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Old 09-28-2012, 09:44 AM   #1
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Full time Rving

Hi my wife Cheryl and I are planning full time rving starting the end of October. We have a 37' fifth wheel and 1 ton f350. We have been planing this for some time. Any advice getting started would be great.

Lloyd
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Old 09-28-2012, 09:55 AM   #2
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Wow, how exciting! Lots of things to consider, like mail forwarding, etc. We are not full timers so I'll leave it to the experts to offer advice. Good luck and have fun.
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Old 09-28-2012, 10:03 AM   #3
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We are in month 1 of our adventure, belive me when I say you never can plan how to live as "Full Timers"
There are so many variables that jump up, you will learn to face each, as each day unfolds.
Just take your time and love each day as it comes.
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Old 09-28-2012, 10:31 AM   #4
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Hi Lloyd,
My wife Rose and I will be hitting the road FT about the same as you. Man it's exciting and there are lots of nice folks on iRV2 to help you on your journey. See you on the road!
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Old 09-28-2012, 10:37 AM   #5
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Lloyd, I forgot to say welcome to the forum!
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Old 09-28-2012, 12:01 PM   #6
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Mail directed to a "sticks and bricks" relative, and a good cell phone plan , so you can be contacted as soon as any problems arrise.
Personally, and this is just a thought, because I'm not a full timer, I would not plan on wandering too far in the first couple of months, so that any thing that has to be dealt with in person can be handled without a lot of travel.
Good luck and Safe travels.
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Old 09-28-2012, 01:40 PM   #7
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Wife and I have been full timing for over two years. Biggest problem we have is unpredictable repairs. Some expensive and some not. Traveling causes a lot of things to come loose and if you don't discover them in time, it can be costly.
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Old 09-28-2012, 09:57 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lnickell50 View Post
Hi my wife Cheryl and I are planning full time rving starting the end of October. We have a 37' fifth wheel and 1 ton f350. We have been planing this for some time. Any advice getting started would be great.

Lloyd
As you indicate you have "been planning this for some time" its hard to know for sure what info you might find helpful and what you have already dealt with. But we are going on 6 years of FTing, and would be glad to try and offer up whatever experience we might have that could help.

I assume you have already thought about or decided on your domicile?? You'll want this for an address, probably mail forwarding, insurance etc etc. The top three states tend to be SD, TX, or FL. All have good mail forwarding services and provide tax advantages for most.

You are likely to fit the pattern of 1st year FTers, who tend to run in what gets referred to as "vacation mode". The excitement, the adventure, and the transition from work makes you think you need to "see it all" and go every where. We were aware of that phenomonen when we began, and we did our share not to break the pattern LOL

Don't worry about it, do what's comfortable, and if your FTing style gradually changes over time, thats "normal" too. Many FTers go with whats referred to as a 2/2/2 style of moves. On move days, keep it at about 200 miles give or take, in the park by 2pm, give or take, and stay at least 2 nights. The best thing you can do is remeber that you now have the rest of your life, and even the move days can be a pleasant adventure when you have time to get in, relax, and scope out the area.

We seldom do much for reservations. The 3 main summer holidays can be the exception -we usually try and make sure we know where we are staying on memorial day, the 4th, and labor day. If we have a definate destination that we know we want to lock in, we might also reserve something. But reservations are seldom needed otherwise, and we think really crimps our style, as we may like somewhere and decide to stay, or see something going on a different direction than we are heading and decide to go check it out. We currently are on the Gulf Shores of Al, and the location, the weather, the beach and the water have just been wonderful. So we were going to stay a week and decided it was so nice that we decided to stay another.

Finally, at first, as I mentioned, it will seem like your vacationing, and you will act accordingly. But at some point, you will in fact realize that as a FT'er, you are "living" So, some of the mundane stuff will still need to get done, if its raining and you decide you want to stay in all day and read, its OK, if you want to watch TV, thats OK too. I think this is one of the biggest things that we find is different for us from when we were "camping" on the weekends, or during a few weeks of vacation. The rig is our home now, so we cook, we watch a movie, we read, we take care of the bills etc. And when we want to go hiking, or explore the area, we do that.

Anyway--hope this helps a little. Feel free to ask any specific questions you might have. We are still loving the lifestyle, have met some great people, seen some incredible sights, and have no plans to stop anytime soon.

Enjoy-welcome aboard-and maybe we will meet along the road somewhere.

PS--I meant to mention making sure you get FTers insurance. You will definately want/need that on your rig. Not all insurance companys provide it but there are a number of agencies that can compare quotes for you.
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Old 09-29-2012, 07:47 AM   #9
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You've already gotten some great advice. The great news is, technology and the ready access to information on virtually any subject has made going full time easier than ever.

Research and choose a state to establish as your legal residence. For many that means minimizing the tax burden as much as possible but there can be personal needs or expectations that influence that decision.

It is hard initially to get out of "vacation mode". Prior to retirement and going full time most of us used our RVs for vacations only and we made sure to pack in as much as possible. Few of us can sustain that level of activity, or EXPENCE, 365 days of the year though.

As has already been suggested, take time to stop and smell the roses. While there are some that do, IMHO, if you're moving every couple of days you're "...on the world, not in it", to quote a movie script.

There will be surprises along the way, some good, some expensive, but you've now got the time to roll with what ever comes your way, and a plethora of advice is always available here to help you over the bumps. Over time you will develope your own personal style of full timing and even that will continue to evolve over time. It's been just one year since we sold our house and we've reorganized our storage spaces two or three times already, discarding things we rarely or never used, making space for things we've found more useful. We've also determined that at least for the forseeable future we'll be spending more time at the RV lot we purchased a few years ago (I had this thing about owning something, so we'd always have a place we could be, regardless of world events) and less time traveling, which for us will likely translate into a 50/50 situation rather than the 75/25 we had initially presumed (we'd presumed more time on the road). That will likely change again at some point, and that change could be in either direction.

So far this has been about the best time of our life and as we tell family and friends, we expect it to remain that way as long as the health and the money hold out. Life's too short to stay "in the box", welcome to the ranks of us that have left that box behind.
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Old 09-29-2012, 09:21 AM   #10
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Welcome.....................

Lots of research helps, but don't forget about other FTer's out there. Extend yourself to them. Spend hours of sitting around during HH just talking about rving and listening to their stories.

We did the research and then once on the road learned so much more and tips and tricks we ended up spending another $2K on accessories that really made things even better.

The first adventure away from where we sold our home was 6 months and we had every campsite planned, reservations made, deposits down, etc. Well, that lasted about 2 weeks and we finally had to give it up. You are either going to love it or hate it....have a good sense of humor and a good tool kit and be somewhat handy.

Don't do what we did....................2 months into our ordeal, we traded from 5er to MH and loved it. We were on go so much the MH fit the bill. But after finding a couple of wonderful spots to be, we ended up spending months Colorado and months in Arizona. So after another 8 months, moved back to a 5er.

We have tamed our exploring and have found a summer spot and winter spot now and ended buying a lot. It's like having three vacation homes. Touring is now a couple of months each year and we love it!!!!!!!

Enjoy the ride....................
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Old 09-29-2012, 05:47 PM   #11
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Welcome to FREEDOM!!!

The best advice we ever recieved, and thankfuly followed, was start this lifestyle DEBT FREE.
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Old 10-01-2012, 08:05 PM   #12
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We are quiting our jobs and going full time 1.1.13. Can't wait. We are so excited to get going. Like you we have been planning for a year . Bought a 08 Montana and a 12ram to pull it.
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Old 10-01-2012, 10:05 PM   #13
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We've been fulltiming a little over 6 years - it is a great life. If you have not already done so, go over to the Escapees forum and check in on the Graduating to Fulltime area. The people going fulltime this year are in the Class of '12 and I know they would love to have you join them - it is an informal thing, but a great way to meet people who are going through the same thing that you are and it is fun to meet up with them on the road. Also spend some time on the Escapees forum as you will probably find more fulltimers there than anywhere else on the net.

Yes, you will be in 'vacation' mode to start with and no matter how well you think you planned your budget, the first few months you are going to go over it. Relax, as with all things, this too will pass and you will find that comfortable mode that fits your needs. We also follow the 2-2-2 plan when moving along.

One of the best things you can do is read the blogs of those that post on the fulltimers forums - gives you a good idea of the different types of things to do and places to go that are out of the ordinary.

Barb
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Old 10-02-2012, 06:32 PM   #14
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Welcome to the forum, Lloyd. I have been full-time for just a shade over a year now, (I know this because I just had to renew insurance...), and have loved almost every minute of it. There were a few minutes there in Georgia and North Carolina that led to the purchase of 6 new tires that aren't fond memories, but ya gotta take what comes...

A lot of good advice so far in here, especially the parts that pop up in more than one post. Good reasons for that! I jumped into this lifestyle basically blind, so there was a learning curve involved.

I then spent the summer on the road, a total of somewhere around 5000 miles. Unfortunately, I am still working, but as a Merchant Marine Captain, my schedule is 2 months, 2 months off. That allowed me loads of time to see some of America.

Lessons learned: Well, I started off a bit more ambitious than I deserved to be, planning some very long days of 400+ mile runs. My new motto is "Arrive early, depart late". I do my best not to plan anything over 350 miles, and 250 is better. If I can get out by 9-ish, and in by 2-ish, life is good.

As has been mentioned, slow down and enjoy. It's hard to smell a rose from behind a windshield at 70 MPH. Don't forget to keep up with maintenance and all the other chores, they still need done, even if you are away from home... oh, wait, you brought home with you!

Also, I now build into my schedule some "down days", for relaxing, doing those pesky chores, laundry or just sitting on my butt. I particularly like that last one, and have discovered I can do that almost anywhere in the world!

My first full time summer, I did fall a lot into the tourist mode trap, and finally arrived back at my base in Florida... Bike broke, truck broke, RV broke... and I was badly bent. But most all fixed up now, and I had a hell of a time. I wouldn't trade this lifestyle for the moon! (Wouldn't have anyplace to keep the moon anyway, I live in an RV!)

Above all HAVE FUN! If you get sick of where you are, all ya gotta do is warm up the engine...
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