Which is more important?

[The_Curly_Texan]

Hello full timers! My husband is a premed student, about half way done, and we decided that while he his going to school, we would live in an RV. This just about guarantees us a place to live no matter where we go and when we have to be there. We have two girls, five and one, and plan to have one or two more before Hubby is completely done with school. Oldest will be about 14-15 when we are done being full timers. We are looking at two different fifth wheel bunk house layouts; rear living vs. rear bunk room.

Here is my question; which is more important? More family space (a bigger living area) or more space for the girls (bigger bunk room)?
More living means more family time and bigger bunk room means more privacy for the kids. The kids are a major factor in all our plans. Small bunk house means less storage, we know this, but I am good and finding storage in all places, I am not too concerned with that. I want the kids to have their privacy but isn't RV living about being so close to one another?

Remember that the oldest will be a teenager and the youngest a tween. All our kids will do public or private schooling and we will stay in one place for 2-4 years at a time, if this extra info makes a difference in your opinions.

Thank you for all future opinions! Hubby and I are just so unsure and want advice from those with more experience. Thank you!

[The_Curly_Texan]

We do have a 1988 Ford F-350, 7.3 IDI with Turbo 4X4. Yes it's old, but we only need it for the actual moving. Several things inside are new and it's paid off. It won't be our only vehicle, also.

We have priced the cost of both RV living and apartment living in the same area of two places we could be in the future, plus the numbers for where we are now. Here and now it will be cheaper with most of the RV parks and we have picked which is our best bet and they have many many spots open. The two places we did numbers on in the future are the two places we want to be the most. Both RV parks and apartments we looked at were in the same area, near the medical schools, so either way the school district the kids will be in would be the same and we still will be paying less on an RV. We also went off of what my cousin is paying for utilities that lives in one of the areas we would be in. Medical district with a three bed apartment. We lowered the bills just by a bit since what we would get would be a two bed. We used the price of two bed room apartments when doing our numbers since in an RV, we would have two bedrooms (a bunk house).

Insurance prices are the only things we haven't gotten to yet since we haven't made a nearly final choice on what RV we will buy. Any advice about RV insurance is also very welcomed. That is an area we are unsure about how to do it. We don't want to go into an agency blind and then have the wool added on top of that.

We weren't aware that some cities started to put restrictions on time stayed. We have only asked in our area, here and now, if we can stay full time and all have told us it's no problem. In a larger city, that may be an issue. Thank you for bringing that to our attention!

Toy haulers are something that we've only glanced over since we loose out on having slides for the kids' room, which in a toy hauler would be the garage.

[davidaf]

We long time forum members and some of the newer ones should watch a few episodes of Tiny House Nation. Seems to be a trend with some younger folks downsizing and thinking more about a simple life. The "that's impossible" comments or the like don't seem to apply when one sets their mind to a simpler life using and consuming less "stuff" and natural resources.

To the OP when you do start on your adventure be sure to keep coming back with updates over in the Full Timers forum. Succeed or fail your experience will be valuable to those coming up behind you.

[familyof3]

Might try looking at a toy hauler. We only have one kiddo and she is 12 years old. No problems for us. We have a toy hauler and converted the back to her room it works great for us. Yes the winters are more difficult but you learn to work through them and learn how to trouble shoot your appliances. I would recommend a residential referagerator tho. There are many people with kiddo's full timing in rv's. Take a look on YouTube.

[toedtoes]

Fulltiming and wrong RV

You might want to follow the above thread - young couple with 2 dogs who began full-timing and have found that the RV they selected isn't working. You might find some good tips to avoid as you move forward by reading about their issues.

[laknox]

BIG park model, and use a commercial mover if you need to go somewhere else. Never forget that, if you take a loan on the RV, you =still= have to pay space rent, on top of it, as well as utilities, in a lot of cases. I'd really run the #'s on an apartment, or house, and see how close you are to what you might pay for an RV. Also, as others have said, you might run into places were you either have to sign a year's lease on a space to qualify as "permanent", or you might have to pack up and move for anywhere from 7 to 30 days before you can come back.

Lyle

[CarlT100]

Check the laws, including local ordinances, in the areas you are planning to live. Many areas have restrictions on how long you can stay. I have seen six months, eight months, and nine months. More and more local governments are imposing such restrictions.

[toedtoes]

Have you looked at how convenient the RV parks are for the schools he's considering? How far away are they from the school? What kind of reviews do they get? Do they allow permanent residents? What are the schools like?

I'll add that (I did it for 6 months), living in a small space like an RV is rather freeing for the first few months. But it does get old quick. Spending a month with a two year old in an RV is a LOT different than spending 10 years with 4 growing kids in an RV. Things as simple as getting ready for school in the morning will be a lot more difficult. Bathing can be an issue - will you have them showering when they're too big for the baby bath? RV Park restrooms don't have baths - showers only, and many RVs only have showers.

As for the kids making friends, my point was more that if your kids do make friends easily, you can find that instead of having 4 kids in the small space, you have 6 or more kids running around all the time. As the kids get older, they're going to want to spend more time with their friends - that means either they go visit the friends or the friends come visit them. It can get crowded very quickly (there were 3 of us and at times we had 8 or 9 kids running through the house after school, etc.).

You also haven't mentioned your tow vehicle at all - do you have one already or will you have to buy one?

[Bumpyroad]

comparing a month in a 30 footer temporarily to living full time for years is risky. I'd just buy a fairly large mobile home and have it moved among the three sites as necessary. price the cost of electricity which you probably will have to have metered for living full time. look into park models. are you sure you want a truck large enough to haul a full time 5er as your only vehicle?
bumpy

[Travlingman]

I would consider a toy hauler. Have the master over the king pin, and where the back has beds that come down at night, go up/fold up to ceiling/side walls during the day for open space. Since you will be in warm climates, back ramp could be your patio. Also gives you some storage. With as many people as you will have, maybe one with a extra 1/2 bath(or 2nd full bath if they make them) would help too.

[The_Curly_Texan]

@toedtoes About everything you said we have thought about and have a plan for. Something I didn't realize that you said, though, is that either way, there will be noise. Very true.

Can we handle it? Do we know what we are getting into? We lived in a 30 foot rear kitchen single slide for a month when the oldest was two and we were doing a reno on the house. We liked it and didn't get stir crazy. We are currently sharing a bedroom at my parents for the summer which looks to be extending and we have been just fine. We have had a taste of RV and small living.

Noise for work and sleep? Hubby does all school work and study at the university library. With his ADHD, he has to. Quiet for sleep isn't that big a deal either. He's worked EMS for five years and can sleep when needed regardless of conditions, he just needs it dark which is easy to maintain.

Speaking of maintenance, Hubby's dad grew up on a farm, was military and lived in an 5th wheel with my mom-in-law up until he died, he taught my husband all that kind of stuff and he does well with those things. Hubby will most likely do the regular kind of maintenance and for larger problems we will be able to get to a repair place easily since we will be in large cities for most of the time.

Weather? We live in South Texas and will only be going to med school in Texas, Arizona or Louisiana. Those are the places he will apply to and we have family near all of the places med schools are. Getting away a little and getting more space, being out on rainy days or even having a place to stay during times the RV might be in the shop, won't be such a problem because of that mostly. We have at least a little help and family any place we go. Family is a very important factor for us and we have family spread all over so it's easy to find family for us.

Now, neighbors...I don't mind neighbors unless they are peeing off the roof (true story) but even then, that's why we call the police. I'm a social person but Hubby isn't very social but since he's at school all day and into the night, not a problem. Our kids, yes, even the 1 yr old, makes friends easily and doesn't cause problems that way. We had lived in an apartment for almost two years and most of the tenant were university students. We understand noise.

To clarify something about the RVs we are considering; both will have a bunk room but the rear living has a much smaller bunk room and also a loft to make up for it. The RV with the rear bunk room has a living area that seems to be such an after thought with no place really for games or family movie nights. The rear bunk room does have an extra half bath which is almost just enough to not even consider the RV with larger living.

We have thought about RV living for about 8 months and this is what we want to do. If it doesn't work for us anymore in the future, when Hubby starts his residencies or when the kids are older, then we will just sell and live in a rental, apartment or house. We won't force it if our kids are miserable. Right now, the oldest loves having family live in close quarters.

One reason I want to do this is so that we can start living a simpler life. Less clutter, less chaos. Things like that.

[Old-Biscuit]

kohai wrote:
Rent an apartment/condo. You really aren't saving money with an RV. Your life will be easier and your kids will be happier.

THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^

WE (2 adults that REALLY LIKE being with each other) full timed for 7 yrs. in a 34' 5th wheel.

280 square feet total (8' x 34' with 2 opposing slides) which doesn't take in to account walls, cabinets etc.

Can't even rent a 2 bedroom apt that small.

Full Timing is a great adventure.
Wonderful lifestyle but should not be confused with living in an RV.
Not cheaper, higher maintenance, smaller living space, less storage

Just rent apt/condo/house and give your kids a chance at growing up without having to sacrifice
It's not as if you are traveling showing them the USA ----just cramming them in an RV parked on a small lot with limited resources.

[kohai]

Rent an apartment/condo. You really aren't saving money with an RV. Your life will be easier and your kids will be happier.

[davidaf]

I'd focus on more family space. At the end of a long stressful day settling down in a comfortable location (living room) can be worth it's weight in gold. A bunk house will give the kids their own space to retire to as will your master bedroom but having a common location to simply relax and be a family would be my top priority.

With that much time on the road you'll probably go through an couple RVs. Most RVs don't wear as well as traditional homes plus your needs will change as time passes. Fortunately the kids are small now so a simple bunk house will give you a couple years to get the feel for what's important.

[Merrykalia]

We have 2 daughters, aged 11 and 8, and we part-time, full-time. Explanation: from May 1 until Labor Day, we full-time in our RV, sometimes close to home, but for June and July, we are about 500 miles away from home.

We currently have a front bunkhouse fifth wheel, but I have been seriously looking at the Wildcat 323RBX. It has a front master with bath, decent size living area and a pretty large bunk area with a second, but small bathroom in the rear.

We have also looked at a SABRE 36QBOK, but think we like the 323 RBX better.

Although I think you have thought about this, actually living in a very limited space is not easy and can become very trying after only a few days. Personal space becomes a thing of the past. You might want to rent an RV for a week or two to actually "test the waters" of the amount of living, but more importantly storage space.