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Old 11-10-2013, 05:13 AM   #1
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Apr/May and Oct/Nov?

We am not full-time yet. DW just retired. I have all the months of the year laid out and where we would spend each month once we are full-time. We want to follow the sun. Most months are easy. In Jan. we will be in Florida, S.Texas, S. Arizon and maybe S. California for example. In July we will be in the north.

Question - were do retired full-timers spend the transition months? For example it is still cold in the Pa. mountains in early May. Leaves on the trees are just coming out. Apr. is way to early to be in Pa. But on the flip side Florida is too hot from mid Apr. on.

Seems to me we will be someplace too warm or someplace too cold for about 4 to 6 weeks per year. No way around it.

Retired Full-Timers - is this basically true?

Insulation of my rig next rig should be a consideration.
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Old 11-10-2013, 05:21 AM   #2
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The best thing about fulltiming is there are no rules and they (I used to be a fulltimer) go wherever they want.

Some folks start a slow transition north or south, spending time in the middle states, where it's neither too hot or too cold.
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Old 11-10-2013, 06:17 AM   #3
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Use this web site to find locations based on the weather criteria you select:
Travel Vacation Finder (Weatherbase)

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Old 11-10-2013, 07:03 AM   #4
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As you said, some years Apr may still be too cool in Pa and/or getting too hot in Fla. But that leaves a lot of area in between Pa and Fla where you will find someplace just right. Spring and fall are transition periods that find many fulltimers moving from north to south and vice versa. Out west where I do most of my travels, we also have "altitude" as a variable. It may be too hot in the valley but I can drive 30 miles and be 3000 ft higher in elevation where its 10 degrees cooler. No matter where you are, you always have the chance that mother nature will not follow the norms, and will ocassionally throw an early cold spell or a late season heat wave at you. Fulltiming is about taking advantage of being mobile and being flexible. But will the weather always be perfect? not likely.
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Old 11-10-2013, 07:47 AM   #5
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April and october

Weather isn't the total deciding factor. We've been full timing for 4 years and For the past 3 years have reduced our stays to three places. Maine,Coastal Georgia, and Fort Wilderness.
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Old 11-10-2013, 08:48 AM   #6
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As weather is variable, so is a Full Timers travels. So is Snowbirds to a lesser degree I'd say.

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Old 11-10-2013, 10:24 AM   #7
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tuffr2, fulltiming is a way to slow down, see sites you've always wanted to see, travel where & when you want. Just my 2 cents but if you have to have a plan in place for every month and where you want to be you may be missing out on interesting things that happen where you are. What if there's a street fair or apple festival where you are but your plan requires you to be 300 miles down the road? Having to be on such a strict schedule defeats the purpose of fulltime travel, IMHO. If, on the other hand, you are just asking a general weather question, check the weather where you are heading to, if it's too cold don't go there. You have everything you need to stay warm or cool in your rv.
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Old 11-10-2013, 11:56 AM   #8
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It takes us 2-3 months to travel from Mesa, AZ to Seattle in the spring. We always go up the west coast as no big spring storms like we found on the east coast. Then spend the summer traveling across the northern states (and into Canada), then after Labor Day we head for Tx for our annual physicals in November and then on to Mesa by the middle of December. You're trying to schedule out like it is a vacation. Don't do that!!!! Pick some place to be for Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day - make reservations for those (trust me, you want to be off the road and holed up while those working get their long weekends in) and for the rest just move along as the mood strikes you.

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Old 11-10-2013, 12:03 PM   #9
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April/May is too hot in Florida, generally.

You are missing some of the best months of the year in Florida in Oct/Nov. The weather then is just right. Not to hot, not too cold.
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Old 11-10-2013, 12:50 PM   #10
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October - at least the 1 week to 10 days are nice in most of the country. I agree after that Florida is great from mid Oct thru Nov.

When we full-time we will probably leave Pa. In the 2nd week of Oct. and head toward Florida.

I did spend the last two weeks of Nov. in Florida in 2011 and it was really nice. I did check the weather from Oct. 10 to current and it looks like half of Oct and all of Nov can be spent in Florida as those are grest months to be in Florida.

Apr/May - we will need to look for a place to stay as Florida has snakes and gators that start to come out as it gets too hot.
But again I can agree Oct/Nov can be spent in Florida.
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Old 11-22-2013, 04:04 AM   #11
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You can look at areas of interest and the seasonal temperatures month to month. Our plans are to stay south as long as possible and start thinking about migration north in mid March. Travel apx 200 miles north, stay several days even perhaps couple weeks, and then another 200 miles as we can stay with the warmer weather. We would rather be in temperatures too warm than temps that are too cold. However that time of the season we will also have to consider peak season coming through tornado alley. Like Barb's input also of coming up the west coast.
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Old 11-22-2013, 06:50 AM   #12
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Tuffer2

Sandee and I are about to embark on that journey. I am an air traffic controller and my life has revolved around making things happen and controlling events around me. If you didn't like my plan A, you just might not like my plan B for trouble makers. LOL (If you ever heard the term Penalty Box, you might know what I mean.)

We have been planning this for nearly 2 years and so far I am tending to revert to planning everything. I still tend to think in terms of time and distance in overly precise concepts. I'm comfortable with that process.

I WANT TO LEAVE THAT BEHIND!

So far we still have some plans to be specific places over the next 8 months but we have started leaving gaps to fill in some ad-hock fashion. My biggest challenge is learning how to find nice, big-rig friendly campgrounds on the fly. I'm not talking about Wally Worlds and Cracker Barrels (which we will still use as needed) but CGs that we can discover and maybe stay a week just because we like it. Finding places near all the tourists but not so close that it is overrun.

Like you, I want to follow the weather but since we have been holed up this month in ILLINI territory of east central IL we have learned we can adapt to weather that isn't the best. Someone mentioned the west coast for spring because they avoid midwest hazardous weather. I never thought of that and that may be something we take into consideration for future plans.

Sandee and I have a huge wanderlust we want to fulfill. We don't want to be in A then B then C then D based on seasons but instead wander and find other points we never considered before now.

In the end, it is about the path of the journey and the places it takes us. I know, that is a tried (so some a tired) phrase. You can gussy it up, say it a different way but there is a comforting truth and challenge to it.

In the immortal words of Bilbo Baggins - I think I'm... quite ready for another adventure!

Best wishes for your future journeys.
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Old 11-22-2013, 08:26 AM   #13
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April/May in Mytle Beach, or the NC Outer Banks can be wonderful!
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Old 11-22-2013, 08:54 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tuffr2 View Post
We am not full-time yet. DW just retired. I have all the months of the year laid out and where we would spend each month once we are full-time. We want to follow the sun.
I don't know about back east but here in the west, altitude can be just as important as latitude (if not more so). It's entirely possible to be sitting at 3,000' MSL, decide it is too warm, drive a couple hours up to 7,000' MSL and be just right.
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