Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
We want to thank all of our members for their participation and input over the years, and we want to especially thank those that have acted as Moderators for us during our amazing journey living and traveling in our RV and growing the RV-Dreams Family. We will be forever proud to have been founders of this Forum and to have been supported by such a wonderful community. Thank you all!!
My wife and I are in our late 30's. We do not have any kids, nor will we (we do have two cats). We do not have any debt. Our credit score is near 800. We have a $20k student loan and a $50k home loan. I have a BS in Computer Information Systems. My wife is not currently working. I only earn about $25k gross a year. We are both tired of the rat race of society and want to reduce/simplify/de-stress our lives. We thought about selling the house and moving into a smaller house elsewhere. We thought more and determined that things would be the same: stick house (with accompanying mortgage), doing the same old work, dealing with same people, and same problems. We both like to travel, to move with the seasons, to work as needed doing different things. We like to volunteer our time to help others. I am a computer nerd and she is an artist and writer (not known to the world yet).
Unfortunately, we have no savings; we live paycheck to paycheck. I have less than $20k in a 401k. We are very frugal with our funds. We only have the bare necessities. The only luxury we have is internet service. With my income, we can only be frugal.
Then we thought of living in an rv, and how that would be. We researched and it appeals to us greatly.
The sale of our house would pay off the mortgage and part of the student loan. The sale of our pickup, car, and Harley would provide us with a few bucks in our pocket.
From our research, we like a fifth wheel/truck combination. Like a stick house, we would have to finance the purchase.
It is discouraging knowing that our transition to fulltime rv'ing would be fraught with debt.
I hope that in few years we can detach ourselves from society and live fulltime on the road. At this point, the prospect looks bleak. We just don’t know where to start to make the dream a reality.
At the risk of offering advice when none was requested, have you thought about going to an RV now? Sell the items you mentioned and purchase an RV that meets your needs. Work on the road is doable, in just about any craft/profession. Since you are in a field that lends itself to travel with different companies, should be a done deal.
A lot of people have found that they rid themselves of all the headaches of home ownership (lawn, yard care, mowing, etc) it de-stresses a lot. Taxes, insurance, all the other details associated with a stick and brick are left behind and you end up with an RV, TT or 5th wheel and a towing vehicle or a towed vehicle. Look into it with open eyes and a list of must haves/can do withouts and you may be surprised.
Can the pickup pull a travel trailer or fifth wheel, start with what you can. As 53 Merc says it is doable. There are others out there living their dream with less or not more than you have. You don't have to buy new, work your way up. Your profession is very suitable for a person who lives in an RV and through you travels your wife might become "well known". If the numbers aren't there now, keep the dream and some day you'll make it. Good luck.
I have a 2002 Nissan Frontier XE King Cab, 2WD, 4 cyclinder, 5 speed manual. It runs great, has no problems. Only 90k miles, and paid for. I don't think it would pull a fifth wheel. I'm not sure about it pulling a travel trailer. We are interested in a fifth wheel because it has more living area. If finances don't improve, we may have to delay longer, or live out of a travel trailer. A motorhome is not an option for us. We want to be able to detach the tow vehicle as needed.
I appreciate all comments and advice, requested or not. We have only been researching the idea for a few weeks. Got our hopes set high, then the reality of the numbers hit us hard. I think we just need to be presented with more ideas that fit reality.
You are only in your late 30's, far to young to have your dreams dashed, you have to wait till your in your late 50's, then and only then will you qualify... Seriously take a deep breath, one step at a time, you will get there, also, fulltiming does not detach you from society, G
Hi, I think you have a good start to your dream. If you can lay it all out and make it work....or pay down your loans and at least set a goal. I talked to a gal last winter that told me they had changed rigs 3 or 4 times and she advised me that as your needs change so will your set up. Nothing wrong with starting out small. Like the others said, both of your work backgrounds would go perfect with this lifestyle. If you feel the need to leave the rat race and the road and travel appeals to you.........GO for it!
I agree with Gene,you need to step back take a breath and work into what you want to do.At your age you have plenty of time. Be patient and you will make fewer mistakes.
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RVing probably not a reality any more.It was a good time while it lasted.
My goal in your situation would be to increase your and your wife's income. Maybe she could try selling on etsy or ebay? I don't know your situation of course, but think about options. If you haven't, read "Your Money or Your Life." I'm 36, and it is too early for us to stop working, but not too early for us to figure out how to work and have freedom at the same time! If it would be a cost savings, consider buying a TT or a 5-er, set it up in a park, sell the house, then over the course of the next few years save and buy a pull vehicle. Of course it would be nicer to do it all at once so you could travel faster, but sometimes the way to a goal is one step at a time. Where I live it is quite possible to find a livable RV/TT/5-er for less than $10,000. (We lived in one for 8 months that we bought for $4800, plus the park was $350/mo.) Then get a park that includes utilities for $350 a month. Of course, depending on your situation that might not save you money. You already have a pretty tiny mortgage! Pinon
>>I have a BS in Computer Information Systems. My wife is not currently working. I only earn about $25k gross a year
Depending on what you do in CIS you have the key piece to make all this work. Work experience is key things didn't open up for me as far as flexibility in my working conditions until ... close to 20 years experience. That said the technology wasn't there earlier in my career to do the full time RVing and work in IT. Which is what I do now.
We full time and I work remotely on my job some weeks are slow and I can see some of the area some weeks are busy and I see the campground but as one of my peers says. "It's still 50% vacation not being stuck someplace."
If your in a support role or sys admin role those can be remote positions (See outsourceing and offshoring for what I mean). Even simpler then being a remote employee is contract employment assuming your in the IT field your salary says help desk again there are contract help desk postions out there but I'd strongly advise that if you can you transition away from help desk work unless you have a clearance.
Since you didn't state what your house is worth, I'm only guessing by the information you provided: Your house is somewhere around $60,000 (pay off mortgage & part-of student loan = $10,000 equity in your home currently). Based on your current financials, you may not be able to financially qualify for a 5th wheel/pu truck to pull it, although your 800 credit score is remarkable. If you like living in various places, why not sell the house, pay off the student loan and, with the remaining cash, purchase a used TT. Most 1/2 ton pick-ups can pull most TT. You should actually end up with cash in your pocket, especially if you sell the car/harley. Then, like some of the IT folks have stated, you may be able to pick up jobs around the country as you travel. You may even check with your current employer to determine if they would hire you as a "contract employee" while traveling. Whatever you do, don't touch that 401K ... you'll regret it, the penalties and tax hit at your age are not worth it.
We are working on roughly the same time scale (5-7 years here) and are taking our time doing so. My DW and I are older though (48) and we will be retiring.
However, you need to come up with a financial plan first. In order to do that, you need to ask yourself very honest questions. Like how much is my proposed budget? You have to take into account Insurance (Truck, RV, Health, Dental, etc), routine costs for maintenance on the tow vehicle and rv, how much for groceries, allocation for camping fees, etc.
Howard puts his budget on here monthly. I looked at his, tailored it to suit our needs and then looked at our potential retirement income to see if we could make this work.
There is lots of research to do, types of rigs to look at, etc. Take your time and do it right! Lots of experience here and I don't know how many times I have read over the many topics. Seems that no matter how many times I read over certain threads, I always seem to find something new.
There are always options out there. Just have to look and research. Never let the dream die.
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Dreaming and doing the homework necessary.
Looking at: F-350/Ram 3500 type truck, possibly an Airstream or a smaller 5th Wheel.
However, there is still time to change the configuration, just a plan.
You don't have to start full timing on a grand scale. Sell the house, car, pickup, keep the bike and buy a small used TT or 5er. Take Dave Ramsey's advice and get a second or part time job to build your savings account. Fulltiming is in your future, just take one baby step at a time and you'll get there.
Pinnon is right and I am there with him at 34 and an IT exec for 9 years of that. It has almost killed me, but having the IT skill sets make it much easier to be mobile in this current time. I am using this as a vehicle to fulfill a dream and restore my health, but like Pinnon and many others on here, I am a realist and know I will need to keep working. The thing is, I now have a lot more choice in what I do, who I work for and for how long. Overall cost of living is much lower than having to sustain a corporate "image", so I don't need to work myself to death.
If you want it, you can make it happen, but look at the big picture, especially with your job skills.
