Nope only when we are stopped.
There are some automatic dome dishes that will track in motion but they won’t provide high definition to the best of my knowledge.
How do you store your belongings (the ones you have along with you) when you’re on the move? Do you use plastic dishes and drinking containers, etc., to avoid breakage? Does everything fragile need to be bubble wrapped or otherwise specially prepared for travelling? Do you find knocked over salad dressing bottles and spilled milk cartons and bits of leftover spaghetti all over the inside of your fridge if you brake a little too hard?
Do you ever break down? How often do you service the vehicle?
Can someone without such a license drive in those states?
What is the expense of your current lifestyle like, compared to the expense of living in a brick-and-mortar house?
If you don’t mind me asking, how does this break down? We’re considering full-timing and this is a huge difference from what we are estimating.
Does this include the upgrades you mentioned in another post? Or is this just living expenses?
I can tell you that $3,000 is probably not that far out of the picture. Some of it depends on how much driving you are doing, since at 8 mpg our fillups were about $150-$180. RV parks on the low end run an average of about $26/night, although you can get weekly and monthly rates at many of them. The higher-end parks can be quite expensive. If, for the sake of argument, you estimate $30/night, that’s $900 right off the bat just for a place to sleep. If you’re moving every few days and driving 200-400 miles each time, that’s upwards of $150/trip in fuel. If you do this four times in a month, that’s another $600. Then there’s food. And fuel for your toad. And things you want to see, park entrance fees, etc. You can get by much cheaper by staying in public campgrounds, but you won’t have shore power, sewage, etc. Your batteries only last for a few days before needing recharging, and many parks won’t let you run your generator (or have restricted hours). You’ll have to drag anchor every few days to dump your tanks, also.
We use Corelle dishes and regular glass grasses.
We use expanding spring loaded bars to keep stuff in place both in cabinets and the refrigerator.
My wife made some round pads made of thin slip resistant shelf lining material that she puts between some items. Other than that we don’t do much else. The cabinets have pins that go into spring grips when they are closed and do a good job of keeping them closed in transit. The drawers all have to be lifted up a little bit to be opened and that keeps them in place.
We have basement storage and lot of cabinets and drawers. There is storage under the bed (one end lifts up - assisted by air springs) , the couch and the dinette seats.
Basement storage is what motor home people call the storage beneath the floor that is accessible through doors that open from the outside.
I haven’t broken down yet. If I do many RV shops will allow us to spend the night in the coach. If not we will get a motel room until it is fixed.
I do my own service and change the oil and do a lube job every 3000 miles if possible. Some RV parks don’t allow that and sometimes I have to wait until I am at one that does. Many places will take the used oil, Checker and Autozone are a couple that do.
Last summer I had to do a brake job on the Honda and used a friends driveway because the park we were staying at did not allow working on vehicles.
Yes they all have reciprocal agreements with all other states so if you aren’t required to have a special license in your home state you are legal in any other state.
For us it is cheaper but we had a 3600 square foot house when we were stationary.
The taxes on the house the last year we owned it were over $10,000. Still I think most full timers will say it is a cheaper way to live.
SD does not have a state income tax and the vehicle registration (plates) for my motor home and car was about $180 total last year. In NH and CO that would have been over $1000 for the plates.
We stay in moderate climates so our heating and cooling costs are very low. Water and sewer is included in our site rental. Our average site rental last year was less than $9 per night and that includes what we paid for electricity. The nights that we stayed free at friends or family members places or the nights that were free because we were volunteer camp hosts at state parks are taken out of the numbers so they don’t lower the cost.
Chefguy gave you some good info.
Yes that includes the upgrades (except as mentioned below) we have done over the years but does not include the $1800 per month health insurance cost we incurred before we got old enough for Medicare.
We put everything on a credit card that is paid off each month. It gives us points that can be exchanged for gift cards at a lot of large companies. For example we got our $800 32 inch TV with points at BestBuy.
Monthly stays are much much cheaper than a few nights or a weekly stay.
You can spend as much as you want for lodging. There are RV parks that charge $2000 a month or more - so I have heard I have never stayed in one. We average less than $9 per night for lodging.
You can eat out every night at expensive restaurants. Living that way will run your costs way up. We eat out a few times a month but usually at inexpensive places. Any place we stay we talk to other full timers and get the scoop on the good cheap restaurants.
We belong to Passport America. This gives us 1/2 price stays in participating parks. There are some restrictions in some parks like a one to three day limit on stays, no week end or holiday stays. But since we use them in transit that is not a problem for us.
Like most other full timers our wardrobe is simple - tee shirts, shorts, and jogging pants for the most part. We do carry a funeral/wedding dress and suit for those occasions. I have one tie, one white shirt, and one pair of dress shoes. These have been worn twice in 8 years.
We do have some “go to town” slacks, polo shirts and so forth that we wear from time to time but they last a long time. So our costs for clothes are low.
I really appreciate your answers to all the questions. This has been very informative and interesting. If you do start looking at Grand Junction to settle, start a thread asking about it if you want. That’s where I last moved from and I know others here are either in GJ still or nearby. It’s a great locale, especially as a jumping off spot for outdoor adventures and we’ll answer what we can. What you’re doin’ is pretty cool, Diver. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome and many thanks for the offer.
I sure didn’t think there would be so much interest in the full timing life style.
We lived in Grand Junction many years ago and still have family there. We usually stop by for a couple of months in the fall for Thanksgiving.
We inherited 1/3 of a commercial peach orchard in Palisade when my sister in law passed away last Feb. and my wife is the executrix of the estate. My wife’s 94 year old mother lives in Palisade and my sister in law took care of her - she still lives alone but doesn’t drive and needs some other help.
Because of that we are currently staying at the orchard. My sister in law had put in a full hook up RV site for us to use when we visited and that is where we are now.
Until Mom passes we will probably stay here in the summers. After she passes we will sell the orchard and house.
My wife’s other sister that lives across the highway will take over her care when we head south for the winter.
As you say it’s a neat place with nearby access to a lot of beautiful places.
Do you ever have to make a quick trip to someplace far away, such as across the continent, or overseas, such that you need to fly?
If so, do you drive your RV to the airport?
One suggestion that I would make to anybody contemplating this lifestyle: rent a motorhome first and take an extended trip of a month or more in it. Then think about whether or not you would be able to cope with close quarters and spartan living 24/7/365. It sounds like a romantic adventure, but the romance can pale quickly and the adventure can become tedious. I used to sell motorhomes and we had a lot of consignments on the lot from retired people who discovered that they really weren’t suited for life on the road. Additionally, you are purchasing a depreciating asset. It’s basically a rolling money pit and you will never recoup the money you spend for it. Think car on steroids. A change of tires for my class ‘C’ was $1800. Or you may discover that you absolutely love the entire experience. Just make sure you have a parachute.
Haven’t so far. We have made several three week dive trips to Bonaire. We left the Rv in an Rv park when we went.
The two dogs got too old to kennel so we haven’t gone for a few years. With them gone now, we are thinking about going again. We just have to figure out what to do with Damncat.
That’s good advice.
The life sure isn’t for everyone. There are a lot of us out here that love it but there have been some that discovered it wasn’t what they dreamed it would be.
In my humble opinion those that sell their home and use the money to buy a depreciating asset and have no exit plan are making a mistake, but I know quite a few that have done that.
In our case we are sort of “accidental” full timers.
We didn’t intend to full time, just wanted to take a three to six month trip around the country visiting friends and family and then find some warmer, cheaper place than NH to buy or build a house.
We threw away stuff, gave stuff to places that could make use of it and distributed as much as possible to our kids.
We put all of the rest of our stuff in storage so we wouldn’t have to go back to NH if the house sold quickly and it was still cold and yucky there.
We headed out in October and while we were in TX the house did sell quickly (in a month). We put the money away and continued on our trip.
We found after about a year that we were having so much fun traveling and having no ties to a stick house that we decided to keep on full timing. We traded the 96 motor home in on a new 2004 with a lot more CCC (cargo carrying capacity), storage space and two slides.
We did not use the house money so that is still put away for our exit plan.
Instead of a big ol diesel pusher that cost $300,000 or more we bought a more modest coach that is perfectly adequate and didn’t use up a bunch of our retirement funds.
Storage space and slides are really critical. Many people hate slides because of the extra maintenance and weight, but they really give you a better feeling of leg room. We have two slides on our class ‘C’ that makes a huge difference in doing even simple chores. It also allows us to be able to walk around the bed. While climbing over somebody can be fun, it’s really annoying with a full bladder and or when you’re sleeping. Class ‘A’ motorhomes are much more comfortable, also. The furniture is designed for full-sized adults and to be lived in. The only complaint I have about my motorhome is that the living/dining seating is so damned uncomfortable. The only downside to lots of storage is that people tend to overload their motorhomes. This can be dangerous on the road, as the extra weight affects handling.
Thank you so much for doing this! I’m sorry it took me so long to find it!
I’m considering buying a Class “C” for vacationing and visiting family. I am just thinking in terms of making the logistics of visiting far-flung family a little easier. Traveling alone with a toddler, I found it very difficult to work in bathroom trips and coffee stops without waking her up for the night. It would be sooo much easier if all that was on board.
What advice do you have for purchasing a used RV? Slides, for my purposes (I can’t see us spending more then 2-3 nights in a row on board) look like a maintenance headache. Do they tend to break down? What else should I think about? If it has slides, does that mean the space is unusable when they’re not open? (like, could I walk through to the bathroom with it closed?) I see 4-year-old Class c’s available from Rental companies for about $20,000. Would I be likely to get a well-maintained vehicle that way?
Also, could you talk a bit about the basic logistics?
What is really involved in “dumping?” Is it smelly? Will I need a shower afterwards?
How much did it cost to put the hookup in at your sister’s place?
How much physical strength is required to attach to a hookup?
Do you have trouble parking when you visit family/friends?
Can you have dinner in the oven while you travel, or can you only cook while stopped?
Can folks safely sleep in bed while in motion, (is there such a thing as a bed-seatbelt?) or do you stay strapped in the seats?
Do the rear seats have seatbelts too, or do you have to ride in the cab?
Why do RVs have a ladder up to the roof? do you have to climb up there often?
You know, the very basics? Or is there a site/publication you can point me to?
Thanks again!
I don’t want to steal Diver’s thunder, but since I own a Class ‘C’, I can answer a few of those questions. My first motorhome was a Winnebago Warrior, very similar to this one. It had a Toyota chassis, was 21 feet long, and got 14 mpg. My wife and I slept in it just fine, she on the fold-down couch, and me in the overcab. We bought it used for $14,000 and used it for many weekend trips for nearly five years. No slides, small holding tanks, nothing fancy. You absolutely can get by without slides, and you’ll pay less money for your rig without them. For an extended stay, it’s going to be cramped, however.
Dumping isn’t pleasant, but you wear rubber gloves and make sure everything is rinsed off before stowing. Keep hand sanitizer close by and rinse off your shoe bottoms before going back inside.
Hookups take no strength at all. Plug in power, connect sewer and water hoses. Done.
Not a good idea to cook while driving. Things move around. Ditto on not having seatbelts, but I see why you’re asking. Normally, the dining table bench seats have seatbelts.
The Good Samwebsite has a ton of information, and a message board where you can find help with anything RV.
Chefguy knows more about Class Cs than I do because I have never owned one and I can’t add much.
I can say that I believe they will have a seat belt for each person it can sleep. If it can sleep 6 there should be 6 seat belts. None on beds as far as I know.
I would be leery of a rental unit because it will have spent most of it’s life being used by folks that don’t know much about RVs.
Like anything mechanical slides can malfunction but in my experience it hasn’t been a big problem. They sure do open the inside up.
On motor homes I have not seen any that limited access to bathrooms and so forth with the slide closed.
On mine there are two cabinet doors on the bedroom credenza that can’t be opened with the bedroom slide closed.
The cost for the hook up wasn’t too much. It was next to a large outbuilding. She added a tee to an existing sewer line, added a 30 amp electrical box and we used an existing water outlet. Maybe $40 worth of parts and ten hours labor for the handyman. Probably less than $200 altogether.
When visiting if we don’t have a good place to park we go to a local RV park.
We generally don’t cook underway but have on occasion (rarely) put something in a crockpot placed in the sink. When it’s hot we run the generator so that the two house ACs can be used instead of the dash air. Then we will have power for the crockpot.
There are a couple of good forums where you can get an answer to just about any question concerning class Cs.
One is http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php
Another is http://www.rv.net/forum/
I go up on the roof to wash it and to check the caulking around things like the roof vents and the skylight. Also to lubricate the off the air antenna (batwing) and the satellite dish.
In addition with mine the fiberglass roof edge caulking has to be inspected twice a year to maintain the ten year warranty.