Full time RV living thoughts/pitfalls

[jmerik1]

So, we have made the decision to try living in our 5th wheel pretty much full time. I'm interested to hear from those that do the same. What have you learned from this style of living, how long before you didn't miss your house, and with all the preparations what did you forget? We have a place in Titusville, FL, Spearfish SD, and Livingston, MT. Last July through September we drove to Alaska, so got that out of our systems.

[1948boat]

We lived 7 years on our 35' Chris Craft Double Cabin so we were sure we could do a 40' coach. That being said we are about to finish our first year with no regrets. We lived in Cape Coral FL in a gulf access home and we were finally done with boating for a while, I do miss the sea food and the pool in the lanai. We probably are not your typical full time RVr's since we stay on family's property in MI and CA four months at a time and then southeast TX the balance of the year. We didn't do TX this year staying in CA due to medical treatment and the weather was better in SO CA. We tow a 24' v-nose trailer that houses our 09 Jeep Commander and Yamaha Royal Star.

[DSL417]

Been on the road for a year and a half...don't miss S&B...yet...don't anticipate missing it for about 10 years plus another 10 or minus 1.

[itgeekgal]

We've been on the road for almost 4 years now... we enjoy visiting folks who live in a S&B but still don't miss that lifestyle and our list of places to visit just keeps getting longer, not shorter.

The lifestyle is certainly not for everyone but it's been an awesome ride for us.

[Triker56]

14 years 6 months I haven't missed the S&B yet. Or the yard mowing, raking, fertilizing snow shoveling etc. that it had.

A 33' no slide and 34' MH with one slide have been all the room I need. Bigger would be a waste of Diesel fuel. And not needed

I haven't seen any pitfalls yet. But I may find some in the next 10-15 years.

[CampDaven]

How could I possibly miss all of the yard work and repairs and taxes?

We started out small, but soon upgraded to large enough to have space for everything. We are cramped no more!

We will F/T until we cannot, or change our minds. And then it will be renting! If you rent, you can move real quick!

Nuff said?
Best wishes

[Clay L]

We full timed for about 12 years and then decided it was time to get off the road. We bought a house in CO two summers ago and spend last summer there. We spent the winter in AZ but have decided we are ready to sell the rig. . We wholeheartedly agree about hating yard work and we took care of that issue by xeriscaping (desert landscaping) most of the property. There is an underground sprinkler system using irrigation water to the few plants and a couple of fruit trees. We didn't really miss the S&B until the last year or so. Full timing was so much fun that we ignored the things that you have to put up while living in a small space. Like having to move two or three things to get to something else, very little counter space, no dish washer, having to use a laundromat, etc, etc. It was a blast for 11 years but now we really appreciate the convenience of the house. We have a robot vacuum cleaner and mopper. We plan to have someone come in to do more cleaning about once a month. My wife has a room dedicated to her building miniatures hobby and I have a 20 X 30 heated shop with all of my woodworking and electronic equipment along with my reloading stuff. I am sure glad we were lucky enough to be able live the full timing lifestyle but things run their course we are starting a new phase in our life.

[TXduo]

Question for 1948boat regarding:

Originally Posted by 1948boat

We lived 7 years on our 35' Chris Craft Double Cabin so we were sure we could do a 40' coach. That being said we are about to finish our first year with no regrets. We lived in Cape Coral FL in a gulf access home and we were finally done with boating for a while, I do miss the sea food and the pool in the lanai. We probably are not your typical full time RVr's since we stay on family's property in MI and CA four months at a time and then southeast TX the balance of the year. We didn't do TX this year staying in CA due to medical treatment and the weather was better in SO CA. We tow a 24' v-nose trailer that houses our 09 Jeep Commander and Yamaha Royal Star.

I assume 24 foot trailer is the box size. Add in hitch distance and a 40' coach puts you over 65' bumper to bumper. Had any hassels with the legal length limit? I'm thinking I need to chop 23" off the rear of my trailer so was wondering if others had gotten any grief on overall length.

[bigmichael]

7 years of FTing at this point, and still having a blast. Can't really say either of us have seriously missed the stix and brix yet. We still have places on our list of "want to get to" yet, actually going to hit a couple of them this summer.

Last few years we have tended to sit still for a couple/three months in the winter, mostly because the truly warm winter destinations are somewhat limited in the continental US. Then come spring, summer and fall, we're on the move.

[bdickson]

Originally Posted by CampDaven

How could I possibly miss all of the yard work and repairs and taxes?

We started out small, but soon upgraded to large enough to have space for everything. We are cramped no more!

We will F/T until we cannot, or change our minds. And then it will be renting! If you rent, you can move real quick!

Nuff said?
Best wishes

Exactly!

[jmerik1]

Yes, space is very important. Our new 5er has washer/dryer and dishwasher. Along with 3 TVs and Direct TV satellite dish. We found a rig with a lot of storage, and built in vacuum. Time will tell.

[twogypsies]

We sold our house immediately and full-timed for 16+ years and never regretted a moment and never missed the house. In 16 years we had no washer/dryer, no TV and no built-in vacuum. We didn't miss those either!

We traveled constantly and volunteered for national and state parks often. We would highly recommend doing this. It's an awesome experience!

[1948boat]

Originally Posted by TXduo

Question for 1948boat regarding:



I assume 24 foot trailer is the box size. Add in hitch distance and a 40' coach puts you over 65' bumper to bumper. Had any hassels with the legal length limit? I'm thinking I need to chop 23" off the rear of my trailer so was wondering if others had gotten any grief on overall length.

Yes the trailer is a v-nose with the RV extended tongue so we are 69' OAL and what I can tell you is we have traveled from GA to MI and then MI to CA with no problems although we exceed the max length of many of the states we have traveled through. I also can say in our travels there are longer rigs out there like 43-45' coach and I'm sure 30' of trailer and have been passed by them.

[spritz]

Thanks for the posts, we plan on going FT next fall. It was sad to hear about the ones that are going off road and so happy for all that are still fultiming. We plan on starting out with our 30 ft PA and Toad the Deville. Then in a year or so we will look into a bigger MH with a washer/dryer. I know we will be very short on storage, they just didn't add that feature back then.
Hope too see ya on the Road,
Great Post's
Tim