The right mindset for full timing - RV-Dreams Community Forum

woodswoman · RV-Dreams Community Member

The right mindset for full timing

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Picture yourself Fulltime boondocking!!.....once you have the ability to spend the least amount of money and enjoying yourself surviving on minimal means......Picture yourself in a high end resort sitting by the pool on a weekend when money was no object!
you just do as the budget and soul calls for...........

you will find those who do the same!!

Life is just as beautiful pulled over in the mud as it is parked at the boardwalk....you just have to see it!!!

Sushidog · RV-Dreams Family Member

We're currently planning for a full-time mobile retirement. You've got that right about it not being a vacation, still it does provide more flexibility than a permanent residence offers. Plus a S&B can quickly turn into a liability. It is not always the asset you initially thought it would be. We recently declared bankruptcy after our property taxes jumped 1,000% in one year. Homeowners insurance skyrocketed after Hurricane Katrina, the interest rate of our variable rate hurricane repair loan doubled, etc. combined with my DW losing her job which left us in a bad way financially. Had we been living in an RV none of this would have happened - we would have just driven it away and come back (or moved somewhere else) as needed. In most states, an RV is not the tax target that a S&B is too. What do you do then when you lose your S&B and have no RV to fall back on when the storms of life come your way?

After Katrina, we bought a small camper to bug-out in for future storms (which came in handy during Hurricane Gustav). We have recently purchased an F-250 TV so we don't have to use our 4 cyl car anymore to tow it with. We plan to use this 3/4 ton diesel truck to pull our planned full-time travel trailer, which will be our last home on this earth. With a home on wheels you get to move where the weather suits your clothes rather than pay outrageous utility bills or be uncomfortable when the season turns boiling hot or freezing cold. You can go where the work is or go where it's cheaper to live, at your whim and pleasure, with nothing to hold you back. You may have a small square footage under roof, but you have the biggest back yard in the world to enjoy - as slowly and economically as you like, or as rapidly and in the style you can afford!

Chip

-- Edited by Sushidog on Tuesday 14th of January 2014 03:12:12 PM

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

Awwww... thanks for mentioning our video. That one has become a top one on our YouTube channel, and so happy it's continuing to help folks set realistic expectations.

For those curious, here's a direct link to it:
youtu.be/ILtIGMpcXrU

- Cherie

woodswoman · RV-Dreams Community Member

Technomadia,
You're the ones that did the video, hi!

technomads. Nomadic. Yes, that's a good mindset. A nomad that keeps on the move, or better yet, a migrant worker, who goes to where the harvests are.
I'd keep a free spirit though. I'll just blow around like a tumbleweed, and move on when my feet start itchin' to travel.

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

We lived among snowbirds and full-timers in AZ for 6 years. What seemed to hold true was that those that lived the lifestyle as a continuous vacation tended to burn-out within the first couple of years. That may not be true for many but we did see that quite often in AZ and the 2 years we spent in an RV park in AL. There can be too much of a good thing.

PIEERE · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is only me and I will say; if it were not for my health (you can read in the Rving with physical challenges thread) I would still be out there moving and work camping.
SnowGypsy if i had enough finances and my motorhome was fully maintained like I used to do; I don't believe I would ever get burned out. I maintained and lived in an RV since May of 1993; got on the road work camping since 1998.
It all depends on what ones Mindset is; like WoodWoman posted. Some enjoy their S&B's and tending the garden and landscape; having a pool and patios; and their many rooms; the womens craft room; the man cave and the shop.
I enjoyed having a backyard that i could quickly change the scene with the turn of a key, taking advantage of the National; State and County Parks as I wanted; and taking in all the awesome beauty of this great US of A.
Things changed for me quite a lot now; but I will take advantage of what Tennessee has to offer and the adjoining states if i can't find enough here! I've been a little or a lot touchy lately and I know the virus that sets in after sitting still for awhile...Hitch Itch... in New York State it was Cabin Fever...but I am going to have to find an antidote for it for awhile!
Oops! here i go again of on a wild tangent; So I will say do what is best for "you" personally and make you comfortable! PIEERE

-- Edited by PIEERE on Tuesday 14th of January 2014 06:55:53 PM

manycats · RV-Dreams Family Member

My DH and I have done both and full-timing is better. True, you have more comfortable living in a S&B because you have more space and can have many more toys, appliances, and things, but you also have higher expenses for taxes, insurance, utilities, etc. We came back to S&B living because we received a fantastic employment offer we couldn't refuse. Now that we're older, and maybe a little wiser, we have realized we were happier in our workamping life. We've had the experience, we know it's not happy, happy, joy, joy, smell the roses, all the time, but, we also know we don't have that much time left to enjoy this world. Ergo, it's RV time for us.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

We've been living as "static" full-timers in our fifth wheel for almost three years now (began in May of 2011). We had one family member tell us that they thought we would be ready to go back to a regular home within two years. So, nearly 3 years and no plans nor even thoughts of doing away with the RV. July will see us finally move to Colorado and close to the mountains, and we may very well live "static" there for an extended time as well (1 to 3 years?).

At any rate, one never knows what it might be that gets one to move on. While we've not experienced this in the Oklahoma City area, there has been a return of dust storms to Cimarron County in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Cimarron County was one of the counties that was the very epicenter of the Dust Bowl back in the thirties. Something like this would DEFINITELY have Jo and I looking for somewhere else to move to, and the RV would just make it simpler and quicker.

Cimarron County Dust Storm - January 2014

Terry

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Keep in mind that the "burn out" victims were treating it as a continuous vacation like when they worked but were on vacation but never ending. Another thing with that was that most that "vacationed" continuously felt the lifestyle was too expensive after a couple of years. Again, it all depends on how one plans to live the lifestyle just like it does when you are in an S/B. It seemed the long term RVers went into the lifestyle to "stop and smell the roses". We met very few people that had been full-timing for 10+ years, several that had settled down after 4 or 5 years either by setting up their trailers or going park model/mobile home.

The right mindset is going to be different for everyone. It is how one chooses to live their life and doing the research to understand that sometimes it is digging the rig out of the mud! All lifestyles that I know of have challenges and rewards.

Still, not having a home and the freedom is still bittersweet in my mind.

NWescapee · RV-Dreams Family Member

We've only been FT for about 6 months and we've taken both jobs on the road with us. Back when we were researching this I was trying to find a way to explain for people that we weren't retiring, we were still working, it's just life on the road and yeah, we have a little more free time to explore the location we're in at that point in time, but it's still just life. A couple of blogs that Technomadia had done in the past were great, for me the one from 2009 had me laughing with the pictures of how various people perceive our life on the road.

www.technomadia.com/2012/04/vacation-is-not-in-our-vocabulary/

www.technomadia.com/2009/06/its-not-an-extended-vacation/

French Bikers · RV-Dreams Family Member

FT is a way of life, instead of living in a SB house you have the capability of moving your house where you want and when you want. No matter if you have a 5th wheel a class A-B-or C you will encountered issues just like a SB house.

In our case we have planned to retired in a motorhome and travel with less obligations, we already know that one day the dream will end just like everything else in life. If money is no object you can do it all but the way I see it is simple, we will simply live another life style, no matter if you have a house or an rv you need to live on a budget. There are always Pros and Cons owning a house it is the same thing with an RV. I will never say it enough FT IS A WAY OF LIFE... Because of the bad economy more people had to let go their house and start living an RV style. They made that decision to survive, in your case I don't know what is your expectation but in my case it is a choice. I left my family house at 18 with nothing, I worked my butt, raised a family and now it is time for me to realize the RV dream. No matter what people will say about it I don't give a f...., beside they won't share my coffin!!!!!.

To answer your question I don't think there is a good, wrong or specific mindset. People living FT have a lot in common no matter their age, race, background, etc... I would tell you to meet people that have experience and see if you have in you those common things.

My only advise is not to think and plan to far ahead but reconsider your choice for the FT LIFE STYLE. Don't forget life is a journey not a destination. At the end we all have the same destination!!!!!!!!

Good Luck.
Jean

Russ Ranger · RV-Dreams Family Member

Another great discussion on the mindset of people living in RV's.

The wonderful thing about an RV is that they can serve so many different roles to suit the needs of their owners. Raising families, mobile work platform, a vacation tool, a bridge between home ownership an a dozen next steps in life or the ultimate retirement home. Everyone has a different story. And that is the best part of this group.

We are as different as night and day. Our dreams are all different and that is why we meet here to learn and encourage each other. To use a corny old phrase, "It's a beautiful thing." And it really is.

I have shared that my wife and I are living our dream of never being in the rain again. It's Mexico in the winter and following the sun the rest of the year. Not every ones cup of tea but we are sure happy.

I have believed a lot of different things during my 62 years. I can now sum it all up in a simple phrase.

I choose happy.

However we may dream about using our RV's my wish for everyone is that their RV will help them choose happy.

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

It usually takes about 6 months for new fulltimers to get out of vacation mode and settle into a more realistic life on the road. And when you think about it, that is to be expected. They have planned and planned and have all of these things they want to do and their only experience has been trying to cram as much into a 2-week vacation as they can. It takes time to realize that if you don't see XYZ today, that you can see it tomorrow, or next week, or in two years when you come back around again. We put 11,000 miles on our rig the first 6 months - and we were exhausted when we got back to our daughters that Christmas! And then the light bulb dawned (tad slow for two refugees from academia) and we realized that just because we said we would visit all of our friends scattered across the country we didn't have to do it that first year. Since then life has been so much better. Now it takes us a whole year to put 10,000 miles on the coach. biggrin

Barb

MrsG · RV-Dreams Community Member

What is "S&B"?

TheNewhalls · RV-Dreams Family Member

MrsG wrote:
What is "S&B"?

Sticks & Bricks. It's a way of referring to your stationary home.

MrsG · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you!! That's one acronym I hadn't heard yet.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Ive seen RV's called S&S......Sticks & Staples!!!

cherylbrv · RV-Dreams Family Member

As long as it's not SSDT (sticks, staples, duct tape!)

SnowGypsy · RV-Dreams Family Member

What about just duct tape? I saw a home-built on a tiny trailer forum where they had built a frame and just wrapped tons of duct tape to make a shell. It was sort of cool! I wouldn't try that for full-timing but with that mindset of wanting a camper bad enough to come up with something affordable, I would say they are probably resourceful enough to do whatever they set their minds to. Found the link: http://www.ducttapecamper.com/about/ so if you can't afford a trailer and have the right mind set in that you will find a way, maybe this is it!

S/S (stick & staple) is used all the time when you enter the world of "eggs", molded fiberglass trailers like the Casita, Scamp, Escape, Big Foot, Eggcamper, etc. and Oliver has returned with a 22' just last year. They don't speak kindly of the "S/S" in the "egg" forum either. Everyone has their passion though some fiercely so.

-- Edited by SnowGypsy on Saturday 18th of January 2014 06:32:43 PM

Hdrider · RV-Dreams Family Member

SnowGypsy wrote:
What about just duct tape? I saw a home-built on a tiny trailer forum where they had built a frame and just wrapped tons of duct tape to make a shell. It was sort of cool! I wouldn't try that for full-timing but with that mindset of wanting a camper bad enough to come up with something affordable, I would say they are probably resourceful enough to do whatever they set their minds to. Found the link: http://www.ducttapecamper.com/about/ so if you can't afford a trailer and have the right mind set in that you will find a way, maybe this is it!

S/S (stick & staple) is used all the time when you enter the world of "eggs", molded fiberglass trailers like the Casita, Scamp, Escape, Big Foot, Eggcamper, etc. and Oliver has returned with a 22' just last year. They don't speak kindly of the "S/S" in the "egg" forum either. Everyone has their passion though some fiercely so.

-- Edited by SnowGypsy on Saturday 18th of January 2014 06:32:43 PM
It looks like they have a pool in the back yard. I'm thinking they could at least afford some Camo duct tape LOL!!