What age is too late to start? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

ChefMom · RV-Dreams Family Member

What age is too late to start?

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

My theory on when its to late to start......

if when you get up in the morning and read the Obituary section of the paper and your name is there.....make note of the date , its to late to start!!!!!

but on the other hand....It's never to early to start or plan!!!!!!!!!

-- Edited by Lucky Mike on Tuesday 29th of April 2014 10:47:42 AM

ChefMom · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thank you for your response--there was some hope and a little laughter in it too. Guess I'll just have to "loosen up" and learn to "go with the flow". 10 years isn't so long to wait.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Each of us have our own circumstances on which the decision has to be placed....if your just starting out on the decision part of the journey there will be alot to take in.....I like most would suggest a few trips to look at different units.....attend a rally......stop at a local campground and strike up a conversation....and dive in deep to all the information available on the forums.

your off to a really good start because you have asked !!!!!

manycats · RV-Dreams Family Member

I agree with Lucky Mike, as long as you're alive you can do it. There are a lot of people who can no longer drive and still full-time in stationary RVs. You may not do what you did in your 20s but you can enjoy whatever you're able to do. Age and/or disabilities may slow you down, sure, we all live that, but there's no Stop sign in front of you.

French Bikers · RV-Dreams Family Member

I agree with Lucky Mike. In our case we've planned FT for many years and one thing that I've heard many times from others is "We should have started this life style long time ago". Everybody have is own past, present and issues, therefore It is hard to answer your question but if you wait to make sure every aspect of your life is under controlled and secured it might be too late no matter the age.

Good luck

Jean

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Never to late.....the entire time thing is nothing more than a myth created by man.....Go For It....The road will keep you young, welcome to the Forum....

PD CFK · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome

We retired just before we turned 67, will be 70 this summer and are still going strong.(we're part-timers and still have a house) It never occurred to us to get a RV until a couple of years before that. We looked and shopped lots and lots. Then being newbies just pulled the trigger and bought a 5th wheel like one on a RV blog that I had been reading who were happy with what they had. It turned out good for us. Enjoy the learning process and the hunt for your RV. Don't worry about age. Pat K

Selah · RV-Dreams Family Member

You are too old to RV when your dead! If your not dead then your not too old.
I'm healthy, active, and 69. We started RVing about 18 months ago, went full time six months ago and I am looking forward to many more years of this life style.
Remember, "you don't stop playing because you get old; you get old because you stoped playing"
---anonymous

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

theres alot of truth to that Paul & Kathy!!!!!

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jo and I have been camping and RV'ing (mostly on a small scale) for many years. In all those years, I've learned that "campers" get to live a "looser" lifestyle and begin to really enjoy the simpler things. Who knows, you may find that RV'ing will help to keep you young. Just think of all those great people with a loose lifestyle that you haven't met and learned from yet.

We sold our home and moved into our coach three years ago. I will turn 68 next month and in July, we will move to Colorado. Being retired at that time, we will have a better ability to live that looser lifestyle. While we may still be "static" full-timers, we'll be blessed with the option of still doing some traveling, although it will mostly be in the west.

Not knowing whether you have camped or RV'ed before, I don't know whether you might find an interest in finding an inexpensive camper just to do weekends and short stays. Might as well begin the "learning curve."

Good luck with all the research and planning. You might also check out the blogs of the folks here on the RV Dreams forums, because the experiences that they write about may be helpful for you.

Terry

tigercx1 · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have come across RVers in their eighties. I am probably way off but I think RVing gives you enthusiasm and a sense of adventure. Kind of keeps you young.

Mark

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

ChefMom wrote:
.... I am so excited, but also fearful. It means that when most people are winding down, we'd be taking on a new chapter of life. ...

50 years ago the notion of "winding down" as you put was pretty much the norm. Old ideas die hard. Today there is better healthcare, better education, more industry and business dedicated to the older crowd's enhanced lifestyle choices, that 90 is the new 70. We are in our late 50's and planned on a 65-67 start, but as we continue the research and refine the budget and our expectations and desires we are finding that it may well be 5 years sooner than we initially planned. YMMV, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised what is actually possible, you just gotta believe smile . Once you believe, you'll find a way to make it happen, if that is what you really want. Some studies have shown that people who retire earlier live longer and better because they are still motivated to stay active and engaged.

Go for it.

Admiral David Farragut said it best, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"

Brian

WestWardHo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Heck, we were 69 & 70 when we went full time 1 year ago. We meet many vital folks in their 80's in this life. Maybe you can have some type of RV to use for weekends and vacations now OR live like Terry & Jo in one while still working and stationery.

Stay as physically active as you can. It will be so critical as you get older. And you'll know when the right time for you comes.

Sherry

ChefMom · RV-Dreams Family Member

So wonderful to hear that it appears so many are out enjoying the rv lifestyle, full time or not, at any and all ages. We have been campers for many years now--tented when we were younger, graduated to a popup and now have a 32' Keystone travel trailer that we love. Just bought that and a vehicle to tow it and our first trip with it is coming up the second week of May. I have all of your wonderful ideas and thoughts to keep me going until the time we can go full time and it looks like I have a ton of research and preparation to do too. Again, thanks for words of encouragement.

Clay L · RV-Dreams Family Member

How long you can stay on the road is so variable I don't think you can put a number on it.
I have a couple of friends that lasted well into their 80s. I am 74 and my wife is 70 and after 11 years of full timing last winter was our last hoorah.

Our closest on the road friends had to stop last summer and they are 77.
I see a lot of folks out there in their 70s.

If you have a viable exit plan I would go for it and not worry about it. Even if you only have few years on the road you will have some great memories and enjoy the time as you go along.

galtgirl · RV-Dreams Family Member

I sure hope I'm not too old, although I too worry about that, but we can't turn back the clock...darn...so we do the best we can and enjoy what time we have.
We've had our 5th wheel for 11 years, spent 2 years fulltiming, came back home due to medical issues and we couldn't financially manage fulltiming any more. I was a travel nurse and DH is retired Navy. I couldn't work any longer so he had to get a job and we lived in the RV another year and then bought a home. Now I am 67 and DH is 64 and we plan to live in our RV fulltime next March and start traveling in the summer. Sure I wish we could have done this 5 years ago, and maybe we could have if we had made different decisions, but we didn't and so we'll just pray our health remains good so that we can enjoy ourselves on the road.

-- Edited by galtgirl on Thursday 8th of May 2014 09:54:09 PM

galtgirl · RV-Dreams Family Member

I forgot to say...if the RV life appeals to you then get an RV you can afford and start spending weekends and vacations RVing. It won't be fulltime but it will still be very enjoyable, and when you are ready to retire you will be all set to fulltime if you still want to.