Cost of active full-timing lifestyle

This is a difficult question to answer as it will vary for everyone's status in life as already proven just by the comments here. Best you'll end up with is enough comments to start forming your own conclusion. I know folks who do it with little as $1600 and a few others who require north of $6K. Also travel itinerary (FUEL) and where do you plan to spend for extended periods, food preferences, health care, maintenance costs.

I wouldn't downsize just because you may not fit into NP campgrounds. Otherwise, after you been living it in awhile you'll likely regret the decision.

The reality is it all boils down to your chosen nomadic lifestyle and the consequences you're willing to accept. Personally, I could do it now on $5K assuming I was debt free. Unless one has an endless supply of cash reserves, learning to live minimalistic smartly and still remain happy is golden. Research, budget planning, more research & planning, discussions with a finance consulting planner (helps if this is done very early on), backup or exit strategy in case the unthinkable happens is key in my opinion.

Another item for thought is where do see yourself 3, 5 or 10 years down the road? An old timer once told me the rich RV'ers go to Florida, those who think they're rich goto Arizona, and everyone else comes to Texas. Don't know how true that is but he formerly spent his winters in Florida but now resides in Texas most of the year :-).

Please note I'm not a full-timer (still in my 40's) and no expert on the subject but have been doing alot of research and soul searching on the topic.

My Grandparents did it and I'm hoping I can do it before the country implodes.

TechWriter wrote:

tonyandkaren wrote:
Most US national parks do not have electrical hookups so solar panels are a good idea.

• About 40% of the sites in Federal Parks have electricity. Also, a little over 50% of all federal park sites are at least 40'.
  
  
• About 50% of the sites in State Parks have electricity. Also, about 50% of all state park sites are at least 40'.
  

And don't forget about using county parks.

Many times the issue is not the length of the site, although with a 36 ft rig, I would still think twice about a 40 ft site- its the maneuvering room or lack thereof. Or its low tree branches.
After 5 years of travel, we still, very often, don't try to stay in many national parks. The stress level isn't worth it, so we stay outside and drive in daily. Now that we have a truck camper it has opened up lots more options.

Sue

Jean S - Please re-read my post. The OP was concerned about finances so I addressed my reply in those terms. I was simply pointing out two very opposite options.

I was trying to make the point that you pretty much control how much you spend per month. AS AN EXAMPLE, you can choose to travel every day ($$$$$) or choose to stay at least a week ($). I suspect that most fulltimers fall somewhere in the middle.

I tend to stay at least a week after driving for a day.


Notice what I said in my post -

"So the point is you can adjust things to fit your budget. But I really do recommend parking for a while after driving for a day vs driving so much. Way more relaxing. I've heard some people say they drive one day and then park for 3.

I am fulltiming so I don't have a schedule. It took me a little time to get out of the 'vacation' mindset. I'm not on vacation. I don't have to drive 400 miles in a day. I can stay as long as I want to."

Tim.

Millicom is no longer an option. They are no longer in business and users are having to transition to other providers. 5K is very doable. You may find you are able to save money while on the road. We have a budget set up and we log every and I mean every expense/purchase. It keeps us on track and shows us where our money is going. If we need to make adjustments to the budget, we can. We have only stayed in one national park (Denali in Alaska) and it was wonderful. Generally speaking, our rig is too big for most national parks and we are only 37 feet (5th wheel). Since this is our home, we avoid places that could cause damage like untrimmed trees, etc that are frequently found in local, state, and federal campgrounds. Denali was heavily treedso solar would have been no help. We stayed 6 nights and we were fine using our generator a couple hours a day. Most government campgrounds have generator hours anyway. If you have to use your generator non stop, it is much more cost effective to find a full service campground nearby. Weekly and monthly rates will be your friend but usually not available in government campgrounds. Enjoy your adventure!

GoPackGo: Downside is only traveling 800 miles a month.

Me: That's a downside? Really? Not to me. I love spending enough time in a place really get the flavor of it. I love having enough time to get to know new people and make new friends. I love having enough time to get familiar with the store layouts and where I can find what I want. Each new place is an adventure, but I don't like the disoriented feeling of never being familiar with my surroundings, of always having just been pulled out by the roots. I like at least a month. We did the constant hopping around thing for the first 8 months we were out this time. It got old fast. We are fulltimers, so what's the hurry? We'll get there.

Go with a bigger unit. I recommend a tag so that's typically over 40'. Also need to consider having an exit plan. Might want to keep the money (or at least some) from the sale of the condo in a fund for an exit plan.

Thank you. I just may do that. But I want to stay with the Verizon system for sure.

GoPackGo wrote:
Re: WiFi. I use Millenicom.com and have their WiFi (runs on Verizon). 20G for $90/month.

Have you looked into the new data plans being offered by Verizon (ends 10/31) and others? They are almost doubling the plans in some cases. Many Millenicom users are now switching over. Worth it to check it out.

We are Canadian. We do it on a self imposed budget of 4K per month and that includes everything including insurance, medical, etc etc. However, when we started this full time adventure 11 years ago we bought an RV lot in Canada and one in Palm Springs from which we can home base when we need a break from the road. This cuts down on our campground costs a bit but then again we also have property taxes etc. On the other hand we can rent them out when we are not on them. Lots of ways to do this lifestyle. We started in our early fourties and are now in our early fifties. Hope to go to our mid 60's and then probably back to a stick and brick in the north and a condo somewhere warm. We are still on our original motorhome and hope to run it until the end.

alot of national/state parks have 30 amp only. we ended up with a toyhauler and the 50 amp which we need for that 2nd AC at the beach sometimes is not usable.
just another thought :)