How far-fetched is our dream?

[Beatrice]

Hello all! I am new here, though I have been reading through the forum and it's great! I considered posting this in the Introductions section but I don't have a MH yet and I've got a ton of questions. Please let me know if I should post elsewhere.

My boyfriend and I (25, 27 respectfully) want to travel the country. Duh, right? Who doesn't. We don't want kids, we don't really like the concept of "settling down" as the next expected phase in our lives, so we want to dedicate several years of our lives to traveling this beautiful country and working odd jobs for several months at a time whenever we find a place we'd like to stay before heading out on the road again.

To my young, naive mind, this seems totally plausible. However, I imagine several of your are rolling your eyes right now. The thing is, I don't see why. All I know is that if this was as easy as it sounds, everyone would be doing it! So what's the hang up?

GAS, obviously, will be a tremendous expense. This is why we plan on having plenty in savings before starting out and working on and off throughout our trip. I also intend on selling clothes and crafts online and shipping from wherever we are as an additional form of income. IF all goes to plan (HA), we will make up for the $$ spent on gas traveling during the months that we 'settle' down and work; rinse and repeat.

Another issue is that we plan on buying an older, used MH in full so that we don't have any sort of payments to make on it. We will most certainly need to update and possibly renovate the MH we buy. We're agreed on a Class C, but the make/model/year/length is still up in the air and very dependent upon availability. Personally, I want something compact and under 25'.

On top of all this, since we plan on working in certain cities, we need some sort of smaller transportation to take us into the urban areas for work. Mopeds? Bikes? Is towing a car as terrifying as it seems?

This is years off. We're thinking about 7-10 years from now, depending on how much we can get saved and how fast we can pay off debt. We will most likely buy the MH sooner than that and slowly repair and upgrade it before we take off. So we're in no rush - but we want to know that this is realistic before we dedicate 10 years of our lives towards working on it.

All thoughts, criticisms, fits of laughter and advice are welcome. Thanks in advance y'all!

[nforus]

Well good luck to you!! I think you can accomplish your plan. You have plenty of time to think about it, but I would be watching the developments in Health insurance as that may limit a lot of what folks can do.

[t55watson]

Their are many younger people doing this. Some even with kids (home school). Back in the day, as the earth was cooling, you would be branded as a hippy. Not a bad a life and you can quit at any time and get a 9 to 5 if you want to.
Go for it & good luck.

[PyrateSilly]

There are quite a few doing just what you are thinking about doing.
Check out Technomadia | Chris Dunphy & Cherie Ve Ard are 'technology enabled nomads' since 2006. Gypsy Journal RV Travel Newspaper » Fulltime RV Travel In Our Winnebago Motorhome Full Time RVing - Because We Can Home these are just a few of the blogs / websites that have a lot of information for you. The first is a younger couple in their 30's now and they have been on the road for (I think) 7 years.

[BoJango]

Beatrice, it really is as easy as it sounds except the income part. It seams though, you are preparing for that.
I believe you only think you want a, no more than at 25 foot motor home because you think it will be difficult to operate. Our motor home is a 34 foot class A and I would like to have one a bit larger. However, we aren't full-timers but enjoy taking trips.
I always tow a vehicle, usually a Saturn Vue. Even driving through Atlanta on I-75 isn't bad if the traffic doesn't stop.
You are doing the right thing in preparing yourselves before jumping in. Now is the time for you to start renting a class C then a class A to get the feel of operating a motor home. Once you take a few trips, hook a towable vehicle to the rear and get the experience of traveling with your home and car. I bet you will soon feel at home.
If you get started RVing now with a motor home, I bet you will move your launch date back a little closer.
I'm a long time RVer. But, if I had known more about it, I'd have started much sooner.
Good luck with the new excitement.

[Retired and Happy]

I would consider continuing your education...you don't say what that level is now, but it can't hurt for later. You can do a lot online if you just choose a reputable provider. I'm not sure how well a 25 or less MH will fit your long term needs. Maybe you should at least consider a somewhat longer unit. Those things can get pretty small when you are with each other 24 hours a day. And you will need space for your supplies and workspace for your business needs. But I wish you luck and hope you will have great success. And you can stil introduce yourselves whether you have an RV right now or not.

[MattC]

Beatrice,

Your plan sounds wonderful, but it has some issues.....
First, ¿Did you see UP!(?) That has to be the saddest movie in years. They were trying to save money and they kept on having to break into it for emergencies. They wanted, but could not have children, then she died. It gets worse from there, but it was real close to true life.

So, if you want to travel, I suggest that you start right now. Get a coach and a towed and work your way into the life. You may find it isn't anything like what your dream is.

There is nothing inexpensive about life on the road and the lack of space for storage of incidentals makes many simple things more costly. (Things like food, clothing and shelter.)

If you can run your expected income business over the internet out of your home, then you can probably do it on the road. But, don't buy anybody's plan or package to do this. I have never seen one that worked as promised. If it was that easy to sell things, the guy selling you the plan would be doing it himself, but he makes more money selling the plan.

I wish you luck, but you will need a lot more than luck.

Matt - the itinerant waterman

[SMRDNR]

I think your dream is awesome!! I wish I would of known about the RV lifestyle years ago- we started in 2005 when I was 41. we are also planning to go out full time and if all goes well it will be in 2014 - my family thinks were "nuts" but I have always been adventurous.
there are some great websites out there for you to check out.
start with the Escapees Club and Workkamper- that is what we are using to help guide us on our adventure.
driving a larger MH is not as hard as you think- practice and patience.
whatever you do enjoy the ride!!

[Beatrice]

Thank you all so much for the quick replies!! I'm going to address some of the issues that are being brought up - and thank you for bring them up!

Size
We are absolutely open to larger MHs! Honestly, I'm also open to something like a 5th Wheel. As Bo Walker correctly guessed, I only had my mind set on a smaller MH because of concerns about maneuvering it. I grew up in an RV, mostly in Tennessee, and can remember how nerve-racking the mountains were in that sucker. Granted, it was a 5th Wheel w/ a car being towed as well. Yikes! I honestly do think a larger camper will be more realistic. I LOVE the idea of renting one and getting our feet wet. Thank you!

Education
We both have some college experience but no degrees. Basically, student loans with nothing to show for it. This was a huge reason for our deciding to do this - we're sick of planning everything around "when we get a degree." We're pretty disenchanted with that whole system right now, honestly. Great, we get a degree, then school loans on top of it. I feel that even with higher paying jobs thanks to a degree, we'd be right back where we started because we'd have so much student loan debt. Right now, we just want to pay off our debt (car loan, credit cards and 5k in student loans) and not worry about a degree. I am all for continuing my education, but not at a university. I'd rather learn practical skills - like how to work on an engine, carpentry, etc!

Starting NOW
Seeing as we don't have degrees, our jobs pay fairly crappy wages. We're above the minimum wage but we aren't high rollers by any means. Top that with our debt, we just can't justify it now. There's no way we would be able to afford it. So, as much as we'd like to start now, we can't. Our goal is to pay down our debt, save like crazy, then go for it.

- - - -

To MattC especially, I just wanted to say that I absolutely understand what you're saying, but I don't feel like it's plausible. I wish I felt comfortable giving the cold shoulder to the bill collectors and shrug that responsibility and just hit the road, but I'm not.

I definitely think we need to sit down and go over the financial expectations. On another thread I found this amazing site: RV Dreams. It has a link to a sample monthly/yearly budget that has really put things in perspective. Without degrees, we can only realistically expect to make minimum wage wherever we work. Anything over that would be amazing but I can't assume anything. If that's the case then we can only expect an anual income of ~19k combined, since we won't be working full time. According to the sample budget I found on RV Dreams, we could do this on the "Thrifty" budget - but it seems iffy.

This is exactly why I posted. I want to know the realities of this! I do think that renting an RV and trying it out will be the best way to answer our questions

Keep it comin' guys, and thanks for all the responses so far!

[JohnRR]

It would be doable if you really want it.

[georgetown350]

For a 7 to 10 year plan I would wait until you are in your fifties and make it a retirement plan. At your age your lives will change many times in the next ten years. ex: kids ( even though now you say no) divorce ( hopefully not) ..... lucrative careers ( very possible)........

good luck.......... oh to be young again.......

[RanCarr]

Just my opinion but I think 25' is going to be a tad small for living in day to day unless it has a few slides. Even then.... good luck. I hope your dreams come true.

[96 Wideglide]

Originally Posted by georgetown350

For a 7 to 10 year plan I would wait until you are in your fifties and make it a retirement plan. At your age your lives will change many times in the next ten years. ex: kids ( even though now you say no) divorce ( hopefully not) ..... lucrative careers ( very possible)........

good luck.......... oh to be young again.......

+1

[PyrateSilly]

Originally Posted by Beatrice

Without degrees, we can only realistically expect to make minimum wage wherever we work. Anything over that would be amazing but I can't assume anything.

It amuses and upsets me when I read or hear something like this.
Thom has a associates degree in computer sciences that he got about 20 to 25 years ago and we all know how much they have changed now. Pretty much that is all the schooling he has. That being said he is a "Commissioning Engineer for Automatically Guided Vehicles" layman's terms he works with robotic vehicles. Installs, fixes, works with the mechanics, software .. just about anything to get them going and keep them going.
Our oldest took a few classes when in the Marines for IT. Got some certificates, kept them up to date and also his security clearances and now works at the Pentagon doing IT.

You can make a lot money at a lot of jobs if you want to and do NOT sell yourself short.