Oh my...they live in a motorhome!

[my440]

I guess the proper word is Social Stigma.
How many feel it?
You tell someone you live in your motorhome and you get a great sense that you just became less of a person.

I have no problem with it really I just find it aggravating.

[Hobo2]

You need to stop watching the alphabet channels. I was a low life or one of those white kids from the other side of the tracks. Became a board member of the bank retired at 45 and took another low life partner on from the other side of the tracks. Its a lot harder to get ahead starting with NOTHING and first hand NOTHING.
ps. I carry the scares from my childhood do you have any?????

[toedtoes]

Hobo2 wrote:
how do you define low life. There are a lot of people who are making less ,even with there cost of living increase for the last 8 years. Low life is a poor choice of words for people still working hard trying to get bye anyway they can.
PS did you pay your tithing.

I wasn't defining lowlife and certainly wasn't calling anyone here a lowlife or insulting those working hard (or even those not working at all). The discussion is about non-fulltimers/non-RVers having negative opinions about people living in RVs.

The lowlife statement was a comment on the perception by the media of people living in vans and old class C RVs - they are most always portrayed as lowlife. The perception of those living in new big RVs is different - more of a "wow, that's cool". It's a double standard. From the posts on this thread, you can see it - the folks in older rigs and vans have experienced more negative reactions than those in new big expensive rigs.

[Hobo2]

how do you define low life. There are a lot of people who are making less ,even with there cost of living increase for the last 8 years. Low life is a poor choice of words for people still working hard trying to get bye anyway they can.
PS did you pay your tithing.

[toedtoes]

Naio wrote:
OMG, I got so much of this when in California!

I think it's partly because I am an avid gardener, and was installing a large garden at a friend's place in exchange for driveway space. Apparently in Socal gardening is for poor, possibly illegal, immigrants, and not middle aged white ladies. And living in a van is for poor and/homeless people.

I kept finding myself telling people, 'I HAVE a house, it's just not here. I am a tourist.'

But try telling that to people when you are wearing grubby shorts and have dirt under your nails.

I have been 10 months in the rig so far, this stretch. If I get rid of the s&b I don't know how I will convince people.

I really think the age and style of the RV has more to do with it than anything. Watch the movies or tv - every lowlife is living in a van or ancient class C. That ball player who lives in a van - gets lots of comments even though he makes a ton of money. The "hippie couple" that lives in the old class C. If they were living in a $100K class A or a 5er, no one would give them a second look.

There you are doing gardening and living in a van - you MUST be homeless, illegal, on the run, etc.

If you were gardening and living in a new 5er, they would have assumed you were visiting.

[Naio]

OMG, I got so much of this when in California!

I think it's partly because I am an avid gardener, and was installing a large garden at a friend's place in exchange for driveway space. Apparently in Socal gardening is for poor, possibly illegal, immigrants, and not middle aged white ladies. And living in a van is for poor and/homeless people.

I kept finding myself telling people, 'I HAVE a house, it's just not here. I am a tourist.'

But try telling that to people when you are wearing grubby shorts and have dirt under your nails.

I have been 10 months in the rig so far, this stretch. If I get rid of the s&b I don't know how I will convince people.

[Hobo2]

I love reminding my kids that if there riches relative,has wheels under his house they might be a redneck.

my daughter now runs our company I should have called it SWEAT and TEARS instead of its present name.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

We have family members who worry about us not having a home, a base 'in case something happens'.

As we've progressed in the full-timing life, they've mostly become more understanding. But when my Dad died last Thanksgiving, my brothers and sister tried to get me to take ownership of his home. "It won't cost you anything, and gives you some added security."

I had to sit down with them and show them actual numbers. Why taking his house would cost us a lot more money, and hurt us by moving our residence to a state where my retirement would be subject to income tax.

On the road, we run into two types of people. The vast majority find our choice a fantastic one, a great idea that they wish they could do. And they never will.

Others think we are crazy or 'poor folks who don't have a house'.

Just last weekend, two of our Good Sam chapter members sat down with us to talk about going full-time. They are very bad candidates for the lifestyle. They don't want to travel much, their health requires staying close to their doctors, they aren't willing to get far from kids/ grandkids.

My father was our greatest supporter when we sold the house and made the commitment to full-time. Once he was sure we weren't planning to move in with him, his main comment was 'wish I had done that 30 years ago'.

We found in the last couple years of his life, he got a great enjoyment out of post cards from the places we visited. Kind of brought back some memories of his younger days when people mailed postcards a lot.

[NYCgrrl]

irishtom29 wrote:
New Scythians. Nomads are held in low regard by settled people, and not without good reason as anyone who suffered the depredations of Steppe Peoples
will attest.

Genghis Khan rules! Wellllll ruled.

[irishtom29]

New Scythians. Nomads are held in low regard by settled people, and not without good reason as anyone who suffered the depredations of Steppe Peoples
will attest.

[John___Angela]

navegator wrote:
Home is where the supper dish is acording to Snoopy, been travelling since 1963 in a tent trough Europe,travelling in a converted VW until 2001 when we purchased the C and full timing since 2007 both retiered, happy as can be having the freedom to do what we want and go where we want to go.

What ever people think of us does not matter nor do we care, we are the ones enjoying la vida loca.

navegator

Navegator. Todavia eres mi heroe. 🙂

[navegator]

Home is where the supper dish is acording to Snoopy, been travelling since 1963 in a tent trough Europe,travelling in a converted VW until 2001 when we purchased the C and full timing since 2007 both retiered, happy as can be having the freedom to do what we want and go where we want to go.

What ever people think of us does not matter nor do we care, we are the ones enjoying la vida loca.

navegator

[MNGeeks61]

Never full-timed, would love to try it, just need to plan way ahead for it.

I think being a military brat might help me be more understanding of people who travel, whether that's a boat on the Mississippi, a snowbird with a 40' DP, or just a guy who lives in his van just to see this great country.

Nothing wrong with settling down either. For me the itch is always there to travel again. Just can't quite make the choice between "toys" and $$$ and less toys but places to go and things to look at and do. The wife has her say too 🙂

I really do envy the freedom that full-timers seem to have. At the same time, all the travel blogs and trip reports help us live that life vicariously.

[JAXFL]

The only one to say anything close was 1 grand-daughter when we went to visit a long time ago and she was very young.... spent the weekend and on Monday at school... she told everyone "My grandparents live in a bus".

[toedtoes]

Gau 8 wrote:

Fulltimers wrote:
In the 11 years we have been fulltiming I have never felt that. In fact most people are festinated by our lifestyle.

Cant say I have ever been "festinated."

It's the feeling you get when you are celebrating Festivus for the rest of us.

[Gau_8]

Fulltimers wrote:
In the 11 years we have been fulltiming I have never felt that. In fact most people are festinated by our lifestyle.

Cant say I have ever been "festinated."