Yes, it’s nearly March – less than three weeks before we hit the road for the 2013 travel season – and I’m just now summarizing our 2012 travels. I know, I know – it’s ridiculous! If my fellow accountants knew that I’m one of those people who throws all their receipts in a box and then sits down some time in February to record it all, they’d throw me out of the club. Fortunately, I don’t think they’re reading this blog – so let’s just keep that little tidbit between us, shall we?

Now that the results have (finally) been tallied, let’s have a look back at 2012 …

The Miles

We took off from Austin last March and spent most of the summer in the Northeast. Our goal was to slow down the pace, cover fewer miles than we did in 2011, and spend more time enjoying the ride. Mission accomplished! We put just 13,267 miles on the Winnebago – nearly all of them east of the Mississippi, compared to the 22,350 miles we collected in our spasmodic wanderings of 2011.

The Milestones

Of course, blowing up the Winnebago and being out of commission for three weeks contributed to that lower milage count, but we were still able to cross a few things off our bucket list:

Visiting the eastern-most point in the United States and completing our objective of seeing all four corners:

Touring pet friendly Acadia National Park:

Spending some time on Dog Mountain:

The Math

You knew we’d get here eventually … I’m an accountant, after all. People are curious to know what it costs us to live as we do, and since I have all the numbers in front of me this seems as good a time as any to do the math …

2012 Total Expenses:

Campground and Hotel Fees      $14,550 ($40 per night on average)

Payment on Winnebago Loan         7,400

RV Maintenance and Repairs           3,650

Gas                                                             3,400

Rent on Storage Unit                           1,740

Verizon MiFi Internet Coverage     1,050

Mail Service                                                260

Of course, we still have some of the normal expenses you have … healthcare, pet care, cell phone, food, clothes, and so on. But, we have no bills for a home mortgage, real estate taxes, lawn care, cable, or utilities. Overall, we’re spending less money living in the Winnebago than when we owned a house.

The Mindset

A lot of people say they’d love to sell it all and travel like we do. Two main things seem to stop them … leaving all their stuff and fear of the unknown. More than three years on the road has changed the way we think about things and, while there’s no way to get around purging your belongings, I can honestly say that I don’t miss a single thing that we’ve either sold or left behind. In fact, most of what we put in storage will probably be cleared out the next time we’re back there. Even though we thought we were only keeping the “really vital stuff,” the list of things I consider important enough to hold on to gets shorter and shorter the longer we travel. Stuff is just stuff … you can always collect more.

Conquering the fear is simple and complicated at the same time. It’s simple, because you just have to do it – pull the bandaid off and go! The complicated part is that in the RV there are a thousand and one things you’ll have to face for the first time. From navigating a city you haven’t been in before, to handling an unexpected mechanical issue with the vehicle. It seems it’s always something … and each one causes anxiety to one degree or another. Heading into our fourth travel season, Rod and I are feeling like we’re finally getting the hang of this. (Slow learners?) Surely things will pop up that we haven’t encountered before, but we’ve probably done something similar that turned out alright and that’s giving us more confidence. This year should be a good one!

The Months to Come

In 17 days we’ll be pulling out of Austin and kicking off travel season 2013! Holy cow, where has the time gone?! And, at the same time, I’m excited and ready to get moving again. We’ve made an agreement to have no long term plans this year – we’re going to choose one destination at a time and when we’re ready to move on we’ll pull out the map and decide where we want to go next. The general idea is to spend this season in the northern Rockies (Banff, Lake Louise, Idaho, Montana), but when you’re not on a schedule, anything can happen … and that’s part of the fun!

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