My wife and I have been retired for a few years, and we are looking to get out of the Midwest weather, especially the cold weather. Our thoughts have been about selling our home and becoming a full-time camper. Our kids are on different ends of the country, and we want to spend more time with them without living in their homes. In addition, we want to see more of our country as we travel. You, the reader, have already made the jump. Can you share with me your thought process as you became full-timers, some obstacles you had to overcome, and tips for us to consider? Thank you for your comments and wisdom.
When to become a full-timer?
- Thread starter mnobis
- Start date
Make sure that selling your brick and stick is the right decision first. You’ve got a lot tied up and it’s hard to get back in it without more money.
Our daughter and g-daughter live in ours so when we’re too old to buy beer and diesel fuel we still have that security.
Old relatives might be fine, but old friends are a gift from God! You’ll make plenty on your adventures, along with memories that will last long into old age.
Our daughter and g-daughter live in ours so when we’re too old to buy beer and diesel fuel we still have that security.
Old relatives might be fine, but old friends are a gift from God! You’ll make plenty on your adventures, along with memories that will last long into old age.
DutchmenSport
Senior Member
We are not "full timers". We are "long timers". What that means is, we still have access to our stick-n-brick house until we die, but we travel months at a time and return "home" just long enough to take care of medical, legal, and pet items and then we are off again. Our son lives in our house, and we actually deeded it over to him. So, that set us free! So, I consider ourselves "Long Timers."
Now, the hardest decision you'll have is selling your house or, what do you do with your house if you don't want to sell it. The second decision you need to make is, what do you do when you reach the age you cannot travel any more, either because of health reasons or over estimated financial reasons that were not originally considered. In other words, you need to plan an "exit" strategy and what you do then.
Once you have those two obstacles figured out, you are truly free to hit the road as long as you have health and wealth!
Now, the hardest decision you'll have is selling your house or, what do you do with your house if you don't want to sell it. The second decision you need to make is, what do you do when you reach the age you cannot travel any more, either because of health reasons or over estimated financial reasons that were not originally considered. In other words, you need to plan an "exit" strategy and what you do then.
Once you have those two obstacles figured out, you are truly free to hit the road as long as you have health and wealth!
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- Mar 22, 2010
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Make the decision to completely move into a travel trailer and sell your S&B house VERY CAREFULLY !!!!!
It may seem like a "doable" thing now, while you still have your mobility, your endurance, your health and your income. Those things will change (usually decline) as the years go by. Consider how you'll recover from a fall that causes a hip fracture, what will happen if you lose your ability to drive, where you'll park the trailer once you're too old to continue to travel and if that trailer will be "handicap accessible" not only to enter the trailer, but to care for yourself once you are alone and can't climb the steps in a fifth wheel or change out the propane bottles during the winter.....
There's an "allure" to being free to travel and explore that gets us all "motivated to make the plunge"... But looking realistically toward the end of life, you need a plan to live after health issues prevent "full timing in a travel trailer".... At that point in your life, will you have the income, the funds and the ability to "revert back to a S&B structure" ?????
I think back to when we bought our first house in Denver in 1971. It was a small brick 1000 sqft structure. We paid $19K. Today that house recently sold for $475K. Did we lose out? NOPE, but if we had to buy it today to start over, it would critically stress funding for all the other things we would want to do "after full timing is no longer an option"....
CONSIDER WISELY !!!!! Once you make the plunge, for most, going back is far too costly if you intend to continue your current lifestyle budget.....
It may seem like a "doable" thing now, while you still have your mobility, your endurance, your health and your income. Those things will change (usually decline) as the years go by. Consider how you'll recover from a fall that causes a hip fracture, what will happen if you lose your ability to drive, where you'll park the trailer once you're too old to continue to travel and if that trailer will be "handicap accessible" not only to enter the trailer, but to care for yourself once you are alone and can't climb the steps in a fifth wheel or change out the propane bottles during the winter.....
There's an "allure" to being free to travel and explore that gets us all "motivated to make the plunge"... But looking realistically toward the end of life, you need a plan to live after health issues prevent "full timing in a travel trailer".... At that point in your life, will you have the income, the funds and the ability to "revert back to a S&B structure" ?????
I think back to when we bought our first house in Denver in 1971. It was a small brick 1000 sqft structure. We paid $19K. Today that house recently sold for $475K. Did we lose out? NOPE, but if we had to buy it today to start over, it would critically stress funding for all the other things we would want to do "after full timing is no longer an option"....
CONSIDER WISELY !!!!! Once you make the plunge, for most, going back is far too costly if you intend to continue your current lifestyle budget.....
Think and choose wisely. IMO a travel trailer is not, and was never meant to be, a full time "home" unless there are no other options.
Realize that once you sell your home, maybe get a bump in available cash...it will be gone. Then, that box truly will be your home. Traveling is alluring...and you can do that and own a home. The reality of all of it will hit when you can't take care of it, it breaks and due to age/frailties you can't elevate that jack etc. Traveling/towing requires certain physical abilities; what if something happens? What does the DW do? Where will she go? Who will take care of her....? A no go for me.
Don't know your age but I can assure you that things physically don't improve as you age. Look far beyond the "ooh, it looks fun" stage to reality. BTDT and I didn't like the situation at the end.
Realize that once you sell your home, maybe get a bump in available cash...it will be gone. Then, that box truly will be your home. Traveling is alluring...and you can do that and own a home. The reality of all of it will hit when you can't take care of it, it breaks and due to age/frailties you can't elevate that jack etc. Traveling/towing requires certain physical abilities; what if something happens? What does the DW do? Where will she go? Who will take care of her....? A no go for me.
Don't know your age but I can assure you that things physically don't improve as you age. Look far beyond the "ooh, it looks fun" stage to reality. BTDT and I didn't like the situation at the end.
The "what ifs" concerning health & money have been well voiced. I'll just point out one other element, that of spending virtually every min with each other in a confined space.
Let's look at the hard facts first. Storage space is very limited in any trailer in comparison to even a small house or apartment. Realize that you likely won't have the capacity to travel freely and take all your stuff. Most trailers have a very limited amount of storage space and many of those that have more storage are often limited by the weight they can carry.
Full timing won't be 24/7 sightseeing and fun. You still must carve out time to set up & breakdown camp, do laundry, clean, cook and do or have maintenance & repairs performed on both the trailer and the tow vehichle. Now that's typically not a big deal at home but on the road can become very challenging. At home you usually have the luxury of time to address a repair and even put it off for a time. In a trailer in a campground, you may not be able to extend your stay so you have a "hard deadline" before you must be moved.
Simple chores at home can become more demanding on the road. Let's look at doing laundry first. After spending several days on the road you're going to accumulate a pile of dirty clothes. If you have a washer & dryer in your trailer then plan on spending a lot of time doing laundry. If using a laundry mat then you have to carry that laundry and stay there until it's completed.
The above are just a few examples of some of the challenges that may or may not inconvenience you and your spouse. The major obstacle often is the proximity of the couple the majority of the time in a very confined space. If you need supplies then the spouse may want to go with you as they have been confined to the same space as you have. At home you may get some space and "alone time" while doing ard work, going shopping, or retreating to a "man cave" to watch TV or listen to music.
Even the greatest relationships can be stressed with living in.close quarters. I can remember reading several articles about the."greatest generation" reaching retirement. After WWII the employment opportunities realized by the GI plan and the exploding economy resulted in a large number of retirees with some disposable income. Being an avid boater at the time there were many related publications that I read with fevor.
It was a phenomenon that many of these retired couples would sell of their property, buy a sailboat, and cast off to "see the world". They were under the illusion that because it was a sailboat it would be free to travel. There were a large number of these "new explorers" where they did not last 2 years before getting divorced. Unfortunately, many of the couples didn't realize how some minor annoyances can pile up to create a major issue.
I apologize for the long post but I think a decision of this magnitude deserves looking at all the factors that go into the reality of the action. I wish you well in whatever decision you make.
Let's look at the hard facts first. Storage space is very limited in any trailer in comparison to even a small house or apartment. Realize that you likely won't have the capacity to travel freely and take all your stuff. Most trailers have a very limited amount of storage space and many of those that have more storage are often limited by the weight they can carry.
Full timing won't be 24/7 sightseeing and fun. You still must carve out time to set up & breakdown camp, do laundry, clean, cook and do or have maintenance & repairs performed on both the trailer and the tow vehichle. Now that's typically not a big deal at home but on the road can become very challenging. At home you usually have the luxury of time to address a repair and even put it off for a time. In a trailer in a campground, you may not be able to extend your stay so you have a "hard deadline" before you must be moved.
Simple chores at home can become more demanding on the road. Let's look at doing laundry first. After spending several days on the road you're going to accumulate a pile of dirty clothes. If you have a washer & dryer in your trailer then plan on spending a lot of time doing laundry. If using a laundry mat then you have to carry that laundry and stay there until it's completed.
The above are just a few examples of some of the challenges that may or may not inconvenience you and your spouse. The major obstacle often is the proximity of the couple the majority of the time in a very confined space. If you need supplies then the spouse may want to go with you as they have been confined to the same space as you have. At home you may get some space and "alone time" while doing ard work, going shopping, or retreating to a "man cave" to watch TV or listen to music.
Even the greatest relationships can be stressed with living in.close quarters. I can remember reading several articles about the."greatest generation" reaching retirement. After WWII the employment opportunities realized by the GI plan and the exploding economy resulted in a large number of retirees with some disposable income. Being an avid boater at the time there were many related publications that I read with fevor.
It was a phenomenon that many of these retired couples would sell of their property, buy a sailboat, and cast off to "see the world". They were under the illusion that because it was a sailboat it would be free to travel. There were a large number of these "new explorers" where they did not last 2 years before getting divorced. Unfortunately, many of the couples didn't realize how some minor annoyances can pile up to create a major issue.
I apologize for the long post but I think a decision of this magnitude deserves looking at all the factors that go into the reality of the action. I wish you well in whatever decision you make.
DutchmenSport
Senior Member
Please be advised, no one on these forums is trying to talk you out of your future plans. Everyone here is, however, sharing those things you should consider ahead of time and be prepared for them so you will be successful. The "image" of full timing sounds magnificent on many levels. But the reality of actually doing it "can" be just the opposite experience. So, please don't get put-off by the comments, we're here to help, to help prepare you better, and to be successful for the rest of your life.
I also advise doing some searching on the internet about full time life. There are countless YouTube videos about the pros and cons of full timing and hundreds of blogs and web sites dedicated to the subject also. There are several "clubs" you can check into that can also lend you some good-solid advise, like the "Escapees" group.
There's a lot to consider and deal with. Just to name a few: Maintaining a permanent residence for vehicle insurance and registration purposes, health/life insurance, doctor visits, banking and your social security and Medicare arrangements. If you have pets you'll need to upkeep them on their vet visits and shot-record (absolutely vital if you travel and are around people). A really, really BIG one to deal with is maintaining an internet connection. Your Smart Phone with a wifi hot spot may be OK, until you exceed the bandwidth of your plan, or you enter a dead zone. Regardless.... you will eventually have oil changes for your vehicle, tires to replace, and even windshield wiper blades to replace. Using established repair shops is a lot more convenient than finding new ones. You no doubt will want to be registered to vote in some municipality, somewhere. You'll need an established address for that too.
Again, none of this is to discourage you. Really, it's to help prepare you for success.
Seek out some of these internet resources and do your home work. It's better to have all of this stuff worked out before you sell-out and turn over the keys than after!
My wife and I DREAMED of full timing. We were avid campers all our married life. We had tents, pop-ups, travel trailers and now a fifth wheel. The week-end trips became more and more, and then when we advanced in our jobs, we were able to work from home. We started staying away form "home" longer and longer as we could work from the camper .... Anywhere! .... um ... so we thoughts.
That's when the internet access became the single most important thing we had to maintain. We morphed through several attempts and it took us about 3 years to finally find a system that worked for us.
As we traveled farther and farther, and longer and longer, it became apparent we could not "break" company with our stick-n-brick home. We had too many ties there (both financial and legal). We realized that "true" full timing would never work for us.
Fortunately, our son moved back in with us and brought his baby son with him (wife left him for another guy). And we've been living under the same roof ever since. It actually turned out to be the answer we needed. Eventually, he took over everything in the house. We do share expenses, and I do the maintenance repairs on the house. But that freed us up, making it possible, that when I did retire (3 years ago), we could take off for months at a time. We go to the bank, take out a thousand dollars cash (we always want cash on hand), use the bank card for all our expenses, and hit the road. ..... now this works well .... UNTIL .... we get hit for Jury Duty. Then we have to high-tail it back home. So, in a way, we have the best of both worlds and it took a LONG time to figure it out, that true "full timing" (no house or property) would not work for us. This took time to figure out.
If I can make a suggestion .... consider the same path and see how it works out. Go for extended travels and return home. This will give you the joy of travel, and give you the experience you'll need to live life apart from the house. You can always sell the house later. As stated above so very, very well... once it's gone, it's gone forever!
I also advise doing some searching on the internet about full time life. There are countless YouTube videos about the pros and cons of full timing and hundreds of blogs and web sites dedicated to the subject also. There are several "clubs" you can check into that can also lend you some good-solid advise, like the "Escapees" group.
There's a lot to consider and deal with. Just to name a few: Maintaining a permanent residence for vehicle insurance and registration purposes, health/life insurance, doctor visits, banking and your social security and Medicare arrangements. If you have pets you'll need to upkeep them on their vet visits and shot-record (absolutely vital if you travel and are around people). A really, really BIG one to deal with is maintaining an internet connection. Your Smart Phone with a wifi hot spot may be OK, until you exceed the bandwidth of your plan, or you enter a dead zone. Regardless.... you will eventually have oil changes for your vehicle, tires to replace, and even windshield wiper blades to replace. Using established repair shops is a lot more convenient than finding new ones. You no doubt will want to be registered to vote in some municipality, somewhere. You'll need an established address for that too.
Again, none of this is to discourage you. Really, it's to help prepare you for success.
Seek out some of these internet resources and do your home work. It's better to have all of this stuff worked out before you sell-out and turn over the keys than after!
My wife and I DREAMED of full timing. We were avid campers all our married life. We had tents, pop-ups, travel trailers and now a fifth wheel. The week-end trips became more and more, and then when we advanced in our jobs, we were able to work from home. We started staying away form "home" longer and longer as we could work from the camper .... Anywhere! .... um ... so we thoughts.
That's when the internet access became the single most important thing we had to maintain. We morphed through several attempts and it took us about 3 years to finally find a system that worked for us.
As we traveled farther and farther, and longer and longer, it became apparent we could not "break" company with our stick-n-brick home. We had too many ties there (both financial and legal). We realized that "true" full timing would never work for us.
Fortunately, our son moved back in with us and brought his baby son with him (wife left him for another guy). And we've been living under the same roof ever since. It actually turned out to be the answer we needed. Eventually, he took over everything in the house. We do share expenses, and I do the maintenance repairs on the house. But that freed us up, making it possible, that when I did retire (3 years ago), we could take off for months at a time. We go to the bank, take out a thousand dollars cash (we always want cash on hand), use the bank card for all our expenses, and hit the road. ..... now this works well .... UNTIL .... we get hit for Jury Duty. Then we have to high-tail it back home. So, in a way, we have the best of both worlds and it took a LONG time to figure it out, that true "full timing" (no house or property) would not work for us. This took time to figure out.
If I can make a suggestion .... consider the same path and see how it works out. Go for extended travels and return home. This will give you the joy of travel, and give you the experience you'll need to live life apart from the house. You can always sell the house later. As stated above so very, very well... once it's gone, it's gone forever!
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My Hubby and I have been full timing for 6 months - however it has taken almost 5 years to get here. We knew we wanted to see the country and we both enjoy camping or in our current case it's more glamping. 3 years to decide what type of RV we wanted, and then to find the floorplan.
Sticks and bricks - lots of folks say Oh Don't sale your house. My question is why not? Our only child doesn't live in the area, nor do any of our family as we have lived in several states for 40 years. We don't have any family close. So we sold the house, and have invested the proceeds into something safe so that IF we want to buy another home, we will have that money. The biggest obstacle was not letting go of the house, but letting go of the huge amount of stuff we have accumulated in 40 plus years of marriage. We are lucky that we have some nice friends who are storing the really important things like photo albums, but the rest of it was just stuff that we either never saw, never used, or were constantly having to dust.
This life is not for everyone. But we want to do it while we have good enough health to enjoy the journey, hike the trails, and the energy to set up and tear down camp when we want to.
Hope this helps
So we sold the house, and have invested the proceeds into something safe so that IF we want to buy another home, we will have that money.
The above is critical IMO. I would never sell a s&b home to take the money to buy a RV and "travel"....ever. In your 30s? Maybe...if you have a plan, and the skill sets, to make you appealing in the work force right away.
Older? Nah. Paid off house, property to roam on, trees, wildlife....squirrels! (I love to watch them....from MY house). As DW and I have discussed countless times, the RV is absolutely useless to her without me. The odds of one of us "disappearing" in short order is....well, possible. We can sell the house (and use the money if we want), run around in the RV, and if the worst happens we still have plenty of resources to buy another home somewhere....but why? DW likes it here and the turmoil would stress her out so......
If one is scraping together the means to get the RV, hit the road and "make it by" - IMO don't....ever. If I were to leave this place and DW was left she would have to navigate selling the RV, trying to find and purchase a new home and resettle....somewhere - SO much stress, SO much uncertainty, SO much change and turmoil....when we have the comfort of the existing home.
Full timing sounds fun and is I'm sure because I spend 6mos. a year "kicking around". DW likes security, I like security and I like DW so....
A known, secure homestead is more "fun" than looking into the unknown and pursuing an unknown "adventure" to us. Keep those bases covered.
The above is critical IMO. I would never sell a s&b home to take the money to buy a RV and "travel"....ever. In your 30s? Maybe...if you have a plan, and the skill sets, to make you appealing in the work force right away.
Older? Nah. Paid off house, property to roam on, trees, wildlife....squirrels! (I love to watch them....from MY house). As DW and I have discussed countless times, the RV is absolutely useless to her without me. The odds of one of us "disappearing" in short order is....well, possible. We can sell the house (and use the money if we want), run around in the RV, and if the worst happens we still have plenty of resources to buy another home somewhere....but why? DW likes it here and the turmoil would stress her out so......
If one is scraping together the means to get the RV, hit the road and "make it by" - IMO don't....ever. If I were to leave this place and DW was left she would have to navigate selling the RV, trying to find and purchase a new home and resettle....somewhere - SO much stress, SO much uncertainty, SO much change and turmoil....when we have the comfort of the existing home.
Full timing sounds fun and is I'm sure because I spend 6mos. a year "kicking around". DW likes security, I like security and I like DW so....
A known, secure homestead is more "fun" than looking into the unknown and pursuing an unknown "adventure" to us. Keep those bases covered.NMOBIS - not that many on the forum are full timers. Please get some other input from full timers, and even follow a couple of older mature Youtubers who full time. Danny and the others are correct in some thoughts,,, it's not all rainbows and sunshine. On the other side, full timers don't just go roaming and doing fun things everyday. Or at least hubby and I don't. It's really for us pretty much the same as living in sticks and bricks except for travel days - and since we have a cat we keep travel days short 4 or 5 hours of driving. We still spend fall Saturdays watching college football, same as we would in sticks and bricks. I cook the same meals as I did at S&B except I don't make the 13 dozen cookies on a winter Saturday to share with friends. But I do still bake cookies and make candy. I thought I would miss the inground pool, but hubby got me a blowup kiddie pool to sit in. Granted we got a big toy hauler so hubby uses the garage and continues to scrounge the junkyards for parts to sale on ebay.
As for traveling alone we each have stated we would just downsize the RV and continue the journey. Spreading the ashes of the other to places we visit. If something had happened to my hubby, I would have sold the house as there was no way I could keep up with the yard and maintenance.
This decision is personal for each person. But it's good that you are getting information.
As for traveling alone we each have stated we would just downsize the RV and continue the journey. Spreading the ashes of the other to places we visit. If something had happened to my hubby, I would have sold the house as there was no way I could keep up with the yard and maintenance.
This decision is personal for each person. But it's good that you are getting information.
I don't think anyone else mentioned this but instead of selling your home you could rent it out and use a property management company to oversee all operations. That way you "keep the monkey off your back" because they take care of renting it out to qualified people and handle all repairs as needed which are deducted from the rent. You should get $2000-$4000 a month which can pay for most for your monthly full time expenses. The management company I'm using gets 8% of the monthly rent for their management fee. Each January they send out a spread sheet that shows all costs for filing taxes.
Stu Norman
New Member
One thing to keep in mind, you can't RV forever. Eventually we get to the point where health concerns prevent operating an RV.
My grandfather compromised by buying a condo (with RV parking) to act as a base. He would be gone for months at a time, winters in Yuma, spring trout in the Okanogan region, garnet hunting in the fall, but he would return to the condo to take care of medical/pet stuff/the business of living. Once his health deteriorated to the point he no longer could RV, he had the condo to live in until he passed.
My grandfather compromised by buying a condo (with RV parking) to act as a base. He would be gone for months at a time, winters in Yuma, spring trout in the Okanogan region, garnet hunting in the fall, but he would return to the condo to take care of medical/pet stuff/the business of living. Once his health deteriorated to the point he no longer could RV, he had the condo to live in until he passed.
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