Is The Shop Good Enough?

I hear you. Have had several friends that did that exact thing. From what they told me, it got very old but as they had sold everything, they had no place to go. Some were going to use the travel to find new homes somewhere in the country. Only one I know of did, the rest ended up missing friends and family (not necessarily in that order) and ended up back in the same place they started from, but had to settle for less as prices had gone up.

Like many others I have to have a home base. We love to travel, and on occasion have been gone as long as 4 months. Near the end we both get tired of being on the road, and are looking forward to getting home. Our last long trip was last summer to Alaska. We started in late June and got back home early in September. We passed on going south this winter so we could catch up on all the things we let slide while we were gone. As it turned out we still haven.t done more than a couple days "camping" this summer. We're currently packing for a 2 week trip to the UP of Michigan. If all goes as planned we'll leave early tomorrow morning.

Traveling is a good thing, but to me it has to be a predefined time period and destination. I can't just go wander around for weeks or months on end. During my working years I spent literally months at a time on the road. If I recall correctly the longest stint was 260 days in a single year. It did get old, but at least I felt as though I was accomplishing something. Either building an entire new production facility, remodeling one from the ground up, or installing new production lines.

It was a good life and paid well. What I can't believe is that my wife encouraged me to do it. Come to think of it she always mentioned that "uncle Bill" would come around regularly to help her out. Bill must have been a lot of help because every time I came home she was smiling. I'm still a little confused though. Over the years I swear I've met all her aunts and uncles, but I've never met one named Bill. Oh well.
 
^^^ I was gone for 50% of my life for 15 years. Unfortunately during the time my kids were growing up. I kept seeing charges for Juan the pool man. I don't think we ever had a pool. *Shrug* ^^^
Traveling gets old real quick for me. I love my home.
 
Like many others I have to have a home base. We love to travel, and on occasion have been gone as long as 4 months. Near the end we both get tired of being on the road, and are looking forward to getting home. Our last long trip was last summer to Alaska. We started in late June and got back home early in September. We passed on going south this winter so we could catch up on all the things we let slide while we were gone. As it turned out we still haven.t done more than a couple days "camping" this summer. We're currently packing for a 2 week trip to the UP of Michigan. If all goes as planned we'll leave early tomorrow morning.

Traveling is a good thing, but to me it has to be a predefined time period and destination. I can't just go wander around for weeks or months on end. During my working years I spent literally months at a time on the road. If I recall correctly the longest stint was 260 days in a single year. It did get old, but at least I felt as though I was accomplishing something. Either building an entire new production facility, remodeling one from the ground up, or installing new production lines.

It was a good life and paid well. What I can't believe is that my wife encouraged me to do it. Come to think of it she always mentioned that "uncle Bill" would come around regularly to help her out. Bill must have been a lot of help because every time I came home she was smiling. I'm still a little confused though. Over the years I swear I've met all her aunts and uncles, but I've never met one named Bill. Oh well.
I can relate to this....I spent three years working on the road. The company promised trips home every five weeks but after three years it averaged out to be every 10 weeks. Longest stint was three months. I was newly married and it took a real toll.
 
Jeff... it seems you answered your own question by airing it out. Family is important to you (and me) and to leave your current home just to have something bigger would not make you happy. I find that the more stuff I have and the bigger the house does not equate to happiness.
I am retired but have an income for another 12 years. We will (must) have everything paid off by then (i will be 67). We sold our house last year and built a new house and shop on 22 acres. I love it here but having a small home and no debt would have been nice. unfortunately I am not the only one making decisions.
 
When I first graduated from college, I was a field service rep for Transamerica Delaval Engine and Compressor Div. They manufactured large industrial engines. The largest was a 20 Cyl diesel engine with 15" bore and 21" stroke, turning 450 rpm and producing about 15K BHP. I traveled around the world working on these engines either in power plants where they generated electricity for municipalities or onboard ships where they were used as main propulsion. Spent 90% of my time traveling. The last assignment I had as a service rep was 1.5 years in St Croix in the Virgin Islands. Great life for someone straight out of college but it gets real old.

For Boeing as a Procurement Financial Analyst I traveled to Japan 2-4 times a year for 1-3 weeks at a time which stopped about 3 years ago. At my age, traveling is not something I enjoy doing any more. I like to be home at night. Although this lock down is pushing that a bit too far.

Living on board our boat for the last 10 years feels a lot like traveling for that same period of time. It was great for the first 3-4 years but the longer we are on board, the less I enjoy it and the less we use the boat. Use to spend 2-3 weeks a year cruising the San Juan Islands. Now we go to the fuel dock once a year for our big trip. We dream a lot about having a house again and don't talk much about traveling at all. But I am sure that will change with time also.
 
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