Disgruntled Millennials on the Road

[LittleRed586]

I realize that this might seem like an odd post, but how many millennials are into the full time RV lifestyle?

My husband is in the process of being medically retired from the Air Force for a variety of health reasons and we are going to start RVing full time the day after he is formally retired. He is 36 and I am 31.

After a two year stint in South Korea we were sent to a base on the east coast. We bought a suburban house as an investment within a month of being stationed here. Yes, our house is nice but living in the suburbs just isn't for us. We don't know our neighbors, traffic is a mess, people are rude, our utility company is always losing our payment, my husband's PTSD goes crazy here and on and on. Basically, the whole lifestyle sucks!

We figured that the best option for us would be full time RVing. We have always wanted to see the country at our own pace. We were actually drooling over an MWR campground in Arkansas with cheap monthly rates. My mother-in-law keeps reminding us that we are only going to see older people in most campgrounds.

I figure that there has to be at least a few disgruntled millennials on the road. The whole living with less philosophy of my generation actually fits the full time RV lifestyle.

How many of my mid 20's to mid 30's peeps are at least looking to go on the road or are even on the road as I write this?

[rockhillmanor]

My mother-in-law keeps reminding us that we are only going to see older people in most campgrounds.

and your problem with this is?

[tempforce]

get and use your military discounts for federal parks. usually you can only get state park discounts for the state you have a residency in. this way you have other options in your travels, for where to stay at a reasonable cost.

[down_home]

Haven't noticed any, really.
have noticed a bunch of them trying to run us off the road in the Ford for the most part and the the little black car. They don't like Disabled Vet plates or stickers. I'm not kidding.It happened about a dozen times just today between here and Nashville and back. Slow land or middle or right lane running 10 over.
Wife driving. One of these times they will just nick the front end corner and they will spend and a lot of people may die, including us.

[johnhicks]

Please remember that those Q-tips next door may have a much free-er, progressive and fun worldview than you can imagine; take the time to meet and visit with them. They're not all angry old men.

But you're right, most fulltimers are older retirees. If you're lucky, though, you'll find CGs that are a good mix of retirees and younger working people. They're almost always commercial CGs, not state parks etc.

And for the record, lest anyone take offense, this Q-tip was offered the senior-citizen discount at Denny's at age 35. That hurt.

[2gypsies1]

happycamper002 wrote:

At first, when someone refers to “full timing” I say “wow, this guy must be having the best things in life”. As it turns out this wasn't the case. Some of these guys are living in their RVs because they either have no other option or other circumstances . . . and that is where the word “recreation” went to pot.

I'm not looking down on people who made this choice, believe me, I enjoy the camaraderie with these guys who sometimes offer me firewood for my fire ring.

Unless you enjoy dealing with their clothes line and old lawn chairs strewn next to your RV, not to mention dogs barking in the middle of the night then disregard this missive.

I really don't believe you've met true full-timer RVers because your description is not what they are. Your description is someone living continuously in a trailer park. They don't travel. They are not RVers.

Traveling full-time RVers are out there by the many, many thousands and yes, younger ones are gaining ground.

The Escapees RV Club was begun by a traveling, working couple in the 1970's. We had the pleasure of sharing a meal with them. She is still living. It was begun to help full-timers deal with issues as they traveled and for social gatherings. They use the shortened name of SKPs - S K Ps - pronounced a letter at a time which translates to Escapees. It stands for Sharing, Karing, Parking. It is truly an awesome organization for full-time traveling RVers.

With more younger folks starting to do this they have now formed a subgroup called 'Xscapers'. Here is a young bloggers write up on their experience being with the Xscapers. These young folks get together at various places to hash out their new lifestyle and enjoy each others' company. They are the future.

Here's a link to their upcoming group gathering. There's a place for signing up to their newsletter and gathering information. They're on Facebook also.

https://www.xscapers.com/xscapers-community/convergences/joshua-tree-convergence

http://www.technomadia.com/2015/03/introducing-xscapers-a-new-generation-of-rvers-by-escapees-rv-clu...

[arhayes]

Happy Camper paints a little darker picture than we see because you can do your due diligence and manage to choose parks that have higher standards for both appearance and clientele. We retired in 2014 and are "true" full-time RVers in that we travel all the time other than settling down in the rig for 3-4 months in wintertime. As stated earlier, most of the folks your age we run into are work camping, have either a mobile job that allows travel, or a tech job that just requires an internet connection.

Be advised that this is not an inexpensive lifestyle, so be prepared to pay for the privilege both in park fees and in repairs and maintenance. If you choose cheap equipment and locations - you'll get what you pay for. But - we love the lifestyle, the people and seeing this country!

[timandpeggy]

I normally don't post, but you are in almost the exact same position as my wife and I.

We both retired after 22 years in the Air Force and bounced from job to job. About 3 years ago, my wife was diagnosed with PTSD due to numerous issues with her supervisors and experiences when deployed. We were in Special Ops and Rescue, so we're involved in strange things.

I was working for a DOD contractor overseas when she was diagnosed, and we decided we needed me to stay home, not be 10,000 miles away. I took a job in Savannah, with the plan that when her 100% came thru, I would stop working in order to stay home with her and her issues. Well, we did just that, and sold everything except our truck and bought a fifth wheel. Since than (started Aug 2015), we've travelled back west (where we were both raised). We use the VA for her medical, since her issues are better treated there.

What we do is to be near a VA facility when she has an appointment, and if we have time between the next one, we get out. A normal gig looks like this: we stay in St George, Ut for a few weeks in November, and when she needs to go for treatments in Las Vegas, we drive down (about 100 miles each way). If she has multiple appointments in the same week, we stay at either Nellis AFB or a nice resort. We have found that we can survive about a week before we go into the PTSD mode.

As far as neighbors, the RV actually helps by forcing her out to walk the dogs, and they're a great ice breaker. Yes, you will run into the schmuck every once in a while, but generally, most folks are friendly and willing to help if you need it. Of course, if you don't like your neighbors, the weather, whatever, move.

Feel free to pm me and I can get you our phone number and we can discuss it further.

[RinconVTR]

I am a GenX'er and 3rd gen RV'er.

Under or within mid-30's and full time RV'ing is very, very rare.

[Lwiddis]

"We don't know our neighbors, traffic is a mess, people are rude, our utility company is always losing our payment, my husband's PTSD goes crazy here and on and on. Basically, the whole lifestyle sucks!"

You aren't going to know your RVing neighbors unless you introduce yourself or at least wave. There is traffic when in big cities and country road closures. Some business will always lose your check or goof up an electronic payment when on the road. PTSD isn't just triggered in the suburbs.

That's great that you want to join us RVers and I welcome you but it won't fix or avoid the above.

[Aridon]

We are 40 and about to get back on the road. FT'd for 8 years, got off the road for some investments and about to sell again and go back in may.

There aren't a ton of people in the lifestyle our age full timing in RV's.

[lj2654]

I am retired USAF but am 62 and the wife is 60. We are going full time in another year. We both have disabilities and are unable to keep up with the house repairs and yard work. That and the costs involved have us peaked out financially. We have our DP paid for and plan to try and sell the house if we can short sale it...depending on lender approval. We have been in it 15 years and upside down still with the value vs loan. So in June 2018 we are going to enjoy the time left traveling one way or another.

[wgriswold]

Here is a couple doing just what you are thinking about.

http://mud-on-the-tires.blogspot.com/

They retired from, I think, the Coast Guard and started full timing.

[DutchmenSport]

I can honestly say I've met only one disgruntled camper. Well, maybe 2 if you include that one little boy who got the spankin' of his life for throwing a rock at his sister! Now that was one very disgruntled little boy!

The only other one I've ever met was so bitter about life, and hated everything so much, well, there's just no way to describe him. He was way beyond 35 years old though.

Bottom line, every new "generation" has to pave their own way in this world. And every "generation" thinks they are re-creating the wheel. Truth be told, the wheel just keeps going round and round and round.

I find it funny that in the 1950's -1960's the sub-divided house with separate rooms for everything and every one was the "in" thing. Fast forward to the early 2000's and wide open floor plans with no walls at all with all the latest "upgrades" was the "in" thing.

Now, they are abandoning all that open space and once again reverting back to small spaces!

Yep, the wheel just keeps turning!

[happycamper002]

LittleRed586 wrote:
I realize that this might seem like an odd post, but how many millennials are into the full time RV lifestyle?
My husband is in the process of being medically retired from the Air Force for a variety of health reasons and we are going to start RVing full time the day after he is formally retired. He is 36 and I am 31.
After a two year stint in South Korea we were sent to a base on the east coast. We bought a suburban house as an investment within a month of being stationed here. Yes, our house is nice but living in the suburbs just isn't for us. We don't know our neighbors, traffic is a mess, people are rude, our utility company is always losing our payment, my husband's PTSD goes crazy here and on and on. Basically, the whole lifestyle sucks!
We figured that the best option for us would be full time RVing. We have always wanted to see the country at our own pace. We were actually drooling over an MWR campground in Arkansas with cheap monthly rates. My mother-in-law keeps reminding us that we are only going to see older people in most campgrounds.
I figure that there has to be at least a few disgruntled millennials on the road. The whole living with less philosophy of my generation actually fits the full time RV lifestyle.
How many of my mid 20's to mid 30's peeps are at least looking to go on the road or are even on the road as I write this?

I've been expecting someone to post something like yours that provides introspection into this RV lifestyle.

When I decided to hop onto the bandwagon more than twenty years ago, I was mesmerized like a kid in a toy store. I even subscribed to Camping World monthly publication with pretty interesting articles about members' sojourn and interesting places they've visited.

The magazine was called Trailer Life. They did evolve into web content access with some funky web pages. I guess they couldn't hire web designers then because they were expensive. They charged by the page they create along with monthly maintenance fees. I thought this was just a part of a nascent business that will eventually improve, so it didn't bother me.

There was a guy in the editorial staff who answers questions regarding issues that members encounter especially technical stuff.

The answers were pretty well tailored to the questions being asked. He was knowledgeable and well respected. Being an engineer myself, I found his opinions were well within accepted engineering practices. Members were well behaved then and nobody seems to contradict one's opinion. It was like one big family.

All of these changed when new entrants got into the scene. It got so convoluted, it literally give a new meaning to the word “recreational”. It's no longer recreational, to me it is survival.

At first, when someone refers to “full timing” I say “wow, this guy must be having the best things in life”. As it turns out this wasn't the case. Some of these guys are living in their RVs because they either have no other option or other circumstances . . . and that is where the word “recreation” went to pot.

I'm not looking down on people who made this choice, believe me, I enjoy the camaraderie with these guys who sometimes offer me firewood for my fire ring.

Unless you enjoy dealing with their clothes line and old lawn chairs strewn next to your RV, not to mention dogs barking in the middle of the night then disregard this missive.

Not all Rvers fall under the description I described above. Some are simply just looking for ways to spend their money.

I bought my RV even before I retired. I have a fairly wide spread to accommodate a good size RV or an over sized trailer, so I didn't have to worry about storage.

As for millennials getting into the stage, I don't see much of them in places I've alluded to. Most I've seen are driving a 300,000 rig with small children on board and they usually stay only a few days.

Your M-I-L is absolutely right. You will see older people in RV Parks on fixed income unlike millennials who are on the move and making more money than those who belong to the baby boomer crowd.

Reality sometimes is hard to accept, and you are entitled to all info that might affect your supposedly chosen lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy RVing and will continue to do so as long as my wife and I stay healthy enough.

Last but not least, I appreciate your husband's service to keep this country great.

PM if you need to talk more about it

All the best.

[2gypsies1]

There are more and more young folks going full-time. With technology today, many can work from their RV and do so successfully. Good luck to you.

You might consider volunteering for national or state parks or wildlife refuges. Keeping busy helps and you'd be helping out in nice places. Just do it occasionally, not constantly. When you visit a park you like inquire while you're there. It's easier to get a position that way... at least we found it to be so. You will also see more younger people in public parks rather than RV parks.