The Reality of Full-Time?
Hi everyone, I've been reading and appreciating all the helpful comments and conversation here on the subject of living the RV life. My boyfriend and I, both in our mid-30s, are considering a hard lef...
Forum Discussion
Kwalk,
I'm 30 and have been a full-timer for 2 years now, I love it.
I work camp to fund my travels, and it's worked out just fine for me. I spend the spring and summer at national parks, the falls working at Amazon until just before Christmas, and then Jan-March I generally don't work and have "vacation" time.
For those who'll tell you it's an irresponsible thing to do at a young age: it depends on how you do it. Starting (and staying) debt free is a good start. I graduated from college with an Associate's degree in applied sciences, I'm a licensed Veterinary Technician and I worked hard in my field for 5 years before "quitting the rat race" as a previous poster put it and hitting the road. At that point, my wage had only gone up by a dollar since I'd entered the work force as an educated adult. The recession has made it so steady upward mobility in a job is no longer a sure thing, gone are the days of sticking with one company for decades in exchange for a good pension. And I'm one of those who's not convinced Social Security will be around by the time I'm retirement age.
So what's a young nomad to do? Full-timing doesn't have to be a gamble. In addition to work camping, I started searching for other ways to bring in income to bring my earnings back to where they were before I hit the road, and I'm almost there. The online business I started has made it so if not all my eggs are in one basket so to say in case a disaster should hit. I have my own IRA that I pay into independently of any job, and I have a high deductible health insurance plan that will cover me in the event of a medical emergency - all smaller stuff I pay out of pocket.
I respectfully disagree with those who say that once you get started full-timing you can't go back to a "real" life. Keep an emergency fund set aside for mechanical disasters on the rig, or as a down payment to go back to apartment living if you like. I left on good terms and keep in touch with my previous bosses from my two vet tech jobs, if I ever wanted to go back either would be glad to have me. If I wanted to get back to my vet tech career somewhere new they'd be happy to give me a recommendation. I don't have any considerable gaps in my employment with the work camping gigs and to be honest interviewers I've talked to have been curious about my unique lifestyle, it's all about how you present it. ("I took the initiative to fulfill one of my life's dreams while I had the chance" instead of "I went traveling") The first sounds like you're a go-getter with a good deal of determination, which employers like, the second sounds like your a drifter which won't be received as well.
Cost wise, other posters are more or less correct. Yes I spend less now than I did living in my last apartment, but let me stress that full-timing can be cheap or expensive and unless you change your spending habits once you hit the road it'll probably work out about even unless your current apartment is really pricey. Fuel and campground costs replace rent costs and you'll have to pay maintenance on the RV unlike in a rented apartment where someone does it for you.
When I'm working at a place where my site and utilities are included and I'm being frugal, my monthly living costs (single, no debt or pets) are about $700 a month. In months where I'm traveling and campground costs aren't included, it can jump to $1,400 or more. That's a huge range, but it's also more controllable than stationary living at least. When my travel fund runs low, I drive less, stay at less scenic places at a lower monthly rate, and hunt down my next job (and keep growing my other business so that eventually I won't need to rely on work camping at all).
Good luck you two, and if you want more advice I've written extensively about full-timing for pre- retirement folks on a budget at my blog and can give you links to other useful websites. I'm going to message this to you as well as post it here since I'm not sure you're following this thread anymore.
Safe travels and happy trails.
I'm 30 and have been a full-timer for 2 years now, I love it.
I work camp to fund my travels, and it's worked out just fine for me. I spend the spring and summer at national parks, the falls working at Amazon until just before Christmas, and then Jan-March I generally don't work and have "vacation" time.
For those who'll tell you it's an irresponsible thing to do at a young age: it depends on how you do it. Starting (and staying) debt free is a good start. I graduated from college with an Associate's degree in applied sciences, I'm a licensed Veterinary Technician and I worked hard in my field for 5 years before "quitting the rat race" as a previous poster put it and hitting the road. At that point, my wage had only gone up by a dollar since I'd entered the work force as an educated adult. The recession has made it so steady upward mobility in a job is no longer a sure thing, gone are the days of sticking with one company for decades in exchange for a good pension. And I'm one of those who's not convinced Social Security will be around by the time I'm retirement age.
So what's a young nomad to do? Full-timing doesn't have to be a gamble. In addition to work camping, I started searching for other ways to bring in income to bring my earnings back to where they were before I hit the road, and I'm almost there. The online business I started has made it so if not all my eggs are in one basket so to say in case a disaster should hit. I have my own IRA that I pay into independently of any job, and I have a high deductible health insurance plan that will cover me in the event of a medical emergency - all smaller stuff I pay out of pocket.
I respectfully disagree with those who say that once you get started full-timing you can't go back to a "real" life. Keep an emergency fund set aside for mechanical disasters on the rig, or as a down payment to go back to apartment living if you like. I left on good terms and keep in touch with my previous bosses from my two vet tech jobs, if I ever wanted to go back either would be glad to have me. If I wanted to get back to my vet tech career somewhere new they'd be happy to give me a recommendation. I don't have any considerable gaps in my employment with the work camping gigs and to be honest interviewers I've talked to have been curious about my unique lifestyle, it's all about how you present it. ("I took the initiative to fulfill one of my life's dreams while I had the chance" instead of "I went traveling") The first sounds like you're a go-getter with a good deal of determination, which employers like, the second sounds like your a drifter which won't be received as well.
Cost wise, other posters are more or less correct. Yes I spend less now than I did living in my last apartment, but let me stress that full-timing can be cheap or expensive and unless you change your spending habits once you hit the road it'll probably work out about even unless your current apartment is really pricey. Fuel and campground costs replace rent costs and you'll have to pay maintenance on the RV unlike in a rented apartment where someone does it for you.
When I'm working at a place where my site and utilities are included and I'm being frugal, my monthly living costs (single, no debt or pets) are about $700 a month. In months where I'm traveling and campground costs aren't included, it can jump to $1,400 or more. That's a huge range, but it's also more controllable than stationary living at least. When my travel fund runs low, I drive less, stay at less scenic places at a lower monthly rate, and hunt down my next job (and keep growing my other business so that eventually I won't need to rely on work camping at all).
Good luck you two, and if you want more advice I've written extensively about full-timing for pre- retirement folks on a budget at my blog and can give you links to other useful websites. I'm going to message this to you as well as post it here since I'm not sure you're following this thread anymore.
Safe travels and happy trails.
