Planning next winter full-time- suggestions?

Well, you have to give us some idea as to the direction you want to take. Also, after 6m will you be returning to Minnesota? Or will you continue to travel as a full-timer. It sounds like your plans would be for a 'snowbirder' - returning to Minnesota.

We also need some general information about what you enjoy, what kind of parks you like to stay? Private or public?

Help us here. :)

Sorry about being unclear. We are going full time, and have this summer booked, but would appreciate some input on where people enjoy winters the most. So far we are looking at south Texas and Florida.
We enjoy the oceans, biking , fishing, golf and cooking!
Minnesota is definitely not in the cards for winters.
Residency is also going to become an issue, as we would like to lessen our income tax burden.

We came back to the Florida Panhandle. Of course we were both born and raised here so we knew what to expect. First, we do have a little "winter". It varies from year to year but usually a few days in the 40's (nights can be in the 20's) in January and February are the norm. We seldom have more than three or four days of cold, then back into the mid-60's, even 70's (like yesterday). We live south of Tallahassee on the "Forgotten Coast". There are some beautiful new RV parks on US 98 between Carrabelle and Panama City. Also a number of state parks, the Apalachicola National Forest and Tate's Hell State Forest. Do some research and see if this area meets your needs. lizzie

^^^^ What Lizzie forgot to tell you about was the week of well below freezing and barely getting above for a week at the beginning of the month. He also forgot to mention the snow. Florida is a long state N to S so there is a big difference in temps and number of overcast, dreary days. If you want consistently nice warm days you need to be below I-4. The closer to the coasts and the further south the more it costs and the more there is to do. The Arcadia/Sebring area is fairly reasonable and you are less than an hour to nice beachs. I grew up in WPB so it made sense to snowbird here.

*WPB Latitude is 26 degrees and Jacksonville is 30.

**OP, if you go to the Snowbird section (box upper right) and click on the second area you can see 4 temps in each of the 4 snowbird areas. Further down is a map of the US with current temps...one stop shopping.

Draw a line on the Globe at about 30 degrees Latitude and anything South of there will be great. If you want to be really warm for the Winter (not my favorite) drop that to about 28 degrees or move farther West. Tucson, AZ is about 32 degrees.
Overall, S. CA, S. AZ, S. TX and most of FL are the most popular Winter Snowbird locations.

Each person will have their own preferences, but we prefer southern Georgia and Florida for the winter months. We like peace and quiet, spacious sites, and reasonable costs, so we mostly stick to state and national parks. And warm weather of course. This year our southern most stay will be at Midway Campground in the Big Cypress National Preserve adjacent to the Everglades.

Not sure of your budget, but we recently stayed 2 weeks at Sanlan RV Resort in Lakeland FL. We had sold our house and were waiting to get in to our new place. It was such a nice place I hated to leave. The niceness does come at a cost, though...it's a bit pricey, IMO. You would be within 1 1/2 hrs. (maybe a little less) of the beach. Sanlan has hiking/biking trails, a bird/wildlife sanctuary, golf, activities, fishing, and more. You might want to check it out.

What do you like to do? We spend winter in Mesa, AZ. Like warm days, cool nights, great museums, shopping, concerts, sports (Spring training is only a month always!), good restaurants, and we can be out in the desert in 20 minutes.

Generally if you are south of I-10 you’re going to see warmer weather.

You may want to look into volunteering. We have volunteered at USFW Refuges the last 8 years, 24 hrs per person for couples or 32 hrs for singles. We've done refuges in Florida, Texas and this year in Louisiana. Full hookups and get to use all that knowledge you've aquired
during your working days. Volunteer.gov.

dnoonan1953 wrote:
Sorry about being unclear. We are going full time, and have this summer booked, but would appreciate some input on where people enjoy winters the most. So far we are looking at south Texas and Florida.
We enjoy the oceans, biking , fishing, golf and cooking!
Minnesota is definitely not in the cards for winters.
Residency is also going to become an issue, as we would like to lessen our income tax burden.

Well... that eliminates our favorite - Arizona for the winter. :)

You will have many options in Texas or Florida. Your first or even second winters should be spent trying out different areas of the states. Move around to test them out. Committing to one place for the whole season could be a problem if you get there and don't really enjoy the area.

As far as residency - and I assume you mean your 'domicile' because you don't have to actually live where you domicile - there are some things to take into consideration - Your age and do you need to purchase your own medical or will you use Medicare? That will determine where you will want your domicile to be. You'll need medical insurance that you can travel with. Medicare works great when you add a Medicare Supplement Policy. Some Medicare Advantage policies don't work for traveling.

Popular places to domicile for full-timers are Texas (check out the Escapees RV Club for an excellent mail forwarding program that will give you the address that you will need for domicile); Florida and South Dakota although South Dakota seems to have issues with medical insurance that you can travel with if you have to purchase your own.

Once you decide on a domicile address by using a mail forwarding company in that particular state, that address will be used for everything - medical, vehicle insurance/registration, voting, banking, investments, etc.

You've got some homework to do these cold nights.

Have fun with your planning. You'll be a lot warmer next winter!