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Accessible RV Checklist
Access Travel Rights
Handicapped Travel Club
Rolling Down The Trail
Family RVing
Schooling Options for RVers
Kartchner Caverns State Park
Oscar Scherer State Park
10 RVing Tips for Newbies
The Accessible RV Site
Riding The Rails
The Enabled RVer Resources
Access Travel Guides
Selecting a Cane for Travel
Fulltime RVing Challenges
Campground Access
HTC Accessible Park List
Arizona Day Drive
Touring Arizona
Columbia River Region
RVing with Kids
Volunteering and RVing
RVing and Children
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| Full-timing Family Trends |
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| A Brief Look at Families on the Road By Shelley Zoellick, Editor and Publisher of Families On The Road Newsletter When my husband, Jeff, and I began fulltime RVing back in 1988, we were in our twenties. At that time, I actually wondered if there were any other fulltime RVers our age. A year later, our son Preston was born, bringing a whole new set of issues to complicate this unconventional lifestyle we had chosen. But by this time we had fallen in love with life on the road. And, after meeting numerous other fulltiming families at RV parks all over the continent, I realized that we were certainly not alone. Retirees may be in the majority when it comes to fulltime RVing, but there are far more young families enjoying this way of life than most people imagine (in addition to fulltiming grandparents who face similar issues as they raise their grandchildren on the road.) Most of the families we met in our travels were on the road with mobile occupations, such as construction, entertainment and telecommunications. It wasn’t until about six months ago that I discovered there were families all over America, in typical stationary lifestyles, who yearned to live on the road. I began "meeting" some of these families via the Internet, and their stories all sounded so similar. They want to see America while they are young and can share the experience with their children. Tired of the rat race, and the stresses of modern-day life, they want to find a simpler, more meaningful lifestyle. And they want to hit the road now! I began to see the need for a publication that would provide information about fulltime RVing with children, and enable these families to share ideas, experiences, and information. They needed to know they were neither crazy nor alone in what they wanted to do - or were already doing. Over and over I heard from people who expressed both surprise and delight to discover that there were others who shared their dream - or were already living it. The Families on the Road web site was published in July, 1998, and met with an overwhelming response. I received many email messages and letters, from families all over the globe, who were excited to discover a resource ‘just for them!’ The e-mail discussion list, started in August, continues to grow in members. And the bulletin board on the web site now has over 400 messages posted. (Visit her web site for how to sign up.) For years I have been searching for a publication that addresses fulltime RVing from the perspective of young families with children. But virtually everything written on fulltiming seems to be intended for retirees, or those without young children. As far as I know, Families on the Road is the only in-depth publication of it’s kind. I hope you find it useful. Please let me know how I can improve it. I feel that participation from all of you is vital to the success of this publication, so I invite your input. Please send me your questions and letters to the editor (I’ll print as many as I can!), experiences, suggestions for articles, tips, and resources you’d like to share. See you on the road! Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 1998-2002 Shelley Zoellick. Shelley Zoellick (email: RovinUSA@aol.com) is editor and publisher of Families on the Road Newsletter, a resource for families who RV fulltime or want to. Shelley has two websites: http://www.familiesontheroad.com and http://members.aol.com/rovinusa/. Her mailing address is: Families on the Road, 2601 S. Minnesota Avenue, Suite 105-191, Sioux Falls, SD 57105. |
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