Please share your Top 10 List for Full-Timing Successfully

Good afternoon,

Within the next year, I will be full-timing while maintaining a full time job in sales which requires travel within the Southeastern US.  I have not yet purchased my unit but I am very focused on a very few manufacturers and models.  I have taken advice from many.....having rented units (which were far below my standards).... and having read numerous guides on "how to buy" and "how to live" within the RV world.  However, I have found the "golden nuggets" within our chosen "full time" lifestyle appear to be most predominant within this forum.

SO, can you full timers (working or not) share your Top 10 list of suggestions for full-timing successfully?

If it matters, I am single, age 57, male, in good health.  I only mention this to disclose my desire for simplicity, security, privacy, and opportunities to learn, share, and exist in harmony with my neighbors and nature. 

Please share your Top 10 List for Full-Timing Successfully.

Thank you !

CS

Welcome and please see our library for numerous articles on full-timing here.  If you have more questions, feel free to post them in the appropriate sections.  We have one section of the forum just for full-timing topics.

Have you read this article from our library called Full timing 101?

http://www.rvforum.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=435:fulltimeprep&catid=29:fulltiming&Itemid=45

Are you looking for advice on how to live in an RV and enjoy lefe, or how to buy the perfect RV? Or maybe both, since the perfect RV probably contributes a lot to the other!

Gary RV Roamer said:

Are you looking for advice on how to live in an RV and enjoy lefe, or how to buy the perfect RV? Or maybe both, since the perfect RV probably contributes a lot to the other!

Click to expand...

Gary is a very wise man:

I would recommend that if you do not already know how you learn how to do minor repairs yourself.. I'm fond of saying many RVers have a few screws loose.. And this is a fact, as you drive that house down the road vibration tends to loosen wood screws, metal serews, the screws that hold the wires in the power distribution box, also we tend to have a few loose nuts (Same concept here, different locations)

A good set of screwdrivers,  Wrenches, (including a torque wrench) and of course a VOM or Multi-meter as they are often now called,, IS A MUST in my book.

I also like test lamps (Easier to use than a meter if all you need is "Power yes/Power no" indicaitons).

Many problems can be solved with a fairly compact tool kit.

Thanks for your responses and suggestions.  I've read the library articles and I am fortunate to be a pretty good electrician and plumber.  I have been shopping for about 6 months....driving, shopping, renting, etc.  Currently, I have 3 different checklists being compiled....taking your suggestions, those in the library, and those contained in Randall Eaton's "RV Comparison Guide 2006-2013".

I have found "NeatDesk" to be a helpful tool at home and at work.

The focus of my inquiry is to try to find those sneaky little events/tasks which can turn into big headacheds if one is not prepared.

Please feel free to offer additional suggestions.  I'm already having fun !

Thank you !

CS

Here's a couple "top tens" minus the ranking.

Get rid of all your "stuff".  Don't rent a storage shed because you'll just have to throw it all out ten years later and whatever was in there that was valuabe could be purchased again for a fraction of the price you paid to rent the storage space for ten years.

Don't make plans. 

Enjoy the freedom and whimsy to change directions at any given moment and enjoy the spontaneous.  After all, you already have onboard everything it takes to survive, relax, enjoy hobbies and thrive.

Treasure the new friends you will make on the road.  They already have one thing in common with you:  Rving.  All it takes is one or two other common interests and you have made a friend for life.  Listen carefully to what your new friends have to share.  They've been there, done that, and learned the hard way.  They can save you some time, trouble and heartache.

Attend as many RV Forum rallies as you can manage.  The instant commaraderie you will sense from people you have "read" on line, is incredible.

There are four.  Maybe some other forumites can contribute the other six you requested. 
Margi
 

I hate postings that are all run together.  Why didn't my spacing between items occur?  ... and it just happened again?
Margi

[quote author=Tom and Margi]Why didn't my spacing between items occur?
[/quote]

Worked fine for me Margi when I edited your.message.

One of those "things", I guess. 

The wonders of technology  ;D

classicselect said:

Good afternoon,

Within the next year, I will be full-timing while maintaining a full time job in sales which requires travel within the Southeastern US.  I have not yet purchased my unit but I am very focused on a very few manufacturers and models.  I have taken advice from many.....having rented units (which were far below my standards).... and having read numerous guides on "how to buy" and "how to live" within the RV world.  However, I have found the "golden nuggets" within our chosen "full time" lifestyle appear to be most predominant within this forum.

SO, can you full timers (working or not) share your Top 10 list of suggestions for full-timing successfully?

If it matters, I am single, age 57, male, in good health.  I only mention this to disclose my desire for simplicity, security, privacy, and opportunities to learn, share, and exist in harmony with my neighbors and nature. 

Please share your Top 10 List for Full-Timing Successfully.

Thank you !

CS

Click to expand...

Here's two that you'll need for success:

  * Lots of dollars   
  * Lots of diesel     

After that, it's up to you to determine success or not.

     

Top ten full timing tips:


1 - Talk to your neighbors

2 - Don't make reservations

3 - Don't use the blue chemicals

4 - Get a good BBQ and prepare most of your meals outside

5 - Avoid snow

6 - Get the USA states map and fill it all in

7 - Don't stay any place longer than a month

8- Attend the Quartzsite Rally in January

9 - Ask as many questions as you can think of on this forum

10 - Downsize to the point of ridiculousness.

Good list from Tom, except for #2, and that's just for us and the way we travel.  We don't have a rigid schedule, but like to have a general idea of the way we are going.  Most places don't require reservations, but if it is a popular destination, a holiday weekend, or a beach in the summer, you will definitely need reservations. 

We are also into health and fitness, so carrying a preferred way to exercise is extremely important.  I carry some weights and an exercise ball.  We also have bikes. 

And staying in touch with friends and family is also important to us, so a good WiFi card and external antenna is a must. 

We also enjoy satellite tv in the rig.  It makes us feel more "at home" to watch our usual lineup of favorites wherever we are.

Your expenses can be greatly controlled by 2 major categories.  Fuel and lodging.  Since fuel is expensive, if you stay longer at a location, say 4-7 days at a location, it greatly reduces your fuel bill.  And when you do leave a location, try to do 150-200 miles instead of 350-400.  Again, less fuel. 

Lodging is going to be taste specific.  I don't mind staying in rustic campgrounds, but I refuse to stay in a dump.  I will happily pay a bit more to have enjoyable surrounding, than to pay less and have to put up with being next to a dairy farm.  I also use http://www.rvparkreviews.com/  to get great info on all the campgrounds that I go to.  It can save you from going a long ways and finding out that it is nothing like the web site that you looked at on line. 

Those are some of our major ones, but I am sure that you will get much more advice from others.

SargeW said:

Good list from Tom, except for #2, and that's just for us and the way we travel.  We don't have a rigid schedule, but like to have a general idea of the way we are going.  Most places don't require reservations, but if it is a popular destination, a holiday weekend, or a beach in the summer, you will definitely need reservations. 

Click to expand...

I agree with you Sarge. I should have said don't make reservations too often. I do make reservations on occasion. For example I want to spend two weeks at Fort Wilderness at Disney World in February so I have my reservations in already. But I really prefer having as few reservations as possible so I can change my plans at any time I wish. I don't want to feel like I am on a military maneuver.

I think the thing that made me this way was a movie I saw in 1969 called "If this is Tuesday This Must Be Belgium". A story about a tourist on a nine country, eighteen day bus trip from London to Rome. Very funny movie.

WOW !  Now that is what I am talking about.... THANK YOU !  When we eventually meet, it will be my pleasure to thank you properly.  Being from Tennessee....now living in Florida.... I'll try to find one of my special Mason jars which my buddies share from time to time.  We all know that Mason jars are the best reservoirs for fresh jellies and jams.....

Yahoo !  I can't wait to see the next post !

THANK YOU !

CS 

Hi Tom,

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.... I re-read your post and took the time to look through your portfolio.  WOW !  Thank you for sharing those terrific pics....I found myself taking a virtual vacation as I surfed through the pics.

Thanks again,

CS

Margi,
If it's ok with you I think after getting to "know" you by "reading" you I think I'd like to add meeting you to the very top of my "to do" list (even though when we start fulltiming we technically won't have "to do" lists anymore.

Beth I.

classicselect said:

Good afternoon,

Within the next year, I will be full-timing while maintaining a full time job in sales which requires travel within the Southeastern US.  I have not yet purchased my unit but I am very focused on a very few manufacturers and models.  I have taken advice from many.....having rented units (which were far below my standards).... and having read numerous guides on "how to buy" and "how to live" within the RV world.  However, I have found the "golden nuggets" within our chosen "full time" lifestyle appear to be most predominant within this forum.

SO, can you full timers (working or not) share your Top 10 list of suggestions for full-timing successfully?

If it matters, I am single, age 57, male, in good health.  I only mention this to disclose my desire for simplicity, security, privacy, and opportunities to learn, share, and exist in harmony with my neighbors and nature. 

Please share your Top 10 List for Full-Timing Successfully.

Thank you !

CS

Click to expand...

We're not full timers yet however plan to be in a few years (as soon as we retire).  I would like to see your list, now that you've narrowed it down to a few mfg. and models?  Also, if you don't mind sharing just a bit.....what your critera was for narrowing your list?  Really curious, I am.

bingberg said:

Margi,
If it's ok with you I think after getting to "know" you by "reading" you I think I'd like to add meeting you to the very top of my "to do" list (even though when we start fulltiming we technically won't have "to do" lists anymore.

Beth I.

Click to expand...

Thank you!  What a nice compliment.  After fifteen years or so of full timing we are firmly ensconced in Timber Valley, the SKP park in Sutherlin, Oregon.  If you're passing through, we can usually produce at least one or more couples from the RV Forum for breakfast or whatever, depending on the time of year and our schedules (increasingly medical  : ). 

The friends we have met through the RV Forum while traveling remain among our very favorite people.  We've hung up our keys, but the memories remain!  I'm sure you'll eventually meet many wonderful people when you begin your full timing adventure.

Margi