Am I completely crazy?

[LimaVictor]

Looking for some advice...

But first, a little background information.

My wife and I have been married 10 years, are in our early 30's, and just had our first baby in August. We have 3 medium sized dogs, are all relatively active, and we have SOME experience living on boats/MH's/small spaces for short periods of time (usually two weeks or less) at a time.

We currently live in Texas, where I work a 7 day on/7 day off schedule as a pilot. My wife has always worked full time as well, but has taken her full maternity leave with the baby, and it's got us thinking...

We have some equity in our house, or could reasonably expect to rent it at or above our current cost (mortgage/insurance) and have started bouncing around the idea of living on the road for a while until our boy is old enough for school.

We're thinking, with my income, and maybe some supplemental income if she works part time during the days I'm on shift, we could utilize the week on/week off schedule to travel during my off weeks and live in a MH full time (maybe for a year at first, then see how things are going after that).

We fell in love with the Forest River Forester (25 ft on the Mercedes Sprinter chasis) at a recent show, but have been looking at other class C MH's (and a few sub 35 ft class A's) due to the fact that we have 3 dogs and a baby.

The real question, I guess, is are we completely crazy for considering living full time in a sub 35ft MH with 3 dogs and a baby (assuming we didn't actually set off until he's closer to a year old).

I estimate we'd be looking at covering 30,000 miles or so in a year, given that we'd have to start and end each week long trip in Texas for my work schedule, and working with a budget around $3,500 a month.

I figure we could finance (or pay cash if we sell the house rather than rent) a reasonable MH for $500 - $600 a month, and our living expenses are relatively minimal (food, personal, etc). But to get anywhere we'd want to go (Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas) without blowing our budget on fuel alone, we'd need something with decent fuel efficiency, and while we'd like to stay self sufficient a large part of the time, I realize we'd probably want the amenities of some nicer parks along the way as well.

Long question, I know, and I'm sorry, but I want to know if the reality of our dreaming is unrealistic, or if we could reasonably expect to afford, and more importantly enjoy, a year of life in a 35ft (or less) MH (minnie winnie/via) with 3 dogs and a baby on a $3500 a month budget?

Remember, we'd be in Texas every other week for my work, which would mean we'd basically be going on week long outings every other week, usually to places 300-800 miles away. There is potential for more income beyond $3500, but I'm using that budget to allow for some extra $ left over for unexpected expenses, etc.

Appreciate any advice or input you can throw our way, and don't hold back from the hard truths and realities.

Thanks in advance,

Crazy(?)

[Walaby]

I think OP is not interested anymore in what we think. Hasn't been back in a while. He's probably made up his mind and moved on. Would be intresting to see what he decision is/was though.

Mike

[jarata1]

I agree would get old real quick with 3 dogs

[RVcircus]

If you can swing it I'd do it now. We've been working towards/dreaming of full-time RV life, but with 4 kids ranging from 5-12 it's tough. Now we wish we'd have done it sooner.

[patchelect]

As a newb on the forums I am only offering my probably useless 2 cents.

I believe you are looking at things through rose colored glasses. You have THREE dogs. Strike one. You are having a first baby. You don't know what parenting is about and you think you can manage it with three dogs in a motor home? Admirable thoughts, but I seriously doubt an achievable result. I see the multiple dogs as a large part of the problem and the idealism of new parents as another. I would seriously suggest that before you take the financial plunge you rent a typical unit for a full week and see how it works out. I understand that you won't have tenants lined up if you want to take off, but on the flip side you won't have a huge motor home with an equally huge mortgage that you are looking to unload because making the payments doesn't fit into the budget and/or the tenants have trashed your home. You have a great dream, but I think your reality will be substantially different. Living on a boat without kids and with others is WAY different than Junior and the dogs in a MH for a week of heavy rain and cool temperatures (A once every hundred year phenomenon!)

My kids are 37 and 42 so I've "been there, done that" as far as raising kids are concerned. I love them and they were great kids are are even better adults, but I am watching my son with my grandson (almost 4) and listening to his idealism getting slightly refocused.

If you do jump in, I wish you all the best. And I seriously hope you will keep all of us "in the loop" as time progresses, including little Johnny's (or Janies) first birthday in the MH.

[brantlyj]

ok, so I do not have an RV, but I want one in the worst way. Can't afford one so I live through all of you reading the forums. 🙂 so maybe that disqualify's what I have to say, but as a dad of three girls all under the age of 6 I have some advise.

I think you would be making a huge mistake. Your a new family, so you don't know, what you don't know.

First, all that travel time. It's pretty cruel to basically strap your kid into a 5 point harness for extended periods of time. That 8 hours of driving? Expect 10-12 hours. You will need to stop to feed the kid and just give them time out of the car seat.

Second, you are going to wait until he is one and travel for a year? The one year mark is a pretty important developmental time. They will be learning to crawl/walk. They need lots of space. They will be pretty board going up and down the camper. Not to mention sharing that tiny walking space with 3 dogs. They also use this new freedom to explore their surroundings and being caged up so to speak will not that. It's pretty important for brain development.

third, they will be learning to eat independently. Got room for a highchair? Or are you going to hold him in your lap during dinner. How do you like cleaning up dinner off the walls, the ceiling, etc. Cramped space means a fist full of spaghetti will be everywhere.

You mention friends and family to watch your kid? They going to do that for free? Cause they will tire of being your babysitter otherwise.

Your wife's current friends? Are they parents? Cause I have found that you tend to not spend as much time with friends that do not have kids. And being on the road makes it difficult to make new ones. And mom's will tire of always having play dates at their house cause they can't all fit in the camper.

And lastly, your a parent now. It might be your dream to be carefree and jet set wherever, whenever. But once that kid pops out, it's no longer about you.

Personally I would do as others have said. If you can afford it, buy whatever you like and do weekend trips and keep the house.

So, anyways. Hope some of that helps. I envy your ability to even be able to make this kind of choice. 🙂

[opnspaces]

Not sure how I would sway on your questions and I've never done anything like what you are proposing. But there was one thing that caught my eye.

You mentioned multiple friends and family for your wife to hang out with and that gave me pause. It seems that if you sell the house you won't be able to park in the same neighborhood or possibly even close to it on the days you are at work. If that's the case your wife might start to ind it hard, or harder to go out on play dates or whatever.

Now that I think about it the outcome is the same if you rent the house. You are still stuck living outside the neighborhood. I'm not sure about your experiences, but in my life I've noticed that when people move out of neighborhoods they rapidly become distant friends that you only see on rare occasions.

The last thing I would say is I would never sell my main house and move into an RV, even for a year, unless I hated my neighborhood or just couldn't afford the mortgage.

Have you considered the possibility of renting a large motorhome once or twice a month for 7 days? I'll bet you would get the same enjoyment, have no maintenance or storage fees, and be many dollars ahead of your original plan at the end of the year.

[Grit_dog]

And not to let it sway your decisions, but don't think for a second that if you're renting out an nicer, newer, bigger, more expensive home that you'll significantly reduce the risk of bad tenants.
Of the 5 different homes we've rented out over the years, rent has been $950, $1900, $2300, $2800 and $3000. Home values of $250k - $750k. Best tenants were in the highest and lowest priced ones. The 3 in the middle all had at least one horrible tenant each. You'll learn pretty quick that people who outwardly appear clean and professional can also be the biggest slobs you've ever known!
It's is great way to maintain or build equity, or minimize losses, as well as a good tax shelter.

[Grit_dog]

Sounds like a great adventure to me.
IMO the space isn't a big deal except maybe having the dogs with. I can say we took our dogs everywhere camping (tent) with us, 2 or 3 big dogs in the back of the pickup. Was great til we had a kid. Dogs only go for rides now to the vet! Did just make a trip to AK with 2 dogs, the cat, and kids. Week or 2 like this no problem. Year or 2, eh would depend on the dogs.
The rest of the plan sounds solid........and fun! Go for it.
We've rented out multiple homes around the country and honesty we are about 50/50 for tenants. Didn't have anyone who stole appliances and punched holes in the wall and haven't had anyone who fixes everything like it's their house. But all our tenants have been long distance. With you having the ability to keep tabs on them and your house, it will be much easier. Not a guarantee, but easier to control a bad tenant.
Tax wise, there are some advantages to being a landlord , IF you don't make too much to qualify for the deductions.
Have fun!

[Old-Biscuit]

Nightshifts....then come home to a small RV with wife/child (rambunctious 1 yr old), 3 dogs AND a CG full of folks/kids out enjoying their camping trip with vehicles coming/going's.
MH---RVs are lousy 'sound barriers' and sites can be close.

Then after a day of restless sleep you are going back out to FLY an ambulance with crew and patients on-board which is a stressful event.

I worked those 12Hr shifts......rotating day/nights and have spent many a lousy day trying to sleep in a house surrounded by 2 acres---no kids/traffic and then spent the night fighting it.

Sleep comes as a priority when on nightshift......could be a long week even if out dry camping.


And do you really want to live in a small space while working just to have 7 days of 'fun in the sun'

Rent the house out........rent a condo/apt-----rent an RV for trips
Sale the house......buy a condo and a RV for taking those 7 day trips

[MarkTwain]

LimaVictor wrote:
Lots of (more) good points being brought up...thank you!!!

At the risk of sounding like I'm defending a decision or already made up my mind, let me counter with a few points...

-We really liked the Forester that we sat in at the show, but would realistically be looking at a 35-40 ft MH *IF* this ever follows through. We're still early in the research, but so far, we like the Minnie Winnie, the Vista LX, and the Jayco Seneca.

Have you considered cost of an RV vs the resale value if it turns out you only do your 7 -7 plan for only a year???

-My wife works at a hospital, and has already decided that she will be going from full time to PRN so that one of us can be home with the baby every day and avoid child care. She could, and I suspect, would, still work part time during the weeks that I'm on night shift.

What kind of contingencie plans do you have in place if unexpected events occur?



-For the week that I'm working the day shift, we still have family and friends (including the 4 other new mothers just in our neighborhood alone) that my wife would be able to spend time with.

So for 26 weeks a year the wife will NOT be able to spend with her friends.

-Yes, there are nights that I am up all night, but the majority of nights I still sleep 6+ hours and could watch the baby during the day. Those other days, we have friends, family, church, and drop in day care here in Dallas that I can utilize.

-Admittedly, the time we are back in Dallas has been the sticking point...that's just going to take some research, but I have seen at least a couple of the options locally (my parents have spent the last 3 years travelling in a 45ft class A, so we've visited some of the local parks when they've come to town.

-The EARLIEST we would consider setting off wouldn't be until the baby is at least a year old

-The MAXIMUM amount of time we would commit to is a year.

What happens to the RV financial investment after a year?

-Our neighborhood is a small community of 30 new homes, 3 of which are currently being rented. And I don't know how else to say it, but the price point at which we would rent would negate MOST of the concerns about bad renters, although I know there's always some risk that is unavoidable.

-My wife is on board with this (admittedly, she is more cautious and much more of a planner than I am) but this isn't just me dragging her along with my dream

-We would plan our destinations around the fact that we have the dogs and the baby...by that I mean, we like to chase fair weather that favors spending the day outside. She is from Colorado and we spend a lot of our vacation time in mountain towns where we can reasonably expect to have the dogs accompany us around town or at least find lots of dog friendly, outdoor activities.

-I constantly have to evaluate, watch, and generally stay on top of the weather at work, and I know you can't plan for everything (every pilot has been caught unaware at some point, or something unforecast pops up)...but given the nature of what we're proposing, we would certainly avoid certain destinations when inclement weather is expected.

-Travelling the entire United States sounds great, but yes, 7 days at a stretch does not allow for extended trips. Most of the places we are looking at going during the weeks off are 2-8 hours away. I enjoy the driving (it's what I do for a living) and 5 days is still a really good amount of time to get away.

Most RVers try to average 350 to 450 miles a day to avoid driving to the point of stress and physical ware and tear.

-Yes, a 70 ft boat is apples to oranges against even a 35-40 ft MH, but at least we've experienced cabin fever, tight living spaces, and the day in day out maintenance of generators, water makers, holding tanks, and the adjusted lifestyle.

So you have lived on the 70 ft boat for 26 weeks within the period of a year?

If you've made it this far, I apologize for the wordiness...I have a tendency to ramble stream of consciousness.

I keep coming back to this: When maternity leave is up, we'll go back to the day to day life we've known and are comfortable in.

I am confused, my mistake, I understood your plan for RVing was a year plan??

We'll take a couple of week long vacations during the year, and I'll still get to be home 3 out of every 4 days with my son. But we have this amazing opportunity before he's ready to start school and we'll really want to settle down where we are. I'd hate to wake up in 10 or 20 years, when I may have given up this schedule to work 9-5 in middle management, and have wasted the chance to spend more time like we've had these past 2 months together just the 3 of us (and the dogs) doing the things we enjoy in the places we love. We've had a taste of life on the road, and it's whet our appetite for more. Even better, my wife has expressed an interest as well, but ultimately, we're both a little scared of the unknown.

Its good to consider the "unknown" of any plan. You might want to consider developing alternative RVing Plans to fall back on, should you need to.

That's all (for now)

Thanks again y'all, this thread has really forced me to think about a lot of these issues, and brought up new ones for me to consider, and I really enjoy reading your posts

[LimaVictor]

Oh...and yes, being a father has been the best thing ever. I get it now. Everything everyone said leading up to it is 100% true.

I don't consider a minute of it as "baby sitting"...I don't want to be anywhere else doing anything else.
Just as cool has been watching my wife become such an amazing mother. Selfishly trying to spend as much time as a family like this as I can.

I'm just still learning the lingo

:))

[LimaVictor]

By "drive" for a living, I'm just referring to the fact that, as a pilot, I consider myself as a glorified ambulance driver (I try not to take myself too seriously)
🙂

Unrelated, but I did think of a few more things:

We're not above dry camping at our destinations, as much as possible. Our time on boats over the past 10 years has all been at anchor as opposed to docked at marinas...as close a comparison to rv park vs dry camping as I know. Would also, ideally, allow some more freedom and roaming room for the dogs.

Also, just want to throw out a list of destinations we're thinking about.

Austin
Big bend
Palo duro
Ruidoso
Angel Fire
Santa Fe
Taos
Trinidad
Breckinridge
Possum kingdom
Broken bow
Crested butte
Ozarks

Not exhaustive, just a few to paint a picture

[Walaby]

You drive for a living? Thought you flew for a living?

Sounds like you are giving it alot of thought. The added info does change some of my opinion/thoughts. But, I still think it will not be all fun and games. There will be no relief from the cramped quarters, potentially noisy neighbors, busy RV parks etc (depending on where you end up permanently setup).

Max time you're going to do it being a year is a huge difference maker. Alot easier to handle it for a year, than indefinitely. Renting the house for a year, with a plan to return is a lot easier to manage as well.

I think you're additional info will probably change other peoples minds as well. But, the one thing that will not change is the amount of living space you have. You sure will not have the conveniences and comforts of home. The three dogs I think would make it much more difficult, but that's me, and Im a dog fan.

Mike

[LimaVictor]

Lots of (more) good points being brought up...thank you!!!

At the risk of sounding like I'm defending a decision or already made up my mind, let me counter with a few points...

-We really liked the Forester that we sat in at the show, but would realistically be looking at a 35-40 ft MH *IF* this ever follows through. We're still early in the research, but so far, we like the Minnie Winnie, the Vista LX, and the Jayco Seneca.

-My wife works at a hospital, and has already decided that she will be going from full time to PRN so that one of us can be home with the baby every day and avoid child care. She could, and I suspect, would, still work part time during the weeks that I'm on night shift.

-For the week that I'm working the day shift, we still have family and friends (including the 4 other new mothers just in our neighborhood alone) that my wife would be able to spend time with.

-Yes, there are nights that I am up all night, but the majority of nights I still sleep 6+ hours and could watch the baby during the day. Those other days, we have friends, family, church, and drop in day care here in Dallas that I can utilize.

-Admittedly, the time we are back in Dallas has been the sticking point...that's just going to take some research, but I have seen at least a couple of the options locally (my parents have spent the last 3 years travelling in a 45ft class A, so we've visited some of the local parks when they've come to town.

-The EARLIEST we would consider setting off wouldn't be until the baby is at least a year old

-The MAXIMUM amount of time we would commit to is a year

-Our neighborhood is a small community of 30 new homes, 3 of which are currently being rented. And I don't know how else to say it, but the price point at which we would rent would negate MOST of the concerns about bad renters, although I know there's always some risk that is unavoidable.

-My wife is on board with this (admittedly, she is more cautious and much more of a planner than I am) but this isn't just me dragging her along with my dream

-We would plan our destinations around the fact that we have the dogs and the baby...by that I mean, we like to chase fair weather that favors spending the day outside. She is from Colorado and we spend a lot of our vacation time in mountain towns where we can reasonably expect to have the dogs accompany us around town or at least find lots of dog friendly, outdoor activities.

-I constantly have to evaluate, watch, and generally stay on top of the weather at work, and I know you can't plan for everything (every pilot has been caught unaware at some point, or something unforecast pops up)...but given the nature of what we're proposing, we would certainly avoid certain destinations when inclement weather is expected.

-Travelling the entire United States sounds great, but yes, 7 days at a stretch does not allow for extended trips. Most of the places we are looking at going during the weeks off are 2-8 hours away. I enjoy the driving (it's what I do for a living) and 5 days is still a really good amount of time to get away.

-Yes, a 70 ft boat is apples to oranges against even a 35-40 ft MH, but at least we've experienced cabin fever, tight living spaces, and the day in day out maintenance of generators, water makers, holding tanks, and the adjusted lifestyle.

If you've made it this far, I apologize for the wordiness...I have a tendency to ramble stream of consciousness.

I keep coming back to this: When maternity leave is up, we'll go back to the day to day life we've known and are comfortable in. We'll take a couple of week long vacations during the year, and I'll still get to be home 3 out of every 4 days with my son. But we have this amazing opportunity before he's ready to start school and we'll really want to settle down where we are. I'd hate to wake up in 10 or 20 years, when I may have given up this schedule to work 9-5 in middle management, and have wasted the chance to spend more time like we've had these past 2 months together just the 3 of us (and the dogs) doing the things we enjoy in the places we love. We've had a taste of life on the road, and it's whet our appetite for more. Even better, my wife has expressed an interest as well, but ultimately, we're both a little scared of the unknown.

That's all (for now)

Thanks again y'all, this thread has really forced me to think about a lot of these issues, and brought up new ones for me to consider, and I really enjoy reading your posts