Retirement in the countryside?

Cobroller

Cobroller

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My cousin retired from the Air Force several years ago and built a nice house on his share of the home place. Peace and quiet, chickens, dogs, a few steers and a garden. Ideal retirement in my opinion.

Yesterday, he comes in with a 5th wheel trailer. So now they are going to leave this nice place in the country, and live in a trailer, in a crowded trailer park, with lots of people with nothing to do but talk your ear off.

I'm afraid I don't understand the reasoning. What do you think?
 
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Depending on his age and income it might be unsustainable :(

Animals need care 7 days a week, feeding and water etc.

Acres of land need mowing, fences need upkeep and on and on.

It takes lots of money to have it done or good health to do it yourself.

He could be seeing the reality of the future and not wanting to deal with it all or have his wife of family deal with it later.



Cobroller said:
My cousin retired from the Air Force several years ago and built a nice house on his share of the home place. Peace and quiet, chickens, dogs, a few steers and a garden. Ideal retirement in my opinion.

Yesterday, he comes in with a 5th wheel trailer. So now they are going to leave this nice place in the country, and live in a trailer, in a crowded trailer park, with lots of people with nothing to do but talk your ear off.

I'm afraid I don't understand the reasoning. What do you think?
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Chickens, dogs, steers and a garden sounds a bit like work to me. When you have livestock and pets they need to be fed and the waste removed every day. I have a cat and when I go to hunting camp for a week I have to find someone to come over to feed him.

If the folks were going to take the trailer on the road it makes sense to me. Some folks do that for a couple of years after retirement. Usually after a couple of years you have seen the sights and then you settle down. To just set the trailer in a park and live like rednecks in a trailer park isn't my idea of a pleasant retirement.
 
The dog is old, the chickens may be nearing the soup stage, and the steers are a summertime project. I suppose these will be short term trips. They usually have no problem with short term care for the projects with kin and neighbors nearby.
 
Wheelgun28 does make some practical points, but that trailer-park stuff... :eek:

I took it from your earlier post that this was a semi-permanent arrangement - "life on the road" sort of thing. If they are just traveling a few weeks at a time, 2-3 times/year, I guess I could understand that.

Actually, I would dread dragging that trailer around more than I think I would the trailer-park atmosphere. Driving with a trailer is a darned nuisance. :(
 
The rules change the older you get. I am going on 72. I started out in a country general store. From there to a few acres in the country with a few cows etc but dad worked in town. From there to 6 months of sleeping in a tent or under the stars in yosemite to another 6 months in a bunkhouse in the tetons. Later a few years working around the states in a 17 ft travel trailer. Many cheap batchlor apartments and small cabins. Finaly mortages in town like everyone else.
I retired and it isnt quite like I visualised. We moved here to cedar city utah on the edge of town but walking distance to BLM, open spaces forever and on the edge of the mountains.
The wife insisted we live near a hospital and walmart. We do. I have to agree it was smart as the hospital might have saved my life twice now when I almost blead to death from surgerys of my nose being removed and comeing apart at home.
We got two cats that are like kids and they keep us from going on trips over a few days. On jobs when I was young I lived in the wilderness. When you are stranded in it for a time it CAN GET boreing. I do like going to it often. We do a lot of trail rideing with a quad. If not doing that I must get out every day even if its only for a couple hours. Many times it involves driveing to beaver or panguitch 50 to 70 miles away just to split a breakfast at dinner time!
 
That's why I built a condo when I retired, no maintenance I can take off whenever I want to and have no worries about having to take care of things. But, I'm usually a homebody and like to get to the ranges whenever I feel like it. I belong to three different ranges that support whatever my current shooting interests are.
 
Last night we went to our atv club`s christmas party. I would guess there was about 20 to 25 couples there. Almost all of us are retired. We are from all walks of life. A teacher, retired sheriff, hospital worker, past business owners, truck drivers, you name it. The main thing we have in common of course is the love of trail rideing. Its a mix of retired people maybe professionals, blue collars etc but we all get along. Funny. Most of them look alike to me! I cant even keep their names straight, theresa does that.
Point is we all live here in the same area. Most that sat in our section were also from southern california like us. Most were talking about getting back from trips to other states recently. We all like it here.
 
The Tourist said:
Tempus fugit. If you're not doing exactly what you want you're dribbling your life away for nothing.
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Amen brother, you couldn't have said it better.

I love the guys who honk and beep at you and can't wait to get around you in the morning. They fly into work, trot across the parking lot, rush to their desk, throw down there lunch and keys and say "God I hate this job". :eek: :D
 
Just to give you another slant, I volunteer on a National
Wildlife Refuge. Every spring another motor home pulls in with a couple who are spending the summer as volunteers. The woman usually works in the visitor center and does clerical work, the man in grounds keeping, etc. They hook up their motor home to the government utilities and stay free. In the fall they leave for another 6 months at a different refuge, usually in the south. A win/win, the government gets volunteers and they get a free place to stay. And with over 500 refuges, a couple can stay at 2 different ones each year and never see them all.
 
We have friends that are camptenders in various areas, summer and winter. They get their free hookups AND some salery.
 
The bottom line for me is that I need to be near medical care and competitive grocers, etc.

My ex lives out in the sticks and stores all charge more than in Dallas, and if she had a medical emergency, especially if the roads got icy...:rolleyes:

Also, rural stores have very limited selection of products.

Finally, if you need a cop, you may not get one soon. And if youur car breaks down, who's gonna tow?


I DO NOT recommend a trailer, and not just for social image. In a tornado, they suffer far more and more often than do houses or apartment buildings.
 
If he is going to give up the place in the country and stay in the 5th wheel trailer full time then I don't understand. If he is keeping the place in the country and going to travel at times, then I do understand. There are lots of interesting people when rv-ing and you get to meet lots of nice people and friends. I have to have a home to come back to. There is no place like your home as far as I am concerned. I guess I am old school. I know I am. I see people that live in motorhomes and trailers and do it full time but I could never do that. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

__________
James
 
We decided on a condo, 1400 sq ft 3 bedroom is plenty. Our 3 dogs keep us close to home, as it's way spendy to board them.


Perhapes they got lonely.

We are near the Walmart, Temple and Church.
PLENTY to do !
 
If he was AF he is used to what I call crowds. That may be more of a motivator. I prefer to know I have neighbors because I can see their chimney smoke in the distance rather than hear them.
 
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