Starting Over - Heart Attack

[HadEnough]

I just had a heart attack a couple days ago and part of my heart got damaged. We had left RVing to go sailing, but being many hours or days away from help seems a little less appealing now.

So, we are considering starting over with RVs again. We have some travel plans and likes and wants, but every time I go through the RV exercise to see how we’d accomplish our goals in RVs, I come up short. Boats win out every time.

I’m hoping to enlist the collective mental power of the internet to see if you all have some good ideas about how to do this stuff.

Goals:

• USA and Canada
• Europe
• Be able to go into say, NYC, San Francisco, Paris or other crowded, small town areas (public transportation to get in is fine)
• Also boondocking on federal lands, polar opposite uses.
• Full time RVing and living in the RV
• Lots and lots of dry camping, off grid, not in campgrounds
• Still some nights in campgrounds especially they are in parks
• Keeping RV as our home wherever we go, including international

Questions:

• What would the best type of RV and toad/trailers/whatever be to achieve this?
• Anyone here ship their RV around the world?
• How am I supposed to plan for transportation going electric and limited range?
• Will I be able to get diesel 10 years from now? I know there are many emissions zones around Europe where I can’t even drive the RV I have now.
• How would you achieve these goals?

I currently have an Arctic Fox truck camper on a diesel Dodge Ram. Not trying to break the bank, but will spend a fair amount to get these goals settled.

Outside of the box thinking is encouraged, as well as pragmatic and practical thinking .

Thanks!

[pianotuna]

Rent an appropriate RV when overseas, rather than shipping it.

I'd go with a small class C 22 foot, and pull a cargo trailer behind it. Have it converted to 4 wheel drive. There are many units that run on gasoline--but I don't envision diesel being unavailable in North America within a ten year time line.

I don't like class B because of the quite limited bathroom facilities.

Or go to 26 footer and forget the cargo trailer.

[midnightsadie]

sounds like your on your way back ,just take a small break and work your way into your next adventure, could have been worse.

[Lwiddis]

Doing as much as you can rather than crying about what you can’t do? Great attitude! See you down the road.

[HadEnough]

Thanks for the responses. I was afraid I’d get the response to just forget RVing in Europe. It’s been a dream of mine to go back by boat or RV for decades. I’d like to live there for a couple years with a movable home, like I do here in the USA.

So that’s best done by Airbnb?

Regarding the advice to follow doctor’s orders, I’m definitely doing exactly what they say. No deviation. I’d like to get as back to normal as possible.

Oddly, I already eat the Mediterranean diet, plant based protein, no dairy, etc etc. I had only a little plaque on my artery walls. It was a stress induced heart attack. Plaque broke off from stress caused by breathing in a chemical. Then my body sent in the clots to try to fix it, giving me the widow maker heart attack.

So I have a lot less lifestyle changes to make than most. I weigh 155lbs.

I just have to do some cardio rehab, not expose myself to dangerous chemicals and stresses and I should be ok, assuming the lagging part of my heart comes back to life a bit.

I don’t think we could live in a class B full time. We enjoy cooking (Mediterranean diet) and need a decent kitchen with storage too. Just our spice collection would fill a class B kitchen up. Ha ha.

I’m coming from a 50ft sailboat that is good for off grid indefinitely and a truck camper with slides set up the same. I have lots of solar and have been living off grid for decades. Just pointing that out so nobody has to walk me through systems. Keeping the truck camper might be an option but we just need a tiny bit more space and a nicer interior. My arctic fox tc is holding up well, but it’s dated.

Basically I’m trying to figure out what sort of vehicle combination would work best.

I was looking at those Host Mammoth type TCs with multiple slides and maybe keeping the Dodge Ran diesel.

But I was thinking there might be smarter ideas.

[Shearwater]

The first two responses offered some excellent advice. I would add the obvious - you should have extensive discussions with your own doc's about your condition and how it fits in with your plans.

For your choice of RV's I would suggest a class B.

[JimK-NY]

Just a couple of ideas to add to your considerations.

First, I would not plan on staying alive by being close to medical care. You could die with a heart attack while walking in a hospital hallway. You need to follow your cardiologist's recommendations regarding meds, exercise and diet. They are your best strategy to avoid dying from another heart attack.

Second, I would give up the idea of shipping an RV to Europe or anywhere else in the world. The cost is high and for the populated areas of the world there are fewer and fewer opportunities for using an RV. Forget the idea of using your RV as a cheap place to live while touring European cities.

Next, forget about long term changes in transportation and the move towards electric vehicles. Make your plans for the next 5 or 10 years and then worry about later if you are still live and active.

For touring the US, that AF and Ram are great choices, especially for boondocking. Since you have lived in a sailboat, you understand many of the basics. You need to conserve water and electricity and of course for electric needs you must have a solar system, decent batteries, and a backup generator.

Unfortunately you may have a truck camper with slides that need to be deployed in order to use it. That will greatly limit you in urban areas. My TC does not have slides. I can stop in urban areas and stay the night without issues by using a little common sense on picking places to stay. Even without "stealth" camping there are often great choices for visiting cities. You mentioned San Fran and NYC. I spent a month outside San Fran sleeping legally next to the golf course in Mill Valley and taking the ferry into the city. There are numerous areas to stay near NYC within range of trains and other commuter transportation. As an additional example, Washington DC is great for camping stays. Greenbelt National Park is within the beltway and a short distance from the Metro system.

[wa8yxm]

Two things I will advise
Medic Alert... they keep your data on file and can fax or e-send it to any doctor,hospital or Ems you update it as needed.. decent price.

MASA (Medical Air Services Assn)

They are a "Get me home" service... they also provide additional ambulance service getting you to the hospital.. They are a bit different.

If you have an "incident" (Accident. heart issues. other need to take an ambulance ride) Well once you are safely in hospital you or your spouse calls them and they pick up whatever your primary insurance did not cover on the "Initial Evaucation" (Trip to hospital).

And should you die. they will fly the body (or the ashes) home and pay to have someone drive the Motor home home as well.. or in my wife's case they paid for the gas for my Motor home (I drove she road where she always road)