Newbie to Snowbirding- How to prepare

[gpete1961]

I have taken the big step and have decided to try and "snowbird" this winter in Central Florida (my oldest son lives there and has a good airport access). I will have my motor home there for 4 months, and plan to stay most of the winter. I work from home, and will continue to work from my remote location.

Does anyone have any good advice on how I should prepare for my extended stay? The longest I have stayed in a rv has been 10 days, as was for vacation.

I have found a place to park for the winter (Seasons in the Sun RV Resort). The only thing I need to check is the wifi or internet access.

Other than that, I still have a home in Kentucky and will keep it for now. How would I handle my mail, banking (I use online banking most of the time), and keeping my home safe?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[joannel]

Originally Posted by gpete1961

I have taken the big step and have decided to try and "snowbird" this winter in Central Florida (my oldest son lives there and has a good airport access). I will have my motor home there for 4 months, and plan to stay most of the winter. I work from home, and will continue to work from my remote location.

Does anyone have any good advice on how I should prepare for my extended stay? The longest I have stayed in a rv has been 10 days, as was for vacation.

I have found a place to park for the winter (Seasons in the Sun RV Resort). The only thing I need to check is the wifi or internet access.

Other than that, I still have a home in Kentucky and will keep it for now. How would I handle my mail, banking (I use online banking most of the time), and keeping my home safe?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

We are in the exact same position. First of all I read here that UPS has a very good and less expensive than the PO way of forwarding mail. Also since you will be in one place most likely your mail can be sent there. We have done that before. We will not be staying in one place. In the past we have stayed in 3 places in about 5 weeks and we will probably do the same since we follow the dog beaches. I have plants that need watering and our house has to be checked in on so a friend we pay comes in once a week and flushes all our toilets, etc. Make sure your neighbors know you are gone. We don't have an alarm system but live in a "resort" area so we don't get much traffic in the winter.

Good luck. I will be curious what others do.

[dfchrist]

We go away for four months a year. First year, had mail forwarded to a PO Box then had to re-forward back to the house after the trip. Big mistake! Suffice to say the post office wasn't real effective. Now we rent a large PO Box at the home post office and pick up the mail when we get home. All the bills are either on auto-pay or available on-line. The bug man and the gardener still show up and take care of the outside of the house. Internet cameras allow us to see the inside and outside of the house. Internet thermostats allow us to adjust the temp when season goes from hot to cold to protect the interior. Alarm system discourages most petty thieves. Lastly, we have a relative that lives nearby that we can call if something needs attending to at the house while we're gone. So far, so good.

[spritz]

This will be our first year also. Quartzite AZ for 3 months. We have a security system for the S&B, a neighbor to do the sno blowing a brother (not on best terms of late) that lives close by (45 minutes) in case something should happen. For years I did all this for a neighbor that went south every year now they are gone and I need someone to do it for me
There is nobody I would trust going into the S&B except for her I could ask the lady that I used to do it for but she is now in her 80's but still going strong still drives her Jeep around town. I think that's a lot to ask her to do.
If I shut the water off to the house that would eliminate one problem but the heat is another big problem as it can get to be 20-30 below for weeks. The HVAC unit is getting up in years also (15 years)
I only have to get thru this year as next year we are going to be full-timers I am going too keep my fingers crossed
Tim