Joan’s Boomer Blog

There’s something fascinating about the RV lifestyle, especially after 40 years of punching a time clock. My

Hit the road and enjoy views like this from your RV

husband was in the Navy for 30 years and I was a Navy Corpsman for 10 years, plus I moved around with my husband after our marriage. After years of living this way, every 3-4 years we tend to look around and say, “Where are we going next?”

Retirement should be a time of adventure and RV living means freedom and the open road. What could be better a better fit for a creative retirement?

I loved the movie Under the Tuscan Sun where the heroine takes a trip to Tuscany, buys an old villa and makes a totally new life for herself. To me, RV life is like that. My husband wants to work for two more years but we decided, if we go RVing for one year of that time, we can live on a fraction of what we are living on now, still putting away savings even without his current income. My own income comes from writing projects on the Internet so I can take my job along with me.

I’ve talked before in this blog about setting goals and writing them down. Our RV retirement goal is that within the next 18 months, we will sell our house and downsize our possessions and travel for one year, with stops of a few weeks here and there to visit family. When we return, we will take the RV to our lake property and live in it until we get our retirement home built there. We had to search for over 3 years to find a piece of property with no restrictions on living temporarily in an RV but we finally found it this past summer.

Is the RV retirement lifestyle for you? Here are some of the resources we’ve used in planning. Many of these offer free newsletters from people already living in an RV, either full time or part time.

RVLifestyleExperts.com I’ve gotten to know Jaimie Hall Bruzenak through the terrific ezine she puts out and I’ve read several of her RV lifestyle books, including Support Your RV Lifestyle! An Insider’s Guide to Working on the Road. This book, by the way, offers great ideas for earning extra income you could also use working from home. Jaimie and Alice Zyetz have put together a website packed with information and resources on living and retiring in an RV.

Read Alice’s article “Why Retire to an RV?”

There are also great articles on their website on RV budgeting and ways to save money living in an RV.

RVDreams.com - Howard and Linda Payne have put together a website offering information on all aspects of RVing, including links to Workamper sites. Workamping involves lining up jobs you can do on the road to help pay your expenses, such as signing up to be a park host to get free space rent. RV-Dreams has sells a great RV cookbook, plus there are many recipes on the site. Linda also helps support their RV lifestyle through her beadwork projects.

RVers are a friendly bunch and RVDreams also has a helpful forum where you can get all your questions answered by those who are already living the RV life.

RVNet offers an ezine and dozens of articles by different authors on all aspects of RVing. Most author also has a blog or website on the subject of the RV lifestyle worth checking out as well. There are articles on fitness in an RV, RV cooking, trip planning, Green Rving, Workamping, RV maintenance and much much more.

RV Escape Club - This club also offers one of the best mail services for RVers. If you’re on the road for a year or more, you will probably need a mail service to hold and forward your mail to you - wherever you are. Here is a link to some of their free ebooks. If you decide to become a member, you also get a bi-monthly magazine.

RVLife.com - RV Life offers a magazine, articles and blogs on Rving, fishing, golfing and travel. This digital magazine is free and has lots of terrific travel articles.

If you’re on Facebook, you can also connect with, and ask questions of, many others interested in RV living.

RV Club Forums

RV discussion groups are a useful place to find out more information from those with experience and knowledge. These RV Club sites have forums and and you don’t have to be a member to see them.

Good Sam Club- If you join the Good Sam Club, you can get disounts on many park fees, as well as other benefits.

Escapees RV Club- Great magazine with memberhips and lots of info on their website and forum.

How to Create an RV Budget

Here are some resources to help you set up an RV budget and see just how much money it would take to retire to an RV. Even though you may sell your permanent home, extra vehicles and other things that cost you money, there are certain expenses associated with RVing, such as insurance, park fees, and perhaps your vehicle payment to think about.

RV Lifestyle Experts - Preparing your RV budget - includes a worksheet.

RV Dreams - Sample Budgets and Expenses

Changing Gears offers a Budget for the RV Lifestyle

If you have an RV blog or resource you’d like to share, please feel free to post it in the comment section.

If you have dreams of retiring to an RV to live full time or want to take to the road on shorter trips after retirement, check out these resources and subscribe to a few blogs from those who are living the RV lifestyle. It won’t be long before you’re convinced this is the only way to retire!

Stay tuned in. I’ll be adding more resources as I discover them.

Now is the time to plan another fun and exciting summer vacation for your family’s enjoyment! Not sure where to go? The unique California desert offers unparalleled beauty and and many exciting attractions to keep the whole family busy and give you vacation memories to last a lifetime. The Antelope Valley is located in northern Los Angeles County and the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster both offer antelope valley hotels which will make your vacation memorable.

Lancaster, California, is a must see for anyone who loves aerospace attractions. Home to Edwards Air Force Base, Lancaster is full of aerospace history. Nearby Palmdale also has it’s share of aerospace industry attractions, as well as Dry Town Water Park and regional events for the kids.

Celebrate summer with lots of festivals in Lancaster and stay either at a lancaster california hotel or the nearby Staybridge Palmdale CA. Centrally located, you’ll be able to enjoy all the attractions of the Antelope Valley with ease.

Come to the California desert for your next vacation and enjoy friendly communities, lots of annual festivals and celebrations, aerospace themed events or shopping and lots of fun at one of the many street fairs. There’s something for everyone in the family in sunny California.

For Weddings and Big Events Try Sailing in San Diego

Sailing in San Diego offers the best of everything for your next big event - perfect weather, beautiful surroundings and lots of fun. Go on a whale watching watching cruise to see these gentle creatures in their natural habitat or take in dinner on a stunning sunset cruise, all while surrounded with the beauty of Mission Bay and the unique city of San Diego.

Each couple’s wedding should be as unique as the couple themselves. Imagine the magnificent backdrop for your once-in-a-lifetime wedding photos with a San Diego Cruise Wedding. You and your guests can glide through the temperate waters, enjoying a bountiful feast, and making memories to last a lifetime.

Getting married is one of the biggest events of your life and San Diego Weddings, especially while cruising in a beautiful sailboat is just the unique experience you are looking for.

If you’re an event planner for your business, attendees will love the idea of a Company Cruise San Diego. Corporate cruises in San Diego offer catered dinners from the city’s finest restaurants, with many meal and beverage options. Impress your guests and business associates with upfront views of San Diego’s beautiful skyline, marine life like dolphins, sea lions and whales, and impressive military aircraft carriers and submarines.

In beautiful, temperate San Diego, you never have to worry about the weather for your big event. Leave all your worries at home as you go sailing in San Diego.

Where to Find Great Senior Travel Discounts
Among baby boomers and seniors, travel is often a number one priority in retirement. Finding travel senior discounts can a great way to save money and, lets face it, saving money is fun too! Here are some great senior travel discounts to help you save money:

Senior Travel Tips and Discounts

Senior Discounts on Transportation

When you begin planning your trip, how to get there is the first thing on the list. These places offer senior discounts:

Greyhound Senior Discounts - Traveling by Greyhound bus allows you to really see the countryside and leave the driving to someone else - Plus it saves money over flying. Greyhound offers discounts for seniors of 5% on fares for those age 62 and older.

Amtrak offers a 15% discount for those age 62 and older. For those age 60 and older, Amtrak offers a 10% discount.

Hotels offering Senior Travel Discounts

Best Western offers a 10% discount for those over age 55, plus extras like early or late check-in, free room upgrades or complimentary continental breakfast.

Choice Hotels offers a 10% discount to seniors over age 50 and a 20-30% discount for those over age 60 with advance reservations.

Hyatt Hotels offer up to a 50% discount for seniors over age 62.

Marriot Hotels offer a 15% discount for over age 62, available for hotels worldwide.

Other Travel deals for Seniors

National Parks Senior Pass This pass is for seniors over age 62 and costs $10, which gives free or reduced rates at National Parks. The pass is valid for the lifetime of the cardholder so it’s well worth the $10!

Check out special seniors only tours like this Younger Next Year Boomer Ski Retreat or these Spring Training Travel Packages for Seniors. Besides the advantage of traveling with other seniors, great travel rates are built into these all-inclusive packages.

Travel specialists like VacationsToGo offer senior travel discounts on cruises and tours.

Check out Exploritas, formerly Elderhostel, which offers not-for-profit travel for learning and adventure for those over age 50. Over 8,000 different tours available in all 50 states and 90 different countries.

As always, if you are retired military, a member of AAA or other groups, be sure to check those discounts too when you travel. Sometimes the way to get a great deal is to ASK for it! One way to keep up with new discounts is to sign up for newsletters offered by sites like these:

AAA offers a newletter on discounts available

AARP members get discounts on travel items like airport parking, rental cars, at hotels and more.

Orbitz and others. Besides a newsletter, Orbitz offers many travel discount coupons to use when planning a trip through their website.

Be aware that sometimes the best senior travel discounts are available only on the website and sometimes, it’s best to call the hotel or place you’d like the discount to see what’s available. If you don’t see the discount on their site, call and ask.

If you’re traveling outside the continental US, make sure the senior discounts still apply. Also ask about possible restrictions. Sometimes better deals are available if staying during the weekdays as opposed to weekends, for instance.

This is just the tip of the iceburg in senior travel discounts. As I find more great discount sites, I will post them so keep checking back.

Want to retire and live the RV lifestyle? Full time RVing can be a rewarding way to spend retirement,

Support Your RV Lifestyle by Jaimie Hall

filled with fun and adventure. My husband and I are planning for full time RV living as soon as he retires in a year or so. Although people of all ages would love to live the RV life, retirees and others also need to make money on the road. Believe it or not, there are many ways to so this.

When we began our search for ways to support full time RVing, I purchased Jaimie Hall’s book Support Your RV Lifestyle! An Insider’s Guide to Working on the Road, 2nd Edition I highly recommend this book at a great RV lifestyle resource. Jaimie interviewed full time RVers for over 10 years and put together their tips and advice for working on the road.

It’s possible to take your job with you using her recommendations and resources. First, you need to evaluate how much money you need to make, what sorts of qualifications you already have for making money on the road and setting goals for yourself.

Hall covers setting up your own business that you can take with you while RVing, like writing, or how to find jobs at campsites, state parks or through tourism bureaus or temporary or seasonal work for RVers. She even has a section on managing your RV expenses and lifestyle considerations which are taken from stories told to Hall by other RVers.

The resources for those who want to live the RV lifestyle are worth the price of the book. Get a complete listing of state parks and tourism offices, tax information, grocery shopping and budget work sheets, websites for job searches, budgeting, using computers on the road, how to do a job search for the type of job you want, how to get hired at parks or resorts and so much more! I refer to this book again and again in our planning.

Since I like to write, I am already planning an RV blog about our travels. If you’d like to make money blogging about your experiences or some aspect of the RV lifestyle, visit the The Niche Blogger - a terrific resource that I used to help me set up my five money-making blogs. The Niche Blogger is a subscription site but you can learn all you need to learn in about 3 months of the subscription. You can cancel at any time and keep reusing the information to set up more blogs.

Jaimie Hall also has a free ezine and blog about her RV lifestyle experiences.

At present, my husband and I are RV shopping and downsizing our possessions so we can hit the road in another year. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

The highly anticipated match-up between Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Pride of the Phillepeans, Manny Pacquiano is finally set for Saturday, March 13, 2010, in Las Vegas, NV. The Mayweather/Pacquiano fight will be held at the MGM Grand, chosen because it can accommodate the expected 30,000 in ticket sales.

Mayweather fight tickets are available now. This match-up has been years in the making and will finally settle the longstanding dispute over who should be named boxing’s Welterweight Champion.

In fact, the winner of the Mayweather vs Pacquiano fight will ultimately become undisputed king of boxing in the entire world.

Cockiness vs humble humility - Who Will Win?

Mayweather fight tickets are selling fast! Get yours today.

Think Texas and think country music, rodeos and livestock shows. Texans love country music and

Brad Paisley will be in Houston March, 2010

rodeos and it’s well worth the trip to experience the Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show which takes place in March 2010. Over 1 million spectators come to this - the world’s largest rodeo - each year. This year the entertainment will include country entertainers Brooks and Dunn, Brad Paisley and Tim McGraw, and for the young at heart - the Jonas Brothers.

We live in North Texas and love going to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo each year. Although we’ve been to Houston several times for softball tournaments while my daughter was in college, this will be the first time we’ve attended Houston’s Rodeo and Livestock Show. The biggest decision is which one of the terrific shows to attend?

Besides the artists already mentioned, more will be announced in early January, with one show each day from Tuesday, March 2 to Sunday, March 21. Tickets are on sale now at RodeoHouston tickets. If you click on your preferred attendance date, there is a photo of exactly what you’ll see from that seat. Ticket prices vary according to the artist and the seating area so there is a price range suited for every pocketbook.

I grew up on a farm and I love seeing the kids with their animals. Going to a livestock show is a great chance to reconnect with my own youth.

Besides great entertainment, the Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show benefits youth and supports education, facilitating better agricultural practices through exhibitions and presentation. The first was held in 1932 and since then, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has contributed more than $250 million to scholarships, research, endowments, calf scramble participants, junior show exhibitors, and other educational and youth programs.

If you are considering a move in the Los Angeles area, whether it’s personal or commercial, consider local Los Angeles Movers Melrose Moving. Melrose Moving serves the Los Angles area and they are reliable, professional and - best of all - affordable.

Melrose Moving also provides well-trained packers and they can accommodate last minute calls, as well.

Read some feedback from satisfied customers. of take a look at the free moving tips on their website.

If you are moving within the Los Angeles area call toll free, 1-800-431-3920, to get a free moving quote. Why not trust your next move in Los Angeles to a local moving company?

One way to protect your identity while shopping is to use a prepaid card for your purchases which allows you to shop using a credit card, such as those provided by NetSpend, which is not linked to your personal information. A leading company which provides re-loadable prepaid debit card in the US, NetSpend’s debit cards even allow those with no traditional bank account or credit history to shop online, make reservations or pay bills.

Who uses NetSpend?:

• Teens managing their allowance - Teach your teen how to manage money by loading their allowance onto this prepaid debit card so they can make purchases anywhere.

• College Students - Give your college student son or daughter a NetSpend re-loadable debit card to help with expenses. Many college students have no bank account for using checks or their own credit cards and a prepaid card can be used anyplace, anytime.

• 84 million Americans have no traditional checking account and a prepaid card allows them to shop online, get airline reservations online, and make purchases without carrying cash.

• Low to moderate income users receive over one trillion dollars in payments from employers or state and government entities which can be put onto a prepaid debit card.

• Those with who don’t have credit histories or minimum balances which allow them to get debit cards from a bank.

• Those who want to shop online safely by using a prepaid card which isn’t tied to any personal financial information.

• Load the prepaid card before you take a trip so you don’t have to use personal credit cards when traveling.

A NetSpend prepaid card is just one more tool consumers of all ages and incomes can use to shop safely and securely to protect their sensitive personal information. Although this was a review for which I was re-embursed, I have used a NetSpend prepaid card when I was traveling and loved the convenience and security.