Your first questions - in order

a) The freedom to come and go as and when we please; seeing this beautiful country, taking as much time as we like. Housework that takes about two minutes a day!!

b) Free of the responsibility of a house - cleaning, maintaining, paying the bills. etc.

c) That we had started earlier would have been better.

d) What do I miss? - storage space.

That's me, anyway!!!

I think along similar lines to Jules xcept I want to know the secret of not having to pay bills - Mine still find me - regos, insurances, visa, phone bill & internet cost, etc

kandagal wrote:

---

I think along similar lines to Jules xcept I want to know the secret of not having to pay bills - Mine still find me - regos, insurances, visa, phone bill & internet cost, etc

---

 They are a bit like dirty dishes & laundry, they follow every where.LOL

Ditto to above;

JC.

We are still working on getting there

I am looking to retain only the stuff that I enjoy or contributes to my needs (no more stuff that demands my time for no gain)
diminish all unnessasary responsibilites.
Freedom to move on or stay.
Free myself from regrets.
Re excite myself in the joys of living.

I am really looking for a new chapter in life where I can begin again and refresh make good friends and finally learn how to play some Jazz on my Guitar.

Hopefully we will get there sometime

cheers

Mike

-- Edited by Mike C on Wednesday 21st of November 2012 08:12:09 AM

kandagal wrote:

---

I think along similar lines to Jules xcept I want to know the secret of not having to pay bills - Mine still find me - regos, insurances, visa, phone bill & internet cost, etc

---

 We still have those bills - but it is the worry that power, water and rates are going up all the time, that I do not miss!!!!  Phone and internet, well if I didn't have the money to pay them, I have prepaid, so my choice to pay or not.  Rego and insurances, straight out of the bank on direct debit - so don't really think about them.

Would not want my life any other way!!!!

We have only retired and been on the road since May 2011 and really enjoy it.

As a former public servant, I enjoy being a nomad without being accountable (some public servants do work) and the responsiblity thereof.  This is truly a beautiful country and we enjoy the rural areas even when dry and dusty and the local people are friendly and helpful.

We enjoy 'house-sitting' and living in larger areas than just the campervan and have met some lovely folk.  Admittedly, there is responsiblity in looking after someone's home and pet - but it is much different than living in your own home and getting up for work everyday.  The best part is that when we stay in a places for a month or more, we get involved in some of the local community events such as scrabble, probus, church etc.  There are so many opportunity about.

My wife does miss having a base - a place where we can call home and keep some of our souvenirs at.  Currently we have a storage unit which we visit once or twice a year to try to find or leave things at.  I agree with the above comments that 'Space' is one of the big problems.

The Grey Nomad way of life is truly something to look forward to.

 

Actually Dougwe I find the resident wombat to be quite helpful. It's a pity so many of his cousins are getting squashed on the roads. But back to the original question.....as others have said we are free to come and go as we choose and chang direction if we hear of an interesting place to visit and stay, we meet lots of interesting,helpful, friendly, wonderful people out here (both Australian and New Zealanders). Housework is minimal, we never get tired of the view from our "back door" and in our case, the kids are taking care of those pesky bills like rates etc. and they are also mowing lawns and keeping the gardens up to scratch.

We are only part-time GN's, and we would best be described as tourists... we plan to see certain places each trip, and usually see lots of other things too... then we go home till next trip. What we like is to have our own space wherever we are, our own bed, cater for our own peculiar diets, choose our camp spots with the freedom to stay longer or less, or go somewhere else as our fancy takes us. Independance.

Its much cheaper and less restrictive than holidaying in motels and eating at clubs/restaurants.

We stay in caravan parks about 2/3 of the time, prefer not to book ahead although in the busy season we have had to. We usually pay for a night or two and extend if we like it.

I'm a full time nomad. What do I like about it? Waking up in different places - looking out of my window first thing in the morning to some of the most amazing views imaginable. And of course the freedom to move on when I like and where I like. What would I like to be better? National registration and driving licence and the ability to go to a doctor and have them swipe my medicare card and bring up my medical history so that I don't have to fill in those tedious forms and hope I don't forget anything - this is 2012 for crying out loud why can't we do this?

Nomadic1 - I believe that the medical thing is on the way - I think you have to register with your doctor - and it is kept in a computer databank by the government - I think it is going to be that the doc keys all your medical info into the databank, and when you go to a different clinic, they can bring your info up on line. In Qld - if you are a disability pensioner, I think your info can be bought up on line.
And we should have a national registration and licencing scheme - and nationwide road rules - ridiculous the way it is now.