Welcome to Sailing On Dry Land. Annie and I and our two large cats — Inyo and Cody — have been full-timing in our RV since 10/24/15. We live this new life on a rather modest budget so we gravitate to all things FREE — or at least very low cost. So far, we haven’t paid to sleep a single night yet and taking on water and dumping our tanks has been FREE (with one $10 exception) as well. We haven’t had to dip into the money we saved for this big adventure yet so life is very good indeed! We plan to fill this site with pics and stories of our many adventures to come and hope you’ll decide to join us. Please feel free to add your comments at any time. Let us know what you like and what you’d like to see more of.

JIM & ANNIE

PS ~ Be sure and check out  “Annie’s Corner” for more pics and “stuff”.

sail4free
sail4free@zoho.com

19 thoughts on “Welcome to Sailing On Dry Land!

  1. Hi guys!,

    I have been following RVSue and saw your recent comment. I am looking forward to following your adventures.

    1. ==========
      Welcome aboard! If you subscribe (if you haven’t already — see Stay Updated box = upper right), you’ll get an Email notification whenever we post something new. Per your scary Avatar, there *is* a way to change it (to a pic of you or whatever else you want). Scope out this link:
      https://en.support.wordpress.com/gravatars/
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      No judgment here! If you need more assistance with getting it changed, my brother is a webmaster and our personal guru whenever we get in over our heads. We can press him into service and — guaranteed — he’ll help us figure it out.
      ==========

      1. Hey Jim! Thanks for the link on the avatar change. Its the first time that av has shown up, since I don’t have a pick it is usually a simple colored graphic. Looking forward to your updates!
        Safe travels!
        Dan

        1. Thanks Dan. Sounds like the gravatar is a Word Press thing — only shows when you comment at Word Press blogs, etc. Let me know if you want any help getting it changed — or perhaps you’ll learn to like it eventually. :o)

  2. I cant retired yet but this is my childhood dream. Thank you for sharing your adventure and your smart ideas for living full and not wasting money

    1. Thanks for your interest *and* visiting our blog. It was fun doing the videos with Bob and we’re happy about the overwhelming and positive response! I hope you make it out here soon. The nearly universal lament among fulltimers is “Why didn’t we do this five years ago?” Some details can be duked out “later” — you’ll have plenty of time once you’re living the dream 🙂

  3. Hello,
    I saw your video’s on youtube done by Bob Wells, great stuff! Your interview provided me with good info. I also retired at 62 last year, got rid of all my debt and now I’m going to finish downsizing my belongings and will be hitting the road this fall. I’ve pretty much always had a van and have lived in one a few times with my dog. Now its time to realize my dream to, plus traveling the Southwest will make it easy to visit my parents in Ariz. Thanks for all the info, I subscribed to your site and look forward to seeing more posts. Take care and enjoy!!! Steve and Bubba the dog!!!

  4. Thanks for the compliments Steve and we hope you make it out here soon. It truly is the best of all possible lives (in our humble opinion). When I was single, I had smaller rigs too 🙂 Before I met Annie the big plan was me and the two cats in a large slide-in truck camper. Fortunately we got to spend those five months living in the fifth wheel before we hit to the road fulltime. That allowed us to appreciate the *big* difference between camping and using an RV as your house. One thing very nice about a smaller place is it encourages one to get outside more and more fully experience your natural surroundings. I’m sure you and Bubba will have a great time — this lifestyle seems to be a natural for dogs. Happy Trails! 🙂

    1. Hi Jim,
      Thanks for the optimistic thoughts and info, I also truly believe this life is the way to go, and also makes for healthier living to. I see you had some practice runs living in your trailer before you actually hit the road. I to will be making some short runs this summer to make sure everything is good before traveling to the other side of the country. Hopefully this fall I’ll see you and others I see on this site when I get there. I plan on towing a small utility trailer with me carrying all my mechanics tools, both for my own use and to help out others with needs for repairs or service. I will have a generator and compressor and small welder besides all my mechanics tools. Have a great time and look forward to more posts. Enjoy!!!

  5. ==========
    Thanks Steve for your reply. If you’ve never been to an RTR (Rubber Tramp Rendezvous) hosted by Bob Wells at cheaprvliving.com it’s a good introduction to the lifestyle. We went our first winter but we aren’t very good groupies as it turns out and prefer to be off by ourselves. With the cats, we also don’t want them stressed 24/7 with all the dogs running around 🙂 If you like helping others, you’ll find plenty of opportunity for that at the RTR as well — just save some fun time for yourself 🙂 Depending on the situation — and how much they want done — it also doesn’t hurt to charge some for your labors . . . just communicate that clearly going in so there are no misunderstandings later.
    ==========
    I enjoyed the chili feed, etc. but it seems Annie is even a bit more adverse to large crowds that I am — who would’ve thunk it? 🙂
    ==========

    1. Hi Jim,.
      Your welcome for the reply. I can relate to your take on the RTR, I do plan on going to the next one but like you am not exactly good in large groups, I can socialize for a bit but prefer the company of smaller groups. Also I can relate to being careful with your cats, I’m a dog owner but I always respect other people’s pets and realize that my dog would stress out a cat just by being there. I used to own cats but a dog suits my lifestyle better because I like to hike. As for helping people out at the RTR that is one of the main reasons I want to go, I believe in helping others because its the right thing to do and I get a real feeling of satisfaction doing it, and paying it forward does come back to you eventually. Depending on the size of the repair getting paid for the work would depend on what it was and the other person’s ability to pay, whether its with money or maybe even just a meal or some other form of barter. But you are right, I would lay my cards out at the begining and make sure we understand whats what before we start. But I’m certainly not doing it to get rich, just paying for the parts ect. would be the big part and after that, whatever. Anyway, sorry I got so winded but you hit on a good subject. Thanks again for the info and I wish you both and your cats good health and lots of fun, see you at the RTR!!! Steve

  6. ==========
    I LOVE dogs too but ended up with these two large cats (brothers) and I *really* believe in commitment for life when it comes to pets — whichever one of us manages to check out first 🙂 We didn’t make it to the RTR this year and not sure we will next year either *but* if you’re in the area, keep us in mind — always happy to meet folks in person whom we have befriended online. We usually start out our winter season at The Slabs and make our way from there. This was our big project for this winter just past:
    http://sailingondryland.com/building-our-barn/

    ==========
    So, of course, we have to check on our barn and see what we can do to take it to the next level. Several folks in the area rent out their “constructs” via air bnb and we might try to do the same? As much for fun as a little bit of extra income? Coming up will be winter #3 for us — hard to reconcile how quickly the time flies by when you’re having fun 🙂

    1. Hi Jim,
      Good man!! Yes taking responsibility for taking care of your pet for the duration of its life is a good thing. To often people get a pet and then decide later on they don’t want it and its off to the pound. That’s why the dog I have now and the previous three are all rescue’s, its the right thing to do, there are plenty to go around so anyone thinking of getting a pet should at least check it out as an option. As for the RTR I will be all around the area and I will be staying in touch so hopefully we can run into each other at some point. Meanwhile enjoy your summer, everyday is a gift, live it to the fullest.

  7. Sounds good Steve. We’ll for sure be back in this area again next winter — especially now that we have our passcards and can venture into Mexico for low-cost dental, optical, prescriptions, etc. We celebrated our anniversary in Mexico this year = two gourmet dishes (we took pictures!), two rounds of fancy Margaritas and even with a 20+% tip, it was $25US all in. Lets stay in touch and plan to meet at or near the RTR in January 2018. As soon as we get our damaged landing gear leg replaced (maybe tomorrow?) we’ll be heading east and north through AZ to spend some time in Moab, UT before we head home — planning to be in Boise area by the end of May if not sooner 🙂

    1. Hi Jim,
      Hope all is well with you two, the weather is finally warming up out here. I’ve been busy going through all my “stuff” and downsizing to what I really need and as little as possible, I see why its so tough, the things I have been getting rid of, but it does feel good at the end. I bought a small trailer to put all my belongings and tools in so everything is going great. Hope to be on the road soon. Meanwhile I keep checking out the you tube video’s for more info. Take care and enjoy!!!!

      1. Hi Steve — dunno’ if I’m just now seeing your comment? We try to respond in a more timely fashion 🙂 Sounds like you’re making good progress on the dream. We’re currently camped at my brother Greg’s house in Eatonville, WA — part of what we’ve started calling our month-long Northwest Tour — headed to Portland mid-July and then back to Boise area to work on our boat project! We’re still loving this life — hard to imagine a more kick-back and low cost way to live!

  8. Hi Jim and Annie –

    Just saw your interview on cheaprvliving. Loved seeing that you travel full time with two cats. We are planning to hit the road full time soon and I’m concerned about how our 11 year old indoor cats will adapt. The only time they travel now is to the vet, so it will be quite an adjustment for them. I’m curious if you have any words of advice. They mean the world to us and I can’t imagine leaving them behind. We plan to transition them slow and spend quite a bit of time in the RV with them before we move it. Oh- and I absolutely love the outdoor play area you have for your cats!!

    Also- I noticed that you retired from Idaho DOT as a carpenter. Our nephew was a carpenter for Idaho DOT for many years. His name was Matt and he was based out of Lewiston. Any chance you know him?

    Keep living the dream and maybe our paths will cross next winter in the desert!

    1. If you have a motorhome, some folks start out with their cats in carriers (comfy towel or small blanket in the bottom) and open the doors at some point and prop or tie them open somehow. Often that will become their ‘retreat’ whenever they get scared or nervous — and the carrier (especially with a towel thrown over it) may become one of their favorite places to sleep. We tow our 33′ fifth wheel with our truck and the boys have their Kittie Kondo in a large basement storage area (food & water on one side; cat box on the other). We can’t see or hear them while we’re going down the road (we have no audio or video monitor) so we just assume they’re having a gay old time. 🙂 They never seem the worse for wear when we stop, but we *have* learned to give ’em 20 minutes or so to calm down before we open any of their access panels — especially if we’re not in an area that is completely safe for them. I think that — like kids — our pets are capable of adjusting to new environments better than we most often give them credit for. Our boys still aren’t used to riding on our boat and they pant and look all stressed out but they’re only 6 so it may be different with your older ones. We plan to use our boat for some longer, multiple-night trips and I’m confident the boys will adapt but it may take a day or two. Thanks for your comment! I would definitely take all your pets with you — they’ll end up loving it as much as you do — given half a chance. JIM

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