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Forever Free · 10-20-2007, 06:04 PM

We have a rather unique situation. We have a 7 acre farm which we have promised to our youngest daughter and her family once he retires from the Coast Guard next Oct. Recently our middle daughter and her husband moved here from Fla. They are planning on putting a house on part of our property after she finishes school. Our plans were always to move into our Fleetwood Regal and start full-timing once youngest daughter moved back. Decided to let other daughter and her husband move temporarily into the house allowing us to start our full-timing early.

Here's the deal. When we bought our first 5vr we set up two RV sites next to the house. 30A each with water, sewer using macerator, satellite and telephone. Since I am still working and don't plan to retire until after daughter and her family move back here following his retirement we can live here in our driveway and get prepared for our eventual travels.

We plan to continue taking short trips during this period. We're even considering possibly applying for a workcamper position at the local KOA as retirement gets closer in order to get some experience and start a resume. I work second shift and could workcamp days.

We'll be spending winter here. Luckily we normally don't have harsh winters but we feel this will give us experience to handle colder weather. The previous owners of our 5vr lived in it for a year while building a house so we know it is an all-weather unit. We've been in it for about a week now and it feels like home already. Having fun setting it up for how we want it when we finally hit the road.

Has anyone else had a situation similar to ours and if so how did it work for you?

Forever Free · 10-20-2007, 06:04 PM

We have a rather unique situation. We have a 7 acre farm which we have promised to our youngest daughter and her family once he retires from the Coast Guard next Oct. Recently our middle daughter and her husband moved here from Fla. They are planning on putting a house on part of our property after she finishes school. Our plans were always to move into our Fleetwood Regal and start full-timing once youngest daughter moved back. Decided to let other daughter and her husband move temporarily into the house allowing us to start our full-timing early.

Here's the deal. When we bought our first 5vr we set up two RV sites next to the house. 30A each with water, sewer using macerator, satellite and telephone. Since I am still working and don't plan to retire until after daughter and her family move back here following his retirement we can live here in our driveway and get prepared for our eventual travels.

We plan to continue taking short trips during this period. We're even considering possibly applying for a workcamper position at the local KOA as retirement gets closer in order to get some experience and start a resume. I work second shift and could workcamp days.

We'll be spending winter here. Luckily we normally don't have harsh winters but we feel this will give us experience to handle colder weather. The previous owners of our 5vr lived in it for a year while building a house so we know it is an all-weather unit. We've been in it for about a week now and it feels like home already. Having fun setting it up for how we want it when we finally hit the road.

Has anyone else had a situation similar to ours and if so how did it work for you?

Lorna · 10-21-2007, 12:21 PM

Can you handle living that close to your kids (can they?). We have been parked in the yard of the cabin that my kids are living in for about 2 weeks now (My Mom's cabin and I pay her "rent" because we have some of our stuff "stored" in the cabin and in a storage shed... along with a 40ft bus parked in the yard). We have discovered we need to lock the camper door because my kids (20 yo) have a nasty habit of just opening the door and walking in. Yes, they have gotten a surprise a couple of times (they should have known better... now they listen before knocking on the door... but that's no guarantee either but at least we can get a bit... composed

). Don't forget that your walls are thin and they can hear everything you say too. Otherwise, I can't really see any reason why you shouldn't be able to full-time OR use your home property as a home base. I think I would be inclined to build an RV site somewhere else on the property and include a storage shed to hold some "stuff" like our seasonal clothes, etc.

Forever Free · 10-21-2007, 04:18 PM

Sorry about your problems but we have a very close knit situation here. We really don't want to temporarily store seasonal clothes as we are downsizing to where we plan to be when we hit the road. We like having the site available for visits since our grandkids will be living here and we'll probably want to spend Christmas with them if possible.

Lorna · 10-22-2007, 05:49 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Forever Free:
Sorry about your problems but we have a very close knit situation here... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't believe I ever said I had a problem. I was just pointing out that a little privacy might be enjoyed by everyone involved. We're close to our kids just not that close. Sorry Pooky, if you or anyone else read anything different.

Ray,IN · 10-24-2007, 07:48 PM

What you are doing is, in fact, suggested by many full-timing seminars. Living in your RV in the driveway seems to be a safe way to discover if the lifestyle is for you both.

Forever Free · 11-07-2007, 03:19 AM

Thought I'd offer an update on our new lifestyle. we've been in our 5vr for about 5 weeks now and are really enjoying it. We've just hit our first cold snap, 25 deg. this morning but comfy inside. We've been busy downsizing and figuring out what we need to keep versus what we thought we'd need. Already finding clothes we first brought out that now can go. Last year we removed the table and chairs and installed a 4' solid oak hall table in it's place using two of the origional chairs. Within a week of moving in full-time we removed that set-up and installed a nice computer desk in it's place. We've had no real problems adjusting to living in the smaller environment and have no desire to move back into a house. The Greyhounds are adjusting quite well. Consider ourselves fortunate to have been given this opportunity to ease into the full-time lifestyle. Highly rercommend it if the possibilty exists.