how to leave home

If the house is going to be unoccupied, at a bare minimum, winterize the water system by draining the water heater and blowing out the lines in the house with an air compressor, just like you'd do on your RV. Turning the heat off completely, especially in snow states, is not good for the walls in your house. My mother went to Texas one year over the winter and I policed her house. We agreed to keep the furnace (hot water system) set to 40 degrees where it stayed for about 4 months. This kept any pipes from freezing, yes. But once she returned home, raised the heat back up, and then Summer came around, she had several rooms in the house on the outside walls that started flaking paint. The house was built in the 1940's, so the walls were real plaster, not plaster board. It was the first time ever anything like that ever happened.

However, if you are going full timing ... best advise is ... sell the house and then you have no worries any more about anything and you'll really be free to enjoy your new-found lifestyle.