In the process of becoming a full-timer

Old-Biscuit wrote:
2 questions....

What type of full timing do you have planned?
CGs, state/fed parks, boondocking.
Reason I ask.......when we traveled FT we encounter lots of restrictions on pets. Max number, size and type........size/weight got us a few times

What are you going to do for Medical Coverage?
FT and Medical can be an issue when not on Medicare. So make sure your Medical is a PPO (not HMO) and check for what it covers/where it covers when not in state.

We plan to make use of all different manners of stays- we don't want to be limited to just one manner of "stay" We will only have two pets when we go on the road- our one dog- is in the final stages before we have to "make the big decision" and our other dog is a service animal. The remaining two are pets.

My husband's job provides us with BCBS which has providers worldwide (because he works for a global company). So we are covered for medical.

Just a couple caveats. If you are true full timers...that is, you regularly move from place to place as opposed to living, say in Florida for six months and Michigan for six months, then you can pick and choose any state as your domicile state. Choosing your domicile state is important. Most entities use the IRS guidelines for determining which state that is. They look at what they call your "intent" when choosing your state. You establish 'intent' by moving your registration, driver's license, voter registration, bank accounts, mail, credit card accounts etc. to a particular state. We chose South Dakota because of 3%, now 4% sales tax, low registration fees, no income tax, no vehicle inspections and no luxury taxes on the coach. We use Americas Mailbox. Only issue we've had with using a mail forwarding service is with the stock brokers. Merrill Lynch had no problem with it but Scottrade demanded a physical address. So they are no longer handling my portfolio...:). Oregon and Nevada are two other states that have no income tax but they do have an additional tax on your RV. If you choose to establish another state as your resident state, be sure to sever ALL ties with your current state. That way there can be no doubt as to your intent.

Finally, medical coverage is important, so research that fully before you make a decision....Dennis

www.myrvmail.com

in Crestview FL will help establish address and help with mail forwarding and other things.

We used them for awhile until we changed to our daughter's address. We found their service great. Never had a problem getting driver's licenses or tags using their service.

Escapees is not the only option for a legal address in FL. I used St. Brendan's Isle mail forwarding service for years, always with great service. If you have other reasons to join Escapees, your proposal may be better but you don't need to join an organization just to get the mail forwarding.

When I started fulltiming in 2006 I was married and the DW wanted to join every camping/RVing related organization in the country but we didn't really need to.

You should plan on camping close to the dealer where you purchased your RV for at least a month before you start traveling. That way, if you run into warranty problems, it should be easier to get them resolved.

2 questions....

What type of full timing do you have planned?
CGs, state/fed parks, boondocking.
Reason I ask.......when we traveled FT we encounter lots of restrictions on pets. Max number, size and type........size/weight got us a few times

What are you going to do for Medical Coverage?
FT and Medical can be an issue when not on Medicare. So make sure your Medical is a PPO (not HMO) and check for what it covers/where it covers when not in state.

No grandchildren- we're only 30! Our girls love camping! They have no idea that they are tiny little fuzz muffins. Thank you for the additional resources.

Florida does not require any inspections.

45% humidity? I'd probably have an itch to smack someone complaining about that :W Our days are often in the 90% humidity range (and it's awful).

We have not done any dry camping- we just bought the RV at the beginning of this month and are still working at this time.

We are selling all of our stuff. No storage units for us!

The fur kids look ready to start their new adventure!

Yes joining the SKP club will work out well. I used their mail forwarding services for one year when I started full timing.

Does Florida require yearly or bi-yearly inspection? I was in California, and they require every 2 years when the registration is due to get a smog certificate, something that I had to return to CA to get. Texas requires a inspection that involves a lot more, like inspecting the frame for rust damage, brakes, and that sort of thing. (though I am not sure how intense it is, but do know you need to return there for the inspection and drivers license renewal).

If you will be visiting grandkids once a year or so, that can all be scheduled all at the same time.

Most are asking questions like "What should I do with all my stuff?"

I know some people who moved up to Oregon in 1999, and are still paying $65 a month for a storage unit in southern CA, about 900 miles away. So it is not 'convenient' to go visit the storage unit and they still have a lot of stuff there. Valuable tools, but the furniture is probably all dried out and useless by now. Think about yearly storage fees, and then consider what it will cost to not be 'detached' from your furniture for 10 years! Best to get rid of anything without sentimental value, and give that to the kids if they can take it.

Have you dry camped a lot? I used to love dry camping in the forest and near the lakes out west. BLM land - there is a lot of it out west, where camping is free, or nearly free. FreeCampgrounds.com is one place where I shared a few of my favorite places to spend a couple of weeks. While most are true free camping areas, some are listed like "Joe's tire shop" where someone would post "I stayed there for free when I needed a new tire" - not a place I would want to spend a week. But I posted places like North Rim of the Grand Canyon, where I would like to spend all summer! It is free to camp outside of the National Park, on National Forest land. It is 7,000' elevation, so it is cool all summer, and humidity will be something the locals talk about, but you will not feel for a couple of years. The locals become concerned when humidity levels start to get about 45% on a warm day.

In the winter, the North Rim has feet of snow, and all the roads are closed. Other places to spend the winter range from the SKP park in Congress, where you can get a little snow, or go up the local mountains anytime you really do want to see snow.

Many join Coast To Coast, and will travel all over the country, spending 2 weeks in one of their nice full hookup campgrounds for only a nominal fee, in addition to the buy in fee, and yearly dues. Some buy into a campground in North Dakota, and never really 'visit' their home park. But buy in there is very cheap, so are yearly fees. You have to be careful of how expensive of a coast to coast park that you buy into, they can get pretty expensive.

Escapees parks are much more reasonable to buy into them. It is a large site, and you can put it into the 'rental pool' while you are out sightseeing all over the country. The 'rent' goes towards park maintenance while you are gone, thus if say 30% are out traveling at any one time, they do collect a lot of rent to keep yearly dues minimal for everyone! I always will want to stay at a SKP park when one is near my destination, or in route to where I was going.

I was already a customer of Wells Fargo. They seem to have branches all over the US. Chase is another bank with branches everywhere. It is nice to be able to pull into any ATM and get out some cash, without paying fees to another bank. Or buy something at Wal Mart or another chain supermarket, and normally you can pull out $100 or so, to have spending cash as well.

Once while traveling through Utah, the local MiraMar gas station offered a 5% discount if you bought your gas with a Wal Mart Gift card, or Sams Club credit card. No problem. Go into Wal Mart, charge a $100 gift card to my credit card and get a 1% rebate on all purchases. Out in the parking lot, use the $100 gift card to fill the motorhome tank. Took an extra 5 minutes, but saved $6 on gas! And I needed some stuff at Wal Mart, so I really did not use any more time than shopping and getting gas takes anyhow..

Have fun on your travels!

Fred.