Once the decision was made to sell the house and become full-time RVers, we began researching the lifestyle by buying books on RVing, haunting RVer's websites and making endless To-Do lists.  How would we get mail?  What should we do about our household stuff?  What about money management, paying bills and insurance?  How would we keep in touch with friends and family?  What should we take with us, what should we store, what should we give away or sell?

Since Bill retired in 2002, he had the time to spruce up the house, making small repairs, painting, polishing and cleaning.  By the time we put the house on the market, it sparkled, the lawn and flower beds were manicured and everything looked it's best.  It didn't take long before we received a good offer on the house and the closing date was set.

The amout of stuff we had accumulated in 43 years of marriage was incredible and overwhelming, so we started a methodical process of sorting.  At this point, we thought that we would be on the road for a year before buying another house in a warmer climate.  We planned to store some furniture, household goods and personal items until we moved back into a house.  We started sorting our things into 4 categories: 1.  trash or donate,  2. sell, 3. store, 4. take along.  Trash  and donations were disposed of immediately.  Items to sell were priced and moved to the garage.  Everything for storage was inventoried, boxed in numbered boxes and set aside for moving week. 

As we had learned from reading and research, life without a "sticks and bricks" house took some organization.  As soon as Stephie retired, she began making lists. Some things were easier than expected.  Some not so easy.

 Mail:  We signed a contract with Alternative Resources in South Dakota to receive our mail, sort it and send it to us twice a month.  Although this arrangement could be changed at any time, in three years we've only asked them to send an extra mailing once.  In the beginning, we maintained New York residency since we started out with the idea that we would buy a house after one year.  (It's been 3 1/2 years, and we're still debating that issue!)  At our request, they throw out bulk mail so that we don't pay postage to receive junk.  We called or sent change of address notification to magazines, insurance companies, cell phone company, etc.  The one problem that took awhile to resolve was that the post office wanted to change our box number to a suite number or delete it all together. 

Money Management on the Road:  Stephie contacted financial institutions to change our legal address and set up on-line accounts if we didn't already have them. We also ordered new checks with our new South Dakota address on them.   We already had direct deposit and on-line bill paying set up for our checking accounts.  We set up automatic payments for insurances and the few other bills like storage fees that would be the same each month.  Because we knew that we wouldn't receive paper bills in time to make timely payments, we set up monthly automatic payments to our charge cards for more than the expected minimum payment.  By doing this, we avoided late charges, and we could send additional money by a few clicks to our on-line bill pay.   

Health Issues:  We decided to keep our New York doctors as we would be coming back periodically to visit our kids and friends.  Because we wanted to start with a clean slate, we both had thorough physicals before leaving.  We also got prescriptions filled and updated, got new eye glasses and had tune-ups in general.  Health insurance would be continued through Cornell University and Bill was soon to be on Medicare.  Cornell would bill us quarterly for Health Now, so Stephie set up an automatic quarterly payment to the benefits office.

The Cats:  The cats would be traveling with us, so we made sure that they also had check-ups and got their shots updated. Proof of rabies vaccination and shot records were placed in a file to carry with us as many campgrounds required this paperwork of pet owners.   We treated them for fleas, too, as we would be living in close quarters with them.  Although they weren't used to being put on a leash, we bought them harnesses and leashes and started getting them used to the idea since they would no longer be allowed out without leashes.  Placing the litter box in the 29' motorhome was somewhat of a problem.  There really wasn't a good place, so we finally decided to put it in the bathtub in the bathroom.  First we lined the tub with a rubber mat to make sure litter didn't fall down the drain.  Then we got a plastic tub with high sides and purchased clumping kitty litter.  We cleaned the box twice a day, so it never really smelled.  The main problem was that the cats tracked bits of litter all over the RV and we did have to vacuum often.  Our cats weren't really interested in cat toys, though we tried to entice them with various catnip filled toys, balls and feathers.  The one thing they did love was their big round scratching pad (Turbo Scratcher), so we found room for it under the dining table.

 Keeping in Touch:  Our laptop computer would be a necessary part of our lives as we planned to use the internet to pay bills, and check on our bank, credit card and phone accounts.  Most of our family and friends use email, so we updated all our email address books. Stephie also set up spread sheets for keeping track of expenses and a data base for keeping a travel journal.  Before we left NY, we got a second cell phone so that we could call each other if we happened to go in separate directions.  Stephie entered our list of personal and business contacts into the phone directory so that we could look up numbers easily.  We purchases Verizon's Call America plan that allowed us to call anywhere in the US without roaming charges.  This worked almost everywhere in the US but Chillicothe, Ohio where Ricky lives -- not too convenient!  Otherwise, it's been a very good service.

Insurance:  The big worry, it turned out, was how to insure our personal property in storage.  I called MANY agencies and was told each time that either they did not insure personal property in storage or that it was unreasonably expensive.  We decided not to do it.  Car and vehicle insurance was easy for the time being.  As we were not changing our state residency yet, we kept our same carriers with New York insurance.

Passports:  Since we thought that we might be crossing into Mexico or Canada at some point in our travels, and we knew that passports were going to be required for reentry into the US at some point, we decided to get new passports before leaving New York.  Another thing to tuck into our files along with birth certificates and copies of our will.

What to sell:  Some of the tougher decisions we made included selling our car, keeping only the Jeep which we would tow behind the RV.  We also sold our bedroom furniture and a lot of our household items, trying to keep only things that would fit into a small house.  We sold our spare bikes, skiis, dishes, pans, many books and records, knick-knacks and tools.  Of course, we still kept too much!  In the end, we had our storage unit filled floor to ceiling and wall to wall. 

What to take with us and how to store it:  Our three month trip to Alaska and subsequent trip to Florida gave us a good idea of what our basic needs would be.  We both knew that we wouldn't be using dressy clothes, so packed very little in that area.  We did take a selection of jeans, shorts, T-shirts and bathing suits as well as athletic shoes, hiking boots and sandals.  One pair of dress shoes each.  No winter coats, but some light jackets, sweatshirts and long sleeved shirts that could be layered. 

We bought plastic drawer sections to store things like stationary, miscellaneous electronic items, computer accessories, medicine cabinet items, and sewing kits.  The bed over the cab was converted to a storage area by placing a layer of drawer sections on the foam mattress.  They were labeled on the fronts and hole was drilled through the top edge so that a nail could be dropped through and prevent the drawers for creeping out of their cases. 

The dinette in our motor home had storage under the bench seats, so we used that space to store canned goods, cleaning products and a small tool kit.  I used a felt tip marker to label the tops of all the cans so that we could see what they contained without lifting each one out to read the label.  Under-the-bed storage was used for extra clothes, spare blankets and other items that wouldn't be used every day. 

Outfitting the kitchen:  Choosing kitchen accessories that would fit in our limited kitchen storage was hard as I was used to a big kitchen that easily held all our many gadgets.  In the end, we decided to leave all our counter top appliances, except the electric coffee pot, in storage.  We picked out a two sharp knives, a hand can opener, and a small set of large spoons and spatulas.  A set of measuring spoons, measuring cup and a mixing bowl as well as a good corkscrew was added.  For cookware, we selected 3 stainless steel pots and a medium sized frying pan as well as a small cookie sheet and a couple of square glass casserole dishes that would do double duty as cake pans or serving dishes.  We took a sa 4 place setting of Corelle dishes (Corelle are great because they're THIN, yet seem nicer than plastic) with us and use thin rubber mats between them in the closet.   This keeps them from clinking or sliding.  We also lined drawers with the rubberized shelf liner to keep things from shifting.  Wine glasses are glass, so they're stored in a box with cardboard dividers.  Other drinking glasses are a good quality plastic.  Coffee cups and flatware are the same ones we used at home. In our kitchen cabinets, we alternate plastic or metal containers with glass and pack things snugly so that they don't shift during travel.  I saved some large square wide mouth plastic jars with screw on lids (Walmart sells peanuts in them) and used them to store flour, sugar, cornmeal and oatmeal.  I labeled the tops and sides with a felt tip marker to make identification easier.  

Tools, appliances and stuff:  Bill selected a tool box full of tools and small spare parts (hoses, clamps, fuses, etc) that he thought he might possibly need and stored them in the "basement" compartments.  We also took folding outdoor chairs, a portable gas grill and gas stove, folding table, fishing poles, art supplies, books, music CD's, portable radio, portable TV, CD player with speakers and clock radio.  The first time we came back to New York, we ditched the radio and CD player (we use the one built into the RV) and some of the books and clothes.  And each time we stop at one of the kids' we end up leaving more stuff!

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