Not for us

[Alex_and_Tee]

Well, I’m sad to say I think my wife and I have decided that, after 6 months of full timing, it is not for us. Neither is living in a 55+ resort.

We are in Palm Creek in Casa Grande, AZ. The park is beautiful and there is lots to do here but my wife is 54 and works from home 40 hours a week. I started a machinery distributorship with a partner and I am out 3-4 days a week making sales calls during the day. So, other than the occasional show in the evening we really can’t take advantage of all there is to offer. Plus everyone here is at least 10 years older than me and probably 15-20 years older than my wife so we really don’t fit in.

As far as the motor home goes, it’s a 2022 Allegro Open Road 36LA. It’s nice enough but we miss not having the space that a home provides. Yes, I know we should have probably rented something and tried it first before buying but even spending a week or two doesn’t compare to full time living. I never thought there would be so much to do to the motor home. It’s always dumping black tanks every 4 days, recharging the soft water system every two weeks, descaling the Truma every few weeks, refilling the propane tank every other week, etc., etc.

I’m sure if I had done more homework prior to diving in I would have been better prepared but, it is what it is.

[winnietrey]

I'm with you OP. 66+, still working, still in the " to big house" plan on keeping it that way. For others the full-time park life maybe great, just not for me. I think I would hate it.

But again, just me, different strokes for different folks

[trucker11]

WILDEBILL308 wrote:

I think you should sell the RV now as the market is up Call and talk to NIRVC they are looking for newer coaches. 770-979-4051.

Bill

Not really, the RV market is down and accelerating downward. It will take 6 months to a year before its blatantly obvious, but hyperinflation has already started taking it's toll on RV sales. You're going to see a national average gasoline price of $5 or more prior to Memorial day. That will really clamp the binders on. Can you say recession? Sure, I knew you could. This is going to make 2008/09 look like a church picnic.

[Lantley]

dodge guy wrote:
Yes full timing sounds great. But for me the fun of traveling and planning would wear out quickly. I would rather have a home base and then travel from there 1-2 months at a time. Get home stretch out and relax from the MH and then plan for the next big trip.

Good point.Golfing is a fun relaxing thing to do until you turn pro and it becomes your job.
RV travel is a fun enjoyable lifestyle until it becomes your life and the only way you live!
I'm not a pro golfer and I'm not a full timer. But I am aware that the lustre wears off real quick when there is no escape!

[WILDEBILL308]

Alex and Tee wrote:
To answer a few questions, we had originally thought we would try workcamping and travel around but seeing that most jobs wanted someone to do some kind of maintenance work, landscaping or cleaning rental cabins and bathrooms that isn’t something we wanted to do. Yes, I’m sure there are jobs like at the resort we are in that are office jobs, security or ranger jobs but I’m sure those will go to the park residents or experienced people first.

I had an opportunity to start a machinery distributorship with a partner and with that being what I did for most of my career that made the most sense and will bring in the most money.

No, I don’t prefer mowing lawns to dumping tanks. That is why we will likely wind up renting a townhouse or condo and leave all that to someone else.

I leave my black tank closed until it gets to 2/3 full or more. I don’t want any build up to occur which would cause more problems down the road so I dump every 4 days and wash it out once a week.

Seriously you didn't do a search on "work camping" To find out what it involved???
I think you should sell the RV now as the market is up Call and talk to NIRVC they are looking for newer coaches. 770-979-4051.

Bill

[2oldman]

I always thought fulltiming meant chucking the house and the job and enjoying the travel.

[dodge_guy]

Yes full timing sounds great. But for me the fun of traveling and planning would wear out quickly. I would rather have a home base and then travel from there 1-2 months at a time. Get home stretch out and relax from the MH and then plan for the next big trip.

[rgatijnet1]

My wife and I have been married since high school. We love RVing and have traveled a few hundred thousand miles around this country. We love finding new places and seeing new sights. What we have found, after 50+ years of marriage, is that 3 months or so is about all that we can stand to be around each other in close quarters. After that much time on the road, we need to go back to our stick house and spread out to our own spaces and relax. For that reason we found out years ago that we would never be able to full time. We can do multiple 3 month long trips with no issues but I am afraid that if we tried full timing, we would end up divorced within a year. 🙂

[Alex_and_Tee]

To answer a few questions, we had originally thought we would try workcamping and travel around but seeing that most jobs wanted someone to do some kind of maintenance work, landscaping or cleaning rental cabins and bathrooms that isn’t something we wanted to do. Yes, I’m sure there are jobs like at the resort we are in that are office jobs, security or ranger jobs but I’m sure those will go to the park residents or experienced people first.

I had an opportunity to start a machinery distributorship with a partner and with that being what I did for most of my career that made the most sense and will bring in the most money.

No, I don’t prefer mowing lawns to dumping tanks. That is why we will likely wind up renting a townhouse or condo and leave all that to someone else.

I leave my black tank closed until it gets to 2/3 full or more. I don’t want any build up to occur which would cause more problems down the road so I dump every 4 days and wash it out once a week.

[Lwiddis]

I respect your position…not every life changing decision works for anyone. I enjoy those mundane RV chores.

[RetiredRealtorR]

I fully respect your decision, but I'm just curious about one thing. Why would you have to empty your black tank every four days if you're stationary in an RV resort?

[LouLawrence]

It seems like you just downsized your home. You went from a house/apartment to an RV parked at a fixed location. "To Me", fulltiming means traveling in an RV on a full time basis. I'm older than you but still too young to stay at a 55+ resort. I'm just not ready for the shuffle board / pickle ball crowd.
Maybe if you could have included some camping and RVing into the routine your results might have been different. No one but you can know, however.
Good luck to you both with whatever you do next.
My wife and I have been full timing since 1997 and we have been working from our RV (and traveling) since 2000. It works great for us. We have put well over 300,000 miles on our 2 coaches since the beginning.

[Horsedoc]

Nothing wrong with your decision. RVing is not for everyone, especially as young as you guys are and working pretty much full time. My daughter loves 'camping' but my son's wife thinks 'roughing it' is no restaurant in the hotel/motel when they are camping. Nothing wrong with either set of ideas.
I have gotten old and learned along the trip that you need to do what you want and enjoy life while you can. It would be great to re-live those things we did when we in our 50s. We cannot, but we didn't waste a lot of time doing things we were miserable at when we were that age.

[univmd]

Full timing is not for us either. Having both is the best for us.

[larry_cad]

I'm not sure how your RV task list compares to your home task list, but as a home owner and 40' DP owner myself, I can't believe it takes more work to keep the RV going. What I really hear you saying is you would rather mow grass than dump tanks, and would rather do other home tasks than RV tasks. It really sounds like you gave it a good shot, but ultimately full time RV is not for you. Sorry it didn't work out.

[FloridaRosebud]

Well, you can do all the homework you want, but until YOU give it a try you truly don't know for sure if it is for you. So you gave it your best shot and it wasn't for you. Many years ago I started a business that was based on my hobby, and after 7 years I realized it wasn't ever going to grow into what I wanted. So I closed the business and went back to working for someone else. Like you now, I was young enough to recover financially from the endeavor.

Good luck moving forward.

Al