There are many great reasons to permanently hit the road. However, there is an equal number of reasons to not try full-time RVing. Most people are enamored with the lifestyle, but they don’t give too much thought to whether or not their personality is capable of enjoying it. Don’t make the same mistakes that so many others have made when embarking on full-timing.
Look at your personality before you commit to the lifestyle. Image: Big Bend NP.
Are you constantly daydreaming about leaving your old life behind? If so, now is the time to ask yourself: “Am I cut out for it?”
A life of permanent travel is attractive when your daily life feels like it’s lacking adventure and fun. Full-time RVers on social media do a good job giving the impression that life on the road is problem-free. But the reality is that full-time RVing has challenges just like any other way of life.
If you don’t have the personality to deal with those bumps in the road, your trip won’t last long. Take a minute to think about your likes, dislikes, and must-haves. You may not want to give up your old life:
1. If you can’t handle change.
Full-time travel is always interesting and rarely boring. Be prepared to roll with daily changes if you intend to embark on the lifestyle. The minute you leave one campground and head to another, you never know what excitement is lurking around the corner.
It could be as entertaining as a herd of cows blocking the road. Maybe it will be a white-knuckle RV driving on extreme mountain grades. Whatever happens from point A to point B, you’ll need to roll with the issues or daily life will be frustrating and stressful.
2. If you aren’t a problem-solver.
RVs are made with lightweight material and things come loose, wear out and break when you subject these vehicles to normal road conditions. Many full-time RVers find that it’s not uncommon to deal with a leaky plumbing connection, brake issues and generator problems—all in one month.
Turning to RV repair shops gets to be expensive if you don’t want to attempt to fix these issues on your own. Unless you have unlimited funds, you’ll need to put your problem-solving skills to the test and learn some easy RV repair tips to keep from going broke.
3. If you must be surrounded by friends and family.
Human beings are social creatures but some of us less than others. If you constantly need to be surrounded by your existing friends and family members, you will probably be lonely on the open road. If you dream of full-time RVing to check travel destinations off your bucket list, you will likely miss many of your loved ones’ milestones and holiday celebrations.
Leaving the RV somewhere and flying out to for these occasions isn’t as easy as many people think. Lots of full-timers find it easier just to avoid the complication of arranging it.
A traditional lifestyle and full-time RVing are two totally different ways of existing. The only way to enjoy a big change like permanent travel is to know yourself before ever making the leap.
Rene Agredano and her husband, Jim Nelson, became full-time RVers in 2007 and have been touring the country ever since. In her blog, Rene chronicles the ins and outs of the full-timing life and brings readers along to meet the fascinating people and amazing places they visit on the road. Her road trip adventures are chronicled in her blog at LiveWorkDream.com.
Full-time in a ’98 Fleetwood Flair, 30′ without slides, with my wife and pup was a better option for me than an apartment. Kids are adults now and we don’t need a ‘home base’. We tow a Honda Accord, so sight seeing when parked is cheap on gas.
Sitting in a rocker waiting to die is not my idea of a good time!
Full-time is about choices and change. If you can’t make a decision and unexpected happenings scare you, get an apartment.
Oh yea, RVing Full-time is cheaper than an apartment- if you are on a fixed income (and by that I mean you can’t make additional $), I recommend you try camping.
We are rookies (started FT in 12/16), and the first 6 months of 2017- we saved $10K and spent an average of $3K/mo, and that includes RV repairs, CGs, insurance, fuel and food. We eat in twice a day and go out to eat once every day- either lunch or dinner. Ask the locals- they know where the good food is. Go on- live a little!
That’s inflation for you! We fulltimed from 1988-1994 and lived well for $900 a month (including tickets to Disney World, etc). We lived in membership parks, Thousand Trails, NACO, Colorado River Adventures, RPI, 9 months a year. We had a lot here in WA where most of our family was where we spent the summers. It was a great phase of our lives, we loved it and toured all 48 contiguous states..
Today, $900 will not even buy the Disney tickets for a family of 4.
Ain’t that the sad truth!
We traveled in a mini-van and actually enjoyed our minimal house keeping chores – we have been through or at al the 48, also. camping is such a totally easy travel – see stuff or move on. No need to fertalize or mow lawns and absolutely no pressure to get to a site fast. Love traveling that way and both of us are in our 70s.
I’m in my mid-eighties and we still travel a fair amount. Now we have houses in Washington and Arizona and we have an Airstream Interstate Lounge, 24′, to travel in. For 15 years or so we did a lot of cruising and enjoyed that a lot also. Probably would do more if it weren’t for the 10-12 hour flights to get to/ the. Cruise site. Life has been, and still is, great!
Now, that’s inflation for you! We fulltimed 7 1/2 years until ’94 and our cost of living, all inclusive, was $900 a month.
You may think you’re saving money, however, an RV is a huge depreciating asset and over time the investment you’ve made in it will be gone as opposed to a house that just continues to appreciate in value…… Sure, it’s fine for traveling and having fun, but, it’s not a wise financial decision.
No doubt an RV depreciates and , often, a house appreciates. However; at some point you realize that maybe enjoying life is more important than stockpiling $$$$$ to leave to your heirs. Now, in my mid- eighties, we have a home in the sunbelt and a home in the north – but still have an RV. I don’t enjoy traveling when we. Stay in hotels and eat out all the time but love it when we travel via RV. It’s some 1500 miles between homes and if it takes a month to get from one to the other it’s great. By car it’s a drudgery for 4 days. We now have an Airstream Interstate Lounge EXT which handles like a van and is relatively comfortable to live in for the trip, is economical to operate, and fits in our driveway at both homes. It becomes our 2d car and let’s us take more excursions than we would take if we didn’t have it. Life is good.
Agreed…. we’re traveling again across the USA.. and “thinking” of taking the car… staying in hotels this time… We hate to fly and have a second home in another state… where we would need to rent a car for over a month…this gets insanely expensive…..
The car is faster and easier to drive than the RV… just is… And, this year as opposed to last year…the price of fuel has skyrocketed …at least sixty to seventy cents per gallon over 2017..
My car gets 30-35 percent better fuel economy than the RV….it adds up….
And, we’re going to some places where an AWD vehicle would be very helpful…
All depends on your needs…. variable situations…. it’s a Subaru Outback..
The van is great… BUT…my Subaru Outback will outhandle the van every time…..
YES… our van fits right on our driveway… although we don’t use it as a second car…we use it for traveling….and of course we use it exclusively when we travel as our primary vehicle… It’s easy to just drive it everywhere… however, my insurance company wouldn’t like it if we used that as our only vehicle…. Can’t do that…. Besides…it’s more suited for long distance trips…
Do you use your wet bath often?? We have not done that yet… mainly stay at places where showers are available.. limited water supply and having to wipe down the entire bathroom seems like a pain….
Our rig is a 2012 RS Adventurous….18 MPG… what year is your Airstream Interstate?
And, have you had a good experience so far with the Mercedes Sprinter?
YES… I agree that you can’t take it with you…. but, as we get older… living full time in an RV is really tough….. I need my house….. I can always downsize the house… not so much the RV????
The Sprinter really handles well on the road…..not so much for city driving…can be done…but.. the car is certainly easier…
No argument it’s anything you said. My 2015 Airstream gets between 18-20 MPG, depending on whether I’m going 60 or 75 MPH. This is our 2d Sprinter, the first was a 2009 which we had no problems with.
The 2015 uses DEF which I can see as a potential problem. The fluid has a relatively short shelf life. Since we only drive it. A few thousand miles a year the life of the fluid expires and it costs about $300 to have a dealer drain and refill the DEF tan, that’s unacceptable. Need to find an answer to this. Sprinters used commercially don’t have this issue. Other than that the Mercedes diesel is quiet, has plenty of torque, and is economical.
The wet bath is, so far as I’m concerned, a joke. It would require a contortionist to use it.
Contortionist ????????… Hmm, i think we could use it in an emergency…. Navy shower…
As for the DEF..yes. we have the V6…3 litre engine… went across the USA..drank a lot of DEF…got back..one of the back pressure exhaust sensors failed.. replaced it… another CEL… brought it in to Mercedes… they replaced the entire emissions system and upgraded us to the most current version…all at their expense… more than a $4,000 job… Under the 80,000 miles, 8 year emissions warranty….
Whew…. glad I dodged that…
Otherwise, we love the Sprinter….
Couldn’t agree more. What a out when that house reaches a point of not gaining any value and you need a new roof new windows or even painting. What about when you go to sell it and styles are always changing and yours needs 30,000 in updates. There are pros and cons to everything. Some people just like painting a rosie picture that start to wilt at some point. Oh and don’t forget that lovely property tax that keeps goi from g up and up..
Don’t you just love “what aboutism’s”….???
Norman… don’t “assume” anything.., first, we’re on Prop 13 and our property taxes are extremely low….1.25 percent of our original purchase price… not the value of the house…. about $2,000 per year…..has gone up a little but that’s maybe $1,000 over 36 years…I can easily live with that….
Yeah, we’ve had a new roof and replaced our windows “ONCE”… will not ever have to do this again while we’re living here…
Here’s the 411 on all this… purchased my house 36 years ago for $100,000 ….now worth over $600,000….
So…go ahead and tell me how you can make a “better investment” by purchasing an RV??? Psst…. I don’t think you can…..
Look, I’m enjoying my RV…it’s a TOY…. and a lot of fun touring…. Sound financial move…NO …..
The fact that I have my house enabled me to get the rig…. doesn’t work the other way around…. you can’t make enough equity on your RV to purchase a private home..
In Los Angeles… homes keep appreciating…. there’s high density living here… private single family dwellings are in shorter supply….and they don’t make more land…
We pay less for our mortgage than it costs people who rent an apartment…
I realize that this is NOT the case in every city… but, LA and Southern California is way different from many other places….
Enjoy your rig and travels….
Norman and Mark – We are new to the land rv lifestyle, but we do have four years experience in a marine rv (otherwise known as a sailboat) in Mexico. So I guess we’re not quite as new as I had thought. One of you is right – an RV is NOT an investment that increases in value over time like real estate. And the other one is right that full time rv living can increase your bank account faster than a bricks-and-sticks home – not by increasing value but by decreasing expenses. For ME, the deciding factor in becoming full time was that I do enjoy changing locations, meeting new people and new challenges – and waiting to die as a boob tube watching couch potato somehow doesn’t offer me enjoyment. An added plus is that the house my wife and I had lived in brings in more than twice as much rent as the cost of the mortgage-insurance-taxes and property manager. Another cost saving feature is that space limitations festrains my wife in purchasing knick-knacks, and even greater I’m restricted in collecting tools. Two VErY expensive habits. For US, the RV lifestyle is MUCH less expensive and MUCH more enjoyable. Yes, there are challenges – but is just that – challenges – that makes life worth living.
Sam- congratulations on renting out your house.. while you are full timing in the RV..
Are you storing all your furniture or did you sell it??
We enjoy traveling part time.. and enjoy meeting other people when we go camping…it’s not an either or situation….you can certainly have both….
If you have a boat…you probably know that the maintenance of RVs and boats are extremely expensive…not everyone does their own repairs.. the more you drive around and need repairs, maintenance, deprecation and accelerating the day that you’ll have to replace the entire rig…. most RV’S have a 20 years lifetime..
On the other hand…a house has a MUCH longer lifetime….
I certainly don’t have to tell you the two “happiest days” in the life of a boat…(or RV). ????????????
Sure, I could also make money by renting out my primary residence…rents have greatly outpaced typical mortgage payments for most people…. and since I purchased my house so many years ago…the once high payment seems like a bargain today…
I have a couple of private residences in different states…and appreciate the safe haven places they provide….
I’m sure you know that a lot of “big cities” are placing a lot of restrictions on where and when RVs can park… Plus, the traffic congestion in large cities make driving an RV around a little more challenging… I know…I live in Los Angeles…
Unfortunately…LA has the dubious distinction of being “Number One” for traffic congestion… nothing to be proud about..
That is WHY…we like to leave town… especially on a Sunday morning or other off time and get out to nature…..
Going soon to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon…. only 10 percent of the visitors that visit the South Rim….. beautiful Ponderosa Pines….. If you have not seen it you should check it out…..
The “senior pass” issued by the National Parks service is a bargain… even at the higher price… went from $10 to $80…. We’ve had ours for years and at $10 it was the biggest gift ever…. free admission to all the National Parks and 50 percent off all camping…
Enjoy….
One other thought Mark. In 1990 we sold our home on contract, bought a large 5th wheel and a new truck. For the next 7 years we travelled the entire country and had time to visit ever so many places that you would never see on a “normal” vacation.
All this time we were banking the payments (at 10% interest) which piled up a tidy sum. Following our full timing experience we bought a pretty lot on a mountain river, but very close in, and put up a nice new home and traded our fifth wheel and truck for a diesel pusher. Then we became snowbirds 6 months a year. It cost less to live down south in the winter than to heat our summer home. Still a wonderful life. That one real estate sale “set us free”.
Well it sounds like saving money for others to enjoy. My philosophy is life is too short. We need to enjoy the fruits of our labor. See the world get some adventure in you. Perhaps it might increase your life span with quality and excitement.
Ron, we’re enjoying our RS Adventurous…. and I retired early to do that.
We get out plenty… I agree with you that life is too short.. and don’t worry, we have plenty of adventures. I just like a sound financial footing and having all of my money invested in a depreciating asset is NOT a good plan.
With the house… I’m making money on the “appreciation” and can use that as a back up for some future purchase or necessary repairs…. doesn’t work the other way around, if you know what I mean?
I know plenty of people who spend their last dime on everything or are in hock up to their eyeballs …. there’s a happy medium here, don’t you think?
I’m not planning on leaving a fortune to anyone…. if I leave some money, so be it.
I’d rather not run out of resources, To each his own..?
wow mark you sound like a fun guy that does everything right you think
My $100,000 home, in western Nebraska, is not appreciating any faster than my $250 a month, $2700 a year, property taxes that I pay on it! Where as my 5th Wheel on costs $50 a year in taxes and registration. In 15 years, my 5th wheel depreciated far less than the property taxes I have paid on my home.
You can never take anything with you after you leave this planet. I am always amazed how people talk about $$$ & investments. You can live on the road & enjoy life just don’t live like those who can not cook and have to eat out on the road and with all the perks they took with them from home. The RV Info Shows on TV crack me up. People looking for their 1st time RV’s are just to look at those that look like at home and the $$$ are off the charts of reality and the RV makers know it in real greedy times. Study, look & Study RV’s inside and out before you ever buy a new one or used one and all the different possibilities to make your journey change in life. There will always be people who are 1st time just do’n it and those that think things through before they jump & those that have really lived life and thought through and plan for a long time before they make the change in life to live on the road in real time. There are great people to meet on the road & there are criminals on the road. No different than if were living at home & neighborhoods. Don’t ever think on the road is ‘Crime Free’ as this is something you never hear about on RV Info Shows on TV or here in RV LIFE or in Video’s of people showing every one their RV or 5th Wheel or Truck Camper or Van living. You have in life Legal Consenting Adults & you have Criminals in Life been that way since the Cave Person. Just the reality of life, use common Cents in all ways & you can have the best life possible in RV & Home Living.
We sold our house on contract and banked all the payments for ten years when it ballooned. For 7 1/2,years of that time we full timed. Yes, we suffered significant depreciation but our “rent and utilities” were $160 a YEAR during that time and we travelled and touristed the entire time – all 48 contiguous states.. wouldn’t trade that time for anything!
I bought a 20 year old RV, so depreciation is not a factor.
However, a stick built house is not necessarily an investment. There is a ‘rust belt’ in America from all those factory closures and those folks could not sell their ‘investments’.
Also, I never mow grass! What a crock! Seed it, fertilize it, then cut it! Forever!
A house is a liability, an RV is a life!
Understood…
As you probably know.. that old “joke in Real Estate” is still very true today and probably always will be…
While you are right that a house may become unsalable due to certain conditions like the one you described… depressed area for example, … many people have made a significant amount of money on equity …of course they have to sell their homes to cash out…..
Many houses like mine have appreciated greatly… It’s a great feeling…. while the RVs depreciate just like cars and require maintenance and repairs…or they stop running…….
I love my RV…we use it for touring…. not full time living…
YES..I know some people would rather live the nomad lifestyle…if this works for you that’s perfectly fine….. It’s not an either or situation for me…. I like both facets of doing the RV thing then coming back home….
If your RV is fully depreciated and in excellent condition and running fine I think you have a great situation and should continue to enjoy that as long as you can….I hope my RV will be running fine when its 20 years old….I’d be extremely pleased if it did…..
Enjoy and stay safe on the road…..
Let me preface this by saying that, over the decades, I’ve enjoyed a significant amount of appreciation on the sale of real estate. However, if you are selling your residence most often you are buying another. Now, between the selling costs and the buying costs, it’s very easy to end up with a less valuable property and no cash.
An interesting thing with RVs is that if you buy an older one in need of a little “sweat equity” you can often make a little. We have done this a number of times over the years. Newer units, sure you’re gonna lose money.
I understand your point… I have two other houses…..I don’t collect cars… I collect houses….and rent them out for income…..
At some point… I’ll be probably selling my primary home taking the equity….it’s gone up 600 percent since we purchased it….and using this to get a new place for cash…..
Tell me…who do you know who has actually “made money” on purchase of an RV???
Again… they are pretty much depreciated after 15 or certainly 20 years.. have little value…they do have some….if you maintain them…..
Property aside from the actual house is always going to be more valuable…. UNLESS you’re talking about a piece of property in the desert with no water…????????
Or…a depressed area in the rust belt with no jobs…… just as bad….
Look…we live in Los Angeles…it’s a completely different story here….prices and the demand for single family homes have been steadily going up for years… sure, there’s been downturns but it comes back even higher…..
I realize that this kind of price elasticity is not the same everywhere else…it is here….
I can absolutely guarantee that you will lose a lot of money buying anything brand new…car, RV or any other vehicle….we purchased our 2012 RS Adventurous last year with 26,000 miles… now has 41,000….. Just barely getting broken in…3 litre V6 Mercedes Benz turbo diesel… Sprinter 3500 dual wheels…. we’re the second owners…. first owner traded in to the dealership we purchased our rig at to get a Winnebago Navion…we almost purchased a Navion one year old… good price…..I liked the Roadtrek RS Adventurous better because of the smaller size….and lower maintenance….
These Roadtrek RS Adventurous units are more difficult to find used in the condition we found….
The guy at the dealership said…on the Navion…the roof is guaranteed against leaking for 10 years… except for the seams…. WHAT??? The seams are the roof…..
Plus…it was $50,000 more expensive….
It’s been an interesting year….. we’re pretty set for a while…..
Thanks & safe roads for you also!
Full-time is not for everyone, but for those that make the choice, the freedom is worth it.
At some point, my wife and I will park the RV. Probably health reasons and quality of life issues, but for now we will roll.
Enjoy the life you imagine, not the one that is forced on you. Happy Trails!
Mark D Wiener. Good for you. Now the “but?” What about the outdated DEF because of only occasional use? Did updating you emission system do anything about that?
Getting effectively a brand new emissions system made a significant difference….for example.. I drove another 2,000 miles and it didn’t even use up a 1/2 gallon of DEF…..it was much lower consumption than I expected…… Before this was replaced.. I was using a 1/2 gallon of DEF every 500 miles…..
Last fall just before we embarked on an 11,000 miles journey across the USA and back to California… my DEF low fluid light came on…. I thought OK… just like a low fuel light just put in 2.5 gallons minimum and the system would reset….. That didn’t happen…..it didn’t reset even after I filled it all the way up and then the countdown began to limited restarts …… finally I had to take the vehicle to Mercedes Benz and they charged me $195 just to reset my system… I was very unhappy about that….
Got a couple of different answers from them saying don’t let the DEF fluid go low… easier said than done… THERE’S NO DEF fluid guage on my Sprinter….SO… I kept on refilling the DEF fluid the whole trip……
After I got home and back to Mercedes… someone said…it’s not a good idea to keep filling it up….WTF..!!!
Recently, I talked with someone who said… drive it for at least 2,000 miles..then check….
I was pleased that it didn’t use a lot… I suppose that the reason it was using so much on my trip is that something was going on in the system….
Now I have all new NOX sensors, new catalytic converter and other components… back pressure sensor and exhaust back pressure sensor….all of this is insanely expensive at the Mercedes Benz dealership…….. like I said…. glad to be here had that under warranty ……
On another matter…. someone else told me that their power steering high pressure hose blew out around 45,000 or 50,000 miles…..has this happened to you??
No issues with outdated DEF…. not an issue…. besides… I get my vehicle serviced once per year minimum…. twice last year….DEF fluid has a shelf life up to 2; years…
My husband and I are considering full time RVing in a few years when he retires. I have so many questions about how it all works. Are there publications or sites any of you used to help make a decision?
After a decade of full time living in an RV I will give you this negative. Between 2016 and 2017 they sold almost 1,000,000 new RV’s which reflects record sales in both years. Add to that 10,000 baby boomers are retiring each day and that will continue for over a decade.
We spend a considerable amount of time boondocking each year and find more and more congestion in those places. Parks are being overrun and boondocking sites trashed. New private campgrounds aren’t being built and the ones that are left are charging more so you can enjoy parking next to busy highways and railroad tracks. It’s looking more and more like it’s time to find an alternative lifestyle.
It reminds me of the joke, “I used to be a people person, until people ruined it for me”.
Um, this doesn’t sound like a bunch full timers to this cat.
4th full time rig since ‘85. That was a 13’ sunline tagalong.
Pop up and pickup camper (both full time for over 2 years) and now just a little 2017 21’ tagalong behind a 6cyl Chevy pickup.
I’m a traveling union tradesman, and have owned 2 houses.
After the kids were gone, it was time to full time again. (The divorce helped too!)
24 states last year and no snow (yeehaw!!!)
There are THOUSANDS of us out here, and honestly? I’ve never met a full timer that misses any of that baggage.
Property taxes and maintenance alone will kill you financially or physically.
No other way to go, in my humble opinion, but each to his own.
I think it was a well written article, but sorta wish that it hadn’t turned into a Sprinter tech thread.
Hmm… Sprinter technology….?
Can’t really avoid the conversation of vehicles..and the Sprinter diesels is just one of those..
What rig are you using to pull your trailer….I imagine it’s a larger gasoline engine? As I said these issues are unavoidable… And, it’s all maintenance and upkeep if you want to stay on the road…
Your trading vehicle maintenance for house maintenance….
Simpler life… maybe….? I don’t want to be in my late 80s…and struggling with an RV..
Who knows… maybe when I’m 85.. I won’t even want to drive it??
Every situation is different… right now we love going out in our rig…..and we do it part time…
Again… the RVs are TOYS….. that’s all they are…. they depreciate like rotting fish….use them while you can….. they are NOT bonds and they don’t mature well….
A house is a completely different story…WHY…. well… I own a house thats 165 years old…..
That house does require a lot more maintenance… but..it’s still standing and useable…..
There’s no 165 years old RVs out there…..
Look… enjoy your time….. and travels……
Mark, you might want to take a look at Airstream prices. A 20 year old AS may we’ll sell for more than when new, as will a 40 or 50 year old if they have been maintained. I know that isn’t true of other brands but it sure is with AS. (I don’t think that wi hold true with the current model Class B)
AIrstream hasn’t made Class As for years but the old one still bring a bundle if well maintained.
Anything well maintained is going to hold the most value….in any used vehicle..car, boat, RV, etc….”condition is everything”….
I know “Airstream” has a very high profile name…. my vehicle is a 2012 Roadtrek RS Adventurous…it’s on the Mercedes Benz Sprinter 3500 with the dual wheels…and 3.0 V6 turbo diesel engine…..it’s a very strong engine……..it’s not the engine I’m worried about as much as all the other stuff… like emissions…
Someone told me.. that it’s more likely that the whole coach will fail before the engine needs a rebuild… heck…they could say the same thing about me!!
Right now….I’m just enjoying the RV….I purchased it one year ago with 26,000 miles.. and now there’s 41,000 miles on the coach… still low mileage…we went across the USA.
I’ve had to do a few things the past year… batteries, tires, maintenance and I made some upgrades…. pretty much done….
Now, I’m just going forward from here with normal maintenance…
I’m all about keeping the systems running perfectly…I normally keep my vehicles between 15 and 20 years…. again…. I’m in my late 60s….. we’ll see how that works…
Another thing about deprecation…. resale value is ONLY IMPORTANT when you intend to sell…if I keep this RV going for my own enjoyment and it’s paid for…. resale is not a huge consideration and neither is deprecation…..
When I can’t enjoy it or operate it properly…. I’ll deal with that then….
I had an old 95 Honda Accord station wagon…. kept the car for 19 years….150,000 miles…. sold it for $3,000. .. what’s significant about that is we put $4,000 down when we purchased the car…. Cars and vehicles are terrible investments of cash… but, they serve a purpose and take you places …for experiences.. that’s what the RV does…..you can’t put a price on that…
At least with the RV… you can save money on hotels and I’ve actually found that sleeping in the RV is quite comfortable…we have a king size bed in there….. We fold it up during the day and use the lounge … these little Class B’s are extremely flexible… that is why they are so useful and expensive…….
I’m getting 18 plus MPG in the Sprinter…if I slow down to 60… I have even gotten 19 to 20 MPG…..It’s a really big vehicle… that kind of mileage is amazing…. don’t you agree???
And the Class B’s.. particularly the model I purchased are very deluxe …..
Here’s a link to my vehicle that I purchased…..see the pictures…..
Let me know what you think…
https://www.conejowholesaleauto.com/vehicle-details/f22d7e5afa634d388dbeffb59e9eb708
Moderator, could you do something to keep the conversation on track? Some people have taken over and think this is their personal forum.
We are considering full-time. We have a paid off 34 ft 2010 Fleetwood Jamboree with low miles. I have another few years of work before my 2nd retirement kicks in. We are both Air Force retirees, our children are grown, 1/2 the grandkids are prepping for college graduation and weddings, so our nest couldn’t be any emptier.
My apologies Madam. I’m afraid I’m one of the offenders. I did fulltimed for 7 1/2 years and loved every minute.. It’s even easier now with all the current conveniences like cell phones and ATMs, didn’t have those 20-30 years back.
We travelled 9 months a year, staying one out two weeks in each locale. I’m also retired military so we were able to camp at. West Point and Annapolis – loved them both. Enjoy your travels.
It was sad to listen to these folks discuss the problems of two homes and a new diesel class B and all the appreciation and depreciation on the $600K homes and $100K + RVs. How do they get by ? I wish our “vintage” Pace Arrow was something I could think of as a toy. And no, I am not jealous, these people just are not representative of the real world.
Bricks and sticks are fine up to a point. We enjoyed RV’ing so much we started early (late 40s) and are full-time/full-timers (ie we live in our RV full time and still work locally full time). Our plan is to pay off our RV and then retire. After the kids went off to college, the house became more of an anchor that we kept having to deal with when we went on vacation in our RV. So we sold it, used the profit for a new rig, and basically left it all behind. Downsizing wasn’t easy but we love the decision and the freedom to choose where to go and what do to next without having to consider a mortgage, property taxes, cutting the grass, stopping/starting the mail, etc. in the equation.
Of the things that you have to take with you into retirement, “regret” is something that you have the ability to ensure you don’t take with you.