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Nique112515 · 08-17-2017, 03:24 PM

Hello my husband and our seven kids have decided to live in our rv full time to save some money and be able to travel. We have found a private fenced in lot in our neighborhood that we can park our rv and live. When the kids are on holiday we can take it out and go places we couldn't before. What should I expect with going from home to rv? I have an older 1986 emc el dorado and a pop up

marjoa · 08-17-2017, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nique112515

What should I expect with going from home to rv? I have an older 1986 emc el dorado and a pop up

Family of 9 in a popup....

Plenty of Meds.

Nique112515 · 08-17-2017, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marjoa

Family of 9 in a popup....

Plenty of Meds.

Lol no my older ones want to be in the pop up. The rest will be in our 35 ft rv

Tetonchief · 08-17-2017, 04:16 PM

Your joking, right?

Nique112515 · 08-17-2017, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tetonchief

Your joking, right?

No why?

MisterT · 08-17-2017, 04:36 PM

I think you have confused people with your original post, you did not mention a 35' RV(I guess that this is the 'el dorodo', though most of us don't know what that is)... that makes a big difference.

Having two living areas will be much nicer, give you more options, and should make it a better environment for everyone. I've even thought about pulling a small travel trailer for our boys behind our own 35' motorcoach.

You say you found some private land to 'park' on. That's nice, but does it have 30a or 50a electrical for the RVs? Does it have water? Sewer? Is it legal to park your RVs within your neighborhood? How much land are you parking on? Will you have shade? Are you in a metro area, or a more rural one?

Your kids, especially the youngest ones, will probably love the idea of 'camping'. The middle ones might not as much, and the oldest will certainly want their own 'space', which you might be giving them. You and your spouse will have the biggest change:

Less space, more 'closeness' with everyone, but also less room for 'stuff', which is what some folks have a very hard time letting go of.
We've found that we actually have very few items that are 'must haves': certainly family photos, but few other items. We have less 'room' for the kitchen, but it's still workable. Most RVs have more storage than you think, but 'filling them up' is not the game, it should actually be to make them usable by leaving as much room 'unused' as possible.

You have to consider the 'travel' idea you mentioned. It's great to think of vacationing when the kids are out of school, but are you going to need to take everything with you that you have while you are 'parked'? If not, where are you going to leave it, or store it? Believe me, when you travel, especially with as many as you have, you want to be as 'light' as possible. Many things we've demanded that we take with us while we travel, for that 'just in case' need, winds up just taking up space and weighing us down - and we don't typically wind up using them anyway.
We took a 120lb 8' long bright orange Kayak with us all the way from GA to Canada to Alaska and back thru the states the GA. Used it once.

Nique112515 · 08-17-2017, 04:50 PM

The lot is for an rv. It has water electric and septic. Not really sure how big but it will fit our rv pop up enclosed trailer and we will still have plenty of room for the kids to play. Our enclosed trailer will hold most of our stuff. The lot has a six foot wooden fence around the whole thing.

iamblum · 08-17-2017, 05:05 PM

Should be fun. Good luck keep us posted and ask questions if you need help

W5CI · 08-17-2017, 05:14 PM

Good Luck with your Adventure, RV's are for two adults and one dog. I wish you Luck

c92vette · 08-17-2017, 05:51 PM

You better be real organized. There are no "closets" per se in a 35' motorhome especially in the EMC. If I remember correctly the basement is rather small so storage is at a premium. Other thoughts are:

How far south are you? Weather during the winter months can be an issue unless you are far enough south and can keep warm in the pop up. A house is much better insulated against the weather. You'll need propane for heat and cooking. How is that set up. Do you have a large tank in the EMC? The pop up will have the smaller DOT tank so that should be no issue with refills. If the EMC has a permanent mounted tank then you will have to move to the filling station or rig up a refill system for the EMC.

You laundry must be enormous. Do you presently wash and dry at home or go to a laundromat? Clothes storage for that many people will take up a lot of space. The dirty clothes will need a space of their own somewhere until you can get to washing them.

How much room do you have for food storage? Residential refrigerators are larger than the one in the EMC unless you have modified it to accept a residential refer. Cooking space is also at a premium in the coach. Do you have enough room to prepare meals of the size you need to feed everyone? Will they have to eat in shifts or can you fit everyone at the dinette in the EMC?

What are the local laws regarding camping out full time in a vacant lot in your area? Some neighborhoods within a city have codes or laws prohibiting living in this manner. Your area may be ok but I would check it out. Also there may be laws or codes regarding the set up and how it's parked. My county has a code where all vehicles, including a pop up, must be on an improved parking surface as in a concrete or asphalt slab.

Where are you going to keep the items you won't take with you while traveling? Do the kids have bicycles, swing set, outside play items, etc? Look into a storage building for the home base which you will need for things like the lawn mower. Also the laws I mentioned earlier come into play again. Will the area in which you live allow a storage building on the property? What kind, how big, must it be anchored down? Another thing to consider.

How about your physical address? Is there a mailbox with the vacant lot? Will mail be delivered to it? Will you have to have a PO Box? Check into this as a lot of utility companies, water, gas, electric, have to have a physical address attached to the account.

Since I touched on utilities how will you hook up to electric, water, and most importantly, sewer. Holding tanks and porta potties have to be drained often. With just the 2 of us in our coach we can go about 7 to 9 days before dumping is a must. Is there a septic tank on the property and, again back to the local law, can you hook up to it permanently? Since I'm on the subject of bathroom use, how many bathrooms do you have in use now? Most houses have 2 bathrooms these days. Will there be enough room for everybody with the one small bath in the EMC?

These are just a few thoughts I have about your plan. I think the biggest thing will be privacy and room for all. It will be cramped especially during inclement weather. Make sure you have a retreat plan in case this doesn't work as well as you would like.

Nique112515 · 08-17-2017, 05:56 PM

Stuff we are keeping will be in our enclosed trailer. The lot has a mailbox. We can't keep rv in front yard it has to stay behind a fence here. I'm like 20 from Miami. We have electric and water and septic hookup on site. We have one bathroom in our house so we are used to that. With the kids in school during the day and activities after school they will be out of the rv most of the day. Electric and water is in the owners name and he is letting us use his mail address and just putting apartment b.

Txice · 08-17-2017, 06:01 PM

One thing for sure, it's going to be difficult to find enough privacy to have number 8.

Nique112515 · 08-17-2017, 06:01 PM

Lmao... thank God I can't have anymore but yeah we will have to get creative

Wundertaker · 08-17-2017, 06:35 PM

Respectfully and in all seriousness...I have read all posts up to this point and it just seems to me that there are million concerns here. The limited info you've shared just does not add up to a successful and happy outcome.

I would seriously take the advice of some seasoned full timers on a face to face basis before embarking on this trek...you have many lives to consider that are in very different stages of life...including YOURS!