When did you decide, now is the time

[Steve Ownby]

Originally Posted by brandss

I am 52 and the beautiful wife is 45. I have a job that takes me all over North America almost every week and the wife has a job working for the governor of Kentucky. At most, if he is re-elected, she will work 6 more years, and I will work until retirement. My job allows me to consider RV life more than just a few trips per year. I could spend a week in Colorado, then a week in Florida. I travel on over 150 airplanes per year and God only knows how many hotel rooms per year. I think I can even get the company to reimburse me for nights on the road I'm traveling and not in a hotel and without airfare. Maybe $600 per week of travel. I think I'm in a very good position, as I said, to start our RV life early.

My question is when did you decide to go "all in"? We are not wealthy people but do okay, thanks to the good Lord. Our thought is to move from our home and into a townhouse and then purchase a Newmar Coach. I am struggling with the idea of having a $125k coach, the townhouse, storage for the coach, and all the other expenses unless we commit to using it at least 6 months a year. The LOML says, to heck with the townhouse, lets do it full time. This wouldn't be possible as long as she works for the governor, we do have cold weather in KY.

Not sure this makes sense and was nervous to post because I'm sure you fine people are sick of these newbie questions. I would appreciate any thoughts and apologize for what I'm sure is an over asked question. Tried to find answers before posting but never found the "answer".

You could do full time during the winter in Kentucky. My wife & I have lived in our coach full time for over ten years now. We have spent part of 2 winters close to Gatlinburg, Tn. We have experienced several over nights at around zero and weeks at a time below 32. You might want to put a couple of supplemental heaters in the coach & perhaps a little extra heat in the wet bay.

Just saying, don't discount a solution that might work without thinking it all the way through.

The savings might enable you to up grade the coach to a gently used Essex or Londonaire with an AquaHot & better insulation.

Food for thought.

[Rvlegaleagle]

Originally Posted by C.Martin

I know...strange thought,,, right?

But I do think there are a handful of people that prefer hotels. I, for the life of me, cannot tell you why. Although I endure it, as a part of my job...I don't really enjoy the experience of sleeping in a bed that was shared with 10,000 other people...and having almost nothing in common with most of the other guests.

RV'ing means having your own stuff...sleeping in your own bed...and being surrounded by others that, for the most part, are like minded individuals.

EXACTLY.....not to mention being one with nature (Father) like our ancestors did when life was much simpler

I think the OP's and others who are thinking about prolonged Rving AND still working in the hamster cage illustrates the old adage of trying to have each foot on the opposite side of the same fense at the same time...ouch if one foot gives out.

I do understand the desire to minimize the effect of the hamster cage as it is certainly healthier mentally and physically to do so, but getting out of it is purposefully designed to be difficult, even when you decide the time is right!

Striking a proper balance between staying partially in it by still working is the uncertainty of it working for you. And despite the glory and freedom of prolonged RVing traveling striking that balance is a question only the OP, and everyone else in that situation, can answer for themselves. You know what they say, the past and the future you can do nothing about, you can only do something in the present which is why it truly a gift to us all

Good luck on your most difficult decision. And have the faith that it will work out for just the way is supposed to and was designed

[smlranger]

We half time....travel about 6 months out of the year (two 3-month trips in each of the shoulder seasons usually). We 'decided' to get our first motorhome on the way home from my 58 year old brother's funeral. Decided not to put off something we said we wanted to do when we 'retired.' That was 12 years ago and we are now both fully retired.

From how you describe your situation, not sure how you could full time in a motorhome with your DW still working unless you are thinking the coach could be your home based in KY and you use it to travel on weekends and when she is on vacation. You could, of course, use a coach to travel for your work while she remains in an apartment, townhome, etc. in KY while she continues working for the Governor. Not sure that would make for much fun for either of you.

Bottom line, most of the full timers I know or read about are either fully retired or at least can work on the road....basically not tethered to any job in a particular location.

There are a lot of variables in your situation. Have either of you traveled in an RV for an extended period of time? Perhaps you need to find a good, used coach and use it for some of your work-related travel and for vacations with the wife and see how it fits for you both.

[bruceisla]

We waited too long. We talked about it for 5 years and bought 1 house too many. If we had a do-over we would have purchased in our early 60's or earlier.

We purchased an older 37' Endeavor and I spent a good amount of time upgrading it and "learning the ropes". This turned out to be a more expensive route but enabled us to refine our needs/wants ... not a waste of time and money. Traveled for 2 years. We now own a 12 year old RV that is much larger and also needed some upgrades ... it's nearly perfect for us at a price that, if new, would be out of reach.

[micbob4]

Originally Posted by C.Martin

If you have NEVER been RV'ing...I would recommend renting or starting out with a used/New entry level. See what you like/dislike before going ALL IN. If you find out you love it...then go ALL IN. If you hate it...at least you didn't sink your fortune into a losing proposition.

I love to travel...but hate hotels. I don't enjoy passenger flights as a passenger. We bought an entry level fifth wheel. Had it for 5 1/2 years...and spent over 60 nights a year in it...averaging 5-7 nights per month. We decided we loved the lifestyle...sold the 5th wheel and bought a diesel pusher. I agree...getting it earlier than later is a good idea. I didn't want to wait until age 65...then unexpectantly pass...leaving my wife with a huge rv payment. We'll pay down a bunch before I retire...and will have a little more play money, when we finally hit the long road. For now, most of our trips are 5 days to two or three weeks, depending on how my vacation time gets awarded.

If you know already...that this is the thing you really want to do...no problem skipping a step. Just do your homework. You can burn a lot of cash bouncing around from coach to coach if you get it wrong.

Love this thread and we're similar to your situation Martin. We have been looking for several years at purchasing an RV. I'm 53 make over just 6 figures and have less then 40k on home. So wife and felt it would be a great time to look at finally getting RV. She doesn't like to fly and wants to bring dogs with her on vacation. We're looking at Newmar 3414, love layout. We are not planning on going full time right now but option down the road (no pun intended). As Martin, I felt doing it now and plan is having everything paid off by retirement. With small mortgage payment felt it was time. When wife and I mentioned what we were thinking of doing to friends and family (non RV people) they thought we were nuts and wasting money, throwing money away on an expensive toy. To the point got us questioning our decision. Bottom line for us it's a life style that brings us closer together and makes us happy. It's easy to come up financially to not purchase an RV or do anything in life for that matter. But life is very short and you can always create reasons why it's not the right time. If you are truly passionate about it then live life and go for it! We decided too.

[Dutch Star Don]

No one can tell you when to RV or how. I grew up camping with my parents. At 18 years old, I had a shell on my truck and went camping with my wife to be. By 21, I had an 8' slide in camper. Over the past 43 years, I've always had an RV and make time to use it. Luckily, my job allowed me to take several family trips a year. I always made sure I had a nice RV, but also didn't extend past what I could afford.

Even now, we have a fairly new motor home at 4 years old, but there have been several changes to the Dutch Star since we purchased and I think I will be buying one more. I'm 61 years old and my sister just went into hospice care at 65 years old last week. We placed my sister-in-law into hospice care on Monday at 55 years old.

I've always felt that you should live your life to the fullest, within financial reason. We also care for my 91 year old mother-in-law who has been in assisted living for 8 years, after a stroke 10 years ago. You don't have to tell me twice to get out and enjoy life. If you like RVing.....MAKE IT HAPPEN!

[Dan McMartin]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

I've always felt that you should live your life to the fullest, within financial reason. We also care for my 91 year old mother-in-law who has been in assisted living for 8 years, after a stroke 10 years ago. You don't have to tell me twice to get out and enjoy life. If you like RVing.....MAKE IT HAPPEN!

We didn't fair well in the housing crash and while I have a good pension, we don't have a lot of cash saved up. We initially were hesitant to finance a new coach but after doing the math on how much we could realistically save up to put more down or buy a coach outright, we knew that didn't want to wait that long to live our dreams. So we said screw it.

Depreciation? We lost a ton of money on our house so doesn't really bother us. Been there done that. Life is short and spending a significant percentage of our remaining active years saving money to buy an RV didn't make much sense. And that's assuming we actually live a normal life span. You never know.

I agree, if you like RVing, travel, the outdoors, etc. (and 90% of that is attitude anyway), do it. Don't wait for the perfect time or the right amount in savings, etc. Determine a budget, buy a coach and have fun. On your death bed you won't remember the money you did or didn't spend. You'll remember the places you went, the people you met and the memories you made with the people you loved.

[We_B_Tripn]

Couldn't agree more. My dad always wanted to travel and kept putting off retiring completely. He at least did get his motorhome and took small trips locally for a few years. But after the first winter RV'ing he was diagnosed with cancer and only lived a few months. My mother always talks about the trips they wanted to take. This certainly prompted us to make our decision to purchase now and also to build those memories with out two young kids.

[GaryKD]

You are correct on having the commitment to use the coach is important. First coach was in 1978. The family made the commitment and the rest is history. A coach is part of our lives.

[Bushy]

Originally Posted by Dan McMartin

If the lifestyle appeals to you do the research, figure out if it's feasible and then commit to it. Don't dip your toe in the water. Dive in. If you don't like how it's going, don't give up. Try doing it different. Work at it until you find the right balance (just like you should do in other aspects of your life). Otherwise, don't do it at all. You'll most likely fail. Full time RVing shouldn't be any different than any other major life decision. Do or do not. There is no try.

I love your outlook on life. I agree with you - totally. I just don't always have the courage or determination to follow through. Great advice!

[caper63]

Well we just got our first RV 2010 Newmar ventana 3933 and got 1 or 2 years to retirement but the RV fell like the 1 we were looking for , just got to get it down south b4 were snowed in lol happy hunting 😊

[Stretch]

I agree with most all of these learned folks. Started part timing at age 45 in an old 1980 Apollo . It was huge at 33 feet. Retired (sold my business) at age 55 and have owned several rvs that we continue to part time, not wanting to give up our home. Our last motor home was an 2005 HR Navigator 43 ft 3slides with a 60 series Detroit diesel. Man that was a real coach! We loved to travel in it. Bought it at 2,000 miles and sold it at 63,000 miles in 2016. We actually traded it in on a new 2017 coach. Wife and I figured we just had to have" one more". Still part timing. Tom Lindstrom RV had the perfect coach a DS 4369. One fine coach. I agree with the rest of the gang, now is the time. Buy a coach, NOW. I am 79 years old and Still chugging along. You will love it.

[BBelanger]

My brother gave up RVing last year at 84. He full timed for 20 years, said they really didn’t have any more places they wanted to visit. 20 years, so you need to start early. You can imagine how he feels when I stop to visit with my new coach, he never owned a new one. He had the money, but he could squeeze a penny hard enough to make it cry.

[Dan McMartin]

Originally Posted by BBelanger

My brother gave up RVing last year at 84. He full timed for 20 years, said they really didn’t have any more places they wanted to visit. 20 years, so you need to start early. You can imagine how he feels when I stop to visit with my new coach, he never owned a new one. He had the money, but he could squeeze a penny hard enough to make it cry.

That's epic. I'll be 71 in twenty years. That's why you start sooner rather than later. No time like the present. We all probably hope we will still be spry enough to be on the road in our 80's but for many folks that's not reality. You can't start at 65 or 70 and expect 20 years of traveling.

Money is nice. Big DP's are nice. But freedom beats them both. We'd much rather be on the road in a "lesser" RV now than wait 5-10 years saving up more money for a "better" coach. If you have the means, go for it but the RV is just a means to an end. It's the travel and experiences we cherish.