, but I am no longer working, and I don’t know anyplace as well as where I currently live, but I do have to make a change. Things are too expensive for me to afford to buy a place and rents keep climbing. I’m going to take the points you made, and see if I can come up with a plan to make my own change. Thank you so much.
My middle son decided he wanted to see Australia – was in his early 30’s, married with 2 children 9 and 12. The only peolpe he knew in Australia was a high school friend who was working for a film company in Sydney and 2 people in their early 20’s from that were touring the US. They started talking to them at a local bar, invited them to dinner a few times and ended up friends.
They had turned over a beat up condo that was about to go into bankruptcy. Fixed it up and 6 months later sold it for a nice profit. They invested that into another house from the 1940’s – paid a 1/2 mil for it. I thought they were nuts. It was dark, dingy and cut up into small rooms. They completely gutted it. Replaced plumbing, electrical, knocked out walls and installed bamboo flooring. Also updated garage and shed. Turned out beautiful. Was just a short distance east of Hwy 1 in Oceanside, CA. Lived there less than 2 years while he was learning the real estate business from the man who sold him the houses.
He sold the house at the peak of the CA real estste boom – made almost 50% profit. If it was a week later, the price of housing had already started to slide down. Luck! They took the money from the house and went to Australis for a year. Rented an apartment in Sydney while they waited for their belonging ( via ship). Bought a carovan and toured Australia for about 6 months and Thailand for a month. Feel in love with the Aussies. Had to come back as Visas were up.
Stayed with my husband and I for sbout 6 months while they got everything together – about 3 inches of paperwork and thousands of $ to get a visa that would allow them to work snd stay there. Then back they went. I remember talking to my son about how he felt about moving there. Told me he was scared to death. That he would be uncomfortable if it was just him, but he also had his wife and children to consider. He had lined up an apprentiship with a real estate loan broker. His wife had made friends with a lady who owned a beauty salon. She was a licensed beautician but hadn’t work at it in several years other than doing friend and fsmilies hair.
They found a little house, $800/week – rent and real estate is crazy expensive there. Had to pay thousands for his children to go to school until they received their permanent visa – think it was about a year.
Fast forward the whole family are now dual citizens – love it there. Children received an education equal to an expensive private school here. They have great health insurance, last I heard it was $100/ month for everyone. Couldn’t afford to get insurance here. They have started 2 businesses in same year both doing very well. One is his own company brokering loans, second is importing Correlejo Tequila. That’s a hold another story . There are thriving. Sorry to go on so long but I think it is a very inspiring story – but be a little prejudiced.
They set their goals and just did it. I was so worried about them at times I couldn’t sleep, but it couldn’t have turned out better. Their children didn’t miss the year out of school – had adventures and learned things they never would have exerienced in school.
Opps See a bunch of typos but can’t get back to fix them.
Think your trip to Europe is a wonderful idea. So much to learn from other ways of life..
Good luck, may all your plans go smoothly.
What a great, positive story of life change. Thanks so much for sharing! On a side note our very first RV Trip (ever) was a van that we rented in Australia. Totally fell in love with the place, and the people, so I understand the draw. Good for your son and his family that they’ve made it work, despite all the obstacles and fear to get there. Love it!
Nina
on the practical side :
For bank accounts, you should consider HSBC, the only bank that allows you to have accounts in various countries and various currencies, to transfer in real time without having change fees and maintain a Premier Status on your world balance.
Nice tip thanks! I’m familiar with HSBC from my years in Asia, and I know they have a good presence in the UK, but I didn’t know about the real-time transfer thing. I’ll look into it.
Nina
Excellent post, Nina. I love reading about your thought processes as you plan for your adventures. Truly inspirational. I hope you never stop blogging no matter where you are.
Thank you thank you thank you!!!! You addressed many issues and fears I am having right now. We lived full time in a small RV in 1999 and 2000, and were all set to do it again 6 years ago. Then we assumed guardianship of our granddaughter and have lived in our house while she went to high school. She graduated last May, and we are trying to be on track for my husband to retire (I am a retired RN) at the end of 2018. We plan to sell our house, put a few irreplaceable things in storage at our oldest son’s house, move into our fifth wheel, and hit the road. So, after years of looking forward to this, why am I suddenly having so much trouble moving forward? I saw a lot of answers in your post. Actually, many thoughts were those I have recited to myself over and over, but need to hear many more times! We have a son here with his wife and 7 year old daughter, and it will be hard to leave them, but the truth is they have their own lives, and we don’t spend that much time visiting. I think change is just difficult. So much easier to stay in your little rut, and the longer you stay there, the deeper it gets! All best wishes and thoughts for your current plans. I am looking forward to following your travels in Europe!
True words indeed. Change is hard! We’ve actually thought on and off about this Europe idea for the past two years. It was only in the last 6 months that everything crystallized for us and we finally decided to just pucker up and make the change. I wish you the best of luck with your plans. It’ll be scary, but if you push though the fear, I do believe the rewards will be worth it in the end.
Nina
Nina,
Thanks for sharing. We look forward to your blogs from Europe. Wishing you all the best on your new journey. We should be full timing by March. I need to look for your blog on how to plan trips. Can you direct me to the blog to save time?
Thanks,
Lloyd and Roberta.
Sure! My 3 part series on planning travel starts here:
https://www.wheelingit.us/2013/07/30/planning-rv-travels-part-i-4-general-rules-tips/
Nina
Thank you Nina. As always, great information and attention to detail. I will miss your USA newsletters but will definately enjoy your reporting on european journeys.
As we head out in June, our plans will include visits to those places that you have been and written about.
Stay safe my friends.
Lloyd
Thanks for sharing. Great read and very helpful. Within the next 3 weeks we leave on our full time adventure. The thoughts you express above are very real to us right now and help. I also bought the book you mentioned.
Thanks again for all your insights and best of luck to all.
OK so, when we moved to Europe back in 08, there was a bunch of stuff we had to do like, get a residency Permit for first the Netherlands, and when we moved to Austria, the same thing all over again. We were there for my wife’s job.
It’s all a dim memory by now of course. I’m sure I don’t remember half the stuff we had to do. Thankfully we had relocation services at our beck and call for the whole thing.
If you’re somewhat itinerant, does one still require some sort of residency permit? In both of those countries, we also had to register with at local police station. THEY knew where you were….
Of course, you might already have a EU passport? That could change things I suppose?
Just curious.
I’ve got a European passport (Danish) so I can travel and live anywhere in the EU without applying for any kind of permit.
Paul is a different matter. He can travel as a tourist around the EU, but he needs to respect tourist visa limits (3 months in Schengen countries (then 3 months out), 6 months in UK). If he wants to stay longer than that in any one country, then he has to apply for a longer-term visa or residency permit.
So, bottom line you can be a traveler as long as you respect visa limits. Beyond that you need a permit.
Nina
Ha, my beagle has a Danish passport, but his 2 people and one Beagle Sister are a different kettle of fish, so we’d be out of luck.
Seriously, I hadn’t followed you for a while, but today we drove through Quartzite and I thought of you and Paul, and my forgotten RV dreams, I looked you up and found your news.
Very best wishes to you all!
Nina,
As always your post is very informative and inspiring. I am a planner like yourself and the stress meter goes very high sometimes so I started to do Hot Yoga and what a difference. Change is difficult at times, however, the “you can always go back” feeling is reassuring so thank you for your thoughts and I hope you enjoy your European adventure.
Regards,
Barbara
Great post with LOTS of wisdom – thank you!!
Also, do you have a link where folks can view specs about your RV for sale?
Peace 🙂
Not yet. I’m in process of creating the info and hope to post all the “for sale” details by the end of this week. I’ll def post when it’s ready.
Nina
I’m selfishly awaiting your caravanning blog posts about Spain! I love that country, and look forward to seeing it described from the RVing perspective.
Hi Nina, I thought I posted something but it looks like it didn’t go through? Feel free to delete this if I’m duplicating myself. But I’ll try again. We think we’ll do something similar in a couple of years. I am dutch and have a dutch passport but I also have a green card. Do you have one too, or are you one of the lucky ones that has dual citizenship? I’ve been reading stuff like this: https://immigrationworkvisa.wordpress.com/2017/01/24/green-card-holders-who-stay-out-of-u-s-at-risk/, and I’m a little concerned about staying out of the country for an extended time.
I applied for US Citizenship last year for exactly that reason, so I now hold dual passports. If you’re eligible for US citizenship I’d definitely recommend applying well in advance of your Europe trip (my citizenship took around 8 months to complete). Staying out of the country for too long can invalidate your Green Card status, so that’s not something you‘d want to risk. If you’re not eligible to apply, then I’d recommend keeping your trips out of country below 6 months.
Nina
I guess Denmark allows dual citizenship, but as of 2003 Holland doesn’t anymore. There are some vague exceptions (which I will look into) but it doesn’t look good. Bummer! The cost of going back every 6 months might be too much for us. We’ll see, things might change, you never know … Looking forward to your posts about this adventure! Just breathe, and take it one day at a time!
What a bummer! Denmark just enacted dual-citizenship in Sept 2015 (it was not possible before that) so I waited to apply for my US citizenship until well after that date.
Yeah, I personally wouldn’t risk losing your hard-earned green card status by staying too long abroad. There are ways you can legally stay out-of-country longer, but it typically involves a re-Entry permit and applying for special visa permission (e.g. through a US-based job that sends you abroad). That’s how we’ve managed to live abroad previously. There may be other ways, but I just don’t know them.
Nina
Well, what can I say. Change is inevitable. Especially when you initiate it. 8^)
After 10+ years on the road in our motorhome Bev and I have purchased a new home in central Mexico. San Miguel de Allende to be exact. We are down here now working on furnishing our new home. We have not given up the RV yet and will split our time between our two homes for the next couple of years. But, eventually, we do plan on selling the RV and settling in down here for the next decade. And then, probably, change will happen again. 8^)
— jc&bev
Courage is always rewarded.
This goes at the top of my plan. I do believe “courage is rewarded”. I’m scared to death to make a big change, but all of you are so encouraging. I’ve taken chances all my life but for some reason, I’ve been struggling to move, in my late 60’s.
Cool and exciting.
Maybe one day soon I’ll be going the other way. Having lived moving around Europe or Asia for many years, I hope to do the same across the American continent eventually.
“Feel the fear, and do it anyway” is a great mantra. I feel that working through all those emotions, positive and negative, is so important, but what so many of us try not to do. We know that you two will be successful and are heading for some wonderful adventures. You will be following along. Who knows, this may be something we will embark upon someday. Love you guys!
Hi Nina and Paul,
We’re on the road and have been off the grid and out of touch for awhile so we’re way behind adding to your many other followers in wishing you all the best with your exciting twist in the itinerary!!
This will sound selfish but it’s simply meant as a compliment: We will really miss your USA reviews and blogs (esp. west states). When we started out we used your camp site info perhaps 80% of the time to illuminate our foggy road! We have learned a lot and how to ‘make it on our own’ now but with so many other useful topics you cover, yours is still virtually the No.1 Go-To site we recommend to others who seek RVing advice and info! So THANKS for all your efforts, info, and no doubt countless hours compiling it all to make things so much easier for the rest of us! Happy Travels from Dave’n’Kim from California (currently freezing at another of your recommended sites near Cieneguita/Patagonia area in Arizona!)
Love this post. Kelly and I recently drew a line in the sand ourselves – we will quit our corporate jobs and slow waaay down.
Throughout our process, all of the fears you spoke to resonate with exactly how we felt – do we have enough money saved? … will we regret stepping away form our comfortable corporate jobs? … is letting go of our familiar lives really what we want? … the list of fears and emotions went on and on. Finally, in October we committed to each other that we would trust our preparations and gave notice to our respective employers. We are now working towards our final day of work on March 30 … great minds ;).
Longer term, we have a desire to slowly make our way across Europe and will hope to cross paths with the two of you. In the meantime, continued safe travels and thanks to you and Paul for being inspirations for Kelly and me.
Well congrats!!! That’s a huge step, and one we know well. Quitting our corporate jobs was one of the most difficult decisions that Paul and I made over 10 years ago. We had planned, and budgeted, and saved, and all that good stuff, but it was still super scary. In retrospect I am SO happy we did it. It allowed us to live a life we never could have otherwise, plus it pushed us to pursue our respective passions (finance for Paul, writing and photography for me). I don’t think either of us would have come as far as we have in those areas if we were still in tech.
I wish you all the best with your big leap, and hope your next 10 years will be as good as ours. Oh, and yeah good choice on that date. Mar 30th it is for both of us!!
Nina
I’ve threaded this needle more times than most. I always know it’s going to be good when I have not one list going, but a spiral notebook of lists of lists. 😉 I even kept the notebook after a couple of my “big moves,” just to remind myself that even the most daunting of tasks can be accomplished when “eaten one bite at a time.”
I’m so excited for you, and can’t wait to follow. April, just when spring is busting out all over…how apropos.
Suzanne
Thanks so much for this post. It spoke directly to my DW and me as we are contemplating starting a full timing life. Your words were the perfect proverbial “kick in the pants” we needed! The planning process is underway.
Looking forward to your adventures from Europe; especially Spain where I spent a year studying (partying?!?) in my youth. Wishing you safe travels.
Excellent! Wish you all the BEST in your plans!! I know (personally) what a big step that is, so hope ti all goes smoothly for you.
Nina
Hi Nina and Paul,
I am a newcomer to your blog but thank you for the encouragement in this blog. We are planning on getting our first RV in two years so I have been researching, reading, and planning. So I am a complete newbie and just trying to figure everything out before we take the plunge to full time RVing at 66 yrs of age. You often mention that your RV is big, too big sometimes. We have been going to RV shows but still have not figured out something. Do you buy the smallest RV that has most of the things you want and is easier to drive and park or do you buy a bigger RV for more comfort and space? My husband needs a dedicated space away from me so he can work. He is on the phone all day with customers as a computer support tech and he can’t be disturbed. He has an office in our home but on the road that will be close quarters. How small is a small? How big is your RV and why is it too big? Yeah, I guess I am a little fearful of making the wrong choice so thank you for your blog. I will feel the fear, and keep going toward our goal. I’d appreciate all the help you could give me.
Thanks,
Cate
It really depends what kind of camping you want to do. Are you going to spend most of your time camping in smaller, public campgrounds and/or remote boondocks (free camping on public land) or are you fine in regular campgrounds? Is interior space a priority to you both, or or is being mobile & getting into sites everywhere (with the least hassle) the most important thing for you?
Unfortunately only you can answer those questions.
In our case I do wish we’d gone a tad smaller for more accessibility, BUT on the other hand our rig has been luxuriously comfortable everywhere we’ve been and we’ve managed (for 8 years!) to get into plenty of green, public spots. Our size means we cannot stay in EVERY public campground and we have to plan ahead (esp. in the popular summer months), to get into the kind of places we like, but we’ve always managed to snag some great spots. I really cannot complain.
Bottom line is that, no matter what the size, when you walk into your fulltime rig you BOTH should get the feeling “yeah, we can live in this”, otherwise it’s unlikely to work out. So try going into some rigs…sit at the dinette…stand in the shower…lie on the bed…and see if it feels comfortable. Imagine yourself living there. Can you do it? If it’s a “no” then look at other rigs, and/or bigger sizes. If it’s a “yes”, then that’s a good sign you’re on the right track.
Hope that helps!
Nina
Thanks, Nina, that does help. We have been to many RV shows in the last few years but haven’t found one that really fits the bill yet. I guess we are a little bit like Goldilocks. 4o’ is too big, 28′ to small, maybe in the middle will be just right. We are specifically looking for a bunkhouse as my husband thinks he can turn that into an office.
Good luck on selling your RV. I would love to have all those solar panels. Whoever buys it will be getting a good deal! I hope your transition to Europe goes well.
Cate
I walked into a 28 ft Winnebago Vista Class A and I could have lived there forever. It had storage and all the things I was looking for. I still look at them and am very happy the prices are coming down and my savings is going up. I liked the shower, no step up, the kitchen perfectly oriented, the full size bed in the middle of the back with tons of storage. I walk with a cane and once I was in the Vista the floor level was the same, which is great for a handicapped person. Good luck looking.
Hey, I just watched your for-sale-video today. Nice job. I was kind of surprised at how many things our rigs now have in common. Like the lithium battery and the battery controller and solar controller and hybrid inverter and even the oxygenic shower head. 8^) I guess great minds think alike. 8^)
— jcw3rd
I saw your post and video on your coach. It’s a beauty and full of add-ons. It appears to look like the big brother of our current coach which is a 2007 Cayman.
We are heading out on our full time adventure next week.
Where do you currently have the coach?
I was over in the Philippines when I read that you are moving to Europe. Naturally I was very disappointed to read that you are selling the MH as I wanted to see how you would make out in The Beast over in Europe as I have read that the campsites are small, but haven’t seen exact dimensions for campsites over there. Plus I knew the stay requirements for Europe. This was before your decision to go there. How long do you intend to stay in Europe?
Before I took off to the Philippines I drew up 9 years worth of destinations if we full time RV with stays of 2 weeks so 26 destinations per year. Some will have to come off the list obviously so we can go into full hook up campsites to do some chores such as laundry or some destinations will probably be only one week long in length instead of two.
We plan to stay several years in Europe. No fixed timeframe. Could end up being 2 years, could end up being 10. We’ll see.
Nina
I just stumbled accross your wonderful page and RV adventures and I see you are off to Europe in a matter of days! Have a wondeful adventure! I was reading your overcoming fear post above and giggled a little. My 27 year old daughter called me from San Diego one morning and said…..mom I am moving to Australia, she had saved money, she knew no one and had never been there.
It’s 2 years later and she is a happy little koala over there, I recently went to see her! Next for her will be Praque, she has fallin head over heals with that city!
I raised her in an RV for a few years, I was in my 30’s when we went full-time for 2 years and then part time for 6 years after that! It’s now 25 years later and I have convinced my current husband into RV life, we bought an RV last weekend and our house is going on the market in a couple of weeks in the Seattle area.
I will definately be referring to your page for info as much has changed in the RV world, I was reading your tips on campground memberships! Luckily my husband does have that Senior Pass for National Parks! I’m not quite there yet.
I will add they we are serious dual sport motorcycle riders so our RV life will include 2 wheels as well!
Here I go again!!!!!
Best of luck and I look forward to hearing about your adventures. I’ve only been to Norway ( my husband is from there) and no other places in Europe! Are you getting an RV there?