Request for Assistance/Insight from Someone Soon to Retire

2gypsies wrote:
How is the original poster going to find his answers by this re-post by you?

He needs to post over on the full-timing forum here or the Escapee forum.

I replied to the original buried post and made a link/clicky to this re-post.

Beginning RVing seemed a better fit.

(GeneM and his original post have developed quite a following. He might need to start selling t-shirts and signing autographs.)

2gypsies wrote:
How is the original poster going to find his answers by this re-post by you?

This is a good question; I hope he/she was notified somehow.

I opted for a smaller (28") C so I would NOT have to take a toad with me and it's working out OK so far. It can go almost anyplace...once you get your mindset properly adjusted for the size vehicle you have.

I did get an electric bicycle and it has come in handy but limited in functionality.

How is the original poster going to find his answers by this re-post by you?

He needs to post over on the full-timing forum here or the Escapee forum.

Sounds like they are thinking of a motorhome. I've met a number of singles (and couples) full-timing in small C motorhomes (24-foot and under) or type B van conversions (which can be 17 to 24 feet long and no wider than the maximum for a "standard" motor vehicle in the U.S.). The latter can be quite drivable, my daily driver and road trip vehicle is an 18 foot passenger van.

What is needed is to scale one's lifestyle down to the space available. I can do this myself for part-timing, but cannot for full-timing, as it means discarding the remnants of my life with my late wife, and all the stuff my children presume that I am keeping for them until they want to take it (probably not until I die).

As I'm not a full timer, I can't tell about dealing with the full-timing issues, except to say that they have to be dealt with. One cannot be "stateless" in the U.S., a domicile state is presumed, and if that is not to be left to chance, it must be formally established.

Escapees has a lot of the answers. They can provide a domicile and handle your mail.

Prescription medicines can be one of the tougher problems, particularly if the drugs are controlled substances, or require periodic monitoring for adverse side effects. But there is the larger problem of getting medical care, once you are separated from your physicians; we do not have a national health care network where one can walk in any place and the care givers know all about you.

This is another of the issues that keeps me at a home base from which I do my traveling, a mix of RVing, road tripping without RV, cruising and globe trotting that keeps me away as much as half of each year. I had to build a new relationship with care providers when the one I had for 20 years retired, and I am in no hurry to start over again or put myself into the hands of random strangers.

“I'm leery of purchasing from a private seller. I'm looking at something around 24 to 26 feet,”
I assume a class C?

“I'm stuck on if I should tow my car, I don't really want to.”

Some cars can’t to towed. One of the tow bar manufactures has a data base that you can look up if you can to and what equipment is needed. And be sure to price out getting the equipment in order to tow. Surprised me what it ran with an auxiliary brake to tow. Many in that size of class C don’t tow a car and have no problems and are happy. http://roadmasterinc.com/vehicle_guide/tow_bar_brackets.php

“And what about mail?”
Check out “mail forwarding in the Escapees link.


"I'm pretty sure I won't be returning to my home state, I'll actually be Stateless for a couple of years”.
If was not going to return to my home state I would pick a state that is user friendly to me. Many do South Dakota or Texas or some state with lower taxes etc.

“I won't be able to do the maintenance myself”
You can do one the best maintenance items you can do for your RV, and also one of the most ignored items . And that is making sure maintenance gets done when it’s supposed to be done.

Yup, you'll find answers to a lot of your questions, as well as Kindred spirits, over on the Escapees Forum

Escapees forum has tons of info on full timing. Forum is free.