So, this is why we have two campers! If you read my last blog post about the tiny camper, then you’ll understand… if you haven’t read it, then this is your que to go back and read it first. And yes!… Jason should be writing this blog, but he’s busy working. Although I’m retired, he still works full-time so we have to give him a break sometimes. I’m gonna do my best to give you some insight and he’s gonna review and edit this blog post before we publish it! So, if you’re reading it, then he has made his edits and clicked Publish. 🙂 Yep, I am aware that my grammar is slang but that’s how I speak, so you’re gonna have to deal with it if you want the real authentic version. If Jason were writing the blogs, then it would be more proper grammar… I might refer to him as the Yuppy from time to time, and he might refer to me as a Redneck. But hey, at least I’m an educated redneck. Right? I think we’ll let Jason take over now.
Well I guess the Yuppy will take over now! So way back before I met Val, I lived in Maine and owned a couple of businesses there. In 2019 my Mother had passed away and a year later, almost to the day so did my Stepfather. At the time I was traveling a lot for my transportation business and covid was slowly winding down. My Father, at the time was living in Sarasota. I decided I wanted to be closer to him as he was no spring chicken anymore! I traveled 3 weeks a month on the road and then would be home for 7-10 days.
In October of 2020 I purchased my camper in Tampa. I flew back to Maine ready to make the move. After covid and going through a life change, I closed two of my businesses and made Punta Gorda my home base while still traveling three weeks a month with my transportation business. My original plan was to spend six months in Florida in the colder months and six in Maine during the summer. But after one summer it was just too much moving my camper, car and equipment back and forth. So I decided to become full time in Florida. My daughter followed me down the next year after she graduated high school. Eventually my son moved down as well.
After visiting 43 of the lower 48 states and 370k miles put on my truck in 24 months, I decided to start thinking about finding something that would keep me home fulltime. I ended up taking a Project Managers position with my largest customer. They had project managers all over the US. My area was going to be in the Fort Myers region. I changed careers and my labradoodle no longer got to be a National traveler. I used to joke that Bella had pooped in more states than most people ever get to visit!
I spent the next year in Punta Gorda, then moved my rolling 1 bedroom apartment to North Fort Myers. Most of the work I would do was south of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda was not as convenient a location so I had found a campground that was close to I-75. I actually discovered I loved the RV Fulltime lifestyle.
I had a few preferences when I selected my camper, such as a large living space with lots of light. I researched lots of brands and floorplans. I decided I liked the Front Bathroom / Bedroom the best. I wanted a residential refrigerator and dishwasher. I opted for the third A/C Heat pump combo. Also I added a washer and dryer. The Grand Design Solitude 373FB-R was the model I selected. With the 4 slide outs there was lots of living space in the 41.5′ length. I lived in North Fort Myers for the next couple years, where I met Valerie. Now we use it to camp as much as we can. We especially like off grid camping! And now you know why we have two campers. We’ll eventually sell Val’s, but for now we’ll use it whenever our friends want to tag along.
Until next time,
Jason
