New path in life - another house or a home on wheels?

My last couple of houses have been small - 800 sf or so.
We lived in a 36' class A and it had less than 300 sq. ft. of actual living space.
my cast iron - it goes everywhere with me)
Keep in mind that all RVs have a maximum weight that can be safely added to them. Things like canned food are very heavy as are many of the things we like to take with us.
 
We bought a 2023 class C without knowing much about rving. We’ve learned some hard lessons, but still enjoy the travel. Our experience, we reasoned, was sailing. A 27’ Tayana, similar to an rv, but also not. One floats, the other bounces down the road, especially a class c. Screens bounce out of windows, salt and pepper shakers bounce off the table, microwaves bounce off walls.

We have a home base, it’s an off-grid log cabin, so the off-grid part we understand. We travel 6-8 months of the year. We also travel with 5 cats, so sometimes a class C can be tight living, but it seems one person and a little dog might do OK. What was important to us was the ability to have a washer and dryer on board, 2 air conditioners, bedroom and cabin, loft for the kitties, kingsize bed (cats like to sleep with their peeps). We found that exact configuration.

We have found with ours, new has serious quality issues. Fortunately,I’m a retired mechanical engineer and hubby was in home building and remodeling and we are farmers(you learn to fix just about anything on a farm) so DIY repairs, so far, have been easily accomplished. But we do have to fix a brand new rv quite frequently.

I guess I would advise, think about how you want to live everyday and work from that out. Put together a list of creature comforts and search based on that. When you find the one get it inspected, top to bottom! Living in a moving home is very different than even an off-grid cabin.
 
Here are a few of my random thoughts as a person a couple of years younger than you who has been traveling in a motorhome part time up to 75 nights per year for the last 8+ years, mostly on trips that are a month long or less.

First thing shop for the amount of living space you need, don't worry about the vehicle size, a small Class A is not a much larger box going down the road than a Class C, it just has a different seating position which you would get used to in just a few days on the road. Consider going out and renting a gas Class A around 30-32 ft long and trying it, sure it may be white knuckle driving for the first hundred miles or so, but by the time you get 500 - 1,000 miles under your belt it will likely be almost second nature.

Second on the topic of your cars, check to see if they are flat towable or dolly towable, there are many cars on the market that must be towed with all 4 wheels off the ground on a trailer, that is what you don't want. I know that the Miata is not officially sanctioned to be flat towed, but many people have towed them for thousands of miles if they have certain manual transmissions.

Third, Starlink can be great, we have residential Starlink here for the last 2 years, and it has been a game changer, the catch is you need a clear view of the sky, which can be an issue in an RV park or Campground with a lot of trees.

As to the keep you awake at night stuff, there are plenty of campgrounds out there that allow long term stay, the question is how many are where you want to travel, and how much do they cost, where I live in western Louisiana the going rate for most long term sites is $350-$450 per month plus electricity, with $500-$700 per month being fairly common in more popular semi tourist areas. If you are flexible you can always find a monthly spot, the exceptions being prime Snowbird territory like south Florida or the southern tip of Texas. Those $2K per month places are the real RV resorts with on site golf courses, and such, either that are they prime locations like the California coast.

The truth is you can RV travel on as high or low of a budget as you, we had a guy on here a few years ago trying to live in an RV on a shoestring budget, he managed for a couple of years before giving up living in a stationary location for around $250 per month on a less popular east Texas lake with a full hookup RV site with a view of the lake about 20 miles from the nearest grocery store. Even moving around can be done on a budget, we took a circa 3,000 mile /30 day loop trip in May of 2023 to the Badlands of SD and back going through parts of 7 states, the most we paid was $54 per night for 3 nights, 5 nights were free boondock camping, 4 of which was on federal land, another 5-6 nights were under $25 per night this was a mix of Passport America discount rates, and public campgrounds of various types ( water and electric site at a country fairground in Kansas for $17 per night, state park for $24, ..) The state park site we managed to snag with only 2 days reservation on Memorial day weekend.

On your last 2 points there are a number of campground review sites out there as well as google reviews, many will tell you if a campground felt unsafe, though they are less good at telling you if a campground is great. There is probably half a dozen such review sites, rvlife, the dyrt, campendium, etc.

As to off grid power, Solar and LiFePo4 Lithium batteries are a BIG help, we currently have 400 watts of solar panels, and 420AH of 12V LiFePo4 batteries, which is enough to provide basic living electricity without running the generator in sunny weather, ie power lights, furnace blower, vent fans, computer, etc. though I am likely upgrading to 800 watts of solar panels this spring.
 
Hey, this was good reading - and sounds just like the community I'll be looking for. LOL I see the 5 year long wait list though.

Thanks much for this, I requested an application for the waitlist.
There is some stuff up with Escapees, the couple that ran it for the last many years seems to have sold it to corporate interest. I think everyone assumed it was a non profit sort of club, but it wasn't read up on the recent changes before getting involved with Escapees
 
There is some stuff up with Escapees, the couple that ran it for the last many years seems to have sold it to corporate interest. I think everyone assumed it was a non profit sort of club, but it wasn't read up on the recent changes before getting involved with Escapees
That has been happening a lot in the rv qorld the past few years including campgrounds and repair places. Used to be a lot less expensive to travel in an rv. But it also used to be a lot cheaper to live in a house too so i guess 6 of onw half dozen of another
 
Yeah there have been a lot of investment groups buying out mom and pop campgrounds thinking they were a make money fast option simply by doing some minor beautification hanging a new sign and doubling the rates.
 
I think everyone assumed it was a non profit sort of club, but it wasn't read up on the recent changes before getting involved with Escapees
You clearly know very little about the group. Having joined in 1998, I might know a little bit more than you? Things like the fact that the park mentioned is a co-op park that is totally owned & managed by the people who have the lots there. The club was never presented as non-profit but is similar to AAA or AARP and a host of others. The RV club is now owned by the same people as Harvest Hosts and the only changes to the club have been the injection of some new ideas.
 
I'm not looking for a vacation, just a place to live inexpensively for the next 10 years or so
Game over- RV's run on money and if you're not a mechanic, even more money. They're a crappy house on a delivery truck. Finding facilities that will service RV's, and service them correctly is hit or miss. Unlike cars both the house and chassis need fairly frequent attention. Arranging this service on the road will be an ongoing challenge. RV purchase, site rental and fuel are just where the expenses begin. I would be hitting up some of the full timers of the group to get some real world operating and secondary expenses. I don't think you'll meet many RV'ers that talk about the thrifty lifestyle.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
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We’ve lived and worked full time out of a class A since June 2016. We both retired last May, but I’ll speak to the working experience…( frankly, we haven’t figured out retirement yet).

As you’ve already reckoned while just imagining the lifestyle, working full time isn’t conducive to moving often or far. For our first four years our M.O. was pretty much to work M-F weekdays (both had corporate jobs); explore the area we were evenings and weekends; move every 2-5 weeks; then do it again. When we got in a place, we set up both inside and out so much that moving the coach was way too much work and so we’ve always towed a car behind. (There’s a member here ( @JudyJB) who has soloed full time and worked much of that time and she’s never towed a car, so it can be done. I’m sure she’ll be along shortly with her good advice.)

We usually moved about 200-500 miles between stops, only driving 1 or 2 days over a weekend… didn’t want to burn PTO hours moving. To illustrate: we traded our starter coach after 3.5 years and had only put a bit over 26,000 miles on her.

As Isaac mentioned, you can full time in an RV at many budget levels. (Same as a house.) We’ve primarily stayed at commercial RV parks with full hookups and our spend has been less than in our sticks & bricks home. Most parks have weekly rates more reasonable than daily rates and monthly rates less still. Over the years, many times, we would rent a site for a month and stay 3 weeks (ie one monthly rate was less than three weekly rates).

I think you would be wise to figure out the floor plan you want and the space you need before deciding against a class A. As mentioned, getting used to driving one comes pretty quickly. Good advice to rent one before making a decision.

What part of Florida are you? We’re currently in the Bradenton/Sarasota area. Would be happy to meet up if you’d like.
 
Yup, I am the infamous JudyJB! I worked two jobs for 22 years to save up enough money to go full time in my motorhome. I also bought new because I am allergic to cigarette smoke and dogs, which pretty much eliminates any used RV. I have driven my 32' 2012 Fleetwood Tioga Ranger for over 12 years and 213,000 miles, and still driving. Frankly, I think the activity of working longer than usual and traveling by myself has kept me in much better health than I would have been sitting in that recliner in front of the TV in my old condo, waiting to die.

Obviously, my kids were opposed to my driving into the unknown in a huge vehicle at my advanced age, but they did not get a vote.

Everyone who travels in an RV has a different style. Mine has always been to stay mostly in federal, state, county, and Corps of Engineers campground. I like to watch the birds and enjoy the scenery, instead of being in a cramped commercial campground. I don't care for swimming pools, hot tubs, and activities like bingo, bridge on Tuesday, bus trips to the casinos, and Friday night potlucks, so I suppose you could say I am a bit anti-social. But, I have made friends all over the country and like to visit my sons and grandkids, plus a lot of cousins, as I travel. Right now I am in Napa, CA, heading south to the southern Nevada and Las Vegas area.

In 12 years of staying in campgrounds, no one has ever bothered me, so I feel pretty safe traveling. (That also applies to my occasional trips by myself to the UK.) In fact, fellow campers have been very friendly and kind, especially when I was sick with flu or needed help with something. (I even got treatment (mostly pills) for a chronic version of leukemia while traveling.)

However, I will say that the cost of constant repairs, even of a new motorhome has been a surprise and sometimes very difficult. I have a specialized road service called CoachNet that has been very helpful in finding mobile technicians or a place to get repairs, but this year, those repairs added up to over $9,500, so you need a substantial budget for those.

Also, if you buy a used motorhome, you absolutely need to get it inspected by a certified RV technician before you buy it, or you can get into serious trouble with hidden expenses. And make sure when you sign up with Medicare that you choose the traditional plan, NOT an Advantage plan, if you are going to be doing a lot of traveling.

I tried to send you a personal message, but for some reason the forum system would not let me. If you have any questions, you can post them as a personal message to me, and hope it goes through.
 
The owning a house thing - since there's only myself, it doesn't make financial sense for me to do both.
Well, it's only me but I own two houses (was 3 houses just a few years ago) , two motorhomes, 11 motorcycles, two cars & one pickup truck.

But I don't claim to be sensible! Financially or otherwise!

What I would like about fulltiming is chasing the best weather around the country, just as many others do. But I would have to get rid of almost all of my toys. No way can I put two houses full of junk in a motorhome. But it really is now three houses full of junk put in two houses. Barely enough room for me as it is!

I think anybody would need to give a lot of thought into full timing. I know some people discover they do not like not having a home base to go back to and wish they still had their house. And others feel it was the best decision of their life to go full timing. Hard to say what is best for others. It's a very difficult decision, IMO. And one you need to make for yourself.

The way I am doing it works well enough for me. When I want better weather, I hop in a motorhome and drive to the better weather for a while.

driving a Class A just feels intimidating
Well, I have a C and an A. Have you driven a small Class A? Mine is only 29'11". While a Class C has more of a van feel, you do not get what you see. It sticks out wider; it has the overhang above you that you do not see while driving.

Class A's are you see what you really have. Takes away some of the guesswork in tight spots. IOW, it's just an illusion to feel safer in a Class C. IMO, the Class A is easier to drive.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
A's are easier to drive except for us very short people. In a lot of ways, I wish I had bought a small A for the cargo carrying capacity. However, I test drove a couple of A's and my big problem was that in order to reach the pedals, the steering wheel was jammed into my midsection, and I could not reach things like visors. I suppose I should have investigated getting short pedal extenders, but there was just too much else I could not reach. This was a big disappointment compared to the Chrysler Town and Country minivan I had owned then, which had pedals that moved closer to the driver if needed.

As it is, in my C, I have a thin seat pad, plus a thicker foam and gel booster seat! And I keep a short senior-type grabber handy if the map on the floor gets away from me!
 
Regarding towing a car--when I started out, I figured I would have enough trouble driving my 32' rig without adding another dozen feet or so with a towed vehicle. Also, I was concerned about having to hook it up alone--much easier with two people.

I am still in the travel mode, so I move every few days to every two weeks. I plan my stops at places like grocery stores and hardware stores during my travels between campgrounds, though I do go out during a campground stay to sightsee and pick up a few things at a store. I can nearly always find a space to park in any big box store, like Home Depot or Walmart's, or at touristy places like botanical gardens, national parks, etc. Biggest problems are haircuts because beauty salons tend to be in small strip malls, so I tend to get haircuts at big malls at places like Penneys. And occasionally, I do have to park down a side street or next door to something and walk to someplace I want to go to.

Not having a car saves me the cost of towing equipment and maintenance and insurance on a second vehicle. It also makes it a lot easier to go through a gas station. However, if I were staying in a commercial campground for several months at a time, I would seriously consider buying a car.
 
Yup, I am the infamous JudyJB!
I tried to send you a personal message, but for some reason the forum system would not let me. If you have any questions, you can post them as a personal message to me, and hope it goes through.

The OP just joined yesterday. I believe the PM function is disabled until a member has some time on here.
 
However, I will say that the cost of constant repairs, even of a new motorhome has been a surprise and sometimes very difficult. ......those repairs added up to over $9,500, so you need a substantial budget for those.
This becomes a serious issue for those on a very tight budget. It's just a fact of life in any RV, New or used.


However, if I were staying in a commercial campground for several months at a time, I would seriously consider buying a car.
If you only did this once in a while, renting a car could be economical as well.
 
A's are easier to drive except for us very short people.
OIC. I never even thought about that as I am a six-footer.

BTW, I like being up nice and high in my Class A. Nice far distance views as I drive. It was especially nice when I was out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of Texas.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
But imagine 5'0" me. As it is, I have to stand on my toes to turn lights in the ceiling on and off. I keep two shorter grabbers and one long grabber handy. One short one goes in the cab. Since I am alone, the map I keep on the floor, sometimes slips away, so I use a short grabber to retrieve it, assuming I can reach the grabber! In my C, I can reach my own sun visor, but not the one in the passenger seat, but luckily I don't have to use it very often. I also use my short grabber to hand things to a campground check in booth person.

My other short irritation is grocery shopping. I keep telling myself to take one of my grabbers along. Today, the milk cartons in the self serve case had not slipped down to be reachable, so I had to ask a tall person for help. This is a constant problem for things on high shelves in the canned goods section or the freezers.

I wrote a lot of training materials for the auto industry, and I know that their crash dummies are 5'10" tall--only recently have they used child-sized dummies. And frankly, most of the engineers are at least 5'10" tall, so they never notice this. (Very few are female) Even seats that move forward manually, do not go up enough to enable me to see out of a lot of front windows. This is a big problem when I do rent cars. (I am taking a gel booster seat with my to the UK next June when I go there and rent a car. Last time I just bought a chunk of foam.) And my 5'11" son took me for a ride in an airplane he rented. Nope. Could see nothing out of the front window except the sky, had to look out the side windows. Next time, I am going to take a booster seat or two!

Best thing the car guys ever did was design power seats and adjustable seat belts (they cut into my neck otherwise and could cause serious problems in an accident) and the pedals that move forward. Class A manufacturers need to be more aware of women and other short people who could be driving their vehicles if they could reach things!!!
 
This becomes a serious issue for those on a very tight budget. It's just a fact of life in any RV, New or used.
It is definitely a fact of life, but I think we need to warn people of this. Not only are many of us not knowledgeable about car repairs, but those that are, may not know that repairing things on a home or RV may not be the same as a similar item in their home. An example would be a water heater. In a home, you just unplug it, turn off the water, and cut the pipes. In a motorhome, at least in mine, the water heater has some parts accessible from outside, but the tank is tucked away in a corner under my sink, so removing it requires taking out a panel next to the sink, and then figuring out how to undo the electrical and plumbing connections in an extremely tight space while you are lying on your stomach and reaching into a narrow dark space. Replacing my water heater tank recently cost $3,000, much of what was labor.

Ditto for my house water pump, which is in a pass-through and requires someone young and thin, with very long arms to reach it, or possibly even crawling into the storage bin with at least half your body. And then the screws are in the top, and require a special type of screwdriver because there is only an inch of space there!!!

You can full-time or most-time on a budget, but you really need to know about what it takes to repair these beasts! And all of this is why we need to keep emphasizing that people need to get a used RV inspected by someone who knows what to look for. And then they need to budget for all of this.
 

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