Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014 In Review

2nd Year of Fulltiming Summation
Posted from Casa Grande, AZ

It's the time of the year when so many bloggers post a "year in review" or a summation of what occurred during the year.  Well, I've decided to follow the leads of others and do a summary of a few of the "key" points during our first year of fulltiming.
I'm not going to re-hash the places we've been, nor show pictures of significant stops. Hey, that's what the past blog entries are all about.  Please feel free to look back at our blog during the first year if looking for something specific.

Ok, here goes.

We began 2014 in Casa Grande, AZ at Palm Creek Golf and RV and we liked the place so much that we decided to return for wintering over this year, so we ended the year there as well.
Due to a family health issue we traveled back to Virginia to spend some time in that area before heading up thru the midwest.  We attended a few rallies along the way, then turned north to take in some of the national parks in ND and MT.
It was getting toward the end of the year by now and time to begin our trek toward AZ.  We stopped at several locations in UT (planning to return) before arriving in Yuma, AZ and getting some dental work taken care of in Algodones, MX.
Click on this link if we're interested in viewing a map of our travels in 2014.
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Because I'm a bit anal when it comes to numbers and statistics here's a breakdown of our second year on the road showing a comparison to 2013.
Transportation Related

                                                  2013                  2014

Motorhome:        
       Miles Traveled                   9095                  8384
       Ave. MPG                           8.58                  8.40
       Total Cost of Diesel Fuel   $4162.53          $3781.76
        Ave. Price per Gallon        $3.61                $3.78

Honda Fit:                   
       Miles Traveled                    8592                7886
       Ave. MPG                           39.34               35.70
       Total Cost of Gasoline       $777.66           $674.96
       Ave. Price per Gallon         $3.56               $3.05

Camping Related (Figures include all utilities as well)

Total Cost                               $7387.21          $8942.69  
        Ave. Price per Day          $20.24             $24.50
        Shortest Stay                  1 night               1 night
        Longest Stay                   60 days             74 nights
Types of facilities (separate locations, not nights)
        Pr/Comm/Fairgrnd             18                  23 
        StPks/COE/CoPks              7                    3
        Member Pks (TT, SKP)       9                    6
        Tiffin Service Center            1                    1
        Dry Camp (Boondock)         1                    1
Total Locations                         36                 34

We actually camped in a total of 19 different states during the year of 2014 and stayed an average of 10.73 days in each location.
I have all of the budget line item figures for the year as well, but because this varies so much from person to person I've decided not to post charts for these figures.
Should anyone be interested in a "budget" item please do not hesitate to either leave a request in the "comment" section below or send us an email at the address listed in the top left portion of this blog page.
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Summation and General Comments Pertaining to the Second Year on the Road

Last year I used the phrase “we’ve had a blast during our first year of fulltiming”.  Well, that phrase continues to ring true in 2014. There is just so much to see, and so many places to visit in this beautiful country we live in.
Here's wishing everyone a safe travel year in the coming year.
Hopefully, we'll meet up with a few of you on the road this year.
(OF NOTE) We began writing this blog in December 2012, just prior to our fulltiming life on the road. We've now had over 117,000 page views to date. That’s an increase of 35% over the prior year. We never thought that so many people cared about what, and where we were.  We began this blog just as a "diary" for ourselves and to let our family know a bit more about our travels on the road.  THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS READ OUR BLOG!

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

12 comments:

  1. Happy New Year! Can't wait to see where you go in 2015! Cheers!

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  2. I enjoyed the recap with the figures and comparisons. Congratulations on another year!

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  3. We're numbers people to so we find yours very interesting. Looking at your map, you've done a lot of traveling in your first two years. You have as many states as we do in 4 years. But we seem to keep repeating. LOL

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    1. We'll probably be slowing down a bit in the coming year and spending longer times in areas we want to visit.

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  4. Thanks for the summary Steve. I always find it interesting (even though everyone is so different) to see what others have experienced over the year. AND DANG!!! You are getting good MPG on the MH.
    We found that people sharing some basic costs of full-timing helped us during our planning stages and like you share ours once a year as well. I just about have ours completed for posting as well.
    Hope to meet up with you guys at some point down the road,, HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

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  5. Thanks for the recap, being that this is our first year it is interesting to read the recaps to see how we are trending compared to others. We too started our blog as more of a diary and to keep friends back home informed and were amazed by the number or fellow RV readers!

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  6. Enjoyed the recap, have to get mine together if I'm going to do one. Happy New Year

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  7. I like your recap of numbers & your map is helpful to see. Have a great 2015!

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  8. We are upcoming full-timer's from Virginia. Just 352 days away. I have enjoyed reading your blog. I am interested in knowing more about your numbers. I sense we are like-minded and it would help validate our plans. Thanks in advance.

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    1. Please feel free to use the "Email Box" (top left, under the Home key) to ask specific questions.

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  9. Impressive numbers. Even more impressive is that you like to keep track of all those numbers. ;c)

    Hope to get a chance to cross paths with you this year!

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    1. Paul, those numbers are only the very tip of the iceberg. You should see my Excel spreadsheets.

      Hopefully, we will get to catch up with you guys again in the coming year.

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