Question 2 - What are the cons for your situation?

The biggest con for me is being able to travel like I used to. Family issues would be the biggest con. Wife wanting to stay around the house would be the next con. Every thing else is minor.

28' 5er semi full time (split time with the boat).

Only thing we miss is not having a garage with tools to be able to work on projects.

Several of the cons listed by others solve themselves once you get used to full time lifestyle (example: getting gas isn't an issue because we typically only travel 100-150 miles in a day, rarely over 250miles and we can fill up before hooking up.)

I'm a full-timer and usually stay in a place for a month or more and then relocate. It’s a real nuisance to have to batten everything down when I relocate my “rolling earthquake”.

I don’t care to travel on two lane roads because of the annoying hemorrhoid’s I pick up along the way. It’s frustrating when people have lots of room to pass but instead would rather tailgate me, particularly when I'm traveling the speed limit.

Stopping for gas with my 33’ RV and toad and having to choose a station with good fuel pump access over a low fuel price really goes against my frugal nature.

Making plans to relocate and getting excited about the new adventure only to find nothing but over-priced campgrounds at the focus location. However, one of my next projects is to make my RV far more boondock worthy than it currently is (take that expensive RV parks!).

This one is a bit particular to me but, while I have no problem meeting and greeting people making friends wherever I go, as a solo RV’er I really miss my late wife’s company. As for the rest of my family, we raised our kids to be self-reliant and they certainly are. However, with one living in New York the other in California, it makes family-time tough!

I guess overall I’m pretty lucky, my complaints are more annoyances than anything else.

Steve

CONS - it takes a mindset change to get used to not having a 'base'. A place to call home except the RV. Having spent 20 years in the US Navy moving around often it wasn't as big a deal to me as the wife.

Doctors - that is a solvable problem, but you would have a physician like my wife has - whose staff can't seem to get over sending prescriptions to the local pharmacy. You need to talk with your doctors and make sure they understand you plan to be in to see them only once or twice a year. A full-timer might need to change their primary care and specialists doctors to a location they plan to visit every year, and who understand/ have experience with the RV lifestyle.

Health Insurance - If you plan to travel across the country, and are not on Medicare or another national health insurance plan - check with your provider. Many folks have policies limited to a small region or their home state.

Internet - It is costly and somewhat unreliable when full-timing. Don't count of RV park internet or free WiFi. You are going to have to have a phone company plan, and have to be careful with your usage so that you don't go over your plan limits. If you plan to visit some of the scenic wilderness in this country - you will be without any internet (or phone) access for days at a time.

Maintenance - as mentioned above - you will always need to adjust/ fix something. It isn't a 'quality' of the RV issue. Thousands of miles per year on the rig makes things work loose. A bigger issue for you might be access. Things are so close together in an RV, that working on anything gets difficult.

Holidays - we live in a 36' TT towed by a 3/4 ton truck. We've traveled over 25,000 miles, camping in 29 different states. We only reserve a campground spot about 1/3 of the time. But we have learned we need to plan our stops for holidays and book several weeks in advance. Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Week, the week after Christmas - we've been shut out of preferred campgrounds on those. (And be wary of spring break season if you plan to be anywhere near a warm beach.)

CONS...not enough adult only 55+ RV parks. Plenty of family parks, would like to see more adult parks across the country.

Small 5th wheel, trips 4 - 8 weeks.

Don't have comfortable seating for those days you are stuck inside. A recliner or some such would be better for long term use.

Getting to be too many campers, not enough campgrounds.

It seems like there is always something that needs to be done after every trip. You need to like tinkering with your RV.

whatever you do, if you are going to sell your stix and brix house put that money aside to buy another cuz one day you will want to get off the road.

I boondock exclusively in a small trailer with dogs. My hardest problems are in hooking and unhooking, and that doesn't have to be really too physical, as you can get an electric hitch. Setting things up when I first make camp would be trying if I had arthritis, but not too bad if you get lightweight chairs, etc.