full time rving

Worth mentioning if you have any concerns about email security...

Their is a reason free meals are free, and security is not it. If you rely on a free email setup such as yahoo, gmail, hotmail, or many others, do not expect that no one is reading your mail.

If nothing else, all the above are actively skimming all your emails so they can send you targeted advertising.

For just a few bucks per year, you can register a .whatever at a host such as godaddy or many many others, and get EMAIL@YOU.com as part of the deal.

For the most part nobody else including the DHS or NSA is reading those. If you are really concerned, there are email hosts, including from theblaze.com, that guarantee no one os reading your mail.

Hotmail, yahoo mail, gmail, apple mail, all the companies involved freely admit everything thier users send and recieve is going right to the government and God knows who else, right that same day.

Back in 1999, when we were planning our future retirement, we bought two different full-timing books. Now all of that information and more is online or on forums.

Since we're still a little too young to retire, most publications are for those who are retired and can move on a whim. We get sent to different locations by DH's employer, so we have to be prepared for all types of weather in any of the 6+ Seasons: Spring, Summer, Humid Summer, Fall or Winters - mild or harsh.

RV Dreams Forum is very good for newbies. Lots of information for folks wanting to go fulltime.

A little more info on your situation would help.

Do you still own your home? Are you going to sell it? If so, Start downsizing now. Hold lots of garage sales. Most folks will recommend selling/giving away/donating everything and not put things into storage. Start making needed repairs to ready your house for sale.

Identify your domicile state - where are you going to pay your taxes and get your car tags? Most pick South Dakota, Florida, or Texas because of no state tax. This is something you won't execute until you actually go full time.

Mail. Handled in your domicile state. There are mail services that will collect and send your mail. Search in the forum for recommendations. Start setting up all your bills to receive in your email. (If you do not have already get an email provider not tied to your internet service, like gmail or Hotmail - they are free.) Bills that offer automatic credit card payment without an extra fee we have set up to pay via CC.

Banking - Online banking is a must. We get our bills via email and pay them through our bank account bill pay option. Also a bank with locations throughout most of the US is a good thing. We use Wells Fargo.

Health Care. Make sure your health care choice covers you in all 50 states (while you are on the road). We use AARP United Health Care for our Medigap for this reason.

Then there's that whole other matter of your RV...

Start by going thru everything including clothing and have one or two huge garage or yard sales. Then what's left: 1. give to charity or someone in the family. 2. throw away 3. keep. The "keep" pile should be very small. Small enought to fit in an RV. I would NOT put anything in storage. Waste of money. Scan important papers and photos. Some things you will need on the road: Good internet provider for online banking, etc. and satellite TV if you care about watching TV. We use a Verizon Mi-Fi and DirecTV. Start getting rid of junk mail. Send notices to catalogs and magazines to take you off their mailing list.
Decide how you will get your mail. If you don't have a family member, you can use UPS or check with www.myrvmail.com for more info so you will at least know what to ask and what forms need to be completed. Insurance for full timers is different. Some insurers don't cover full timers. We use National Interstate Insurance Company. They insure the RV and the toad and include Coach Net roadside assistance in their premiums. You can purchase their insurance through an agent. Decide if you want your residency to remain in WI or move to another state. Make lots of lists and cross off things as you do them.

You will get a lot of good information here. Keep looking over this Full Time thread, and check the sticky threads also.
You also might want to checkout the Escapees forum also.
That forum is for Full-Timers, a lot of good information.
Best of luck in your search.
Scott

As some have already suggested, this “Full-Time” forum is great to get ideas about full-time RVing. But what people say here is about their own experience and your experience will most probably be different, unique to you and your way of doing things.

I would suggest spending more and more time in your RV camping before you go full-timing. The more time you spend in your RV now will help you prepare for living in your RV full-time. Things are a lot different just spending a weekend, or a few days, in your RV then they are living in your RV fulltime.

My first year fulltime RVing I rearranged the interior of my 5th wheel to fit my tastes and comforts. I took the original RV furniture out and replaced it with furniture I had in my house. I had a sleep number bed in my house which I put in my RV, also put a small computer desk in my 5th wheel. Moving into an RV is similar to moving into a new house or apartment; and some of these 5th wheels and Class A RV‘s have as much space as a small apartment.

It is best to get to know your RV before you start full timing.

We found the book by the Huggins, So You Want to be a Full Time RVer to be quite helpful.

There are several good places for information on fulltiming on the Internet. I did a blog post about it here.

And, yes, this forum has lots of helpful information right here in this forum. Start reading!

Moved from Forum Technical Support

shawano wrote:
Looking to go fulltiming in the next few years. Looking for tips on things that need to be done and how to go about starting. ALso good places to go would be helpful.
Are there any publications worth while purchasing?

One item: Be debt free when you start to fulltime!!
We have never been real “responsible” with our money. We spent what we made. Too many toys. It is the best advice ever.

We bought a less expensive camper than we wanted, and a late model used truck rather than new, but we were debt free when we started. We are still debt free. That is not to say we don't have bills, but a no installment loans, no credit card debt.

We don't have much, but what we have, is paid for. This was the best advice we ever received and for once, I was smart enough to take it.

As said before we have a full-time forum here, and I would suggest spending some time reading and looking at threads and then ask questions. Also the forum search feature works very well. Here's a link to the full-time forum here.