too old for fulltime?

So, we are on our second RV, 2008 30ft Jayco,  love it.  Our longest trip is this one...8 weeks +, we are still on it,  with our 90 lb goldendoodle. Every time we RV it we have a great time.  We have continued to downsize our Stick home and are not really connected to it other than it is a place to live. All the kids are grown with kids of their own who are grown.  Close family by telephone, e-mai, texting and holidays. Now here is the rub.  Donald is young  79 and I am young 75 what do ya think, too old?  Both are in excellent health and have no problems  RV traveling.  in 1989 we backpacked Europe with nothing but our eurail pass.  It was a blast, some problems along the way but nothing that we could not laugh about later.  I'm thinking if we really want to do this that we should close up the house and take a longer trip before buying a larger unit and  making any final decisions.  I am starting, with RV Forum, to hear from all that can give us your input.

I don't think age have anything to do with it, I think attitude is everything. Go for it.

nrglog said:

Donald is young  79 and I am young 75 what do ya think, too old? 

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The least important factor of age is its measurement in time.

I can't comment on age being a factor for you to consider, but you might want to read Marsha Lassen's excellent piece on the decision.  (here).

I just read the article for the first time myself.  Great lesson and excellent writing. 
Hat's off to Marsha.

Hi Glo,

I think it's an excellent idea to just close up the house and go for a very very long trip.  It will give you an opportunity to try it out without making a big commitment.  

We are a bit younger than you and we decided to not go full time; but we do travel 5-6 months out of the year.  

There are a lot of things that go into the decision to go full time and each couple/single person has to go through their own evaluation.  One of the major things we thought about was the "what ifs".  A lot of people will have their own "what ifs" but these are the things we thought of.  The stuff we really didn't want to think about but it was part of making our decision.  For us we asked ourselves what would we do if:

*one of us got very sick and needed 24 hour care
*one of us being confined to a wheelchair and are medically disabled .
*loosing one of us
*what if we outlive our present RV and need to replace it several years later.

Now, after saying all this, I do think there are those out there who love full-timing and do exceptionally well at it.  I'm sure they have answered all their "what if" questions and have come up with great answers that work very well for them.

Marsha~

If you're both in decent health, have no ties there, and enjoy RVing, why not?  Age isn't a factor as much as ability and desire.  Many of us in the RV Forum are fulltimers, while many of us prefer to keep a stick house but travel for many months at a time.  We like having a house to return to.  We left home in mid-April and are about half way through our trip.  So many things to do and so many people and places to visit!  There's no time schedule - we'll get home when we get home.  Before selling your home, my advice is to close it up for a while and take a much longer trip.  Think in terms of months, not weeks.  Go somewhere you've never been.  If you live in the southeastern U.S., go west to the Canadian Rockies or even Alaska.  If you live in the west, visit the eastern seaboard or the Maritime Provinces of Canada.  Take your time and see if you like longer trips.  Do you like to go somewhere and stay a while or do you like to be pretty much on the go most of the time?  We don't usually stay in one place more than about five days (usually with family), while others stay one place for a couple of weeks and then move on to try somewhere else.

We've had many threads in this forum about fulltiming so you might find many questions to think about if you use the red Search button above and start reading about what others here have done.  There's a lot to consider because you must have a "domicile" somewhere which is a legal "home" place to register vehicles, vote, and the like.  Some people join Escapees and have Livingston TX as their domicile.  Others do it other ways.  Just be sure to check out everything before making major decisions that might affect taxes (things like personal property tax vary a great deal from nothing to a lot), vehicle insurance, vehicle fees, and such.  Every state is different.

ArdraF

I'd do it - age is not a factor in enjoyment.  And much better to do it NOW while you feel good about it. And it's a good time to buy a large RV too, so if you feel like a bigger one would add to your enjoyment, do that too.  You don't need to make a huge financial commitment to a new one - get a 3-4 year old 35-40 footer. The market for 30 footers like your Jayco is betetr than for larger Rvs, so you should get a decent trade-in against a big one.

However, I would not sell the house unless I planned to downsize or change location anyway. You ARE going to need a permanent home some day when the inevitable body failures start to occur

Go for it and Have Fun.  I am envious ;D ;D ;D

I will hit the big 70 next birthday.  Can hardly wait for Maddog to retire next Mar/Apr so we can be on the road.  So many places we want to see.  We will be following Marsha's options and shutting down the house 3-4 months at a time.  And as Gary said  - not planning to sell house until (or if) we find somewhere we like better and want to relocate.

In good health and love to RV. I see no better combination. Enjoy 

Kate

Great suggestions.  Can't wait for more.  How about the best way and place  to look for a 3 or 4 year old larger home. Also thinking of a fifth wheel.  On a trade in is it best to go to a dealer or a private sale.?

    After snowbirding in Florida for extended periods for the past few years, I retired April 08.  We extended our time in Florida and trip home last year, but decided this was our year to scratch what Marsha so eloquently called "wanderlust".  We left home Dec 5, spent 3 months set up at our regular park in Florida, then close to 4 months on the road, with our longest stay a week.  The 3 months set up in Florida felt much like old times as Donna had done it for the past two years, but I must admit, 4 months on the road was enough.  Even though we leave again next week, and our yougest & her husband stay in the house, Donna has been complaining with a smile on her face while cleaning, dusting, looking at "grandma's" old dishes, etc, much as I have done while cuting the grass, pruning trees, & doing a bunch of little chores around the house.  We too had recently wondered if we could fulltime, now we know that while we love to wander and explore, we need our roots & stick house.
    So, as others have said, chronicle age has little to do with it, one needs the temperament and desire to fulltime.  In the mean time we will travel coast to coast to coast, always maintaining our home base here in Maritime Canada.

Ed

nrglog said:

Great suggestions.  Can't wait for more.  How about the best way and place  to look for a 3 or 4 year old larger home. Also thinking of a fifth wheel.  On a trade in is it best to go to a dealer or a private sale.?

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I own a class A and I have never owned a 5th wheel. One of the reasons I own a motorhome is because when I was researching the purchase most comments I read about 5th wheels is that they are not really designed for full time living. However, I have read of several people who do full time in them.

"  with our 90 lb goldendoodle. "

Now I am terrified, we have 9 month old Labradoodle.  90 pounds is scary.    Phrg34

I have a friend who is 91. He lives in his house in the Chicago and drives his MH to CA for the winter to be near his children.  After a few months in CA he travels to Fla for several rallies and visits friends.  He returns to his home when it warms up.

I know numerous couples traveling the country who are in there 80's and one couple in there mid 70's just built a home on the Upper Peninsula.

Go for it and enjoy the wonderful places in this country.

Russ, WB3FQI/6