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Rambling Retirees Trade Home for Boats, RVs, Sofas
Reuters ^ | October 12, 2012 | Lou Carlozo

Posted on 10/14/2012 2:40:00 AM PDT by floridavoter2

At 68, Barbara Miller Elegbede is living proof that flower children need not grow up.

A self-described hippie, she attended a San Francisco college at psychedelia's height and remembers friends constantly crashing on the couch of her apartment, just a block away from Janis Joplin's pad in the hip Castro neighborhood.

Now retired from teaching and secretarial work, Elegbede, 68, has become a full-time "couchsurfer" herself, living in other people's guest quarters all over the world. (She has a temporary apartment in Tempe, Arizona.)

"I've lived in Africa. I know how to take a bath from a bucket ... I've lived in caves in Greece and hitchhiked all over the world. Next year, I'm off to India for two or three months."

Call Elegbede one of the "rambling retirees": folks who give up the senior community or a comfy house for a life of constant travel. And they're not all hippies.

(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
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To: floridavoter2
At 68, Barbara Miller Elegbede is living proof that flower children need not grow up.

That, in a nutshell, captures everything that is wrong with the liberal side of the Baby Boomers. A group of petulant children who never grew up -- whether it was sex or parental responsibiity or paying as they went and being responsible for themselves. The country is worse off today than it was in the early 60s, and its because the "flower children" never felt the need to grow up.

21 posted on 10/14/2012 6:16:21 AM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: floridavoter2
"... I know how to take a bath from a bucket..."

These flower children are so behind the times. I learned how to take a bath from a bucket in Viet Nam 1968. Glad to see your making progress dirt bag.

22 posted on 10/14/2012 6:44:03 AM PDT by mosaicwolf (Strength and Honor)
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To: norwaypinesavage

Houseboat - maybe. RV - no. Often the only place to park it is in RV camps where you’re 5 feet from four other campers and three of them have noisy smoky campfires all night.

&&&
We take quite a few trips with our camping — heading out today, AAMOF. We stay in state parks whenever possible because, unlike privately owned parks, they provide you with larger campsites. The scene you describe usually applies to private parks.


23 posted on 10/14/2012 6:54:55 AM PDT by Bigg Red (Pray for our republic.)
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To: Bigg Red

camping = camper


24 posted on 10/14/2012 6:56:05 AM PDT by Bigg Red (Pray for our republic.)
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To: Bigg Red
"We stay in state parks whenever possible because, unlike privately owned parks, they provide you with larger campsites."

True, but most are full during the best camping times. This means that you have to make reservations, sometimes a year in advance. This makes for great camping, but hardly foot-loose and fancy free trips.

25 posted on 10/14/2012 7:04:02 AM PDT by norwaypinesavage (Galileo: In science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of one individual)
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To: mosaicwolf

I remember doing that too.Mammasan would walk by

and no big deal.The first time it shocked the heck

outta me.Those girls got to be beautiful by the time

I left that dam place

Had an uncle that sold his farm in Iowa when he retired

and they bought a new one ton and travel trailer,went

to Florida in the winter,got part time jobs.Summer

came they headed for northern Michigan,kept it up till

the time we will all face one day


26 posted on 10/14/2012 7:04:51 AM PDT by Harold Shea (RVN `70 - `71)
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

Well, Blowhard, you have the same opinion as I!


27 posted on 10/14/2012 7:20:49 AM PDT by MisterArtery
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To: floridavoter2

***”I’ve lived in Africa. I know how to take a bath from a bucket***

That is easy to do! I have a book printed in the 1880s that tells how to take a bath using only one quart of water.


28 posted on 10/14/2012 7:26:55 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: floridavoter2

“couchsurfer”

Isn’t that what people a hobo?.


29 posted on 10/14/2012 7:45:04 AM PDT by Vaduz
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To: floridavoter2

If there’s a big bunch of hippies trying to hit the road in RVs, I haven’t seen it. We sold my Dad’s 32 foot motor home this year to a couple who were in their 30s. Granny Bucket Bath is an anomaly. I’ll bet you ten bucks she’s going to try to pet a lion. She’ll become part of the circle of life.


30 posted on 10/14/2012 8:01:26 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: floridavoter2

I like my home better - I couldn’t sleep in a strange country on some filthy strange couch. I have no desire to “see the world”. I’ve owned and lived on boats already, nice for a while but a drag in the rain and snow when coming back from the grocery store with supplies. Also okay when you are younger and the ramps reach towards the sky at low tide. We’ve done the RV thing, okay for a while too but there is no place like home : )


31 posted on 10/14/2012 8:31:21 AM PDT by Pilated
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