Dec 31 - Reflections on 2011

Well, 2011 is now history and I, for one, am sad to see it go. The passage of another year, while inevitable, isn't something I look upon fondly. It simply reminds me that yet another year is gone, that I'll be one more numerical year older, that I'm one year closer to the end. Perhaps I'd feel better if, instead of celebrating the passage of another year, I try to celebrate a new day every morning.

In looking back, however, here are a few statistics from our 2011 fulltiming experience:

Dollars spent on camping/parking fees for the bus-house:  $3,996

Average per day cost of camping/parking (all days): $10.95

Average per day cost of camping/parking (paid days): $16.58

Number of free nights: 124

Number of camping/parking locations: 34
   (normal 50 - 60)

Number of days per stop: 10.4
   (normal 6 - 7)

Miles driven with bus-house: 6,631
   (normal 8,000 to 10,000)

Diesel fuel for bus-house: $3,612
   average price: $3.86/gal
   mileage: 7.95mpg

We spent more time parked this year than since starting the fulltiming thing in 2007. That's why our average days per stop shot up to 10.4... and why our miles driven dropped to only 6,631. But after more than four years it's still good to know that the total dollars spent on diesel fuel and camping ($7,608) is still less than our annual real estate tax bill on our previous house in the suburbs of Chicago.