Full-time RVing isn’t just for grandparents nowadays. The full-time RVing community is booming with growing numbers of younger, working-age nomads deciding to sell everything and hit the road. Thanks to the ease of mobile Internet connectivity, many of today’s RVers aren’t waiting until retirement to travel. They’re doing it now and discovering the perks and pitfalls of living and working from wherever home happens to be parked.
Who’s Going Full-Time?
The majority of RV owners and full-time travelers are still older Baby Boomers. but nomads aged 35-to-54 are the fastest growing segment of RVers, according to the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association. Many of them are buying RVs for family vacations but increasingly a large segment of couples, singles and families are going full-time RVing long before their working days are over.
For techno-savvy full-timers, mobile Internet connectivity makes it relatively easy to work from anywhere, but for those who don’t make a living from their laptops, less technology-dependent work is easy to locate through organizations like the iRV2 Workamping Discussion Forums topic. With many support groups like Workamper News, full-time RVers are able to locate paid and unpaid job opportunities. Some pay minimum wage, some exchange labor for rent, but all take a bite out of RV rent costs.
Some of these younger full-time RVers try the lifestyle and hate it, while others are staying on the road indefinitely. They meet at rallies like the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous or Full Time Family Reunions, and support one another online on Facebook. Many chronicle their travels in RV blogs, which means there’s no shortage of ways that aspiring nomads can learn about the positives and negatives of selling it all to travel by RV.
The Upside of Full-timing When You’re Young
- Cost of living can be lower than a sticks-and-bricks lifestyle
- You’ll build a stronger relationship with your family/kids/partner
- It’s easy to get outdoors and seeing different places for a fraction of the cost
- You’re more likely to participate in activities that you might not attempt when you’re older
- Nomads work independently from the most beautiful spots on earth
The Downside of Full-time RVing When You’re Young
- Learning to live in tight spaces with loved ones
- Losing out on financial benefits of climbing the corporate ladder
- Unreliable/inconsistent income streams sometimes mean working harder than you’re used to
- Internet connectivity can be slow and expensive
- Kids may not enjoy the constant change as much as parents
Ironically enough, mobile Internet connectivity is both challenging and beneficial to full-timers. Although wireless broadband is more widely available than ever, speeds are horrifically slow when compared with traditional residential services. Stepping into the full-time RV lifestyle means stepping back in Internet time and patience is a must.
Another major concern for younger full-timers is health insurance coverage. Even with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, when you’re too young for Medicare it’s difficult to find an affordable policy that provides coverage from coast-to-coast.
Read More About Full Time RVing
For anyone thinking of hitting the road, these books are among the best resources for learning how to start traveling with a budget and a well-thought out plan:
Live Your Road Trip Dream: Travel for a Year for the Cost of Staying Home
Boomers, Gen-Xers, Seniors and more everyone has a dream of that long trip that they’ve had in the back of their mind. If so many dream it, why do so few do it? Authors Phil and Carol White believe it is not only fear of the unknown, but more importantly, inertia. It takes a fair amount of thinking and planning to take off for an extended period says Carol, but the rewards of working through your issues and actually getting out of town to see our country or another place, will be with you forever. Don t wait for some other time start planning now.
The White’s award-winning, how-to book, Live Your Road Trip Dream is now released in its second edition after a very successful three printings of the first edition. Due to the popularity of road tripping, but not just amongst the retired set, the White s have included expanded coverage of topics of interest to the younger generation.
Yes, You Can Full-Time RVing for the Single Person
This book is a starting point for those looking into the Full-time RV living lifestyle. It gives helpful insites into what it takes to be a Full-timer. It provides hints, websites and lists of things needed to get started. It is primarialy for the single person however others would gain from reading it.
RV Living in the 21st Century: The Essential Reference Guide for ALL RVers
Often called “The O.G. of full-time RVing,” Rene Agredano and her husband Jim Nelson hit the road in a fifth wheel trailer in 2007, after their dog Jerry lost a leg to terminal cancer. Sixteen years later they are still traveling and sharing their nomadic adventures at LiveWorkDream. As a self-employed wordsmith, Rene shares her expertise for many RV industry videos, publications such as the Escapees RV Club Magazine, and has authored numerous books, including the Essential RVing Guide to National Parks, and Income Anywhere, a guide to earning money on the road. She has been featured in global media outlets including the PBS documentary “NATURE: Why We Love Cats and Dogs,” The Guardian Sunday Edition, and the Dan Pink book Free Agent Nation.
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