How do you get the better half onside?

Old and tired · Veteran Member

How do you get the better half onside?

macka17 · Guru

Best of luck mate. Hope it works for you.

I second Suspension Orthopaedic seats too.
had them in both patrols and last Fairlane.

Pariss · Veteran Member

Married 40 years and have gone through exactly the same saga with my wife. All our married life I have told her of my dream that on retirement we would buy a 4x4 & caravan and travel here & there in Australia. Upon my retirement she did not want to leave our Grand kids and our nice home & friends. So I compromised, and instead of spending months on the road traveling, we would only spend 3 to 6 weeks caravaning at a time. OK, we (at this stage) won't do the Big-Lap, but lots to see around Qld, the Top End & the Cape, & NSW & NT within a 6 week round trip. We have a new Jayco Starcraft 18.6ft Outback with all the mod cons, air con, full en suite + washing machine etc etc, and a Mazda BT50 XTR 4x4 to pull it with. Lovely compact 'easy to tow' rig, with fast easy setup. My advice would be, if compromise fails, go buy the best rig you can afford (not a Hi Ace van) and just call her bluff and prepare to head off by yourself. Personally, I would refuse to holiday in a little converted postmans van or Hi-Ace mini van, not 19 anymore !

-- Edited by Pariss on Monday 4th of September 2017 04:59:44 PM

Yaketty · Veteran Member

Up to 2014 hubby and I had gone to every Caravan & camping show in Perth for over 10 years. I wanted a campervan having grown up in the UK with parents having a VW Kombi. Every year for over a decade hubby said 'it's not the right time'. So in 2014 I said 'what's the point of going to the C&C show again as it still won't be the right time.' In June 2014 while on holiday in Bali we had a call that my Mum had fallen, had a bleed on the brain and would not survive. She died that afternoon and we flew home the next day.

A few months earlier we'd found about the Wedgetail slide-on camper. We were both interested as it meant no towing, being able to access remote areas (if on a 4WD ute) and it had a shower & toilet - big tick for me on the ablutions! Despite it still being 'not the right time' according to hubby, I'd made enquiries around March 2014 into how much & how long to wait for one - about 12 months. A few weeks after my Mum died I had an email from the Wedgetail manufacturer asking if we were interested in a secondhand camper with the ute as well. I dared hubby to tell me again it was 'not the right time'! But it was in Newcastle and we were in Perth. Then a couple of days later my work asked me to go to Sydney for a training w*rkshop!

So, the RIGHT TIME had arrived! Hubby sold his non-4WD ute, we flew to Sydney - he took himself off to Randwick on Melbourne Cup day while I was training and the next day we got the train to Newcastle and picked up our rig and took 9 days to drive it back to Perth.

Long-winded story I know but looking at your situation Ross it may just happen that Things Fall Into Place. As we're both still w*rking full time we've had only short trips so far until a 5 week trip to the Kimberley in May this year, including the Gibb River Road. Now hubby can't wait for the next trip - I have no more annual leave until 2018 (except for 6 days for an overseas trip in October)'. I'll soon be 61, John will be 59 next week - I'm in a high-pressure job, John's a tradie with more flexibility. So now the only question is 'is it the right time to RETIRE?'

As you say you are tired and it may just be that when you return to Oz and retirement both of you can chill more and you may realise that you may not need a carrot or a stick (& certainly not a divorce) - if an opportunity comes along for the right rig within budget I would say grab it. Do you have friends back here in Oz who are into camping (caravan or motor home, whatever)? That would be a good starting point. We were apprehensive about doing the Gibb River Road on our own and through this great forum (Get togethers thread) met up with a couple who wanted company on the GRR - so we met them in Derby and did it!

John and I are opposites in many ways and for a long time had opposing views on when and what to buy in terms of a camping rig. So far it has been amazing and gets better with every trip. I hope your plans come to fruition and am sure you'll find further inspiration within this forum biggrin Cheers, Kay

-- Edited by Yaketty on Tuesday 5th of September 2017 06:24:57 PM

Ron-D · Guru

With travelling in an RV if your partner does not like the life stile there's not much point in travelling with them,my mates wife likes the 4 star accomodation and it's a real downer dragging her with him it spoils things,the answer to him is he uses the Van a few months of the year solo without her and loves it...

Old and tired · Veteran Member

Love your work Kay. Sorry you lost your Mum like that.

To be honest I have been a bit sceptical in the past about the grey nomads, but I am

so impressed by the forum, and the input I have gotten. People are great.

Right now I am still changing my mind every other day between van and motorhome. Can't really work out

whether at seventy odd we will cope with the towing. By and large we are quite capable in most things, so I am

thinking we will hire a good sized van first off when we get back, and give it a go. If both of us can tow and reverse the van

into tight spots, we will perhaps go that way in the first instance.

RossG

"what does not kill you makes you older."

Old and tired · Veteran Member

Pariss

thanks for the input. Still working out how to play my cards. It is a matter of making the experience stress free and easier for General Manager Home Affairs. I am thinking a good towing course for both of us might be a good start. She loves big 4wd vehicles, so I am on a good tack in that direction. Suspension seats will help also.

it is funny how things suddenly get complicated once you hit about seventy! Even five or six years ago I would not have given it a thought. Most of the deterioration is between the ears too! Very bloody annoying.

old and confused

"what does not kill you makes you older."