Nice blogs. Keep em going

thx kill

This is def one of the coolest things I've read about in a while.

i really am very surprised and impressed. i was SURE i would get several flames or semi-flames. its really cool to get a bit of support from a community that i care about.

thx adam.

your living the dream of many people.
traveling around the country
playing poker
no set schedule
you will look back at this as one of the best times in your life.
plus you,ve been bitten by the RV bug
their is no better way to travel.

so awes

i will say one thing tho: there are CHEAPER ways to travel! gas............

im so jealous, wish i could afford to do this. how much do you expect the whole trip to cost. What have you budgeted for each week etc

yo crazy...the budget is to TRY to keep all the bills below $2.5k, but prolly $3k/ month is more realistic. that doesnt include all the start up costs of rv and all that. the "cost" of the trip is actually less than livin in my house tho, as i dont now have cable/home phone/electricity/gas/garbage/water/sewer...which all together cost over $300/month i would say. we lose the wifey's salary obv, which is the biggest hit. the bottom line is i think this lifestyle is sustainable perpetually, so long as i had a renter in my house (and we wanted to do it of course). we will have to keep watch on the discretionary expenses like eating out perhaps a bit more. a couple pluses tho are the free parking that is available around the country at walmarts, casinos, and BLM land, as well as the savings of $200+ per month of wifey commuting gas.

sounds like a sweet time

stop playing blackjack seriously

thx playoffs, i will try!

Great thread and blog. My GF and I hope to do this type of thing in a few years. We also hope to live on boat for at least a year to travel around. Any reason you did not take your motorcycle along? We are thinking it would be nice for sightseeing.

thx jim. my only advice is to put your all in to going for it. it brings to mind some things i wanted to discuss: im not sure what you would call it, maybe "the accepted american dream" or something. i just dont subscribe to the normal dream of go to college, get a career working for the man (or even if you dont, put in 50 hour weeks becoming "successful"), have kids, wait to die. i see a lot of people who have good lives, but are just not happy, or are disollusioned with what they are doing. i cant even say that i havent felt that way a LOT over the past couple years either, just because i havent really been doing anything. the bottom line: just make sure youre satisfied with where youre heading in life.

we thought about the boat thing. that would probably be even better, however there are more risks i think. we have NO experience with boats (or rvs for that matter), and my friend who does have experience, and has done an 8 month trip in one advised us against it. we tried to get him to commit to a year and come along as "captain", but he decided against it.

the motorcycle wasnt practical to bring along. basically, you have to choose either a car or trailer to tow. i dont really see how you could take both. we got a dog about 3 years ago, and ever since then i have never used my motorcycle, as i always like to take my dog along wherever i go. im getting a bit old for bikes too; well maybe thats not correct, but i have ridden motorcycles since i was 20 (am 39.5 now), and even commuted full time on one for two years, so the lustre is just gone with them for me i suppose.

Sounds sick... I want to do this.

^^do it, NOW! lets meet up.

in vegas, and paid up for one week. wont play one minute of live poker.

nice mahps soundes pretty awesome dude. wifey must be cool too. have a good time dude and dont get pulled over with weed in the rv. or have a good hiding spot at least ...glgl

thats maybe something to blog about lol. i have actually never smoked weed. imagine that. thx higgy. respek

Doing sumtin like your doing couldn't ever be a bad thing. I wish I did it more.. which I did travel alot until my wife graduated and got a job nursing. She has to put a year in before she goes contigent or decides to stop working that way she'll have no problem getting a job at a different place. When that time comes I will be doing some serious traveling.

One thing I feel though is to get the true sense of free spirit and traveling, you really need to get rid of the computer.

Why not just let your wife work then travel for the months she gets off in the summer and leave poker/computer out while your travling. Seems like your time traveling would be better quality. It ain't gonna be fun if you start running bad that's for sure.

You can also throw a vaca or 2 in while she's working.

^^very interesting thoughts. i will certainly admit that "running bad" can cause problems with my mood. i have continued throughout the last two years to focus on the mental part of the game, and really try to improve my mental attitude. i think most good online players would say that the mental part of the game is at least half the battle. also, i feel that i have progressed to a point where i can beat the levels that i play, over the long run, so the down periods come less often, and also when i do run bad i can chalk it up to varience easier. i dont think that its feasable to just go offline for me personally. i hear what youre saying, but staying connected is part of what i like in life also. i play fantasy football, i LOVE all forms of racing, and look at the news daily, keep in touch with friends/family, among many other online interests. of course, the income is necessary also. anyway, great points playfordamoney, and would love to hear more from anyone else.

gl dude.

I'm doing similar, but in a canal boat

what is a 'canal boat'?

Hey there M.A.H.P.'s

I've been logging onto this thread once a week or so to see what U R up to.

Obv. everyone thinks what U R doing is a great idea, most of us are jealous that we don't have the mean$ / balls / courage to drop out & do what U R doing, so major props to you, and for nabbing a wife whose willing to go along w/ this idea! She must be quite the catch . . .

In my early 20s I dropped out of college for a year & did the same thing, albeit in a customized van--I circumnavigated the USA in 8 months. A buddy of mine went along for the first three months, and then I went solo for the last five.

No doubt gas is your major expense--how many miles per gallon does your RV get? 8 . . . 10?

For what they're worth, a few suggestions:

Try to stay off the interstate as much as possible--they're all the same, they've got no soul, & it's along the small highways & byways that you'll see the interesting stuff.

Try to get out of your RV as much as possible. When U R in National Parks, take the time to park & hike away from the tourist "loops" as much as possible. Even walking 20 minutes away from the road & into the park will give you a whole new experience & perspective of the park. If at all possible ditch the RV every once in a while and camp out in nature.

Do some advance planning so that you visit cool places while interesting events are occurring. For example, plan it so that you're in Telluride during one of their music or film festivals, or that you're in New Orleans during Jazz Fest. Yea, things will be more expensive & crazier during those times, but unless your crowd phobic, years later you'll probably have better stories to tell.

Ask all of your family/friend/former co-workers to call their friends & family along your route, tell them about you and what you are doing, and ask them to invite you over to their house for dinner or out for drinks or to show you around their town. When I was on my trip, it was great to have people show me around their hometowns of NYC, D.C., Boulder, CO, Taos, NM, etc.

Check out couchsurfing.org and think about joining (it's free) and creating your own profile. Afterwards you can search for interesting people living in cities along the way, contact them in advance via email, introduce yourself, and tell them that although you don't need a place to stay, you'd enjoy meeting them for coffee and perhaps have them show you around their town for an hour or two. There are some very interesting people on this site who have lived interesting lives, and no doubt many of them would be extremely interested in what u r doing and would love to meet you. I have no doubt you'd meet some very cool people if you did this, and maybe even make a new friend or two.

Really looking forward to reading about your epic adventure over the weeks and months ahead! Feel free to PM me for whatever reason, and when you head to south Florida, please get in touch--in exchange for some good conversation & a few poker tips, dinner's on me!

great post pride; lots to chew on.

first, thanks for the positive comments. yes, wifey is awesome! sounds like a great trip you experienced. i think i would get lonely solo though. leaving my friends was a hardship, but most of them have kids now, so their priorities have changed. that was another of the reasons i decided to go on this trip. gas is about 7-8mpg i think, though we have yet to really pin it down exactly. a lot of the gas pump nozzles are different, strange as it is, and its sometimes hard to get a full tank, while other times its no problem. going to the gas station is now the most stressful aspect of my life! it sorta sounds silly to write it down, but i got in to my little accident at one, and im always worried about hitting something, or being able to get out of the tight spaces in the stations. i use a gas buddy website to find the lower prices, but sometimes these stations have less room. i have already found that things are more interesting off the interstates. we havent been on one this trip, actually, except the very first day. great idea on the advance planning. that is a give and take with our need to have as free a schedule as possible. i would like to see the 12 hours of sebring next year, the kentucky derby, a tennessee VOLS game, and some other racing related things. the only thing we have semi planned right now is to visit quartzite, AZ at some point during the huge rv flee market. we have heard about this from a number of people, so it sounds like a must see. it runs for several months tho, so no specific dates planned.

yes, probably my biggest struggle is finding people to visit. my hope is that some people from home will take advantage of our free place to stay, and come see us, but i would also like to meet new people and meet up with them too. i have heard of couchsurfing, but thought it was more for people to crash with others. perhaps i should check it out. thanks for the generous offer. i will definitely keep it in mind!

such drunken fun on the vegas strip last night! lost $5 on 'black' roulette, then won $15 on 'black' roulette...only bets of the night! besides those two bets, i have made 6 total blackjack bets (up $7), and played $10 of free slot play (cashed out with $10.04, lol). ate at billy bob's steakhouse, which was pretty good, but not great. $100 meal there (not my norm), for celebration of a very good poker night prior. i really dont understand how some people make the all-in plays they do.

OP, I live in Bend, Oregon now but I was living in Corvallis before I left for Europe about 5 months ago. I haven't been to Crater Lake but I want to go after looking at your pics.

^^oh man, ya you were so close! crater lake was cool, but i think i actually like bend the best of anywhere we have been so far. VERY cool town, and the newberry volcanic monument had so much variety, and interesting stuff. hope things are well in europe.

time for a wasted day of fantasy football...

leaving tomorrow to head to the grand canyon.