What made you decide to go full-time RV living? We have heard of many who have gone full-time...it sounds fascinating! It feels like a pipe dream to us.Would love to hear about your journey to this style of living! Thanks in advance!

We bought our first Class A motorhome about 2 years before we were both due to retire from the military because we knew we wanted to see more of the country. It was a 34 footer with one slide. We had family in primarily in Indiana and Maryland. Dave didn't want to live in Indiana and Baltimore was so expensive so when we retired, we built a home on a golf course in Florida. We spent the next five years, golfing, eating, golfing, social drinking and traveling in our motorhome primarily in the summers to get away from the heat of Florida. We found that we were waiting to travel in the summer until after the grandkids got out of school and visited us in Florida. That put it into mid June before we would start heading out.We decided to look at moving further north, say Pennsylvania or Ohio (between the two families) and then traveling in our motorhome during the Winter. After not finding anything just right, we decided we would just sell the house and buy a bigger motorhome and live in it for 3-5 years. That was nearly six years ago. We still haven't been everywhere and seen everything on our list but it is getting a little smaller every year. We will probably end up building a small 600-700 square foot RV Port home down in Florida in the next couple years. We still intend to travel 4-5 months of the year. We want to be able to have our motorhome parked right next to our next house with full hook-ups so it can provide additional living space and also so it can be ready to go at a moment's notice. We plan to basically still live in the motorhome but use the port home to spend the day in and to pursue hobbies not well suited to the smaller space of a motorhome.

We had a large home on a private lake in Indiana that we had just spent five years remodeling, from the studs up. We loved it and planned to live there until we died. Life had other plans for us! We had a very nice Class C that we stored offsite and traveled every single weekend, year round. The bylaws stated we had 48 hours before and after each trip to have the RV onsite. Well, a rich old lady did not like it, the board was afraid of her, so they changed the bylaws to say we could not even drive past the guard house, not for five minutes. So, we had talked about loving the RV and what fun it would be to travel the U.S. We decided we would sell the house, live in an apartment for a few years to fast track our retirement, and then hit the road. I retired at 46 and we hit the road fulltime. We LOVE it!! We have no desire to own a house again, ever, so our exit plan is either our owned lot in a luxury RV resort in the south or an apartment some place. Whatever works best for us at the time. Karma......the board president at the development was fired, could not find another job, his house was on the market for over a year and they lost their shirts.

Here's a link to our page on Why we Full TimeBarb

For years, our vacations consisted of flying somewhere, renting a car, and driving a loop around the countryside - we covered about 40 states that way. We got tired of hotels and road food and so bought a boat. We could weekend camp on the boat so we did for nine months of the year for two years, even taking week long trips in the boat (towable) to places like Key West and the Outer Banks. But, a drawback of a boat is that you can't go for a hike when you feel like it (you can only walk so far on a 22' c-dory) so we decided to try a tt. We got a small 22' no slide jayco and, after the boat, it was luxurious. It had a toilet and a shower! So for two years we spent nearly every weekend (and many longer vacations) in our tt. We would leave friday afternoon and come home Sunday night; our s&b was where we stayed so we could work so we could travel on the weekends. Last September we traveled cross country to Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. About 8 days into our month long trip, a tree fell on our s&b. We had some family and friends assess the damage and meet with the insurance people. It damaged the garage, the electric service, my daily driver; we continued on our trip anyway. Every night, when we returned to the tt after an amazing day of hiking and site seeing, we thought, "eventually, we have to go home - our other home." So on the drive back east, we decided we would rather live in the tt than live in our house. We wouldn't have to drive for three days to get 'home' because we would already be there. We got home, fixed our house, went back to work. And hated every minute of it. By December, we were looking at new tts, one that we could live in full time. In January we bought one. I retired from my job July 1; DH retires on December 14. In January, we hit the road. We have been saving for years, living way below our means so we could retire early (we are 47). We just didn't know exactly what we would do when we retire. Now we do, at least for the first two years.We haven't started fulltiming yet - we have four more months before we go. When we realized we only lived here because of our jobs, we decided we would leave when we retire. I have spent the last two months painting and purging - getting our house ready for sale. Right now the market is great for sellers so we hope to sell pretty quickly. And then, we are out of here.

Let me start this by saying that I had a massive heart attack when I was 34. I am now 52. My wife and I Always wanted a coach and to go full time. It was our pipe dream too. In April of 2009 we were walking through the marina in Saint Mary's GA when we came across a gentleman working on his sail boat. After chatting with him we learned that it was always a dream for him and his brother to own sailboats and cruise the world together. Well as fate would have it, in February of 2009 he buried his brother who died unexpectedly at the age of 47. He said it really made him think," when is really going to be the right time to make a move to live his dream. Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow" So he took ownership of the idea and made it happen. When we met him in St. Mary's he had just purchased his boat and was bringing it up from the Bahamas. So after hearing that story, it made us think. What are we waiting for? So we took ownership of the idea and made it happen. In January of 2010 we found our coach on a website for RV's that are owner financed(no banks). We have been fulltiming since with no regrets. Remember, IF YOU SNOOZE, YOU LOOSE!

What made you decide to go full-time RV living?

40 Replies

Nolan
Explorer
Sep 06, 2013
MookieKat wrote:
Nolan wrote:
What made me decide to go full-timing? The wife. She wanted to go. Took her 5 years to talk me into it.

Wellllll? Are you happy that you did? Or do you have any regrets?

Yes, happy we did. Only regret is not being able to see my Dad more. Emails and phone calls work, but nothing like being in person.
MookieKat
Explorer
Sep 06, 2013
soos wrote:
We made lemonade out of lemons. in 2009, After 30 years, my DH was "retired" by his company, and since we lived in Michigan, there were no jobs around. after a month of feeling depressed, we decided to sell the house, buy an RV, and travel for a year or so. 4 years later we have no intention of slowing down unless we are forced to for health reasons. Love this lifestyle!

Did you buy a motor home?
soos
Explorer II
Sep 06, 2013
We made lemonade out of lemons. in 2009, After 30 years, my DH was "retired" by his company, and since we lived in Michigan, there were no jobs around. after a month of feeling depressed, we decided to sell the house, buy an RV, and travel for a year or so. 4 years later we have no intention of slowing down unless we are forced to for health reasons. Love this lifestyle!
MookieKat
Explorer
Sep 05, 2013
Nolan wrote:
What made me decide to go full-timing? The wife. She wanted to go. Took her 5 years to talk me into it.

Wellllll? Are you happy that you did? Or do you have any regrets?
Nolan
Explorer
Sep 05, 2013
What made me decide to go full-timing? The wife. She wanted to go. Took her 5 years to talk me into it.
BarbaraOK
Explorer
Sep 05, 2013
The park we stay at in the winter (in Mesa, AZ) advertises that they have SOLAR snow removal equipment.:B

Barb
rockhillmanor
Explorer II
Sep 05, 2013
What made you decide to go full-time RV living?

2 HUGE, back to back snow storms and power outages from downed lines. Sold the house, got into the MH and have never looked backed and have not had to shovel snow since.

Which is why every time I drive by this real estate sign outside The Villages in Florida, I smile!
weathershak
Explorer
Sep 04, 2013
Divorce, had to sell the house. For some reason, a year later, I have no interest in buying another house.:C
invstr55
Explorer
Sep 03, 2013
The ability to always be near what is interesting to you, the ability to change interests and still be near them. Visiting friends and family without infringing on them. The ability to change plans at the spur of the moment.
FREEDOM
MookieKat
Explorer
Sep 03, 2013
Nice!!

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What made you decide to go full-time RV living?

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