Starting in January 2025

[chadslaytor]

Hey folks! My name is Chad. My husband, Jon, and I will be beginning our full time RVing adventure toward the end of January. We are currently in San Francisco and will be chasing the sun. We are still learning about all this. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I feel like there are a million things that we haven't thought of as we transition to this new life. Thanks 🙂 

[Scottiemom]

My husband and I fulltimed for 15 years, till he died on the road. I now part time in a smaller motorhome and I am based in Florida. 

You asked about Thousand Trails and KOA. We never did the TT, but know a lot of people who did and still do. There is a buy-in fee, and I believe yearly maintenance fees, but you can camp cheaply after that. If money is tight, I would wait on that till you know you can afford to keep it up. BLM land in the west particularly is cheap or free in most cases, but it is normally primitive, so you still have to think about how to get water, recharge batteries, and dumping your tanks. KOA's are expensive. Some of the campgrounds are old, but if they are still associated with the franchise, you can expect good services from them. A lot of the KOA's are now privately owned and they can be cheaper or expensive. We joined PPA, Passport America which offers 50% off campgrounds in their system. Some are good, some are bad, but we used it enough, we bought a lifetime membership and it paid for itself.

Take a lot of smaller trips and get your plan in order before you leave. As was mentioned, your rig, if it has sat for a long period, will likely give you headaches, so make sure you have planned ($$$) for those. When I sold my 40' diesel pusher it had over 100,000 miles on it, but the fellow who bought it had a diesel mechanic friend who told him to take the one with the most miles because it was well cared for. That is true, especially for a diesel, because keeping anything on the road requires due diligence. Letting it set. . . not so much. If the plan is to let it set. . . buy a trailer instead. 

There are a lot of people who work from the road, but it does require an internet connection. Do not rely on campground wifi as it is offered mainly for convenience and not for heavy use by lots of campers. Living full-time in a motorhome is not cheap. Many people have that idea and are sorely disappointed. It offers a lot of adventure and I loved our time on the road. But money was not a problem for us. There are a lot of camping organizations that can offer suggestions: Escapees, FMCA, RVOvernights, to name a few. Check them out for more information.

Dale

[valhalla360]

KOA: While the prices do vary, for a given area, it's typically among the most expensive options.

TT: If you can truly commit to using them, it can be a good deal but you need to use it a lot to get the benefit....but learn the rules before signing up.

PPA: If you are on the move, we find it handy. Up front cost is fairly low so 3-4 nights of use and it pays for itself. You do need to research the rules as every park has different limitations (only during off season, only weekdays, limit 1 night, etc...). If you aren't moving around much, it isn't very useful as most don't offer anything for longer stays (at least not that they wouldn't offer to anyone).

If money is tight, I would assume you aren't going to be covering lots of miles because fuel gets expensive. In that case, research monthly rates. $30-50/n translates to $900-1500/month, you will usually get a monthly rate for 30-50% less.

[chadslaytor]

Thank you Dale! I appreciate your insight. The rig is great. It was well loved and the maintenance records and updates are what sold us on it. I feel confident in the purchase. We are likely only going to be RVing short term. We are looking for our next forever home, hopefully a quiet town, and felt like RVing would be best way to do that. Funds are tight since my husband, who is ill, can't work and desperately needs peace and quiet to help him heal. I'm doing everything in my power, with no support from family or friends, to help him get that. I'm searching for a remote job to take with me while we travel. I'll check out the sites you recommended and I'll ensure that we have a hotspot for wifi connection. 

Thanks again! 🙂 

[Jtlangjr]

Similar plan for me waiting for my house to sell.  Winter is probably a more challenging time to start out.

[chadslaytor]

Good luck with your house selling. Yes, winter will be more challenging for sure but we don't have other options right now. Hopefully it will go well. We are avoiding winter weather as much as possible, keeping to the south. 

[Janss]

Welcome Chad!  There are a multitude of tips we could give you about the world of RVing that could fill a book.  So it would be most helpful if you could narrow your inquiry.  Are you first looking for advice on which RV to buy?  Do you know if you want a motorhome (and if so, with or without a tow car), truck and trailer, truck and 5th wheel, camper truck, camping van, etc.??

You might want to consider buying a good well-taken care of used unit rather than brand new.  New units greatly depreciate as soon as you drive them off the dealer's lot.  Even the brand new ones have problems to work out as you use them.  Whereas hopefully, a slightly used unit will have had some kinks worked out by the first owner.

I would always recommend a newbie take a practice trip or two nearby home before getting rid of your home and starting full-time RVing.  You need time to learn about your RV while using it in a real-life situation at a campground before diving in to using it full-time.

There are a plethora of online resources to find campgrounds/RV parks.  There are private commercial parks, public lands (including Nat'l Parks, State parks, County/City parks, BLM, etc.), some Walmarts and Casinos to dry camp (without hookups), and more.  The public lands are usually peaceful...but you could occasionally run into some partiers...especially on weekends and holidays!  I've been in many many commercial RV parks that are also very quiet.

Hopefully you've researched full-timing and are good with the finances of it all.  The money outlay doesn't end with initially buying an RV, because RV's seem to always have one thing or another going wrong.  Sometimes it's just a little thing you can fix yourself, but other times you need professional help, and that costs money.

Since you are starting in winter, I'd say you should take a southerly route (like I-10, for example).  RVs are not necessarily built for all-weather camping.  For example, water could freeze and burst your inside piping, without taking proper precautions.  So always watch the weather forecast as you travel.  (Not just for cold, but tornados, hurricanes, etc. that you would not want to be involved in.)

Well, that's a few of my tips (without writing a book!).  I've RV'd for over 30 years and am still coming across new things/ideas/fixes!

[chadslaytor]

Thank you so much for that! Sorry for the delayed response. We purchased a 95 Winnebago (Ford E350). Its in pristine condition and was very used as a residence. Lots of upgrades to the engine and all brand new tires as well. We got a really great deal on it. 

We have been researching like crazy but still don't feel as prepared as we would like. This wasn't just a decision made to do, but literally our best option due to our living/life circumstances. We have a little bit to live on but didn't have a house to sell or anything like that. We will definitely be staying southern in our routes, likely starting in Sedona, Arizona to even just rest for a minute in a peaceful environment. 

The plan is to make it to the East Coast to clean out our storage unit in Virginia before deciding on our next move. Have you used Thousand Trails at all or KOA for campsites? The membership deals looked pretty great but I don't know anyone that used them. Are they worth it or is better to find campgrounds and parks? 

Thanks for all your insight!

[valhalla360]

Not to rain on your parade but set aside a good chunk of cash for maintenance and repairs.

A 30yr old rig that's been sitting for a long time would be a true unicorn if it was really in pristine condition. I would lean towards a rig that gets regular use because that requires regular maintenance. If the rig isn't moving, it's easy to skimp on maintenance and it won't show up until you get out on the road bouncing around.

Not saying it won't turn out to be a good rig for you just be prepared before the repair bills roll in

[opnspaces]

Hi Chad, what's your and your husbands experience level? It will possibly help us with advice and suggestions. Do you already have an RV and experience using RV's and just looking for ideas where to go? Or are you complete newbies in the RV world?

[chadslaytor]

Hi! We are completely brand new to this whole thing. We just bought a 95 Winnebago (Ford E350) last week but we won't be going out in it just yet. So we are just preparing for it now and trying to find community so we don't feel alone on the road. 

We are hoping to take it on a couple short trips before we go full time in it so we can test it out. But how do you guys find campsites to use or BLM land? Is Thousand Trails and KOA good options so are there better ones? Our whole goal is to find peaceful, quiet places to be. The city life has destroyed us, which is why we are turning to RV life. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 🙂 

Oh and money is an issue too, so we can't just stay anywhere- we are still trying to figure out remote income options- remote jobs have been become harder to get these days. 

[SpulakClan]

One of the apps that I tend to use a lot to find locations is Campendium. It’s free and you can filter by price if you’re looking to boondock. It’s also helpful for finding dump stations, and the reviews by other campers can give you insights into how safe or reliable the camping areas are. You can also link to campsite web pages from the app. I also tried RVLife app, but didn’t like that one as much. 
As far as potential work, if you’re physically capable look up temp services in the towns you plan to go through. They are usually pretty easy to get set up with, and sometimes you can find a few days work to get you through. My husband does this in between construction jobs. You can google what towns have these type of offices. A couple of the more well known ones are PeopleReady, Labor Systems, and Allied Forces. So if you are planning on staying somewhere for a little while to get money to move on, something like that could be an option to help you out. 
Also, if you are starting in January, Sedona might not be an option. Always check the weather in the area you are driving through. Even Sedona can get snow in the winter, and the campgrounds may not be year round. Also, while going through AZ, coconino natl forest is very picky about people staying on the land. They make up their own interpretation to the federal rules for disbursed camping, so if you’re staying longer then a night or two don’t be surprised if you are approached by a forest ranger and questioned about the length and reason for your stay. Keep your site clean, and “we’re here for recreation” is always the answer. 

[chadslaytor]

Hi! We are completely new! No experience at all. We are still looking for a RV. We've been researching and doing what we can but its always helpful to hear from others. Are there models to stay away from? We need something that is easy to drive, easy to learn to use. We are both autistic so we need to find places to stay that are going to be peaceful and away from cities, due to noise sensitivities. We will be leaving San Francisco towards the end of January and plan to eventually end up on the East Coast. Does this help?