2020 for us started out with the aspect of slowing down one day. Where would we go? How much would it cost? Are there medical facilities around? Stores? Banks? etc.
Are we tired of traveling? No, not yet. But, the day will come and you have to keep the reality of life in focus. The reality of life is; you are going to slow down whether you want to or not. You’re still going to have bills to pay. You’re going to want a grocery store close. You’ll need Dr.’s and a Dentist. In your 30’s you don’t think much about this kinda thing, right?
Being out here in the desert makes you reflect on your life. There’s no way you can’t reflect. It’s quite at night, it’s gorgeous, it’s large, the sky is gorgeous, and the folks are friendly. And for me, experiencing my Dad dying recently has really made me stop and think about my own Exit Plan from this lifestyle we choose. And Trapper and I have talked about and are seriously looking, this year, for an exit plan place or at least put a strategy in place.
Trapper and I are 63 and 55 respectively but an exit plan is our top topic for 2020. We’re going to keep looking as we travel around. Point being we’re not getting any younger.
In 2018 ~ 15 months ago, when we started our full time RV’ing experience… exiting this lifestyle wasn’t on our list. This year (2020) it is. So, what are we doing about it? What happened? What made us think about this?
We started making plans to scope the desert out; primarily Arizona, Nevada, Utah.
Purposely, we scheduled ourselves to be in Benson, AZ to check out a couple of annual sites, prices, and amenities around a couple of campgrounds. That was the ONLY reason we stopped there. And we weren’t too impressed so we scratched that place off the list. It was dull and honestly boring.
The manager did, however; offer me a job there (for next season) but the “rent” vs. “reward” was too low on the reward side. Although it was a great place for a couple weeks. We really didn’t like the area enough that we thought it would be a good settling place for us a few months of the year.
After going to Quartzsite, AZ for a couple weeks we choose to go down to Yuma, AZ. I didn’t take any photo’s of the campground in Yuma. You can find it online here https://www.rvonthego.com/arizona/suni-sands-rv-resort/
It was so tight we had to ask the neighbor to move his SUV so we could get out when it was our departure day. It was miserably tight, but it’s a cool town and great active park.
You can have all your medical needs met either in the States or Mexico (for dental, prescriptions, etc), Vet’s (animal vets) are abundant, and supplies/groceries are at hand. It’s the only town I’ve been in that has 4 Wal-Mart’s!
Yes, Yuma, AZ is a snowbird town, but this was the most active 55+ campground we’ve been to yet. And the price was reasonable…. around $3,500 lot rent for the year. I don’t think we’d like being here in 115 degree weather in the summer, but hopefully we wouldn’t be there in the summer months but rather back east with family.
We both like Wickenburg, AZ very well, but they have limited long-term stay campgrounds. The town has everything you could need and if you need more drive east about 25 minutes and you can find the bustling town of Surprise, AZ. If you were to need to have major healthcare services, Phoenix is a short hop.
Age dictates. And you have to pay attention to it. You have to make plans and scope out places that might accommodate you as you get older. At this moment… I think Yuma, AZ wins – so far, Trapper says Wickenburg… We’ll see as our travels continue.