saying hi as a fellow fulltimer in a different situation.

[eliandjax1]

Hello,
I am new to the forum but have been reading them for sometime and found them extremely helpful. Thank you to everyone who contribute.

A little bit about my family and myself... I am 27 and dw is 25. We have two boys 7 and 3. We currently live fulltime in a 2002 Pioneer 30ft travel trailer at a commercial campground in tx. We started our journey back in feb 2013 when we purchased a 1978 shasta 27'. We had decided to take a year off to travel after I finished a 3 month job in flordia. We had always talked about wanting to try it and we knew we did not want to stay in our current location in illinois so we ended our lease on the 2800sqft house sold almost everything and away we went. We traveled in 6 states and ended up in texas where we decided we wanted to live. We essentially picked a point on the map and looked at local rv parks and chose one. No real plan was devised but within two days of hooking up camper I had a fulltime job that offered the best pay I have had to date.

So here we are living fulltime in a travel trailer with 2 boys and our two girls (pitbull and german shepherd) I know we are not the typical snowbirds or retired couple and we are by no means wealthy (in debt actually). I felt the desire to introduce myself so that maybe anyone else surfing these forums that maybe in a similar situation as we are would know it is possible to fulltime and enjoy it. I hope that I can provide maybe a different perspective to fulltime living on the forums.

[BeckyIO]

Welcome eliandjax1,

I bought my travel trailer and hit the road as a full-timer RVer as a single lady at 28 a year and a half ago. Sometimes people try to tell me that I'm living life wrong and the choices I'm making now will come back to haunt me, but the truth of the matter is no one knows your situation and needs and capabilities like you do, and therefor you should do what feels right to you.

I wish you and your family the best, I drove through Texas for the first time this winter and really liked what I got to see. I'll definitely be back sometime for a more thorough visit.

Safe travels and happy trails!

[Geocritter]

Hi eliandjax1,
I have some experiences of my own to add to what you’re doing (which I totally approve of, as if it matters LOL!). My late wife and I have two kids. When my daughter was in the first or second grade, we’d purchased a small starter home in an upscale planned community. Everything was fine until my daughter had a birthday party and her friends from school found that her home was half the size of theirs. My daughter was promptly shunned by many of her “friends” at school. A few years later we purchased a much larger golf course home in a premium neighborhood in the same community. The next thing I knew Margot was being invited to every party that came around. I asked her the reason for her new found popularity and she simply said “We moved Dad.” The takeaway from this is, both my kids learned at a young age the difference between friends and acquaintances. BTW both my son and daughter have grown to be well grounded responsible adults who would make any parent proud.

As for my own personal experience, my Dad was a functional alcoholic (probably the result of PTS from his experiences in the 101st Airborne in WWII). Fortunately he wasn’t a mean drunk, but he could never hold a job long and we moved all over the place. Growing up I went to 12 schools in 12 years. I’m now 66 and to this day I have no problem meeting and greeting people, but I have a problem making long-lasting friendships. It simply hurt too much having to leave friends behind when we’d move once again and it’s something I never completely got over.

So there you have it, some food for thought regarding your lifestyle, some tripping hazards, and its potential impact on your children. I hope you find it useful.

Good luck with what you’re doing.
Steve

[Bill_Satellite]

Hopefully, no one will pay too much attention to the naysayers and haters that pop up on forums from time to time (like this thread). Some people take what they don't understand and throw it back as if that person is doing something wrong. To each his or her own. If it works for you then it is right for you. Having someone take an introduction and twist it around into a lecture is unfortunate but these should be ignored or laughed at since you can't any of it seriously.
Enjoy your time with the family, enjoy the savings and continue to reap the rewards for as long as it makes sense to you.
I used to fulltime where ever the weather was good. My job changed and now I fulltime mostly where the weather is not. We go where it's cold in the Winter and hot in the Summer. Strangely enough, it's all still good!

[brirene]

^^^^ Welcome to the forum, Vince. Best of luck in your endeavor!

[TheModernHobo]

Greetings, all!
We are a couple near retirement age. ( 60 for me n 61 for my spouse ).we live in New York City all our life, but we always wanted to go into full timer rv lifestyle when we retire, but we are sad to say that due to a sudden downward spiral in our family situation, we will be forced to go into a rv lifestyle because we will be evicted by our landlord.
Typically people who get evicted will lose their homes, and belongings, accompanied by uncertainty and anxiety to say the least, but because of our prior interest in rv lifestyle, we found it not as stressful , or unsure as we are prepaing to live onboard a vehicle on the streets of New York.
Since we are short in funds now, we are shopping around for a class b rv thats in the $5000 - 7000 price range. I have seen a few in RV trader, n prepare to look into them, the other alternative is buy one of those used tradesman van with steel drawers n shelves already installed, just throw in a mattress and porta potti, add an inverter and we can call it home until we can save up to look$20, 000 or so to afford a class A.
I will be reading much here, try to learn as much and as fast as I can, in order to make this transition as smooth as possible. I will appreciate all the advices from forum members in terms of living this lifestyle, dealing with technical matters, or even moral support.

Have a great day n glad to be here.

Vince the modern hobo.

[bigdogger]

Dufus wrote:
We have survived full timing just fine, whether in the heat or in the cold. We wintered out here in Virginia to experience being with grand kids and have not regretted it. However, having said that, we would like to do Florida next year just because it's there. We sold our 3200 sq ft sticks and bricks for a break even price and have never regretted it. Put the money in our rig and never looked back. My brother was talking by phone this morning about not having time to clean the brush down by the lake and I responded that I haven't had time to clean the grill. He plans on joining the FT crowd soon. Wish we had done it sooner. DW and I have pensions and SS and with a paid for rig we're saving money. I feel like if we had raised our kids as full timers we would all be better for it. The diversity in their lives would not have been equaled and with those experiences they would have been able to face any challenge. We truly envy you your experience with your kids.

Full timing with no place you have to be on a daily basis with money to travel and enjoy your freedom is a lot different than choosing to make a 30 foot trailer your home in Texas for a family of 4 and two big dogs while anchored in place by your employment.

[Dufus]

We have survived full timing just fine, whether in the heat or in the cold. We wintered out here in Virginia to experience being with grand kids and have not regretted it. However, having said that, we would like to do Florida next year just because it's there. We sold our 3200 sq ft sticks and bricks for a break even price and have never regretted it. Put the money in our rig and never looked back. My brother was talking by phone this morning about not having time to clean the brush down by the lake and I responded that I haven't had time to clean the grill. He plans on joining the FT crowd soon. Wish we had done it sooner. DW and I have pensions and SS and with a paid for rig we're saving money. I feel like if we had raised our kids as full timers we would all be better for it. The diversity in their lives would not have been equaled and with those experiences they would have been able to face any challenge. We truly envy you your experience with your kids.

[bigwheelsturnin]

i sure wish we had sold our house before the crash...we're gonna sell out this year..even if we break even...goin RV ing.. 😉

[lizzie]

Air conditioning, as we know it today, was not invented until 1902 and has only been in common usage in homes for the past 50 years. Somehow folks survived and children grew up in the heat and humidity. As for limited space? How about those yurts and teepees, and sod cabins, and city apartments? Large families survived lack of privacy and limited facilities. Happy families can be happy anywhere. lizzie

[eliandjax1]

Bigdogger.
Thank you for the reply. Real world has smacked me around a lot in my life and went to work overtime since fulltiming. Your first comment about friends and their parents we have experienced first hand a lot in the last year. However I have found that at every campground we have managed to meet many great people and their children and maybe we are lucky but only had one issue where we did not allow our children to play with another residents children. As for our current perm park we are great friends with the maintence team and their family that includes 3 children. I have gotten to know my neighbors better since ft then I ever did at my s&b.

The summer heat you got me... but I figure after visiting gma in so fl in middle of last summer we will find a way to survive. Fortunately for us we are freezing when it is under 80 out. Now this last winter in texas was rough! We had to turn on the furnace and were stuck indoors a lot! This is why were looking at a new 5slide fifth wheel before next winter!

If you have any valuable tips to combat the problems you speak of I am all ears tho!
Thx!

[bigdogger]

I hope you and your family is prepared when the "real world" comes and slaps you around. Your children are going to find that parents are not going to let their children go over to their "house" to play. They won't get to know their neighbors because they will always be changing and they will have to learn not to trust their neighbors because you will never know who will be staying next door for the next couple of weeks.
You are living in about 250 square feet of living space. There isn't going to be any privacy. When the Texas summer rolls around, you don't spend time outside, so that 250 square feet will become your entire domain. Most RV AC units are close to inadequate for the Texas heat, so you might find it uncomfortable at best and downright miserable at worst. We have a 45 motorhome and the 3 AC units don't keep it cool enough for me, so we don't do Texas in the summer, that's the time to move north.
Being frugal is fine and dandy, but be careful it doesn't have long lasting negative impacts. After all, the purpose of working for money is to have money to use to benefit yourself and your family. be long term smart.

[oldtrojan66]

Welcome to our forum! I had to laugh at my first response to your post and question. Of course, you much understand, I am pretty much a smart alec and my first response usually reflects this. My response to your question is this. You have to full-time somewhere! You can't do partial living, even without kids! You have just chosen to live in a movable home. You may return to a stationary one at some point, but for now, you live in your vacation vehicle! Happy Trails!!

[eliandjax1]

Thank you for the warm welcome all.

The main reason we did the rv "thing" was to spend more time with our children. Just over a year ago dw worked fulltime at a bank and I worked not 1 not 2 but 3 jobs to pay for our honestly obscene lifestyle. We realized that we were working ourselves to death and practically aabandoned our children to pay for a house we were never at and a bunch of toys we weren't home to enjoy. It was truly a blessing to get to spend the last year traveling with the children and really getting to spend time with them. Everything from a campfire to legoland and clearwater aquarium have been a blast. The kids have enjoyed more in a year than many will their entire childhood (including my own) not to mentiom dw and I got to partake in the fun as well! We may be settled in a semi perm location now but we will continue the lifestyle and will continue the good times with our children.

The almost hysterical part currently is... were now enjoying not only our children but eachother and our lives as well while easily battling our way to financial freedom. I know a lot of people say rving is expensive but in our particular case it has been 100x cheaper. Went from aquiring additional debt EVERY month to now living on just 10percent of just my income!

If I ever add anything worthwhile to this forum let it be this. I wish I would had came up with this 10 years ago and I'd be a lot better off. If you ever have the desire for the type of lifestyle that allows freedom do it now. The advice I give me children om graduation day will be most likely this. Buy yourself (maybe with help from mom and dad) a truck amd camper. Dont get tied down to material things and enjoy being free!

[Dog_Folks]

Thanks for your post.