A Different Approach to Snowbirding

I've been full time RVing for a couple years now and love it.

I've had the opportunity to actually live in such amazing places for months at a time and really experience the cultures and nature. This life is for me.

However, I don't like campgrounds. I don't like social scenes like that, I don't like neighbors and it's just not my style to set up in a little curated area like that.

I have a truck camper and I usually just cram it into wherever makes sense in both rural and urban environments. Yes, I've had it in the Mission District in San Francisco, Williamsburg in Brooklyn, South Beach in Miami, Downtown Chicago, Denver, you name it, I've stayed there for weeks or months with the entire walkable city right outside the door of my truck camper. It's 100% self contained and off grid.

However, some little concerns are bubbling up. I want a bit more space than a truck camper. I picked up a girlfriend and a cat along the way. It's a little tight in here with them. But I still want to be able to get into downtown areas.

This is why people have a TOAD, right? Leave the RV outside the crowded area and drive in to the urban stuff with the TOAD should you so desire?

Do people have pickup trucks for TOADS? Being a full time RVer, it's often been necessary to use a truck for various things. Especially when you are in rural areas. Needing to pick up a 4x8 sheet of something is an example.

I'm thinking of moving up to a larger B Plus, C or Class A RV. However, full timing in one of these without using campgrounds seems like hell on earth. No way all my little parking tricks for the truck camper would work with one of those beasts. Too big to fit anywhere. So, I'd be limited to campgrounds and things like daytime at Walmart, Casinos, Cracker Barrel, etc. Hard to pull into restaurants, quaint areas, etc. But the room would be nice.

The main point of this thread is to ask this...

Has anyone every bought a small piece of land, just to use a maximum of 6 months out of the year as a getaway, set up water and electric on it (I can go to a dump station for black water) and used that piece of land as a seasonal spot for their RV?

What would zoning be like with this? I don't own any real estate so I don't understand how this works. I own boats and RVs.

Could I do this in an area that is less than a 2 hour drive from a Whole Foods in Florida? In Maine? Less than 2 hours from an airport?

Would I have lots of problems or is it considered a vacations property since it has nothing built on it and no permanent residency or dwelling?

I see no mailbox, no permanent RV there, no meaningful development of the land. Just a spot to park with water and electricity. Or even fully off grid if that's easier.

Would this work?

Basically, making my own one RV campground that's in use half the year?

Seeking Advice

HadEnough
Explorer
Feb 05, 2019
Grit dog wrote:
^ Another good suggestion, a small house in a small town. Same little towns up in N WIsco, you can get an ok house on a city lot for like 40grand.
Issue there being maint, winterizing, rodents burglary all while “full timing “ somewhere else.
I’d be more inclined to the vacant lot idea and possibly throw up a maintenance free shop/garage. Maybe a full bath in it. Less to worry about but still a home base.
Of course I could live in my shop 365 days a year if it had a decent bath and the camper to cook n sleep in! But that’s just me.....

That's what I'd think too. I like this idea.

We are sticking with full timing in the TC (after going on a boat for the summer this year) and will then look for land as we tour the country starting in the fall.

With the slide fixed, the TC isn't feeling so cramped.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Feb 05, 2019
^ Another good suggestion, a small house in a small town. Same little towns up in N WIsco, you can get an ok house on a city lot for like 40grand.
Issue there being maint, winterizing, rodents burglary all while “full timing “ somewhere else.
I’d be more inclined to the vacant lot idea and possibly throw up a maintenance free shop/garage. Maybe a full bath in it. Less to worry about but still a home base.
Of course I could live in my shop 365 days a year if it had a decent bath and the camper to cook n sleep in! But that’s just me.....
Jebby14
Explorer
Feb 05, 2019
wa8yxm wrote:
Do people have Pickup trucks as toweds.. YES

DO people have 4 door sedans as toweds YES
Do people have SUV's as toweds YES
Do people have ____ Fill in vehicle of choice___ and odds are very good the answer is YES

At least one RVer even has a helicopter as a towed.

The only limits on what you can tow:
Weight. For example I can tow, in theory 4,000 pounds or less. Some RV"s up to 10 thousand.
Transmission and other feature of the potential towed.
Not all cars are towable even with modification (My current towed (A Sedan) is modified) Some can be towed 4 down. Some dolly Some full trailer (4 up) some you simply should not tow. PERIOD even on a flat bed tow truck for any long ditances. (Short is ok on a flatbed tow).

if all 4 are up what does it matter? curious what vehicles can be trailered?
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Feb 05, 2019
ScottG wrote:
We have lots of properties here in Wa. like that. Many of them are at or near ocean beaches and some have rules/ordinances that only allow you to park an RV on the space for six months (sometimes a little more) per year.

Sounds like Tribal land.
colliehauler
Explorer III
Feb 05, 2019
PartyOf Five wrote:
I've wondered about this as well- how to get Urban amenities and a home base, without high overhead. I think finding a small house in a small town would be easiest, based on most of your requirements. My friend for example has a smaller house in Lebanon IN -and says he has everything he needs in town, everything he wants in Indianapolis 20 minutes away, and everything he can imagine in (or connecting through) Chicago, 3 hours away. I'm curious what others suggest.
I would suggest something like this as well. Some of these small towns that don't have job opportunities have dirt cheap home's. Taxes usually are minimal as well. I know one person who purchased a lot and built a steel building for a shop and made a small insulated living area in the building.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Feb 05, 2019
Pickup toad? Sure, and a real 4x4 is easy to kick into neutral for towing. Idk if any modern trucks have 4 down limitations or not though.

Your idea of having a home base lot? He!! Yeah and there's like a million places around the country you can do this pretty economically.
Like the lot we have up in N WI. Subdivided it off the house and sold the house, but slap in the middle of the Northwoods, 10 mi from town, but paved road and power, well and septic on site, 2 AC on a quiet lake with good fishing is worth maybe $30-40k. Or you could get 40ac in the same area for $40k and no one would give 2 chits if you had a camper on to or not.
property in CO. 45 min from Breckenridge that if I subdivided it, would fetch $20-30k maybe for 5ac in the mountains beautiful area.
Land is generally cheap in the southwest and southeast like MO, AR etc. you could have a cheap hideaway within a couple hours of a major city pretty easily.
Yosemite_Sam1
Explorer
Feb 05, 2019
packnrat wrote:
cheap, simple, and secure "not a home look".
two 40 foot shipping containers,
paint to match the area, trees bushes, etc. hidden from view. county would/might not think twice.
just place them on a good thick concrete pad. and maybe a cheap tin roof for rain drainage.

Or, a DIY cabin kit off eBay and Amazon.

Except there a city permitting requirements for anything bigger than a Home Depot tool shed.

Drats, they won't let us win!
packnrat
Explorer
Jan 22, 2019
cheap, simple, and secure "not a home look".
two 40 foot shipping containers,
paint to match the area, trees bushes, etc. hidden from view. county would/might not think twice.
just place them on a good thick concrete pad. and maybe a cheap tin roof for rain drainage.
pnichols
Explorer II
Jan 21, 2019
I'm curious - why can't you do almost anything in a 19 - 22 foot, 90-96 inch wide Class C that you can do in a TC? They're hard to find that small used, but they're out there.

Not all Class C rigs have to be huge.
johnhicks
Explorer
Jan 21, 2019
It's fairly certain you're not going to do that in Florida legally. You might find a piece of Ag zoned land and park on it without installing services. Look at municode.com for any area you're interested in.