LocostUSA.com

We're still 6 to 7 years away from retiring, and we're trying to plan/ forecast what that will look like for us. One wacky idea is to Travel by RV for the first 2 or 3 years of retirement (we'll be in our early 60's), and renting out our central CA coastal house while we're away (the house will be paid off by then).. So we would get to travel, see the US/ North America, and make a few bucks from passive income all the while.. It will be just the 2 of us- we get along well (married in 1991 and very happy ).

We're not new to RVs.. we've done the truck/trailer/off-road toy thing for years (all of that hardware is gone now)- we've just never done the RV lifestyle full time.

I know many people on this board are retired, so if you have tried full-time RV-ing, do you have any thoughts on do's and dont's? Tips.. tricks.. insights? If we do pursue this path, we'll likely end up in a medium sized RV, pulling a small-ish dinghy.. At this point, we don't know what we don't know

Thoughts?

--ccrunner

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1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

My parents have been full-timing for over 15 years now. They started out in a 40' diesel pusher Class-A and a little 'toad' (towed). After a number of years in that they parked the Class-A in a 55+ RV co-op/community (super low cost of living) and started traveling in a pickup camper. Their first one was a full hard side one, but they quickly realized it required nearly the same height and width clearance. So they sold that after a month and picked up a pop-up style pickup camper that they used for the next few years. At some point in there they swapped out the Class-A for a 5th wheel to sit around as their 'home base'. They followed up the pickup campers with a 4x4 Sprinter Class-B for a few year. Their latest move was to a travel trailer behind their old truck.

Two of the big things I've picked up from them are that:
1) This has to be something you BOTH truly and honestly have a strong desire to do. It's NOT for everybody. If one of you is overstating or overestimating their desire, you could both end up unhappy.
2) Most people (including them) start out with the idea of a house and pare back as little as possible to make it mobile. Many people never deviate from this. For them though, they eventually realized that they preferred starting with the idea of a tent and adding as little as possible to make it comfortable.

If you want their contact info, they're always more than happy to share their experiences and opinions with others considering getting into it.

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-Justin

"Orville Wright did not have a pilots license." - Gordon MacKenzie

Good question Dean, and I think Justin is right on track with his answers.
Karen and myself were thinking about pulling the trigger and going full time, then covid hit. The problem for us snowbirds is if we can't cross the border and go south there is really no place in Canada you can comfortably/economically spend the winter in an RV. The most temperate winter climate in western Canada is Vancouver Island but there is no sunshine and still the good chance of freezing at night. So we are settling for 5 months a year 'almost 1/2 time RV-ing' (As a side note if I didn't have my shop to go to at this time of my life I'd go nuts, so would wifey)
USA Rv-ers do not have that problem.
You are smart to keep your house if you try full time RV-ing, if it's not what you and wifie envisioned after a time you always have a home base to return to.
You have to try it to see if that's the lifestyle for you guys.

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Perry

'If man built it, man can fix it'
"No one ever told me I couldn't do it."
"If you can't build it safe, don't build it."

Perry's Locost Super Che7enette Build
Perry's TBird Based 5.0L Super 7 L.S.O
Perry's S10 Super 7 The 3rd
Perry's 4th Build The Topolino 500 (Little Mouse) Altered
Perry's 5th Build the Super Slant 6 Super 7
Perry's Final Build the 1929 Mercedes Gazelle

Two movies come to mind: Nomadland, and Lost in America. Though fictional, both show that full-time RVing has its ups and downs.

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Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains, http://www.kimini.com/book_info/

not retired yet and not RV full time, but the single biggest obstacle we encounter is site availability at our preferred spots.

Some campgrounds we like tend to sell out weekends a year in advance. Weekdays are easier, weekends are EXTEMELY tough to get.

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Too much week, not enough weekend.

OOPS I did it again
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=17496

Blood Sweat and Beers
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15216

Thank you for the insight guys.. We're pretty early asking these questions, but with a bit of time on our side, I think we can still steer our plans/finances in the direction of trying out RV-ing full time if we find that we wish to pursue that. Life and plans change of course, but I've found that these last many years have gone by quite quickly, and before we know it our retirement will be upon us, and we want to have a plan..

Another reason for putting feelers out these several years in advance is that as my current car build is nearing the end, I have to see if it makes sense to start another one at this time and ideally have it done pre-retirement (my builds all seem to take 5+ years at my current pace).. So it's all up in the air, but you've given us things to consider as we're having very honest talks about what we'd like to do in the early stages of retirement.. thank you

--ccrunner

_________________
1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

1959 Berkeley (#2) SE328 (170 HP-DCT bike motor in a wee car..) "Slow Build Berkeley (ccrunner)"

One other thing you may wish to consider is home swapping in its various forms. There are people who will do a temporary swap with you. Alternately, a central CA house will air B and B for a pretty penny. I used to vacation down by you all the time. My retirement plan is to spend 1/4 to 1/2 the year living in alternate locations. June in my cabin, maybe August on Vancouver Island, February-March in Sicily, et cetera.