Gathering information on RV living. - RV-Dreams Community Forum

smario75 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Gathering information on RV living.

Honeydeaux · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome Y'all
You have found a great source of information for full timing. If I may, reading Howard's daily journal is a good way to understand the life style. When we where first doing our research I stumbled across RV-Dreams and it has been my go to site for full timing resources and friendly people. I read Howard's journal from the very beginning and found it invaluable and entertaining.
I would also suggest, if at all possible attend one of Howard and Linda's educational rally's. You won't regreat it.
Good luck in your research and Safe Travels.
Regards.

smario75 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank You Honeydeaux. I started reading his post from the beginning.It has been very educational so far. We are still trying to figure out what type of RV we want. That seems to be one of the hardest things to figure out.

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

I would suggest that you look at several different forums and read the blogs of those posting on them. Most of us have a link to our blog in our signature line. Everyone fulltimes differently and reading the blogs will give you and idea of the myriad of ways to fullltime and some places to go and things to do that you might not have thought about when just starting out.

smario75 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you Barbaraok. I have been reading a lot of different things on the web about this. I appreciate the information and feedback.

LarryW21 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Steven, where do you anticipate camping? RV parks? Public CGs? Dry/Boondocking? Or a combination? You can go "bigger" if its only RV parks but you need to go "smaller" if trying to access many USFS, BLM and state parks particularly in California. Even Olympic NP has "short" rules for in the park camping. Some go "smaller" if they move often. So that's where I'd start...where do you want to go? I also suggest renting different types before buying.

smario75 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you LarryW21. We are not sure where we want to mostly. We have gone to several dealerships looking at different types of RV's. We have made a list of pros and cons for each type. We are also making a list of what is most important to us for living necessities and wants. We are definitely trying to do all our home work before purchasing anything. We are so very appreciative of any information giving to us from everyone in the community. I am hoping to be able to go to the spring rally in Arizona for the all the great seminars and to be able to talk to other full timers in person.

Someday · RV-Dreams Family Member

To gain the optimum in information sharing, you might want to expand on what your hopes/dreams are with regards to the RVing lifestyle and share a lot more about yourself so those that can relate can chip in with what did/did not and is/isn't working so to speak.

Are you planning on being a "travelling FT RVer" or staying a month or several in one place? You also mentioned about "how to make a living on the road". Do you have an existing form of employment you can take mobile or skills that would enable you to set up a specific type of business on the road or are you looking at what options are out there.

If you feel comfortable sharing, maybe an indication of what type of budget for an RV you are looking at, and what if any right now appeal to you the most and why.

Just a few thoughts to gain a better understanding so that others similar but ahead of you so to speak in the game can share useful info to you.

smario75 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank You Someday. There are a lot of unknowns with everything right now. The earliest I plan on to start RVing full time is next summer/fall. So here goes with the information about us.

For work my wife is taking classes for transcription type work. As far as me, I cannot take my job on the road. I am currently a correctional officer. The daily stress of that job is getting to be to much. I wish I was closer to retirement. I have been doing a lot of research on different things that I could do that interest me. I have subscribed to the Workamper News. I have skill sets to fit most of the things I see posted in those jobs. I worked in construction for about 14 years before becoming a correctional officer. I have looked into Blogging, becoming a photographer and things of that nature. I am also going to search all different types of telecommuting jobs. I am keeping my options open. I plan on starting whatever I am going to do before I leave my current job.

As far as traveling a lot or staying in one spot for a month or more. That is a bit unknown. We both like the idea of traveling more than staying put for a month or more. I am not sure which is better for us right now. Some of that might be dictating on our budget. We are not sure what that budget will be yet. We will unfortunately have to finance our RV. Our current circumstances will not allow to buy one out right.

The RV set we are most interested in right now after visiting the RV dealership the other day are 5th wheels. To us they seem more roomier than a class A DP. Before we make any purchase on an RV we want to go to an RV show. The size of the rig will be determined later. That will be determined on if we want to stay in any national or state parks. I know there are size limits. I know there is no right of wrong way to go with an RV. It will depend on how it best fits you.

We also have to make sure we don't forget about our other family member traveling with us. Our wonderful dog Buster. He has been a part of our life for almost 9 years now.

I so appreciate any helpful hints or suggestions from everyone.

Lynn and Ed · RV-Dreams Family Member

Steven,

I would highly recommend reading the blog Camperchronicles (https://camperchronicles.com/). Tracy and Lee are members of this forum.

Through their blog, they share some very helpful information and insights about working on the road. Tracy is very transparent in what she shares and I would particularly recommend anyone considering the fulltime lifestyle prior to full-retirement read their blog (and it is an interesting read, regardless).

Lynn

smario75 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you Lynn

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

You notice most everyone is recommending reading, not watching videos. There are a huge number of video bloggers on the internet and my experience is most are more interested in getting more views to make money than in providing accurate information. Drama sells.

smario75 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you Bjoyce

FastEagle · RV-Dreams Family Member

Like you we started planning before we made a decision on the type and size RV we thought would fit our needs.

I/we spent 31 years on active duty with the USN. Uprooting and moving became second nature for our family. After retiring from active duty we had a home built and stayed put for more than a dozen years before we got antsy.

Our fulltime RV traveling years were haphazard by design. We traveled in all lower 48 and a hand full of CDN Provinces. We knew we were going to do that but had no travel agenda. We knew we were not going to dry camp or use someone’s parking lot. If oa parking site did not have some sort of utility connections we were not going to consider staying there.

We looked at travel trailers, 5th wheels, class “A” and some class “C” vehicles. We eliminated the motorized options because of vehicle servicing requirements. The largest thing I had towed was a dual axle boat trailer. When we were stationed at Virginia Beach, VA for 6 years I spent a lot of time fishing in the Chesapeake, mostly in the bay bridge tunnel area. I had a large deep-v. When loaded correctly it handled nicely. The nomberof users on any given outing would change the loading and sometimes it would wag at highway speeds. So that sort of ruled out a large TT.

So, our selection was a 38” fiver with upgraded A/C and a washer dryer. If done today I might opt for a 40’ toy hauler for the extra storage space to conduct a smallish business. (We shopped flea markets/yard sales and sold our finds on internet sites like eBay). Our tow vehicle was a Dodge dully with the Cummins diesel and 4.10 gearing. When it had to be serviced I’d take it to a dealer and get them to take me to a golf course where I’d spend 4/5 hours while they did the service.

Parking with the 38 footer was never a problem. We hardly ever made reservations. We’d just call ahead and ask about open sites and their size.

Just pick out places that will be large enough for your rig.

Myrtle Beach state park;
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=23027

Natchez Trace state park (TN)
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=16890

Coles Creek state park (NY)
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=15906

Roosevelt state park (MS)
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=14949

Here are some that were real close; 60’ KOA Scott, LA
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=19934

During seasonal changes we would stop for a month or two. We liked those stops to be friendly with lots to do. This is KOA Starke, FL. Bingo on Friday nights. Fire ring gabbing on Saturday nights and good golfing, fishing and shopping nearby.
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=19508

We use a lot of military campgrounds/RV parks, mostly out west. We never found one that had smallish sites. Here is one that even had a covered patio.
Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, TX;
http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=12513

This is just a glimpse at our travels. We like old train rides/boat rides (we even took the boat ride in the Grand Ole Opry Hotel) and visiting places like the Soo Locks, Acadia NP, Theodore Roosevelt NP and NYs 1000 islands. We also like Van tours. With them comes head of the line privileges

smario75 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you FastEagle for your service and the information.

Someday · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi Steven,

I think Lynn has recommended a great read for you in Trace and Lee. Some of what you said above you will relate to in her writings/musings. Bless their hearts they are also awesome about sharing their expenses on a monthly basis and because their travels/work are so detailed one can adjust somewhat around it based on one's own way of living so to speak.

Bill Joyce hit the nail on the head about "reading" versus "video logs" or whatever they are called. Many have built a small fortune with admittedly a ton of patience over time, dedication to interesting content and consistent effort over usually a few years, to monetize their sites. Nonetheless, "some of the content" is still interesting to the RVing community as a whole, you just over time have to sort the wheat from the chaff so to speak.

I look forward to following how things unfold for you.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Steven,

There is a lot to consider with both the RV and the lifestyle, so let me just touch on a little bit of those.

The wife and I decided early on, even before our retirement, that we would do our traveling by staying in one place for extended periods of time. With an extended stay, we can better explore an area of the country with our second vehicle while living in a 38' fifth wheel. Once we retired, we moved to the Colorado Springs area from Oklahoma and stayed there for about 20 months. That gave us time to see a lot of the state parks and other interesting attractions in that area. In April of 2016, we moved on to Oregon, where we are now, and we've been here almost a year and a half.

An additional advantage to long term staying is that while we are not moving much, the Ford F450 doesn't get much use from towing the RV, so we are saving money that way. Additionally, many RV parks offer cheaper rates for those on a monthly basis, so our park rates are lower, or in the case here where we are volunteering at a retreat and reunion center, no RV site rent at all. We also get to know the people of a community better this way as well as get to see all the seasons in each area.

Regarding the RV choice, with a fifth wheel, or any other towable RV, one doesn't have to unhook from utilities every month or so and go exercise the vehicle. All we have to do is occasionally exercise the F450, and that doesn't require moving the fifth wheel. With a motor home, it is best to exercise them every month or so because the engine needs to get up to operating temperatures and the seals in all parts of the drive train need to be worked a bit as well.

So, a choice for an RV can be decided by the lifestyle that you choose to follow, whether it be frequent moves or long term stays.

Good luck

Terry