Full timing... with kids... Do I dare?

[m517719]

I have never wrote a blog, forum or posted something online before. So please bare with me. I'll try not to make this a "life story" here we go...

I am a 31 year old disabled veteran, with out going into a personal info my wife and I are on a fixed income. We bought a house 4 years ago and came into our mortgage with equity. Through the years we try to be as normal as we can with our situation and we have been blessed with 2 wonderful boys (3 years old and 2 months old) We enjoy camping in our current trailer (32 foot travel trailer bunk house). But recently with local changes we decided to sell our house and buy a new house else where. BUT THEN we got hooked on a cable TV show about people buying an RV and some episodes the couple have kids and decided to sell everything and raise their kids on the road... Sounds like a blast. Being in my position I would love to travel the US and provide the best life possible for my kids. So my wife (shes not all in on the idea but a part of her really wants to do it) loves the idea of home schooling the kids and being able to travel to different historic areas to teach kids the great history this country has...

So to recap, I have a house if I sell I will have equity (to buy a decent Class A Diesel Pusher, attach our family vehicle and just LEAVE start another adventure with my own little family. We have a fixed income so we are able to budget and plan accordingly.

We are already selling all our furniture and almost a majority of the hand me down belongings because the original plan was to buy another house and use the equity money to buy new furniture (except the kids beds and our bed) We currently have a 2015 Augusta Flex 32BHK that has an awesome bunk room for the 3 year old. I know with the motorhome I may not have that same luxury for him (at least I haven't seen one in my researching so far)

So I guess this is where I am, I have options... I would love to pack the family and hit the road and begin an awesome adventure. But this is where you guys come in. WHAT ARE YOUR ADVICES? Is someone out there reading this that did the same thing I am dreaming? do you have advice? Do you know a good place to buy a motorhome? Is this a bad idea I will regret a month into? Any advice will be great!

Thank you!
Mike

[creeper]

Dog Folks wrote:
For those that say it is more expensive to travel fulltime:

Many will dispute that statement, including me.

When we had a house, total costs, including mortgage, was right at $4,000.00 a month.

Now full timing: Total costs = $ 2400.00

You are not going to tell me it is more expensive.

Especially if you have not done it. I am living it.

Exactly..... Not knowing all the details you certainly can't say that. Our old home the property taxes alone were 14k a year.

Repairs? Like a home doesn't have repairs, maintenance, heating costs, cooling costs. My electric alone was $270 last month and electric is included in most campgrounds.

There are plenty of options out there for living frugally on the road.

[tenhorsun]

I know of a couple who have lived/traveled in their RV for about 2 years now with their two teen children. But he has a successful home business that he can do from anywhere. They are both college educated and have been successful in homeschooling their children. Being a teacher myself, I know what goes into it and it bugs me when people feel that anyone can do it, especially with no background in education and (usually) no advanced education of their own.

[2012Coleman]

IMO, children need to have roots in one place. Dragging them around the country might be good for you, but put yourself in their shoes. I can make a list of stuff they would be missing out on growing up, and being separated from their peers may cause other issues. What about extended family?

I think your being selfish. Again - IMO only. You do what you think is best, but you asked...

[2gypsies1]

Keep in mind that children need to socialize with other children, especially now with all the technology out there. Socialization is becoming a lost cause for many. If you can accomplish being around other families then, yes, your plan is doable.

We full-timed for 16 years and had occasions to observe full-timing families. The children we saw were always surrounded by adults or sat around with all of us but just used their computer. Children need more than that. Sports is a wonderful activity. Unless you stay in one place and can let them participate in local activities with other children I don't feel it's good for the children.....just another opinion.

[blessdx11]

Thanks for the tag Dog Folks!

We have been on the road for over 6 years, and all 12 of our children have traveled with us fulltime. We are down to 8 since they keep growing up, but even our bigs loved it! We recently overheard our son, who returned from Afghanistan earlier this year, tell someone that he hopes to do the same with his family someday.

Absolutely doable! And since you are selling your house anyway, and already own a bunkhouse, this is the PERFECT time to do so! Your children are small enough that they will not fuss about leaving behind a public school regiment, and your current rig is more than big enough for traveling in! We started out with a 30' bunkhouse pulled by our 15 passenger van (with 11 kids); we are on our second 42' toy hauler, and run 2 rigs, but starting out in our tt was wise as we wouldn't have really known what was important to us in a fulltime rig until we were out here. Course, we never intended to fulltime, didn't even know people did that - we were just taking a long vacay down south between building houses. We never did build another house. 😉

So, after being on the road (including having 2 children born while we are sticks-n-bricksless, my suggestion would be to go for it! There is a whole community of us fulltime families, and we are more numerous than many would guess. I would recommend keeping the bunkhouse that you have to at least begin with. It is not going to eat your equity if you decide 6 months from now that this is not for you (happens). With just 2 littles, you can easily find a truck that will fit your family well, and also handle your tt. Sell what you were already going to sell, don't store anything but things very expensive to replace and keepsakes, and bank your equity and only live on your income; that way there really is no risk to your family (which will probably give your wife peace of mind). Join the 'Fulltime Families' group on facebook, and lurk. 🙂 'Friend' some of the families there that seem to be likeminded, and ask away! We love to share what we have learned about traveling with our families, including the huge benefits, even for littles - and we will even share the hardships and downfalls too. We can help you figure out how to do it economically, you can arrange to meet other families on the road, and learn about roadschooling as you go!

We have a website at: ourtravelingtribe.com where we share the places that we go and things that we have learned, and also a facebook page at 'The TicknorTribe'. Feel free to 'friend' us on facebook (Vaughn-Dana Ticknor) and ask away! 🙂

[Dog_Folks]

westernrvparkowner wrote:
....... I suggest you take the advice of others and dip your toe in before diving in. You might find the water is too hot or too cold, too deep or too shallow for your liking and once you are in, getting out is going to be very tough and expensive.

The best advice of all the discussion here.

[Golden_HVAC]

The Perterson's started the Escapee's club with children and no job! He was in construction, and traveled around the country, and started full timing with the family, and home schooling their kids.

Check out Escapees.com and see what they are all about.

They have several campgrounds around the country. The lots are fairly large, they rent them out, and offset some of the maintenance dues that way. If you buy a lot, you are welcome to spend all year on it, or put it into the rental pool while you are out sightseeing. The lot owner does not collect the rent, it will be spent on road maintenance or something else.

They can provide you with a mail forwarding service, or other services, that typically are required by those who live full time in a RV. You never need to buy into a lot to join the club, or even rent a site once in a while, but it is a great and friendly place to visit, and safe too!

Many full timers are retired, and find that living in the RV is much less expensive than living in a home. Some spend weeks at a time at BLM land across the southwest, or find a low cost place to spend the winter like Quartzsite or nearby Brenda AZ. I would like to spend the summer at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon sometime! Just outside the Grand Canyon NP (in the forest), anyone can camp for free in the many meadows, just park off the main roadways, and don't start a forest fire. Check with the rangers for a free campfire permit, that will allow campfires in some locations, or using a outdoor BBQ or propane stove in most areas.

You could camp host, if you could watch the campground - they normally provide a free campsite, and most Forest service areas also provide power to the camp hosts.

Check out this website. FreeCampgrounds.com

Have fun in your future endeavors! Thanks very much for your service. And you are Very brave, no matter what Donald Trump says about being less of a hero for McCain going to someplace where capture was possible. . .

My nephew was over in Afganistan working on UAV's. Repairing the motors and such. He was closer than I ever want to be to the front lines. . . And he just fixed them, and slept in air conditioned comfort at night. . .

Fred.

[westernrvparkow]

It can be done, but it is definitely not for most people. Just because someone was successful full timing and home schooling does not mean it will work out for most people. Heck, there are some people who can honestly say the best retirement savings plan they ever entered into was buying lottery tickets. It's a great plan if you win the Powerball Jackpot, but the odds aren't in your favor.
Most home schoolers draw on a network of other home schoolers and basically form their own school system. The odds of you and your wife being educated enough to teach your children all the subjects they will need to know is very unlikely. What if your child takes a major interest or has aptitude in an area you are weak in? Can you teach them several foreign languages if they decide they want to pursue language studies? Are you capable of teaching higher math if they have that aptitude and interest? What about music or art? Good home school networks have people with those skills that teach one another's children. You will be moving from place to place and state to state and will not be able to tap into those networks of skilled parents. Where are your children going to develop child friends and social skills? It won't be from spending months upon months staying at parks occupied by retirees.
Currently, your kids are very young and small. They won't stay that way. They will eventually need private space and a trailer or motorhome is not going to provide that necessity. What isn't crowded with a 2 year old and a 1 year old is going to be cramped beyond belief when they are 6 and 7.
Others are right on with the financial concerns. Full timing is not a money saving endeavor. It sure would be a shame if you took all the equity you have in your home and flush it away by buying a rapidly depreciating RV. Are you going to be OK in five to ten years having all that equity gone? I suggest you take the advice of others and dip your toe in before diving in. You might find the water is too hot or too cold, too deep or too shallow for your liking and once you are in, getting out is going to be very tough and expensive.

[MPI_Mallard]

Iv'e seen a lot of family's full-timing and after raising our kids I wouldn't do it, no matter what you get there's just not enough personal space also I think kids need to have roots in a community where they can make life long friends and other relationships that they won't get at RV resorts and campgrounds.

[rekoj71]

I'm doing it. We've been homeschooling most of the kids lives. Didn't like the school system where we were stationed at one point and then found that we really liked homeschooling, YMMV. When My wife mentioned the idea of homeschooling I thought she was nuts (so did most of our family). I did lots of research trying to prove all of the theories about them turning out screwed up and not socialized, but the research proves exactly the opposite of all of the theories (Wikipedia Homeschooling, it's awesome), Experience has shown the same as my kids can make friends with anyone in the campground easily, but any adult who has a conversation with them can't believe they are that young and well behaved. The rest of our families have since become believers also. It isn't always easy but can be done.
The above mentioned websites are a great help and I researched them thoroughly. Using military camp grounds I spend less than my electric bill in the summer was in Florida, for a monthly camp spot with all utilities included. My kids still love it also and been doing it for a year and a half. My kids are 11 and 13, which is a little older than most on the above sites, and most families on the above sites fulltime with a 5ver, but some (like myself) us a MH.
It can be done and there are many doing it. That being said do some extensive research.
We use Florida for registration like many full-timers do, and it's fairly easy to comply with the homeschooling rules for that state.

If you have any specific questions don't hesitate to PM me. We even have some good pointers for Florida homeschooling laws.

[tsetsaf]

This forum is the wrong place to ask... head over to Fulltime Families and join their Facebook group.

[tjfogelberg]

I recommend using the RV in the summer and letting the kids get a taste of America when they are not in school. Raising kids is enough responsibility without taking on the role of teacher. We learn many things in school about people and life in addition to the things we learn at home.

From a practical point of view, living in an RV fulltime with children is a lot of work and the fun and adventure can easily turn to monotony.

I'm not knocking full timing. But with children, it takes on an entirely different angle.

Todd

[1oldtruck]

Check out these sites.

http://www.familiesontheroad.com

http://www.littlehouseliving.com/fulltiming-with-kids.html

http://fulltimefamilies.com

Do a search of this site. There have been posts about it. Good luck

[coolmom42]

Go ahead and sell your house, since that's what you are thinking about doing anyway.

But DO NOT put your equity into a depreciating asset like any kind of RV. At some point you will need a place to live and if your funds are depreciated out, you will just be out of luck.

Take a small amount of your equity and get your truck and current trailer in tip-top shape. Add some solar if you want to be able to camp for extended periods without electrical hookups. Then use that setup for a trial run at full-timing.

Make a plan and a budget. You will need to be able to travel a snowbird route---to avoid extremely cold weather, which your RV is not set up to handle. (It can be done, but is not cheap or fun.) Look for some work-camping jobs in areas you are interested in visiting. That will get you free sites in all kinds of good locations.

Right now your children are too young for home-schooling to be a concern. The downside of this is that they are also too young to get much educational benefit from a full-time RV lifestyle

You will at some point have a state of residence and you will need to meet the legal requirements for homeschooling in that state. Some states are more homeschool-friendly than others, but in general it's not too difficult. If you are living somewhere with children obviously not in school, you are likely to be visited by a state social service agency. But if you are doing it right, you won't have any legal problems.

One issue with a mobile/homeschool lifestyle is a lack of social activities for your children, and a lack of social contacts for you and your wife as well. Those things are important. Most home-school families are involved in some sort of co-op, especially as the children get older and need instruction in advanced areas that parents may not be able to provide. That requires a fixed location, and you will need to be in a climate amenable to living in a RV for most of the year.

I think you are in a great situation to give this a trial run, especially since you are wanting to sell your house anyway. Just don't put yourself in a tough financial spot by doing it.