What is full timing really?

[AprilWhine]

Just a question about terms: If you are living in a shelter on land you own, how is that considered "full timing?" I have noticed people using the term more and more loosely, to the point of people claiming to full time even if they just live in the same park for years.

I consider full timing to be a lifestyle choice that includes a certain amount of travel. If living in a structure on land and never moving is considered full timing now, then I guess everyone is a full timer. 😉

I originally posted the above in the thread about full timing in a tent, then thought maybe I should post it as a separate topic. So, what do you RVers think?

[restlesswind]

Several years ago,I was told by "full timer" that I could not be considered a "full timer because we still own a house. So,in that persons mind,we are not full timers,even though we have lived and traveled in our fiver for 7 1/2 years!

We think we are fulltimers,therefore,we are. (We still own the house,and the rent collected has really helped the bank account.)

[Dog_Folks]

Why do we need this label defined?

[MTPockets1]

We lived aboard our 39 ft. Trawler for 14 months while we circumnavigated the Eastern USA. We were called Loopers, short for Americas Great Loop Cruisers Association, or AGLCA. Now we travel full time with our 5th wheel. One place about 5 months, move around country 7 months stopping at times up to 2 months. Fulltimers I guess.

[2112]

Off-Topic: Every time I see AprilWhine post something I walk around singing Roller for the next hour. Does anyone else do that? Or maybe I like to rock?

[dahkota]

gbopp wrote:

I thought full timing included boats, apparently not.

For boats, the terms are liveaboards and cruisers. Liveaboards live on their boats but don't really move from their location. Cruisers move about from place to place following the weather, a pre-planned route, a whim, or whatever, rarely staying in one place longer than a month.

Being a liveaboard would be fun, but not nearly as fun as being a cruiser.

[gbopp]

Here's another definition from RV-Dreams.com.

I thought full timing included boats, apparently not.

[Old-Biscuit]

Well..according to Wikipedia:

"The RV lifestyle is made up of those interested in traveling and camping rather than living in one location, as well as by vacationers. Some travel nearer the equator during the winter months in their RV and return in spring. This is sometimes referred to in the USA as snowbirding.

There are a large and growing number of people who live full-time in their RV/motorhome: these are known as fulltimers. This is not advisable as RV's are not constructed to standards which would permit safe long term occupancy. However, some fulltimers convert RVs to make them suitable for long term usage.

There is another subculture of the RV lifestyle known as workamping. These workampers are people that work at the campgrounds/RV parks they stay at for site and perks.

While many RVers may be retirees, other individuals and families are choosing RV travel as a way to see parts of the world while maintaining their incomes via technology available from the RV (such as the Internet, phones, faxes, etc.).

Some choose to park in locations without camping sites for a variety of reasons, including saving money, more choice of location, isolation, privacy, adventure, more self-sufficiency and to be nearer a target location.

The RV Lifestyle is particularly popular among senior citizens. Like many other RVers, they have often sold their homes and often travel to warm climates in the winter. In Australia, these travellers are known as grey nomads."

So there you go..a bonified definition. Found and read it on the Internet. Bonjur

[Larryzv7]

If you purchase “full-time” RV insurance the agent generally assumes that you live in your RV full-time. There is usually no question about whether you move around or not, or how often you move. Although there may be a question about how many miles you put on your vehicle, but that has nothing to do with changing locations.

If moving around is a criteria for full-timing than how often does one have to move to constitute full-timing? What if you stay at one place six-months, or two-years, before going someplace else? I think that full-time RVing specifically refers to living in a recreational vehicle full time and nothing else. Although, “RVing” is a verb that infers motion.

It’s like some have told me that living in an RV is not camping. Camping to them is when you sleep on the ground. So I reply no I am not camping rather I am RVing. Although there are some who camp in a cabin. Semantics can drive you crazy.

[AprilWhine]

Francesca Knowles wrote:
What about those who only move the RV seasonally from north to south and vice versa?

Do those two trips a year make them different from those who stay in the same park year 'round?

...snowbirds... 😉

[Francesca_Knowl]

What about those who only move the RV seasonally from north to south and vice versa?

Do those two trips a year make them different from those who stay in the same park year 'round?

[ontheroad101]

Never saw a definition for "full timing", but one may exist. Full timing can and dose mean different things to different people. To me full timing means living full time in a recreation vehicle and traveling to different places. It could be staying in some place for a night or several months. To me it dose not mean staying full time in an RV and it never moves. I'm sure there are many different opinions on this topic.

[path1]

Terminology is the only difference. Sort of like the term "boondocking" means different things to different people.

[AprilWhine]

Off topic - K Charles, I love that dog!

[K_Charles]

I think that if you live in a trailer that hasn't left the park it's in for years and you get up and go to work every day so you can pay the rent and electricity then you live there. That has nothing to do with recreation. The R in RV stands for Recreation. If you full time in an RV then you have to recreate.

[fla-gypsy]

The key word here is Recreational vehicle. A mobile home is not necessarily a recreational vehicle.