Since the nest is empty, let's fly the coop!

[Gumbo]

I just thought I'd drop in and say hello.

My spouse and I have just purchased a 2019 Salem Cruise Lite. We have never owned an RV but are avid campers in our 50's. We will be spending 11-12 weeks a year traveling, mostly in the summer months.  Our hope is to graduate to full-time sooner rather than later.  

We are both excited and nervous about this new adventure now that we are empty nesters.

[Kirk W]

Welcome to the Escapee forums! We are here to help and support RV owners and users and to share information and experiences.  Feel free to ask any questions, or to comment on any subject. 

[jpatrickc]

Welcome and just remember... there is no such thing as a stupid question. People are here to help.

I have learned a lot from all of the others on this forum. 

[sandsys]

Welcome. Those of us no longer traveling enjoy helping newbies by sharing our experiences. Please, do ask about whatever causes you to wonder.

Linda Sand

[CincyGus]

Welcome and congrats on taking that first step into a whole new way of traveling and living. Best advice I can give you as new to RV ownership is READ, READ and READ some more of the forums. Not just here but there are many forums for RVing. You will learn about how different systems in your RV work, what mistakes others have made and learn from them instead of repeating them and get all kinds of information from the discussions on all topics that come into play in the RV lifestyle. The search function at the top of the forums is a great tool to look for specific posts on topics. Lastly, when in doubt, don't be afraid to post a question. There are some in every forum that sometimes come across as snappy or grouchy but 99% of the folks in forums are helpful in giving your answers that may turn out to be helpful in your specific situation. 

 

Good Luck as you start along your new journey!

[Gumbo]

Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. We have been reading non-stop lately and the Amazon cart is full with many of the items listed under must haves that don't come with the RV.  An early "Merry Christmas" to me I guess.  We have found a ton of useful information and are very grateful for sites like this that help newbs like us.

Heading over to read about RV insurance now....I'll probably have questions.

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, Gumbo said:

Heading over to read about RV insurance now....I'll probably have questions.

The main thing we tell people to watch for is the difference between part-timer insurance and full-timer insurance. If you sell your house when you go full-time you will need liability insurance that would otherwise be part of your homeowner insurance. The other gotcha that sometimes appears is if you buy a motorhome that doesn't tow or haul some other vehicle some companies will not insure you. As long as you watch for those two things you should be fine with whatever company you choose. Which doesn't mean you might not have other questions.  

Linda Sand

[kb0zke]

Welcome, Gumbo. If you haven't done so already, join F.R.O.G. (Forest River Owners' Group) and ask questions specific to your rig. We're pretty good with general questions, but we own so many different coaches that there are only a few people here with coaches like yours, whereas you will find quite a few people there that know a LOT about your coach.

Very few people buy the right coach the first time, especially first-time RV buyers. Don't be surprised if you find yourself thinking that you made a mistake after only a few trips. Don't give in to the urge to go trade coaches right away. Instead, start a list of things that need to be different on your next coach. Keep in mind that the next one will most likely be your full-time coach.

Have you been working on a "mission profile" for your full-time life? Are you going to go from one luxury resort to another every two months, are you going to settle in somewhere and move only 2-3 times a year, are you going to move monthly, weekly, daily? Are you going to want to boondock? Are you happy driving a truck for your daily driver, or would you rather drive something smaller? Are you maybe interesting in off-roading? All of these things, and more, will affect your ultimate choice of a full-time coach.

[Gumbo]

18 minutes ago, kb0zke said:

Welcome, Gumbo. If you haven't done so already, join F.R.O.G. (Forest River Owners' Group) and ask questions specific to your rig. We're pretty good with general questions, but we own so many different coaches that there are only a few people here with coaches like yours, whereas you will find quite a few people there that know a LOT about your coach.

My other half was reading aloud something from F.R.O.G.  I am not sure if an account has been made yet though.

21 minutes ago, kb0zke said:

Very few people buy the right coach the first time, especially first-time RV buyers. Don't be surprised if you find yourself thinking that you made a mistake after only a few trips. Don't give in to the urge to go trade coaches right away. Instead, start a list of things that need to be different on your next coach. Keep in mind that the next one will most likely be your full-time coach.

This is not intended to be our full-time trailer.  I think the other half is wanting a fifth-wheel, but that will require a different tow vehicle. We were actually looking for a slightly smaller RV but the price on this one was too good to pass up. We ended up purchasing 3 - 6 months earlier than expected and now begins the scramble of catching up on what you should have known but didn't beforehand.  This one is within our acceptable load range we were looking for, but on the high end. Ideally, it would have been about 500 lbs lighter before adding load.  We are still well within ranges though even an added 10 percent margin.

 

30 minutes ago, kb0zke said:

Have you been working on a "mission profile" for your full-time life? Are you going to go from one luxury resort to another every two months, are you going to settle in somewhere and move only 2-3 times a year, are you going to move monthly, weekly, daily? Are you going to want to boondock? Are you happy driving a truck for your daily driver, or would you rather drive something smaller? Are you maybe interesting in off-roading? All of these things, and more, will affect your ultimate choice of a full-time coach.

I have not started a mission profile, but I can see I need to do that.  We did a walk-through of the house to decide what we need to keep and what we will purge.  We don't plan to sell the house though, just rent it for a few years while we adventure.  This is probably not going to happen until the Summer of 2020 for full-time.  This summer we will travel June-August and then again whenever I have a significant break from teaching. 

We have friends who told us about boondocking and we will probably do that when moving from point A to B if the trek is long.  Our earlier trips will probably be short duration stays, focused on seeing different parts of the country in a limited time, later trips when we go full-time will have a more leisurely pace.

[FL-JOE]

Welcome!  We certainly love the full time lifestyle.  Good luck starting your new adventure.

[dblr]

I would have to agree make sure you join FROG and also the Forest River owners Forum board as well as it has sub threads for specific brands that might offer help needed for your rig.

[Kirk W]

14 hours ago, Gumbo said:

Heading over to read about RV insurance now....I'll probably have questions.

Let me suggest that while you are reading you should take note of the signature line of those who post here. Many of us who post here have written for various RV magazines and other sources and keep a copy of all of those articles on a website. Other members of the forums have blogs that they tell their stories on. You can learn a great deal of information about all aspects of RV living by visiting those websites. I'll invite you to start by checking out ours first.  Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

I believe that you will find that purchasing an RV to do some traveling with before you retire and go fulltimeing was a very good decision as it will give you an opportunity to test some of the many ways that one can live and travel with the RV. It is very difficult for most people to know just what way they will wish to use the RV if they have not tried it so check out all of the different lifestyles. Most people know that there are commercial RV parks and public park campgrounds but until one spends a little time in some of them, how would you know what you like best?  The RV lifestyle is very different from most other ways of life so get out to try some of each. There are RV parks that host mostly 1 night to 1-week visitors and there are others that host visitors for a month or longer.  The longer-term parks offer many activities and social events that most people only experience by staying in one. Parks like the national park system are generally a home base for those who come to visit that park while parks by the  Army Corps of Engineers tend to be more spacious and usually near a lake but offer little in amenities. Some of us even spend time as RV volunteers where our site and other amenities are provided to us in return for a few days per week of work, usually doing something that we enjoy doing. The only thing that limits the number of ways that you can live in your RV is your own imagination. 

[LindaH]

13 hours ago, Gumbo said:

I have not started a mission profile, but I can see I need to do that. 

Don't worry too much about this.  While you may *think* you'll want to travel in some particular manner, once you get out on the road, you may discover that you like to travel in an entirely different style.  That's why I always encourage newbies not to buy into organizations such as Coast to Coast (C2C), Thousand Trails (TT), or the like until you have at least a year of fulltime travel under your belt.

Join the Escapees for the many benefits, including being able to stay at their Co-ops and Rainbow Parks, plus access to many RV parks that offer Escapees up to 50% off.  You might also be interested in a membership to Passport America (PA) that also offers 50% off at participating RV parks across the country.  Unlike C2C or TT, with PA you aren't locked into a membership and don't have to shell out $$$$ to join a home park.  If you decide you don't like it, you don't have to renew the membership the next year.

[sandsys]

4 hours ago, LindaH said:

You might also be interested in a membership to Passport America (PA) that also offers 50% off at participating RV parks across the country.  

Most of us who joined Passport America saved more money on camping fees than the membership costs. Even those of us who stay overnight at Walmarts quite a bit save money on PA.

Linda Sand

[NDBirdman]

Welcome to the forum.  We too are only camping a weekend here, week there.  Wife still works.  When she retires this fall we plan on becoming snow-birds but I don't see us ever going full time.  We have thought about it but no way will we ever sell our SnB, the location, size, love of gardening/fishing/hunting that we can do from here will keep me here til the end.  Renting our place, never happen.  Don't need the cash, don't need the repairs caused by others, etc.  We do some boon-docking, We find it much more pleasurable than an up-scale (uppity) RV park.  We may have to stay in one in Seattle every once in a while but won't make a habit of it.  Won't do box store parking lots either although some do and enjoy it.  We have never, or so far, had a problem finding a place to camp for a day or 2 on our trips with no reservations.  We like to travel maybe 300 miles a day but wife is on the phone calling after 200 or so miles down the road.  I find researching a place to stay nightly or couple weeks at a time fairly easy using the internet.  Google is your friend.  Just a few I use, there are many planners/sites out there.  Good luck!

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[kb0zke]

Where you go and what you do can and will change as time goes on and you learn more about the life and about yourselves. However, if one of you is thinking about a month at a time at a luxury resort while the other is thinking about moving every other day you may have some problems. Things you never even thought about will come up and your plans will change. That isn't what I meant by your mission profile.

We originally decided that we would like to work 1/3, volunteer 1/3, and play 1/3, which means approximately four months per year in each of those categories. We've been full-timing for just over four years now, and overall we're somewhere close to that breakdown, but not exactly. There was one year where we didn't work at all. Another year we worked nearly seven months. Some years we've had more volunteer time than others. The weddings of our daughters have affected our plans, as have the births of our grandchildren.

Our original plan was that we would like to spend anywhere from a few days to a few weeks in any one spot, then move on a couple hundred miles and see/do whatever we found interesting there. We thought we'd do some boondocking, but mostly at campgrounds with at least some utilities at the site. Luxury resorts are of no interest to us. As I mentioned to Pastor this morning, we make plans and God just laughs. The work that we do is with Laborers For Christ, helping LCMS congregations and related entities with their construction needs. The shortest project was one day (didn't need to even move the RV for that one). The longest one was five months. Most have been in the 6-10 week time frame. The volunteer work is as a campground host or Habitat For Humanity RV Care-A-Vanners. Hosting has been a month at a time, but this year we had one stint of about six weeks (might have been longer, but a Laborers job came up), and another one was two months. We're going to be in Hobbs, NM for eight weeks early in 2019.

How often you plan to move will have some effect on your choice of RV. Generally, motorized coaches are more suited for more frequent moving, while towables are more suited for longer stays. Bear in mind that something will tow something else. If you choose a towable your truck will be your daily driver. If you choose a MH you can tow whatever you want. You may need to tow it on a trailer or tow dolly, though.

We met a Laborer earlier this year who has a 45' 4-slide MH. He tows a fairly good-sized trailer behind it. In that trailer is his wood shop. For travel he moves some things around. His motorcycle goes in the bed of his Ford Ranger pickup, which then goes into the trailer. Quite a sight when he arrives at a project! His wife has quite a quilting setup in the bedroom. They couldn't really do what they do with anything less than what they have. I don't want to drag all that much stuff around. What will you do? That's what I mean by mission profile.

[Gumbo]

16 minutes ago, kb0zke said:

Where you go and what you do can and will change as time goes on and you learn more about the life and about yourselves. However, if one of you is thinking about a month at a time at a luxury resort while the other is thinking about moving every other day you may have some problems. Things you never even thought about will come up and your plans will change. That isn't what I meant by your mission profile.

Good points.

The idea of full-time RVing is still pretty new for us. The biggest decision we have made is that we are going to do it.  That said, neither of us are really enticed by resort style living. For us, luxury is more akin quiet space and nature than a swimming pool and a social.

My husband will not be taking on more work projects as he already has a full-time job that he can work from remotely all but a month of the year barring extreme circumstances (which we have accounted for) that require him fly out at the last minute without notice.

I am interested in learning more about Laborers for Christ and will look it up.   I am at the end of a ten year cycle since my retirement from the military and am ready to hand the reins over to others to carry on the projects that I began so that I can be freed up a bit to handle other commitments on my plate (like my part-time job/hobby that I have not been as available to as I would like).

I started a theater camp back in 2007 that has continued each summer for two weeks. Three years ago, I started a private school for children with disabilities.  Working with special needs children is both very rewarding and exhausting.  I love each and every one of them and hope that I have made a difference in their lives in some small way.  For some, I am sure that I have been the most stable figure in their life up to now, but I began a transition earlier this year when I bought in the person I have in  mind to take over.  I should be ashamed to admit his teaching talents far outweigh mine, but it has pointed out to me that while he could never have started the school, he is absolutely the right person to ensure it's future success and he can reach kids in a way that I can not.

You are right, a lack of things to do might drive me crazy after a time.  My problem is that once I do a job once, it seems I own it for eternity.  I will have to come to grips with what it is that I really want out of this whole adventure. As long as my husband is with me, I'm sure I'll be right where I want to be.  

[Kirk W]

14 minutes ago, Gumbo said:

I am interested in learning more about Laborers for Christ and will look it up.

 

I suggest that you also check out the SOWERs (Servants on Wheels Ever Ready ) and also the Campers on Mission.

17 minutes ago, Gumbo said:

You are right, a lack of things to do might drive me crazy after a time. 

That is the reason that we chose to do volunteer work for the US Fish & Wildlife and also the Natl. Park Service along with several other agencies. 

[Gumbo]

8 hours ago, Kirk W said:

8 hours ago, Gumbo said:

 

I suggest that you also check out the SOWERs (Servants on Wheels Ever Ready ) and also the Campers on Mission.

Thank you. I will keep them in mind.

[Gumbo]

Sometimes roadblocks just fall away.....

Just over a month ago when I joined this forum, I talked about our desire to RV full time. It seems that fortune has smiled upon us and we now have a departure timeline in place. I'm going to be so busy and have so many questions!

We will begin our new RV adventure on June 29, 2019. 

We've done a couple of shakedown trips in the RV now and have plans to spend another week out in March.  While our current tow vehicle is fine for flat towing, we are looking to upgrade to something with a bit more towing capacity so that we don't have to wonder about climbing elevations.

Thanks again for the warm welcome. Resources like this forum go a long way towards easing any doubts we have about pursuing our next great adventure in life.

[Kirk W]

That is good news! Keep posting here to let everyone know how you are doing. 

[sandsys]

Bring on the question; we love to help!

Linda