Sometime in 2016, we decided it was time to take a grand adventure, a boat trip or road trip which would break us away from our normal life and our jobs in Florida (where we had been living since mid 2013). We’d had a few such trips in the past but, nothing more than 6 months in duration. The plan for this 2017 – 2018 trip would be for us to spend 12 months traveling – budget & costs along the way permitting – and see where life might take us.
Being sailors (of predominantly small boats), we toyed with the idea of buying a sailboat in the 30 – 40 foot range and heading off but, as 2016 progressed we realized that our senior Husky-mix pooch was not going to be up for an adventure of such physicality. We redirected the plans towards buying a small RV, complete with air conditioning (such are the needs of a senior husky-mix pooch!) and heading off to explore some parts of North America which we’d not previously spent much time in.
In May 2016 we threw down some hard earned savings and purchased a 2007 Itasca Navion 23 ft RV (or motorhome, for those of you enjoying this blog from anywhere in Europe). It’s got all the comforts of home. It’s a Winnebago “house” on a Dodge chassis with a Mercedes 5 cylinder diesel engine up front and it successfully took us over 26K miles during our April 2017 – April 2018 adventure (with some repairs, which we’ll get to later). And, we’re still living in it …….
During our trip around North America, many people asked us about the pet ramp (per the above photo) which Moose used to enter & exit the RV. Without this and at his senior age, we would have had to lift him each time. These things are great! PetSafe Solvit UltraLite Bi-Fold Pet Ramp, 62 in., Portable Lightweight Dog and Cat Ramp, Great for Cars, Trucks and SUVs
But, before we dive headfirst into the road trip and it’s myriad adventures, I know some readers will be keen to get some questions answered (as referenced in our ‘Living a non-normal life’ post): “how do you do this?”, “how did you manage to get all this time off work?”, “where did you get the money for all this?”, “do you have someone renting your house, while you are on the road?” etc.) and we’re going to address this in the next few blog posts.
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Thank you for writing this Blog.
I’ll be catching up with your journal as and when I can.
I’m hoping to start my own motorhome big adventure touring southern Europe in a few years time.
I wonder how your four legged friend coped with all the driving… I fear a 50 mile frequent journey could be stressful
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Hi Matthew and thanks for checking out our blog!
Our dog Moose was 15 when we started this adventure and he was always a good traveler and used to doing big road trips with us, so we weren’t overly concerned about him – other than his advanced age. To be honest, we didn’t expect him to be with us all the way on this trip but, he made it all the way back to FL with us (April 2018) after over 26,000 miles and he has unfortunately, since passed (in recent weeks) at the ripe old age of 16 (which for a dog of his size, was a good run indeed).
Our next adventure is going to involve bicycles and being pet-free for the first time in 15+ years, we now have some other opportunities open to us (as much as we will miss Moose in our lives).
Feel free to reach out to us with any questions you might have as you continue to plan your adventure in EU Matthew!
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Thanks for prompt reply.
I’m sorry for your loss… but hey, Moose must have had an epic voyage of discovery with you!
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