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Hello all! New to the forum!


Lee and Christine

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Just wanted to say hello.

 

I've been lurking some and learning a lot thanks to all who have shared.

 

I not totally new to rv-ing as I just sold my nu-way and am now looking for our "home" RV.

 

I'm in a little different situation than what I've seen most on this site however. I'm not retired. In fact it is my job that is going to allow us to pursue this lifestyle. I am a construction manager. I noticed that the last few jobs I've done have been contract work so I decided to talk to some "head hunters" and as it turns out this is the "new wave" of construction management hiring. It also turns out that there are construction management contracts all over the country!

 

So here we are. We love to camp. We do not own a home(we rent), I can still work, and we can travel in between jobs!

 

What an opportunity! We can live in the camper full time, travel when the job finishes, then sign another contract to build another building, and do it all again!

 

So here I am trying to learn all I can.

 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.

 

Lee and Christine

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Welcome to the Escapee forums! We are always happy to have new folks join in so please don't hesitate to join any discussion or to start new ones.

 

You don't say just what age you are but our club does have a growing number of members who are still working and not close to retirement and some of those also still have children living at home who are "home schooled." There is a separate section of the Escapee's Club website that is aimed especially at the younger & still working folks that is called X-scapers and they do have gatherings specifically for their age group.

 

You might also be interested to know that the founders of the Escapees RV Club were construction workers, as you are. The founding couple, Joe & Kay Peterson were on the road as Joe was a construction electrician and the club began as a group of working construction people who also lived in RVs.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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We have some friends that did exactly what you describe. It is a great way to get on the road without having to be retired.

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Welcome. I've stayed in several parks with construction workers. They all hang out together and support one another. It's looks to me like a good lifestyle. I hope it works as well for you.

 

Linda Sand

Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/

Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van

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Thanks to all for your welcome!

 

I(Lee) am 52 and Christine is 51. Both sets of our children are grown(well...supposedly) and on their own(well...mostly). ?

 

Christine and I have both retired once. Her from 27 years as a waitress, and myself from the federal government and farming. The intention is for us to only work as much and when we want/need to. The rest of the time we just want to go see and do all the things we couldn't because we were working.

 

Right now we're eating up all the posts and trying to decide between a toy hauler or house on wheels. Also talking to many about a new dually which I'm actually very concerned about and am getting a lot of conflicting info on. You'll be seeing some posts from me concerning this.

 

Thanks again for the warm welcome.

 

Lee and Christine

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I have a class a rv dp. i have looked at toy hauler's. Some are really appealing . (i'm a biker). so the toy hauler looks so good. My wife wants to get a 5'er. but that would mean to also get the truck. i have looked at some awesome 5er's ton's of room. My biggest prob is getting it into back yard. So the house that you rent is it big enough to park any of those.

2000 Itasca Horizon DP (Got Total During Irma). 

Vice President of Charlotte County Defenders LE MC

http://charlotte.defenderslemc.com/

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I(Lee) am 52 and Christine is 51. Both sets of our children are grown(well...supposedly) and on their own(well...mostly).

We used to be that age! :) Actually we retired & hit the road when I was 57, so not all that much older than you(back then).

 

 

The intention is for us to only work as much and when we want/need to.

We have quite a few on the forums who do what we call "workcamping" and work some along the way and there are many others who do volunteer positions that include an RV site, which is what we did a lot of back when we started and even now that we are part-time we still enjoy occasional tours of that. If you check out our website link in my signature you can find a section about our experiences with pictures of some 30 different volunteer/work tours that we did. For us that was a great way to stretch the budget and have no RV site costs and also fulfill our need to be busy and feel that we were doing something useful.

 

 

Right now we're eating up all the posts and trying to decide between a toy hauler or house on wheels. Also talking to many about a new dually which I'm actually very concerned about and am getting a lot of conflicting info on. You'll be seeing some posts from me concerning this.

The right RV is really a very personal thing and while we all try to give what we believe to be solid advice, the fact is that there is no one way that is best, or even better for everyone. Our way was totally wrong by the opinions of most who visit these forums, yet for us it worked out very well and if we could go back and change things, there is very little that I would change about our experiences. Looking back from the vantage point of having spent 12 years fulltime and now 5 years back to part-time, my best advice would be to make your budget the absolute rule and do so with some kind of allowance for an exit plan when the time comes to leave the road. I still miss the road, but Pam's health issues suddenly flared up to a point that a home-base became of critical importance and it was our conservative spending on our RV home that allowed us to now have a home-base & a smaller RV while remaining debt free.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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I have a class a rv dp. i have looked at toy hauler's. Some are really appealing . (i'm a biker). so the toy hauler looks so good. My wife wants to get a 5'er. but that would mean to also get the truck. i have looked at some awesome 5er's ton's of room. My biggest prob is getting it into back yard. So the house that you rent is it big enough to park any of those.

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Hey wild man,

 

We are actually renting an apartment in what used to be an old school building. It still has the huge playground where my car hauler and a couple smaller trailers are parked. The intention is to sell the other trailers and we don't plan on staying here but instead being on the road. We rented this place to save money(1/3 of what our mortgage was) and pay off bills in preparation for getting on the road. We kind of also figured it would give us a taste of living in smaller quarters for an extended time and force us to start getting rid of things.

 

Getting rid of things...that has been the hardest. Moving from a 3 bdrm, 2-1/2 bath, with an acre and a 40x80 shop to a 1000 sf apartment was a shock. We didn't prepare for it well and ended up with the apartment, 3 15x30 storage units and some outside storage. We are still getting rid of stuff. We're now down to almost 2 storage units and one of those is full of shop equipment that needs to be sold.

 

I'm just not sure how we're gonna get all this done by spring. Seems like so much needs to be done, planned, figured out, bought, sold, etc.

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Kirk,

 

It should be a requirement that all newbies read your post!

 

"The afterlife" has also become one of my concerns. So today we do this...what do we do down the road when we can't or don't want to anymore? How many people don't give that much thought? It should be required reading for mewbies.

 

As for us, we're in a position where we will be able to purchase the camper and truck outright with no payments so we won't be in a lifelong commitment or financial bind should we need to find a "home place". But in the same token, that's why I'm so concerned about making the right purchases. Once the money is spent, the money is spent. They don't like to give it back!

 

I've also done some volunteering. Presently I am building a "wounded warrior" home for USMC Corporal Kevin Blanchard in Crozet, Va. In the past I've worked with Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, and the Jude House.

 

Thanks for your honesty and input. It has given me pause to think.

 

Lee and Christine

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In the past I've worked with Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, and the Jude House.

 

In case you haven't discovered this yet, there are Habitat for Humanity builds where you live as a group in your individual RVs and all work at the same build.

 

Linda Sand

Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/

Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van

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As to the afterlife question, there are lots of options. It depends if you just want to get off the road or need to for financial, medical or family reasons. You can sell it all and go back to something more permanently. We know people who have bought a piece of land and put in electric, water and sewer hookups to live on the property. There parks where you can purchase a lease holding at a reasonable price to live permanently. You can even do assisted living in place with Escapees.

 

The afterlife requires planning and I strongly recommend that you get your financial and legal life in order. With that in hand, the rest is workable as long as you work together to come with a plan that works for you.

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I find it very instructive to go to large RV lots such as PPL and walk through the older units. When you do this you will find five years old units that are starting to fall apart. You will find 10 year old units that are ready for the junk yard and you will also find 15 year old units that are a bit faded, but are still solid. Make note of those solid brands and then work your way back to find a younger one, of that brand, that fits your needs. But always keep in mind that even in the highest quality units, items such as a rubber roof have a limited life span. Replacing a roof is a large repair cost and that roof will wear out just as fast on a high quality RV as it will on a cheap RV.

 

When you purchase an RV you are purchasing a depreciating asset. Unlike residential real estate, no matter how well you maintain the RV, it will go down in value, to eventually zero value. I am looking to purchase a replacement for my 98 Carriage and what I consider, is what am I willing to spend per year in depreciation value for the replacement RV. My replacement RV will not be an investment. It will be a cost that I will be willing to pay to enjoy my RV lifestyle.

 

As a side note. . . if you are looking at used RV's and you walk in and are overpowered by the smell of roses and lilacs. . . turn around and walk away. They are hiding something.

 

Jim

 

Edit: I meant to post this to a thread several items down. I'm not sure how it ended up here. I will attempt to copy it to the intended thread.

Jim
SKP: 99693
If you think you can, or you think you can't. . . you are probably right (Henry Ford)
2014 Dodge 4WD Dually
1998 Carriage LS-341

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hopefully you will be able to pick your job locations better than I could. I was a project manager in construction for over 15 years. I thought to use the RV so i could be closer to the jobs and not have to stay in hotels or corporate apartments, but most of my jobs were in Canada, in North Dakota and Minnesota, with a couple in St Louis area for about 1-1/2 years. I ended up commuting to work from our home in MN at that time.

 

Obviously cold weather and camping do not mix well. The campgrounds up North close up for winter and shut off their water, and even a 4 season RV would go through a lot for heating bills.

 

Also, the type of jobs I worked on were all large buildings which were all located in big cities. Hard to find campgrounds in the bigger cities that are close by and would not have needed a small car to go back and forth to work. We did not put PM's on smaller buildings.

 

Now I have changed positions with the company and have relocated to South Carolina with a much less stressful job so I hope to become a summer bird and go North to visit family in the summer. Once I retire in 4-5 years , we will rethink what we want, but the DW has said she will always want a sticks and bricks house someplace but is fine with going on the road for 6 or more months at a time, just not in our current trailer which she can only handle for about 3 weeks because it is too small!

2005 Freightliner Century S/T, Singled, Air ride ET Jr. hitch
2019 46'+ Dune Sport Man Cave custom 5th wheel toy hauler
Owner of the 1978 Custom Van "Star Dreamer" which might be seen at a local car show near you!

 

Check out http://www.hhrvresource.com/

for much more info on HDT's.

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