JimK-NY wrote:
My wife and I transitioned from never having an RV to living in one full time for a couple of years. We literally never stayed a night in the RV until we sold the house and took off as full timers. The transition was really simple with no major issues of any kind.
We started a couple of months in advance by setting up a South Dakota mail forwarding address. We went paperless on everything possible and make dozens of address change notifications. Never rely on the post office to forward your mail. Weeks after we moved the new owner was still getting some of our mail at the old address.
The only other issue was taking too many tools and supplies. I am now down to one small tool kit and a few spare parts, glue, duct tape and a tube of sealant.
We also totally ignored the 2-2-2 rule someone mentioned. When driving across the heartland we often do 500-600+ miles a day. With an RV that is easy. We drive 3-4 hours, stop, eat and rest for an hour and repeat up to three driving sessions per day. Ten to 12 hours of Interstate driving covers a lot of miles.
Most of the people who struggle, made the same mistake. They started with an RV that was way too big. Salespeople love to upsell and all the space and comfort seems good at first. Unfortunately you need to move it and care for it on a daily basis. We went small but with all the basics for comfort, plenty of storage and a couple of solar panels on the roof.
Have I driven 500 miles in a day? Yep! Do I recommend it? Absolutely not. If you are full timing there is no reason to do so. I only did it because I was running a business that required it (a few times in about 20 years). The whole point is to relax and enjoy and there is nothing relaxing or enjoying about a 500-600 mile day! In case I did not make that clear, NOTHING!
Some folks like to get up at 2 in the morning and drive all night to get to their destination. If that's you, ignore my post. If you are more like us common folk, take your time, enjoy each place you stop and stop as often as you find comfortable.
