Living in a Trailer

Lwiddis wrote:
Most trailers are not built for full time living. It can be done but requires careful maintenance. If you already have a tow vehicle determine the maximum weight the TV will pull and carry. Buy something lighter however. If you don’t have a TV, buy or select the trailer first. Match a TV to the trailer.

I completely disagree. We snow bird for six or seven months a year in our own lot in a upper scale park in Key Largo.
There are some who live here year round in trailers and others like us that live for six or seven months.

There is more maintenance and up keep on our summer home then our trailer

Guy

All good advice. First I should have said I am 81 and my DW is 90, she has dementia and has had for over 5 years now. I am putting the Aliner up for sale as it is for camping only and would be really tiny to try and live in. At my age the home is becoming more and more difficult to maintain even tho I am in good health.Cost of maintaining a trailer is almost nothing compared to maintaining this home.
I have two daughters in The Boise area and a son in Fresno. I'm not interested in travel, we were blessed to do plenty of that before the dementia came along.
I want, as some have suggested, to be able to summer in Idaho and winter in California.
Don't intend to get anything bigger than what my Canyon can tow. Many decisions to make in the coming months and I'm getting what I asked for from this forum, opinions, experience and advice.
Thank you.
Lee

JimK-NY wrote:

You have been given advice on proceeding slowly. Maybe but you also are not getting any younger. If you want the mobility and travel allowed with an RV you might want to proceed quickly. Only you know yourself. Don't make a choice that you are likely to regret.

Clarification...proceed slowly on major irrevocable decisions...such as selling the family home.

It doesn't take a lot to get into a travel trailer so if you aren't really pressed for cash, hold off on the major changes for a bit. Feel free to move more quickly on picking up an trailer.

PS: Yes, RVs need maintenance but no it's not nearly as overwhelming as some are suggesting.

I my humble opinion. This is what I believe.

I lost my wife 15 months ago. First the one year rule comes out of Victorian England. It is not a law. It is cultural only, it may work for some for others it does not. Grief is very individual and follows different paths for all of us.

Two, well meaning folks that have not walked in your shoes, have zero idea what they are talking about. So do what is in your heart of hearts, listen to you inner voice. not to others think you should do or not do

I have no opinion on whether you should go for the trailer or not. I can only relate what my thoughts were after loosing my wife.

I thought long and hard about the trailer idea, " preferably parked next to a bar". But in the not so long run I concluded I would be very miserable living alone. Others do fine alone, but I am just not built to do that.

So I reengaged, went back to work took care of business and so on. For me it was a wise choice.



Keep the faith, choose to continue to live, it will get better. Take Care

mikim wrote:
The very first thing I recommend is that you do not make this decision until 1 year has passed. Give yourself some time.

Absolutely, this.

If you want to get a trailer to travel to visit family, more power to you.

Unless you have a large/high upkeep/high tax/high mortgage payment house, you will not find that living in a RV is a huge savings.

If you want to downsize, look into a condo or small house to use as a home base, and a RV for travel. That's a good first step. Then if you REALLY want to downsize more, it's time to consider full time RV living.

Lee,
I feel your pain. DW in a memory health issue, like Alzhiemers? likely the read from your post. Others touch upon the financial issues, I surmise you are financially secure and looking to maximize your time with your lady and family with a mobile lifestyle.
Liquidation of assets is complicated, only you can decide the right way, distribute now while you can, or have your personal rep. do it when you pass away
There is no time like today. DW is in a state where she cannot participate, yet you know her wishes. She has certainly worked with you beforehand.
The family home after the loss of a spouse is often a minutae reminder of that lost partner. Is it tempting to go off to a new adventure and leave that home behind?
Yes for the short term, no in the long term. You may need it for your own health issues someday. I prefer a home base when end of life is possible.

Go out , travel, any way you wish. your lady will be with you.

Sorry about your wife's health issues. In any case none of us can tell you what makes sense. I can start by pointing out some serious considerations.

If you decide to sell the house, you will probably be faced with some major issues. It is hard to get rid of a house full of stuff. You can compromise by packing up a little or a lot and sending it to storage. Be aware that storage costs become very significant after months or years. Dealing with that stuff in storage is more difficult than dealing with it now.

You need to consider your hobbies, interests, lifestyle. There are a lot of activities and lifestyle choices that do not fit with RV living.

Are you interested in travel and visiting places such as National Parks or are you just looking for a cheap place to live and will spend most of the time in one or two areas?

To answer one question, you can spend a little or a lot with RV living. Many RV parks and campgrounds with hookups are expensive and getting more expensive by the year. In many areas of the country suitable places for long term camping are in short supply. There are plenty of places to live at very low cost. That would include National Parks, Forests, etc. You will need to move frequently because of limitations of duration of stay. You also need to consider getting a solar system and getting away from the need for hookups.

If you are going to sell the house and do even minimal interState traveling you will need to make logistical arrangements: mail, banking, medical providers, choice of State of residency, etc, etc. Do the research and decision making in advance.

You have been given advice on proceeding slowly. Maybe but you also are not getting any younger. If you want the mobility and travel allowed with an RV you might want to proceed quickly. Only you know yourself. Don't make a choice that you are likely to regret.

As mentioned, don't do anything right now!!

From your info, living in CA and having an Aliner as your RV, full-timing isn't a good idea.

The rough idea would be summers in Idaho, and winters in California. Are your kids in CA located near where you could stay cheaply in a bigger RV? Are you kids in ID close to good campgrounds?

Are you sure you want to spend that much time focused on your kids/ grands?

Friends you would leave behind? A church or other social group?

Now, just saying, traveling alone, I would recommend a Class C or motorhome with a towed vehicle.

I pull at near 40' TT, for almost 7 years full-time. Parking without the DW would be a nightmare some places. And almost everyone trying to help a person park uses different signals. And they do not know how my rig turns, when to tell me to straighten out. My rig is 17 feet between the rear axle and the carrier for the sewer tote rack end.

What is that going to do to your budget, getting such a rig?

In general the only part of expenses I find cheaper in the TT than our last home is utilities, and taxes. We still eat the same way, we spend a little more on fuel traveling because we go see more stuff than we did in the house. Maintenance costs are close to the same.

We spend less on clothes and 'junk' no place to put it.

And I must do more of the routine maintenance that I did on the house. Well, I have almost 60,000 miles on the 7 year old TT, through 46 states.

That is a tough decision and my heart goes out to you.
I am 85 and my wife is 83. I am hoping that I go before her since I couldn't imagine being without her, but if the opposite happened I think I would either live in a 25 foot travel trailer or buy a small ranch style home.
As others have said; don't jump to anything too soon, but you could start down sizing little by little.

Guy