Community Forums

Oldelevatorman · 01-22-2017, 12:00 AM

We're hoping to fulltime later this year. Sell the house, put stuff in storage, sell the trailer and purchase a fifth-wheel. Not necessarily in that order. What have you done if your rig is in for a long-term repair, with animals etc?

S-n-L · 01-22-2017, 12:53 AM

Hi Jim & Linda,

Welcome to the full time lifestyle. We had a small fire in our motorhome the past June. As much as this was a real bummer, we had the coach in two repair shops each for about 1.5 months. While the coach was in for repairs we spend much of the time traveling with our car and had a very good time. We did come back to the coach every few weeks to check up on the progress.

This was a very unusual event. We have had on a few occasions the coach stuck at a repair shop for up to 2 weeks. When this happens we just live in the coach and find things to do during the day.

Other than the fire we have always been able to live in the coach while it was being worked on. They take the coach early in the morning and return it to a spot later in the afternoon when the techs quite work.

These shorter stays have been less of a problem that one would think. It has allowed us to find some interesting things in the areas we have been stuck. We have had some great times while being stuck in a place. The important thing is to not to get too bent out of shape when this happens because it will happen. We build some flexibility in our travel plans for stops for repairs. These intervals are obviously not put in the calendar but we just build in some buffer days.

When living in the RV much does depend on how you plan to travel, move a lot or sit a lot. With everything just be flexible. It will make life much more fun and less stressful.

Unplanned Tourist · 01-22-2017, 01:36 AM

I can not for the life of me understand selling everything an full timing! Lots do it and are happy, but to me, I like to have my house and local friends to come HOME to. Good luck, and happy trails. My wife and I travelled the world for a full year when we were younger, and discovered that we always wanted to have a home base to return to. We also have friends that spent 10 years bicycling around the world. She wanted to settle down and start a family, but unfortunately cancer put a stop to their travels and now they are settled in Australia. Travelling can get in your blood, and for some people it is a wonderful life, so try it a while, and enjoy!!!

MGrawe · 01-22-2017, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unplanned

I can not for the life of me understand selling everything an full timing! Lots do it and are happy, but to me...

Full time RVing is the best thing we have ever done! It is not for everyone, some still need the security of a SB home. For us the freedom and minimalistic lifestyle is refreshing and adds a unique excitement to our lives everyday.

To answer you question though, there is a trade off; full timing and in-shop maintenance come at a price of convenience. Two plus years in and we have only spent one night in a hotel due to repairs. There again is a difference between MH and 5ers too. Many of our MH friends cope with this challenge more than we do because of the obvious need for more maintenance on a motorized unit. A fellow RVer was discussing this in a group setting last summer and compared it to leaving your coastal property for a hurricane evac; the benifits of beauty in a beach location is at the expense of the hazards associated with the beauty. As I explained, we have had minimal down time but that is also because I will do much of the maintenance myself; even warranty work, I gather the parts from my dealer (for free) but do the install on my time. The experienced couples will tell us, you have to be willing to work on your unit to better understand your rig. Personally, I would not have too many concerns about downtime on your new 5er. Welcome to an adventuresome lifestyle, enjoy it when everyday is a vacation!

2015 Jayco Pinnacle FLSA & 2008 Chevy Duramax

Anxiously awaiting retirement where I have been told everyday is a Saturday

Trapper2022 · 01-22-2017, 09:48 AM

I agree with Snl. Not that big a deal. You can stay with rig or go off with car. You can also take a cruise for a couple of weeks to break up the time. You will be amazed at how much can be done on site where you are staying. Many times on site is faster and lower cost than dealers.

The key is to remember you are retired and have the time available. Adjust and be flexible.

Enjoy your new lifestyle. My only regret is that we did not start sooner.

Trapper2022 · 01-22-2017, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unplanned

I can not for the life of me understand selling everything an full timing! Lots do it and are happy, but to me, I like to have my house and local friends to come HOME to. Good luck, and happy trails. My wife and I travelled the world for a full year when we were younger, and discovered that we always wanted to have a home base to return to. We also have friends that spent 10 years bicycling around the world. She wanted to settle down and start a family, but unfortunately cancer put a stop to their travels and now they are settled in Australia. Travelling can get in your blood, and for some people it is a wonderful life, so try it a while, and enjoy!!!

How does this answer the??????

C&SL · 01-22-2017, 10:19 AM

We are full times with no S/B, I do all my maintenance except major repair, that requires lifting the coach off the ground. When our coach was in the shop for a new Radiator and CAC for (3 weeks) we stayed at my sister’s place. Just lucky to be in that area where they lived. (or bad luck with the rad/CAC). We were not allowed to stay in the coach as it stayed in the shop all the time.

Curt
05 Sig.

TechWriter · 01-22-2017, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldelevatorman

We're hoping to fulltime later this year. Sell the house, put stuff in storage, sell the trailer and purchase a fifth-wheel. Not necessarily in that order. What have you done if your rig is in for a long-term repair, with animals etc?

We've stayed in pet-friendly hotels during some of our RV repairs.

twogypsies · 01-22-2017, 04:08 PM

In our 16 years of full-timing (awesome lifestyle, by the way), we never had long-term repairs on either our 5th wheel or motorhome (8 yr. each) - good manufacturers and some luck, I guess. When we took the motorhome in for servicing we'd make an appt. for wherever we were heading, show up in the afternoon and always were welcomed to spend the night on their lot - most often with electric, and they took it in the next morning and was finished in the afternoon. We generally spent another night on the lot and took off in the morning.

When they took it in the morning we went out for a leisurely breakfast then did errands, laundry sometimes, siteseeing in the area, and at times went to a movie or took lawn chairs for a time in a park - reading, computer work, etc. If worked well for us. This was the procedure for our full-timing friends, also. It never created a problem and servicing was always done promptly. They knew it was our home.

SpaceNorman · 01-22-2017, 04:26 PM

Fortunately, we haven't had to deal with repairs that require a real long time - but have had a couple of "gotta wait for parts" incidents that have kept us from moving for 4-5 days each time. In both incidents, we were able to stay in the coach - so having a place to sleep wasn't an issue. We used the unanticipated layover time to explore the surrounding area. In both instances it turned out little more than a minor inconvenience. As long as we keep a positive attitude and not let the forced change to our original plans get us down - it's just part of the adventure.

**CLIFFTALL** · 01-22-2017, 04:29 PM

We've spent a few days on a few different occasions with two roofs over our heads . Mostly at Lazy Days. They let you stay in your RV in the service bay.

smlranger · 01-22-2017, 04:51 PM

We don't full time for various reasons but do travel 6 months or more out of the year. IMO, the best defense is a good offense so I believe in good preventative maintenance. Even with that, stuff can break. As already noted, most times we have been able to stay in our coach at night, especially at the factory service centers. Only once in the past 11 years of travel have we had to stay in a motel. We just found a pet friendly motel and stayed 3 nights.

You just adjust your expectations.

Oldelevatorman · 01-22-2017, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unplanned

I can not for the life of me understand selling everything an full timing! Lots do it and are happy, but to me, I like to have my house and local friends to come HOME to. Good luck, and happy trails. My wife and I travelled the world for a full year when we were younger, and discovered that we always wanted to have a home base to return to. We also have friends that spent 10 years bicycling around the world. She wanted to settle down and start a family, but unfortunately cancer put a stop to their travels and now they are settled in Australia. Travelling can get in your blood, and for some people it is a wonderful life, so try it a while, and enjoy!!!

The reason we are or will be selling our home is we want something different down the road anyway. A single story modular in a Senior park or something like that. No more big house, yard work etc. Only a few options on our retirement budget, after a fifth wheel purchase as well. No more big bucks coming from anywhere sorry to say.

HD4Mark · 01-23-2017, 07:17 AM

We are 6+ months in our MH. A couple of times when we wanted service we were told "we can get you in, in about 4 weeks" or similar. Well that's great except we won't be here then. Most of the time I end up fixing whatever it is or getting a road side tech with a hefty price tag. Two of the dealers we called once said we could not stay in the coach. I find that odd in a business that caters to people that are living in the vehicle they are getting paid to repair.

This will all be a memory soon as we are buying a condo for our winter home and selling the RV.