Why did you stop full time rving?

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

For those of you that started FT RVing with the object of travelling to see and experience as much of the USA/Canada as possible but have since come off the road, what made you stop being FT travellers.

I know that many do so after many years due to health and or aging issues for safety, but those two aside, what other reasons have you or folks you know come off the road besides these two main reasons. Likewise of course we know there are a lot that move into a more static FTing status due to financial reasons.

I'm sure most that come off unfortunately don't still frequent the forums, so be interesting to hear about others you know if also as to:

a) Why they/you started FTing
b) How long you/they were actively travelling F/T
c) What was your reason to come off the travelling road and either settle in a park in your rig/park model or back into a SnB.

As I said, I'm sure that most don't continue to frequent the forums after coming off the actual travelling road so if you know of others that have and can share that would be wonderful.

I guess I"m trying to ascertain partially but not solely, what percentage maybe pulled the trigger too prematurely from a financial point of view (I know time/health is more precious than $$'s but.....), what percentage found it didn't live up to their expectations of a), albeit maybe they were or weren't realistic.

Thank you in the spirit of sharing,

FTW

[4X4Dodger]

Grandpere wrote:
Ours was a very short stint, after 3 months my DW told me enough is enough she wanted a home and only travel 1 month out of 4 and never in the winter--1 week excursions are OK. The full timing thing was just not for her. Me? I was having the time of my life, staying in new places, seeing grandchildren, no yard work, house maintenance/repair, etc. So we how have a grandparents mobile home on our oldest daughters property and I am saddled with all the things I dislike doing and DW is happy as a clam. But happy wife happy life so there ya go. If something would happen to her, Lord willing I would be back on the road again in a heartbeat.
Not sure if that answers your question, but that is our experience.

Why dont you just go fulltiming by yourself? Leave your wife to do all the things you do around the house that you hate doing and she may come to see fulltiming a bit differently. Besides there is no law that says you must do the same things just because you are married.

Why should you be miserable just to please a wife? Go have fun by yourself. My bet is she will follow.

(boy this post is going to make me popular 🙂 )

[wannavolunteerF]

Dadio, do you have plans for the kitchens that you plan? Is it truly going to be outdoor kitchen? or will it have an indoor component? Other than the fact that I hope to do something indoor instead of outdoor, I have a similar idea for a piece of long held family property.

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Thank you all so very much for your wonderful responses and sharing. It's so good to learn how your circumstances, situations and thought patterns brought you onto and off the road. Likewise how many of you are still intending actively part time where and when the opportunity presents itself.

Hubby and I intend to hit the road for an indeterminate amount of time, he will be 60 and I in my 50's, but have said we will assess at the 1 year, 3 year and 5 year mark with "if" circumstances permit and wishing to continue, upgrading our rig which is currently 13 years old, with a new engine two years ago. We have an exit plan based on current situation but also another exit plan "if" circumstances alter over time.

Once again, thanks to you all that took the time to share - we appreciate we are all different in our personalities and how life can throw curve balls.

Happy Travels!

FTW.

[C-Bears]

a) Why they/you started FTing

We sold everything and started because we wanted to see most, or all of the U.S. We did some traveling out west on our Harley when we first retired but just didn't like staying in Hotels all the time.

b) How long you/they were actively travelling F/T

We stayed full time traveling just over 2 years. We had no intention of changing that status. Our health was excellent (I am 62) and we truly loved it.

c) What was your reason to come off the travelling road and either settle in a park in your rig/park model or back into a SnB.

We were spending up to 4 1/2 months in the same area of SW Florida each winter. It turned out that some of our friends had moved to that same area so we knew that we would always winter there and the site rental prices kept going up. Found a house we really liked. Once we crunched the numbers it was only going to cost us a couple hundred dollars more a month to own a home.

So starting this November we will be spending 6 months in our home in SW Florida and leaving our fiver parked in central Illinois. Then in May we will return to our fiver and be full time RVer's for 6 months.

With the housing market prices in SW Florida on the rise again it was a very good time to buy. If we decide in a few years that we want to travel 12 months a year then the house will get sold or rented.

[sonicsix]

We had to stop to deal with a case of thyroid cancer. The Lord has gotten us through all that now and we plan to be part-timers... a park model in the RGV for the winters and a small travel trailer to live in as we travel in the warmer months.

[Dadio24]

jrp wrote:
After 4 yrs of fulltiming, as I started to slow down and spend longer periods in the same seasonal RV parks, I discovered I really didn't enjoy extended living in RV parks. So I bought 3 properties in my 3 favorite areas of the west and built my own basecamps. I continue to travel year round in my RV's, but built small homes on my properties for seasonal stays between trips, so no longer count myself as a fulltimer. I didn't stop for financial or health reasons, just personal preference. I'm single, so it wasn't to please the wife.
I still enjoy RV travel & exploring, just cant take the typical RV parks for more than a week at a time. I also bought a 2nd RV that's more suited to remote boondocking and taking my ATV & motorcycle along.

You have the perfect plan it place...I am in the process of buying a few properties myself. In my favorite places and building 24X30 outdoor kitchens for a living/dining. Plan to sleep in MH. I plan to use when I want and have other RVing friends visit when I am away. Trying to get more people to do this so I have options agross this great land called the U.S.A.

[BubbaChris]

My in-laws were long time RVr's and decided to go FT. They lasted less than a year.

Mostly because my mother in law was too goal oriented and there was too little stopping and enjoying the places they reached. I think another part of it is she didn't necessarily like "new people" so kept to herself in the CG's.

Once they had a new home-base back closer to us kids, they went from their Class A to a smallish TT towed by an SUV. That came to a halt when a car next to their TT blew a tire, whacked the rear of the TT and both the SUV and TT ended up sliding down a California freeway on their sides.

[Monster9903]

We full-time for 4 yesrs. We had our daughter just months before we hit the road.Let me tell you being in the road with an ADHD child wasn't easy but we loved it. We stopped to care for my Father in-laws and to get my DD into a good school since I don't have the patience or discipline to home school her and now her brother. As soon as I can retire and the kids are out in college it's back on the road.

[soos]

We went full time in 2009 in our early 50s when hubby was offered a retirement package. We figured it was a good chance to see the country. We thought we'd do it for a year or two, so put some of our stuff in storage.
We enjoyed the lifestyle a lot and are technically still fulltimers, but we are building a house in AZ, where we usually spend the winters. The house will be in Havasu because we are boaters at heart and there is a great lake here.
Why? As I said we are boaters and want to spend more time on the water, but mostly hubby ran out of projects to do and misses his tools. We will still travel most of the time, and the house will have 3 FHU sites for friends 🙂

[Clay_L]

We were sort of “accidental” full timers.

We didn't intend to full time, just wanted to take a three to six month trip around the country visiting friends and family and then find some warmer, cheaper place to buy or build a house. At the time we had a 96 model year motor home with no slides.

We threw away stuff, gave stuff to places that could make use of it and distributed as much as possible to our kids.
We put all of the rest of our stuff in storage so we wouldn't have to go back to NH if the house sold quickly and it was still cold and yucky there.

The house did sell quickly (in a month) and we found after about a year that we were having so much fun traveling and having no ties to a stick house that we decided to keep on full timing. We traded the 96 motor home in on a new 2004 with a lot more CCC, storage space and two slides.

That was 13 years ago and we both loved the life style. But health issues and sort of "having done it all" have intervened and after being snowbirds for a year we are now living in our home in CO.
It was a wonderful 13 years though.

[N7SJN]

DW and I started the full time route in 04 and are still going strong. BTW we are in our mid 70's. The only regret that I have is this, consider how many miles you are going to put on your towing vehicle (it doesn't matter what) and see what the cost difference is between a 6mpg Class A towing a 40mpg towed. Then as we did, look at the cost of a Burb towing a 30' trailer getting 10mpg and maybe 15mpg driving around looking at the sights. Fuel wise for us a Class A Diesel pusher would have made more sense. Just a thought from a 55+ year RVer.

[jrp]

After 4 yrs of fulltiming, as I started to slow down and spend longer periods in the same seasonal RV parks, I discovered I really didn't enjoy extended living in RV parks. So I bought 3 properties in my 3 favorite areas of the west and built my own basecamps. I continue to travel year round in my RV's, but built small homes on my properties for seasonal stays between trips, so no longer count myself as a fulltimer. I didn't stop for financial or health reasons, just personal preference. I'm single, so it wasn't to please the wife.
I still enjoy RV travel & exploring, just cant take the typical RV parks for more than a week at a time. I also bought a 2nd RV that's more suited to remote boondocking and taking my ATV & motorcycle along.

[noplace2]

Just started our 15th year fulltiming and have no plans to get off the road.

However, we've had the opportunity to hear from a number who have over the years.

There are many different reasons but 2 have popped up more frequently than others:

1) They ran out of money.

2) After a lifetime of being together, but having jobs and other interests that provided 'space', they found that, thrust into the proximity (both physical and emotional) that FT in an RV entails, they really didn't like one another all that much.

If you and your SO aren't best friends first, you might wish to consider another activity. 🙂

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Folks, I really, really appreciate your candidness and kindness sharing what took you on the road, and what brought you off. Sincere thanks for your contributing to this thread.

FTW.