Pros/Cons to Active Duty Military RV life

Thanks for the input! of course the government takes care of the military members! i am just about 6 yrs away from retirement and i am an avid skydiver. so my plans after retirement are to take homestead on a drop zone get my different ratings and work for spending cash and then move to other drop zones during the different seasons. it was talk for retirement but i have since walked in one and trying to figure out what it will cost me a month with my military pension and after i saw one and figuring the finance thing out, i kinda want to speed it up and jump in one now and have it pretty much paid off when i get out. there are some pretty nice RV's out there that are significantly big enough for a single person.

i am trying to find out what kind of road blocks people run into when they live in it full time. doesn't necessarily need to be from an active duty members perspective, i am just trying to find out what issues people deal with. the one big problem i am running into in my research of finding a place in san diego is they require you leave after a certain amount of time (6 months) for two weeks and come back. i am actually looking for the long term communities that some of you have mentioned. idk if any of you know of some in san diego but i am always open to suggestions.

thanks for the info

ddndoug wrote:
I thought with FamCamps you were limited to your length of stay.

Doug

Most do and 45 days seems to be about the average but you can get extensions if your are traveling under TAD orders for training or such. Was camped at Great Lakes a few weeks ago and there was a Second Class from California a few camp sites down from me. Headed out every morning in uniform and returned each afternoon.

I don't see too much of a downside of doing it for a single guy/girl on active duty particularly in San Diego with the rather comfortable weather. You may end up having to sign a long term lease for a semi-permanent camp site and not have the option to of early termination for deployments like you can with transfer orders.

Also you can't use your VA loan benefit for an RV purchase. They would rather you buy something a bit less mobile.

Steve,
If a military member does not have to live on base, they have the option of living on base or collecting a housing allowance to live off-base. It is cost-adjusted to the area, and varies with grade. Living in an RV would allow the member to pocket a good portion of the allowance.

K thanks, so it's more like living a life away from the life of service then. That makes sense as I would assume that living on base with the guys/gals that you work with everyday would be a little overwhelming.

Steve S wrote:
I'm just curious why you would need to live in an RV, does your Country not take care of it's enlisted men and woman like they do here in Canada?

Steve,
If a military member does not have to live on base, they have the option of living on base or collecting a housing allowance to live off-base. It is cost-adjusted to the area, and varies with grade. Living in an RV would allow the member to pocket a good portion of the allowance.

I thought with FamCamps you were limited to your length of stay.

Doug

*****

I'm just curious why you would need to live in an RV, does your Country not take care of it's enlisted men and woman like they do here in Canada?

Retired Navy - we lived in trailer moving between duty stations, waiting on housing, and on vacations. We've met a lot of active duty people living in RV's at Family Camps. Will there be a FAMCAMP close enough to your duty station? Check with the storage area and see if you can take it in and out - sometimes they only want long term storage. You'll also have to decide what food, etc. to leave in and refrigerator stuff.

This will be driven by how much you can enjoy RVing and how often you can get it out, ofset by the cost of storing it. Will you be transferred to another base requiring shipping. See your local JPPSO for guidance in storage and shipment during deployments or base transfers.

Did it for over 3/4 of my Air force career. The RVs were home between PCS moves and moving into base housing. Stored on base and used for family vacations while assigned to base. Lived in a 26' Winnebago for 6 months by myself while wife and kids set up retire house. Right now full timing in 36' motor home. Wife passed away a little over a month ago and I have no plans to stop full timing, it was our dream of freedom on the road.