Questions for Full Timers

Clay,

Sounds like we have sort of the same track. We just purchased a PM for our winter spot, but will still travel in the summer. Not ready to spend a whole year in the Arizona sun just yet.

Barb

How often do you travel?
After we got out of "vacation mode" We stayed at least a month and often several months in one place unless we were in transit from one place to another.


How do you get your mail?
Mail forwarding service.

How do you acquire a campsite for months on end?
We weren't camping we were living. There are RV parks everywhere that rent by the month or season.

What does a site cost per month?
Anywhere from $160 to over $1000. Our average was less than $360 per month.

What are the things you miss about having a brink and mortar house?
At first (the first 8 or 9 years) not much of anything but after 10 years or so - storage space so you didn't have to move something to get to something else just about every time you wanted something.
Washer and dryer, dishwasher, and privacy.

What advice do you have for a person thinking about becoming a full timer?
Be debt free and have an exit plan for the time when you can't or don't want to full time anymore.

After 11 years of full timing and 1 year of snow birding we are now settled down in a home we paid cash for (part of our exit plan) in western CO and are happy with what we are doing.

We did enjoy our lifestyle for all those years and wouldn't trade them for anything.
Do we miss it a little sometimes? Sure but not too much and not too often.

We've tent campled for yrs and like you have been wanting to FT since around 2005 and won't for another 4.5yrs. We don't even currently own an RV because we both work full time and it wouldn't be used enough to justify the cost. We've been saving, saving and investing, reading lots and going to RV Shows. Been to Hershey, Lazy Days (which is a show in itself) and will probably go to Tampa 1-2 yrs before purchasing (short list may change but will pay cash on an Allegro Bus or an Entegra Anthem with tag). Suggestions only: Read these websites, iRV2 (they have manufacturers forums too), Escapees, TiffinRV (if considering a Tiffin motorhome), RV Forum, FMCA and Motorhome Magazines (if getting a Class A). Forums we follow: http://www.wheelingit.us/, http://lowestravels.com/, http://www.islandgirlwalkabout.com/, http://www.outsideourbubble.com/, https://ohtheplacestheygo.wordpress.com/. We've been adding to a spreadsheet/bucket list of well over 550 places to see and do which is easy to add to when finding something new of interest which will be of great use when going to a new state or area. We've developed a RV tips to remember word doc to review when time comes. Made a PDI checklist, pre flight/campground breakdown checklist, an RV parts list someone posted on iRV2 Entegra forum yesterday, an RV setup costs document and a budget sheet all of which will be updated when the time comes. SD was going to be our domicle until recent Obama care heathcare insurance changes made us now consider FL. Starting to shed stuff we don't use so it's easier later. I'm handy so currently upgrading the house so it sells fast and will use all the proceeds as a way to fund our exit plan.

We kinda know what we're getting into.... Now.... due to some earlier posts here.... someone will probably post that we're foolish or whatever... Oh-well. Fortunately we're both in great health and the remaining time will go fast. It's great to have a common retirement goal. Hope this helps. And in my humble opinion YOU"RE NOT CONSIDERING THIS TOO SOON.... geez.....

Let me assure you that ANY emergency or illness or death can be dealt with from a RV. We've seen it happen and some has happened to us, too.

Rick and Kathy wrote:
Tony and Karen,we such as yourselves have been full-timing for eleven years. I am retiring from work this coming February and we are trying to plan a two year trip around the United States. We have heard a lot of different ideas about travel, from staying in a park for a month to what y'all are doing. I would love to hear a little more in depth of what you guys are doing. Money will be an object so we are going to have to travel smart.Thanks for any information you can give us.

I have a lot of information on how to travel cheaply on my blog but here are a few tips to get you started.

If you are over 62 get a America the Beautiful senior pass. It's $10.00 for life and gives you free admission to federal sites and half price camping at national parks, national forests, corp of engineers and blm campgrounds. http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm

If you're not over 62 the pass is $80.00 for a year and gives you free admission to the parks but no campground discount.

I use these sites to find campgrounds and boondocking spots -
http://www.ultimatecampgrounds.com/uc/index.php
http://freecampsites.net/usa/

Public campgrounds are usually less expensive with a more natural setting than private campgrounds so if we stay at a campground it's almost always a public one. In the west where it's possible to boondock that's our first choice. When we visit cities we're out touring all day so we stay in Walmarts and casino lots when there aren't any public campgrounds close by.

We like visiting museums and gardens so we buy a pass every year that gets us free admission to over 400 museums and 400 gardens. You must buy the $150.00 contributor membership to get all of the benefits but it pays for itself quickly.

Check my blog for more ideas - http://rollinginarv-wheelchairtraveling.blogspot.com/

We no longer have a stick home. The motorhome is all we have.

We haven't stayed more than 2 months in any one place.

Our son get our mail at his home and scans anything important. He brings it with him when he meets us a couple of times during the winter.

We don't usually rent by the month. We prefer weekly rent but my brother said that if you paid for a month, you would get a week free. So, if you stayed 3 weeks, you were even. The cost per month varies greatly with the park.

The only things we miss is the storage. we are able to store things at our kid's homes. We are lucky to have a place at the North end and South end of our travels.

I would suggest that you do it sooner than later. Some people cannot handle it though.

Tony and Karen,we such as yourselves have been full-timing for eleven years. I am retiring from work this coming February and we are trying to plan a two year trip around the United States. We have heard a lot of different ideas about travel, from staying in a park for a month to what y'all are doing. I would love to hear a little more in depth of what you guys are doing. Money will be an object so we are going to have to travel smart.Thanks for any information you can give us.

smacdiesel wrote:
You need a permanent place to die when that time comes, I would hate to pass in my rig.

There is a plot in a cemetery on some land my family owns. We authorized some descendants of the folks buried there to revive it about 25 years ago. In return for access, we get plots.

So someone just needs to send the ashes home via UPS, and my brother has some posthole diggers.

I'm not sure what we would do if either of us had a bad illness. The Escapee's adult daycare facility is a possibility.

Otherwise we will just deal with what happens.

Any place that host winter residents see deaths and serious illnesses every year. Some folks greatly appreciate the support of other winter residents, and some folks want to get 'home' as soon as possible.

Having watched many relatives sit in nursing homes with Alzheimer's for several years, I wouldn't like to be close to my children/ grandchildren and make them feel they had to come see me often.

smacdiesel wrote:
You need a permanent place to die when that time comes, I would hate to pass in my rig.

Why? What difference does it make if you die in your rig, parked at an RV park, or in a hospital, or in a S&B, or in assisted living? If you are thinking about being alone, people die in their homes alone and aren't found for days unless they have set up a signal with neighbors - same as would happen in an RV park.

Barb

smacdiesel wrote:
You need a permanent place to die when that time comes, I would hate to pass in my rig.

LOL...you wouldn't know the difference! :)