Have you, or someone you know quit fulltimeing?

[finally03gt]

All for the class. My question was more about before you buy.

[BrianT]

My dear wife and I had talked about going fulltime for a few years before we did. But we were thrust into it by Hurricane Katrina. We lived just north of New Orleans at the time and ended up living fulltime in the driveway of our badly damaged home for the first year of rebuilding. We decided we didn't want to move back into the house and ended up selling it leaving us as "true" fulltimers.

 

We are still living in our RV fulltime. We've done some traveling but not nearly as much as many others here. We had told ourselves we would travel around until we found a place we wanted to settle down. And we did find the place. (Tennessee, Cumberland Plateau.)

 

It's been over 10 years now. And we've pretty much decided that the RV lifestyle isn't really for us. We find the actual travel is rather stressful and we don't really enjoy moving the RV. We find that most of the RV parks we've stayed in, (and I think we've stayed in some fairly nice parks) tend to have closer neighbors than we'd like, have more rules and restrictions than we'd like and don't really offer us a lot of things we really enjoy. Pools are great if you swim, we don't. Club houses are great if you socialize a lot, we don't. Not always, but RV parks are often in rather "busy" locations, and sometimes fairly noisy.

 

About 5 years ago, we did buy a little piece of property to park our RV on, about 4 acres. There were no problems with the legality of parking the RV but something I found a bit odd was that after 5 years of fulltiming, I had a hard time adjusting to the idea that I didn't have to get permission to change oil in the car or worry about whether I would bother anyone if I wanted to mow the yard this afternoon. When we do finally find a property we can live with, I suspect I'll go through that again. (We sold that piece of land about 3 years ago... long story... just not a good place for us to be.)

 

The actual living in an RV hasn't been all bad. We have a 39' fifth wheel with 4 slides plus a rear deck. It has most everything we need including a clothes washer and dryer (stackable units). Cold winters aren't much fun. Things it doesn't have that we want are: Room for family to come and stay with us for as long as we'd like, parking sufficient for gatherings that we'd like to enjoy with friends at OUR convenience, space for a large garden / greenhouse / orchard, a flock of chickens, a privacy buffer around me such that no one else has any business being within just a few feet of me when I'm anywhere inside my own home...

 

Some of the things we want (such as a large garden) are things that many fulltimers couldn't wait to get away from. And that's fine. We all have different ideas of what 'living the good life' looks like. That can even change over the years such that what looks good today might not look so good a couple of years down the road. There's no reason to lock yourself in to any particular lifestyle.

 

I would also add that, like stated above, whatever RV you buy will be a depreciating asset. If you pay $100k for your rig, even if you take absolutely wonderful care of it, in 5 years, you will NOT be able to sell it for anywhere near $100k. It's pretty much like a car, only bigger. Having an RV might be looked at as a house/car hybrid. You have the house part of it that will have things that will break and wear out such as faucets going bad, water pumps that quit or leak all over your basement, dump valves that freeze up when it gets really cold outside, furnaces or water heaters or refrigerators that quit working at the worst of times and things like roof seams and slide seals that may need attention from time to time. And you'll have the car part of it that will need tires from time to time, have brakes and bearings and batteries that need to be checked on, lights that need to be kept in good working order, and the drive train of either the RV itself or the tow vehicle... that kind of thing. Stuff happens, whether it's a house a car or an RV, stuff happens. And everything in an RV is half the size, twice the price. Well, maybe not everything, but there aren't too many "cheap" repairs anymore.

 

I know you asked about reasons other than health but that can change very quickly. Black ice on the RV steps last January put me in the hospital for a couple of days and I spent most of 2015 not being able to walk. I still walk with a limp and may always. But RV living was NOT easy as a handicapped person. And it happened very quickly... so quickly that I don't even remember the actual fall.

 

In our case, we had some fun. We had some good travels. But at over 10 years, we've stayed too long. Living in the RV is basic shelter for us at this point but it's just not where we want to be anymore.

 

Anyway, regardless of what you decide today, make sure you give yourself permission to change your mind later on if you want to. You may or you may not. If I had to lay odds on someone being a fulltimer 10 years from when they started, I'd guess they might have about a 20% chance they'll stick it out. (That doesn't mean they're bad people if they don't.) Also, be mindful that cash can get depleted more quickly than intended so you are wise to have the resources put away to be able to execute that exit strategy if you should ever decide you want to. (We didn't do as well at this as we should have and it's made getting back off the road harder. An unplanned hospital stay didn't help, either.)

 

Not trying to rain on your parade. Just sharing a glimpse from my own perspective. Wishing you all the very best of safe and fun travels, whether as fulltimers or not.

[Mariner]

If you currently have breathing issues or lung deficits you are likely not to do well at 9500'. We are at 8500' and at least once a week we have someone who comes in and has to leave for lower elevations. That is with about 50 sites on daily/weekly basis. The best I can say is to try it and see. It takes at least two weeks for most people to acclimate. And to fully acclimate it takes most a month or more. Drink LOTS of water. You will probably notice sleep deficit as a symptom, and perhaps headache to go along with the dizzyness if you move fast. Plus out of breath.

 

In 2011 we spent a week in Woodland Park where you are Jack, and the altitude kicked my butt, especially at night trying to sleep. I had what the local Dr. said was altitude induced sleep apnea. A bad couple nights until I got an oxygenator, and then everything was fine. After roaming around the Rockies, I discovered that if I got down to 5,000ft. or less I was fine, but that 8,500ft. was a bear for awhile. But it was worth it, because it's so beautiful up there.

[finally03gt]

BrianT,

 

Thanks for sharing. I can see a point in life that my wife and I would have some of the same issues. I'm very much a DIY kinda guy, but I'm considering taking a break from that in my empty nest, full time years. We bought a 7 year extended warranty on our TT for $1700, and that to me, seem like a great bargain. Heck, I might even pay for an oil change..haha. I imagine my DW and I will come off the road at some point. We'll be heading out in our early 40's and I just don't foresee 20-30 yrs of RV living. She has talked about have a small "Nana's Farm" for the grand babies, and I like my cars. This is just a stage of life for us i think. We want to put some miles under our feet, see the country, and downsize and minimize our lifestyle for a while. Raising 5 busy daughters, things definitely become the "rat race". I don't know when that time will be for us, but we plan to buy a home base before we leave out for full timing, so it will be there waiting for us when we are ready. If the finances are strong, we'll probably build a small house, if not we may just park the RV, or anything in the middle. Starting to get excited here!

[Kirk W]

I imagine my DW and I will come off the road at some point. We'll be heading out in our early 40's and I just don't foresee 20-30 yrs of RV living.

Making a move that is "permanent" is more a state of mind than a commitment to never make another change. When we went fulltime, it was a permanent move in that we had no intention of ever returning to where we lived before. Very little in life is permanent in that it can never change but many of us make a long series of permanent changes if we mean that we won't be returning to the place that we left. I view it much like the military where you get a permanent change of station, meaning that you are severed permanently from the previous assignment but not that you will never change in the future. So far in my life I have experienced 9 "permanent" moves and I still expect at least one more, possibly more. Only your final move to the cemetery is truly permanent and let's not hurry that one!

 

We sometimes get into great debates here over how to define the term "fulltimer" but in my view it is more a state of mind than it is a particular way of living. The best solution is the one which works best for you and yours. You seem to be well on the way to figuring that best way out and I have enjoyed observing the process. Thank you for sharing the process with us all!

 

 

 

[finally03gt]

I'm a tad chatty anyway..haha, but I love the feed back, experience and observations from the experienced crowd. Still really curious about the "test drive" question. Is there any practical way to get a little bit of wheel time in a 5'er set up vs a big pusher to see which fits best? Or just make the choice based on other criteria and learn to drive what you buy?

[Kirk W]

Getting a test drive in a class A is pretty easy as most sales people ave anxious to get you to drive because they consider that a big step in selling it to you. Towing a fifth wheel is a bit more difficult since you seldom find a truck/trailer combination for sale. Even if you did find that combination, most cases the test drive is with the tow vehicle only. I don't know of any way to get to tow a fifth wheel without owning at least the tow truck.

 

Most of the "nervous factor" of any RV driving experience is psychological and stems from the increase in size and with practice will go away but a test drive probably won't do a lot to eliminate it. I can only recall a very few RV owners who were unable to adapt to driving a particular type of RV and some will say that it is easier to park a class A, others a fifth wheel and I even know of one or two who say that a travel trailer is easiest to park but that mostly comes from which one the speaker is most familiar with driving and parking. There are driving schools that one can attend to overcome the problem if you aren't able to adjust with practice. It really is little different than it would be to learn to drive in a VW bug or other very small car and then move up to a Lincoln Town Car. Most people who move from a standard pickup truck to a dually also experience that same thing. If you have moved from any small vehicle to a much larger one and adapted fairly quickly, there is no reason to think that it will not happen again. The majority of the learning is in getting used to the differences in visibility, mirrors, and becoming familiar with where the limits of the vehicle are, but it isn't much different than any other vehicle change. I think that the main reason it tends to be more intimidating is that the increase in size is a bit larger step and more importantly is the cost of the RV.

 

For most of us, it is find what you like, then get comfortable with driving it. No test drive will prove what it takes to adapt since it just doesn't last long enough and the seller isn't going to let you practice the more difficult maneuvers with it.

[finally03gt]

Thanks,

 

I've pulled my little 16' utility trailer all over. I've pulled a 30' goose a few time, and I've pulled our 26' TT. I guess if I kinda mentally cross the goose and the TT, I'll have an idea of the 5'er. My biggest problem with the trailers is when backing in and I loose sight in my mirrors due to turn angle. I know back up cams are all the rage, but how about a side view cam at the front of the trailer?

[Kirk W]

..... My biggest problem with the trailers is when backing in and I loose sight in my mirrors due to turn angle. I know back up cams are all the rage, but how about a side view cam at the front of the trailer?

That is where the spouse comes in. I always use a ground guide and we have developed a method of communication which we always use and I only use her as guide. For a single it can be a problem, but most couples can take a team approach. We use terms like "driver's side" and "passenger side" but never right or left. It takes a little bit of practice and probably some patience as well, but it can be done. The trick is to train your guide to be able to project the RV's position into the location where it is heading and to then communicate that to you. I never back much without a guide.

 

[finally03gt]

She may be solo at times, so I'm trying to equip her for that.

[GR "Scott" Cundiff]

A long timing couple I know (they spent their summers at home in the northern midwest) traveled the rest of the year. It seems to me that the first year they toured and then began more point-to-point travel to either Arizona or Texas. They've since stopped traveling. I think it was a combination of declining health, a feeling of been-there-done-that, her wanting to nest more, and a desire to be closer to family at this stage of their lives. At first they landed in a park model, but later moved to a stix and brix.

 

It's likely true that most who leave the fulltiming lifestyle do so for more than one reason.

[RV_]

Finally, how about a first name?

 

I can tell you with experience that being 45 and fully retired, and full time on the road, meant that my friends and peers were my parent's ages, all 20 - 22 years older than us at first. We played guitars and loved music but found few that liked the same things except at some Military FamCamps. (Militery only RV Parks)

 

The downside is that I have lost most of those friends from 20 years ago next year when we started fulltiming in 1997. In 97 they were 65 on average some older few younger. That would make them 85 or older today. Our remaining parent is sliding into Alzheimer's at 85, and we buried his wife last August.

 

All that to say that I definitely could not, at 63, physically do what I did at 45. going down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, hiking glaciers in Canada and Alaska, hauling up a big Halibut from 250 feet down for a half hour. (My back and arms would not last that long. I've done it when they could, I know.)

 

So don't second guess your choice. I would not go if I had to work and many have gone full time who do. I would not go with any debt although it seems most do. We traveled not snow birding until the last year. You are doing this at exactly the right time of life. If you go to the website in my sig block and look at the pics the 7 year old HitchHiker 34.6 footer and the 5 year old 1992 Truck with 100k miles freshly built Cummins and paint job by the previous diesel mechanic owner. The truck is still on the road. My mechanic bought it with 700k miles on it. It looked and drove as well as with 100k. ( I had it painted a second time.) The trailer was broken in our third or fourth year when a Fairfiled CA RV repair shop dropped the rig on the front from three feet up, with the landing gear retracted while being lifted by a forklift that dropped all the way instead of slowly, and bent the frame while doing a routine axle flip so I could customize a rear carry rack for a scooter. Insurance did well by us. But that rig was very trick and perfect for our needs. The newer one had a lot of issues we had to fix that were from the factory. No warranty to second owners.

 

While the majority don't get to do it at our age when we did, and yours now, they know what they could have done then, versus the small for some to large for others aging deficits. I am not complaining. Ageing beats the alternative any day.

 

I think you are doing it at the right time in life.

 

As to trying out a rig, just pay for an Escapee membership and meet with folks who own both at the many SKP parks and CoOps and the new ones that started after we came off the road.and put a card on the bulletin board that you'd like to ride with anyone refilling their propane, with both MH and fivers. Or get a dealer to let you test drive each. The only difference in driving a truck with a fiver is making wider turns, paying attention to height clearances, and getting out to inspect where you are backing.

 

Many fiver and motorhome drivers back alone. I used my SH (Significant Harassment of now 43 years) and she took awhile to get the hang of it. I actually had her only as an emergency spotter but I would walk the lot and know which side I could see by my approach ( I always preferred from across the road.) I could back it seeing only one side as my guide and if any questions or I had to pull up for perfect positioning I would get out and walk it all around for the best approach. Sometimes I nailed it on the first try and many times had to pull up and back just to straighten it out in relation to the site. Trees don't move nor utilities so you will get the hang of it with either type. I got to where I could back mine in with only a couple feet on either side of a site entry that widened out in the back up in Canada and Alaska. If a fiver all I can say is get a full size long bed. It makes for lots more room for things not appropriate for inside storage. (Spare propane cylinders, gasoline/diesel spares) I stored my sewer hose in the bed in an open 7 foot tube that let it air out as well as dry.

 

MY SH also backed the rig in and drove a few times just so we were sure if something happened to me she and I knew she could. I have never driven a MH on the open road but can say that my 1 Ton diesel dually had none of the sway or other instabilities that are typical of Travel Trailers appropriately termed tailwaggers. I never knew it was back there except for in town turns and backing. On the road the only significant change was starting from a dead stop, climbing and descending very steep hills(4-7%) and mileage.

 

I'm grinning while I write because I remember asking some SKPs back in the day that really helped and are no longer on these forums because there were no forums then. We emailed, and talked on the phone.

 

Keep posting, I would be interested as you go being atypical like us.

 

Safe travels!

[JoeTrekker]

I'm not a full-timer so I can't respond with personal experience. However, I know 2 couples who were full-timers for nearly 20 years. One couple stopped b/c the husband died and the had to go back to work. The other couple retired from the full-time RVing life after 18 years of full-time RVing only when they saw a fully-furnished house for sale in Del Webb's community here in Texas, and the price could not be beat. Otherwise they'd have stayed on the road for awhile longer.

 

Joe

[finally03gt]

Hello everyone, I'm Ronnie...

 

Derek, I know what you mean about backing. The road in front of my house is only about 12' wide, and my driveway about 10'. I back the 26' TT in within 12" of the house, with my Explorer. The F-350 gave me fits last time because it is much longer than what I'm used to, so I had DW spotting. OMG, we are NOT on the same page..haha. I work offshore and am used to crane signals and such. We'll have to work on that I suppose.

[Kirk W]

................ The F-350 gave me fits last time because it is much longer than what I'm used to, so I had DW spotting. OMG, we are NOT on the same page..haha. I work offshore and am used to crane signals and such. We'll have to work on that I suppose.

You can make it work but the time to figure it out is not when trying to park. What you should do is to walk through the process together and discuss the signals that will work or the language. We use an FRS radio and Pam talks to me, rather than signal. If I am in doubt, I simply stop and then grab the radio and ask, or get out and look. Both need to realize that it takes time to work things out and it doesn't reflect upon either of you when you don't understand. Caution says stop before you need to do so and both need to be patient and take your time. We got pretty darned good with the motorhome but now that we are back to a travel trailer we are doing some adapting and adjusting, but we are also getting better.

 

[RV_]

Ronnie,

You'll soon find that the couples who get into an argument over miscommunications during backing are not the norm. This applies equally to MHs and fivers or TTs. Whenever a couple came out with radios and team backing we'd raise the blinds and watch. I called the really outrageous ones the daily comedy show because most folks come in before dark. Just kidding, well, only half serious anyway.

 

In reality as I said, if I am driving, I am responsible. If she does not keep in sight in the mirrors, or gives me some odd hand signals I don't get bent, I calmly get out and scope out what is going on.

 

A 30-36 foot fiver breaks ever so much more slowly than a TT. I can back a fiver but still wiggle waggle a bumper hitch trailer as it breaks faster than I expect after years of backing fivers. I have a utility trailer, 6.5' wide by 10 feet long I use locally and I can back it as needed. But these days my neck has issues that prevent my being able to turn and look back without turning my whole body. So my practice of getting out and walking the space, and then briefing my SH on exactly what I want her to be watching out for, still works as I used the mirrors almost exclusively then as well.

 

The good news is whatever type of rig you finally decide on, you both will get the hang of it with a little practice.

 

We have offshore oil rig workers in the family too. I'll type slower for you.

 

Hey guy, just keep asking here and you can't go far wrong.

 

Glad to meetcha!

[finally03gt]

Type slower...nice...

 

I imagine we'll work out a system. I usually don't need much help, but this F-350 is forever long, so I had her watching. I think radios will come soon, and I want to have her back it once or twice to get the feel. Her directions weren't bad, had I been in a shorter truck.

[Kirk W]

Just remember your "P's & Q's" if you've heard that old saying. Patience, Practice, and ask/answer Questions!

[finally03gt]

I almost started typing about the particulars here..haha, but I stopped myself. But I think the P's and Q's were miss placed that evening.

[rnsmth]

Just remember your "P's & Q's" if you've heard that old saying. Patience, Practice, and ask/answer Questions!

Although you should have have too many of those Pints and Quarts beforehand