Welcome, Doug.

In your lurking, I imagine you've already determined that there are a lot of knowledgeable folks here to gain information from that regards both the RV's and the RV lifestyle.

Feel free to ask questions, and also take advantage of the "Search" function in the blue bar above.  That can be helpful as well.

Terry

Welcome, Doug.

I have a guy down the road that does what you do as a mechanic, he worked for dealerships and now he works for himself out of his pole barn, he gets $40.00 in hour, he's is very good at what he does and has plenty of work.
I don't see why not you could do the same on the road, there's always work to be found.
Truck repair, RV brakes, wheel bearings repacked and a whole lot of other things that need to be repair.
I would be careful on the tools and tool box you bring, that could be over 1,000 pounds (+ or -) in weight very easily but I think you could do it part time and make plenty of money since it doesn't take that much to live on the road FT.

I like the name, it was one of my favorite TV shows in my younger days (Riptide 1983-1986)

Lonney
 

Riptide wrote:

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Hello all. Doug here. Having recently taken an interest in RVs, I've been lurking around on the forums for the last month or so. Just soaking it all in like a sponge. I've always found the prospect of hitting the road to nowhere in particular to be very appealing, but that whole job-like thing has always kept me tethered close to home. Since the age of 16, the longest period of time I've had off was a 3 week hiatus between jobs in 2001. No clock, no schedule... it was the most amazing 3 weeks ever. I'm an auto/light duty truck mechanic of 32 years. I recently hit the big 5-oh, and while I'm pretty much topped-out in my profession I feel like I'm struggling to keep up with the physical demands of the "rush-rush-rush" environment of a job that's more suitable for a 30 year old. I'll be 100% debt free within one year and my plans are, at that point, to begin to focus my energy on having a used, paid off Class A by age 55... That's my dream, anyway. Cleaning out the house will not be a problem, as I seriously lightened my load in 2010 when I had to give up the house for a 1 BR apartment. What I really need to figure out by "go-time" is how to set up some form of mobile income, since I'll still have the better part of a decade before I could officially retire and cash in the 401. I find the workcamping thing, and also the thought of doing something where I could work online from anywhere to be interesting, but I'm thinking what might fit me better is something along the lines of a part-time mobile auto/rv service doing maintenance or light repairs. Do you think there would be a market or any interest in such a service? Would there be enough business doing light work around campgrounds and such to keep one afloat? Anybody think this would be doable or worth looking into, or is it just a pipe dream?

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 Hi Doug,

First off I totally get the job thing.  I am 48 and facing what I need to do to keep pace is not nearly as appealing at this age. I've worked since 16 as well and thought of not working all the time is frankly a little daunting, but I am getting used to it :)  WE have done a ton of research the last year into work kamping and creative ways to earn money on the road because we decided we wanted to start sooner rather than later.  One thing I did that made me feel a lot better was sign up for Work Kamper News and read some of the listing.  If you are mechanically inclined finding work should never be a problem.  Finding work at a price point that allows you to live may be more challenging.  We bought Howard's budget spreadsheet and did three versions of a budget (subsistence living, moderate, and everything we wanted) then based on those numbers determined how much we would need to make to meet the budget.  For us it is a surprisingly low dollar amount, which gave us tons more flexibility in what we will do for a living.   Being close to debt free really makes all the difference in determining your monthly "nut" as we call it, so that was the first ting we focused on.  WE also plan on several possible revenue streams based on advice from others so we will have as much flexibility as possible on the road.  One of those revenue streams will be RV work as  Lee is planning on going to RV Tech school as soon as we sell our house.  

I know that's a lot of information but this happened over the course of several months and the more we learned the more comfortable I became.  My advice is put those numbers down on paper, look at what jobs are out there, and do the math :)  I think you'll be seriously suprised at how \feasible it is sonner rather than later.  I know I was. 

Trace