warsw said:
Wife and I are thinking of selling our home and going full time RV. We are trying to find out if the reality of it is as good as the fantasy. Have any of you sold your home and gone full time RV and regretted the change? Thanks for any thoughts and/or advice.
I have been fulltiming alone for 7+ years 24/7 with no other home. I have a friend who has joined me on some trips. I travel with a dog too. That gets me out walking and exercising.
I don't regret it one bit.
I have met folks who DO regret it and are struggling to get out from under their RV. Those folks I met all had bought new and financed.
I think your best bet is go used and pay cash. Then if you love it, you can always trade up. Trading down is VERY hard to do, especially if you are upside down in the mortgage.
I have met folks who over-bought and then changed out to a simpler smaller rig. Rare, but it happens. It all depends on your particular lifestyle and comfort zone. Most all RV's come with the same list of comfort options. Just that some are grand and some not so grand.
It is possible to park 6 months somewhere and travel the other 6 months. You don't have to travel 24/7. That scenario is often more doable than going year round non stop. For instance you can park in the winter in a warm area, then travel the other 6 months when pretty much the entire country has mostly agreeable weather.
At first it's tempting to travel every day or every other day and this can get tiresome pretty quickly. I find it better to plan ahead with reservations and stay 2-4 weeks every where I want to stop and visit.
I happen to love the beach, so I was able to plan 2-4 weeks in spring and fall at a beach campground. I loved this!
I am on a super efficient budget, so my focus is freebies such as beautiful nature oriented parks. A few years back I took up bicycle riding, so now I look for good places to ride my bicycle. I've met quite a few folks who travel with a tandem bike so their bike riding is easy going.
In 7 years, I've visited about 14 states. Will I do the rest? I just don't know. I go back to places I love for repeat visits. I also explore new areas.
Layout and floorplan. You need to choose an RV that looks like home, a place you feel comfy. If you think you might get tired of the floorplan in 6 months, you probably will. The bargains used are amazing. Since you are already retired, you can branch out to look farther from home if you don't find that cozy feeling in a rig close to home.
Start looking, the more you look, the more you discover what you love and hate about various rigs and their layouts.
Both of you should learn to drive the rig, even if it means taking lessons and many places offer them. Also youtube offers tons of video advice for driving.
When I sprained my ankle and shattered my wrist, I had to speed talk from the back seat, my friend into learning to drive the rig. Highways were easy but talking him through town and narrow medical parking lots had its moments. He was a nervous wreck at first, but he got the hang of it. I stayed in my rig throughout my recuperation with his help and willingness to listen to constant back seat lessons and encouragement.
A friend of mine vowed to stay in his RV until the end. He already had 100th birthday celebrations planned with a famous friend of his who was of similar age. He made it to 98 in his RV with his wife, birds, cats and dog. He had previously gave up RVing for a condo, but hated the condo life and bought another RV to go back on the road.
The last 8 months they were parked in a beautiful place without traveling because he was tired. But he loved the RV so that's where they stayed til his end.
Life is for the living!
Enjoy and I hope you make your dreams come true. ;D