RETIREMENT

It helps if you first decide what kind of RVer you are... We are fond of FHU near historic or scenic places. With a big rig, we have found that we are not using state & federal parks like we thought we would. We miss natural settings, but not enough to give up amenities. We don't boondock or stay at Walmart or Flying J or in rest areas.
Because of our choices, we skip the charcoal grill, don't cook over campfires & don't need a generator.

If you love boondocking or fishing, your choices would be different. As long as you both agree on lifestyle, it'll be fine!

Passports, hearing aids, extra glasses, billfold/purse, medicine, insurance cards, credit cards, and your spouse (significant other). For most everything else, there are WalMarts everywhere.

Thanks again everyone. This site repeatedly amazes me for the wealth of information and willingness of people to take their valuable time to help out total strangers.

"We ended up needing documents. Didn't think I would need a title to the car till it was totaled and needed to get rid of it. Also ended up needing social security cards for work camping and even birth certificates for new id's and passports. Might consider a small fire safe."

Add Marriage Certificate. No longer remember why, but it came up twice actually when we were full-timing.

My wife and I retired end of July, sold the house and started full timing 24 August. We own land in WV and were there till Dec1, and are now just outside Houston TX for the winter, (Son, DIL and two GS's live there). We stored a few things but have everything we need in the 5er..I didn't see it mentioned, but we did research on the 5er and its storage. We have lots of room for storage, and after packing everything, still have space and are under GCWR of our 19K rating on this unit...We looked at insulation,( R ratings for floor walls and roof), dual pane windows, heat pumps, generator, heated tanks, and how the unit was furnished, even the kitchen with appliances like used in your stick built. Also looked for units with disc brakes and independent suspension, ( did make a difference when we towed fro WV to TX).

This unit is only a little over 37' long, 36 feet inside.. With the slides as long as they are, it seems more spacious than our 37' Holiday Rambler Presidential Suite (39' 9" in length).All other suggestions are great, just thought I'd toss out thoughts on a 5er for retirement.

Jim

Congrats on retirement. When we retired I set as many as my bills up electronically so I can receive an email. We do all of our banking on line.
Have mail forward to somewhere that it can be delivered to us. In our case I have it forward to my son and he informs me of anything important.

i take a safe with all our important papers. As well as my computer and printer.

We also turn water off at home as well as gas and hot water tank. Drain toilets and set heat on a vacation mode just to keep house warm so it does not freeze.

We also suspend any services we have that we pay for, Trash, cable, etc. then when I know we are returning I call and have them turned back on so we basically have no interruptions when we are home. I keep the home internet on for security cameras and to control my furnace.

Have fun and enjoy.

I) Copies of all your ID documents: keep them in a safe, hidden place like on a PC disc, memory stick etc.
II) contact list and phone numbers of people & professional at your home base
III) above all keep in touch with some trusted people as to your whereabouts, travel itinerary, timelines.
IV)we keep membership cards up to date such as CAA, Legion, service clubs, Good Sam... these are all organization that will help & welcome you when you are abroad.
V) WiFi capable PC and printer helps keep you in contact and a great tool to plan ahead, pre-explore your current destination and find POI that interest you. Their are many hidden gems that may appeal to you that are not necessarily well advertised or generic i.e. Civil War, Military, Historical cemeteries, auto museums etc....

Above all, keep in good health, positive attitude...and enjoy.
GPG ;)

To amplify what was said - all you really need to bring is MONEY. Pack extra light, leave as much as possible at home. If you really later need it, just buy it to always stay in the RV.

We live in Minnesota 6 months a year and 6 months travel, we've been doing this for the last 18 years. You've got some good information so far and only would like to add that at first we took way to much with us on the road, if we haven't used it on a winters trip we remove it.

Tabs for RV's for Minnesota are due in February so we renewal them before we hit the road. We've been able to fill out our taxes while on the road using Turbo Tax.

When we were using motor homes we didn't worry to much about weight, but I've found the problems with fiver many times are caused because of to much weight.

Here is one idea that I stick to - The camper has it's own EVERYTHING.

Dishes, cooking, utensils, Linens, tools, games, etc. I buy items that are unique enough to be recoginzed as a CAMPER item so it is promptly returned there. If I can not find something unique, I label it as such.

This way the camper always remains in a ready state. There is no 'Honey, did you remember to bring a ...?

We snowbird in our camper but also camp in the summer. We have a special shelving unit that is ONLY for storing SEASONAL camper stuff like blankets, comforters, sheets, etc.

Enjoy your new lifestyle.