Community Forums

GottagoChris · 05-10-2021, 10:51 PM

I'll be travelling around this great country of ours for the next few years and leaving behind anything that resembles a home address...how will I be able to receive mail or packages while traveling? Any tips or insights would be greatly appreciated.

NorthernDriv · 05-10-2021, 11:39 PM

General Delivery in some town

Addressed to the campground you are in(had an Amex card delivered to GC)

geordi · 05-10-2021, 11:58 PM

There are LOTS of Amazon "locker" locations - some of which are an automated box unit (you can see similar devices in some Home Depot locations) or anywhere that there is a Whole Foods, or in many smaller store locations like CVS or the like.

As for getting non-Amazon deliveries, anywhere that there is a Fedex/Kinkos location if sent via Fedex, receiving is free. Don't know about with UPS, but there is also UPS stores but even with UPS packages, they will often charge to receive.

TXTiger · 05-11-2021, 03:00 AM

As far as general mail is considered most full timers use a mail forwarding service. FMCA and Escapees offer a mail forwarding service, for a fee, for their members. There are also several private companies like America's Mail Box. As far as packages or Amazon you can have UPS or FedEx delivered to your camp ground. In most places they will deliver directly to your camp site.

jrollf · 05-11-2021, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXTiger

... As far as packages or Amazon you can have UPS or FedEx delivered to your camp ground. In most places they will deliver directly to your camp site.

1st make sure the Camp Ground you are staying at allows deliveries... some straight up prohibit it. There has been a few stories on this forum of people getting kicked out and the rest of their reservation cancelled for getting a package delivered.

Duster73 · 05-11-2021, 07:09 AM

I was just thinking about this 2 days ago. I was wondering how people who full time or travel a lot get online orders or even parts for the RV shipped to them. Thanks for the thread.

UTTransplant · 05-11-2021, 07:19 AM

I love the Amazon lockers when traveling! No additional cost, and you get notification when the package has arrived. There is a size limitation though. We have also used Amazon package pickup locations in stores, but usually there is a small cost. Worth it though. We don’t often stay in campgrounds that allow delivery service since we boondock or stay in public parks a lot, but many (not all) private parks allow deliveries.

SKP Kirk · 05-11-2021, 12:59 PM

The first thing that you need to realize is that mail is only part of the problem. You need to have an address in order to have a driver's license, vehicle registrations, vehicle insurance, health insurance, voter registration, income tax, social security, and a long list of other reasons. While the suggestions above are true for Amazon, that is a small part of what you need to deal with. I have two suggestions, first read this about domicile and what an RV fulltimer needs to do. Second is to get your address with the Escapees Mail Service.

Ray,IN · 05-11-2021, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geordi

There are LOTS of Amazon "locker" locations - some of which are an automated box unit (you can see similar devices in some Home Depot locations) or anywhere that there is a Whole Foods, or in many smaller store locations like CVS or the like.

As for getting non-Amazon deliveries, anywhere that there is a Fedex/Kinkos location if sent via Fedex, receiving is free. Don't know about with UPS, but there is also UPS stores but even with UPS packages, they will often charge to receive.

This is how it's done. Simply determine where you'll be at delivery time, enter Amazon locker location nearby. You may have to adjust your schedule now and then.

chindog · 05-11-2021, 04:55 PM

You have to be careful when ordering from Amazon for shipment to an Amazon locker. If the item you are purchasing is "fulfilled by Amazon", but sold by a 3rd party, you may not be able to have it delivered to an Amazon locker. I found this out recently. Luckily, I had a relative nearby where I could have my purchase shipped to. As we travel around the country, though, that won't be an option.

geordi · 05-12-2021, 12:02 AM

"Fulfilled by Amazon" means that it IS at an Amazon warehouse already and will be delivered by their system - no matter how it was sold. That's not usually an issue at all for a locker location.

But you are right for the third party sellers who are NOT fulfilled by amazon. Easiest way to ensure no problems with using a locker: Have Amazon Prime and ALWAYS look for the Prime shipping delivery indicator. If that isn't there.... It's 3rd party and all bets are off.

Gary RVRoamer · 05-12-2021, 02:17 PM

I've never had a problem getting packages on the road, but you have to put some planning effort into it and be flexible. Many campgrounds allow package delivery even if they say "no mail", but you need to check in advance and make sure you understand how they will handle it. And it may make a difference whether the final stage delivery is UPS or USPS. You can't have a UPS package delivered to a post office or a USPS package delivered to a UPS station. However, for some items you can stipulate to Amazon how it can be delivered.

The Amazon lock boxes are really handy if they exist where you are.

MemByTheMile · 05-12-2021, 06:08 PM

As full timers for the past half year, we have been able to do one of the following (alll mentioned by others):
- check with campground and have packages sent to us c/o campground
- use an Amazon locker if nearby

We use MyRVMail out of Florida and that is our legal address and domicile.

We have packages delivered once or twice a week. Only made a mistake once and had the package go to our mail forwarding service and we then had to pay again to have it shipped from the mail service to our location. One oops and we haven’t done that again!