Wow, I didn't see that coming...

LuFins Dad

Karla and I are reassessing our retirement goals again and she just proposed something I never considered in a million years...Full-time RV living... A couple of my college friends that married 25 years ago just became empty-nesters, so they sold the house, bought a truck and a toy hauler, and are living full time in an RV. They are currently parked at a state park on the coast of South Carolina for the next three months, are planning on going to a lake in the mountains of Tennessee for the summer, spend the harvest and fall at his cousin's farm in Kansas, and want to winter in Colorado...They both work full time, but can work remotely so this doesn't impede them. Karla's been following their blog and is now intrigued by this idea.

I fully understand the appeal, but I have to figure that's going to be a lot more expensive than she (and they) ultimately realize... I mean the fuel costs alone are going to be nuts, and I just don't trust those things to hold up. It seems like my FIL is always having to put more money in repairing his... The popout motor needs replaced, the levelers are out of whack, etc... Plus, I can't figure those things are very well insulated... I think they are likely going to be spending a fortune keeping that thing warm in a Colorado winter... Does anybody on here have long term experience with RVs?

Mik

They take a lot of maintenance.

Doctor Phibes

'RV-living' sounds so much more exotic than 'Trailer-Park'.

George K · "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

An anything you'd really want to live in is going to be expensive.

Also, figure about 6-7 mpg, with a tailwind - and the tank holds about 100 gallons.

LuFins Dad

@doctor-phibes said in Wow, I didn't see that coming...:

'RV-living' sounds so much more exotic than 'Trailer-Park'.

LOL, I admit to having a little of that prejudice, myself!

LuFins Dad

@george-k said in Wow, I didn't see that coming...:

An anything you'd really want to live in is going to be expensive.

Also, figure about 6-7 mpg, with a tailwind - and the tank holds about 100 gallons.

How about a trailer? Getting a big old honking Ford truck and pulling it?

Jolly

@lufins-dad
Boats ain't got nothing on RVs. Expensive to maintain, even the best of them.

I think it's a nice lifestyle...for awhile.

I have a friend that has a diesel Ford pickup and a gooseneck. He works at different national parks each summer. He's retired and so is his wife. At the parks, he stays for free and does a bit of lay preaching in that campground on Sundays.

Winter time, he's back at home (small retirement home).

Seems to work for him...

jon-nyc

I’ve seen people talk about it in early retirement sites and a friend did it for a year with his girlfriend as a sort of sabbatical.

One thing I’ll say is it’s not like they’re driving around all the time. The spend many weeks or even months in a location and then move on. Some pull a small car or bikes so they have transportation at the destinations. My friend used a 5th wheel and a truck which he used for getting around locally.

Many also seek part time work part of the year. I’ve heard of some that work a couple months a year at Amazon warehouses, for example.

LuFins Dad

@Jolly We're kind of at a crossroads about what we want to accomplish in retirement. Our original thoughts were that we would wind up back in Pittsburgh or Cincinnati to be close to family and friends, plus the costs of living are so low that we would be able to travel extensively... Then we started reconsidering and were thinking that we would likely wind up in the general area of Luke and his future family... Now with Finley we realize that it will be very difficult to be near them both so we're thinking a little more selfishly about what we want from that time of life. Turns out that Karla wants to explore the world while I ~~just want to drink a lot~~ am not really sure...

jon-nyc

My brother in laws dad did more like what jolly describes. They’d go 8-9 months out of the year. But always had a house to come back to.

George K · "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

We've rented 34-36 foot RVs for vacation. This was in the mid 1980s. They were of middling-quality (A couple of Fleetwoods, a Holiday Rambler, and others).

Two important considerations are:

Don't look at how many people it'll "sleep." Look at how many it'll LIVE.. With two adults and 3 kids ranging from 2 to 6, it got crowded in a hurry. Granted, this is before the age of slide-outs, but even with those, it's going to be intimate.
Forget about going through any kind of drive thru, or parking in any kind of normal space should you need groceries or (cheap) Scotch. Plan on towing a vehicle for day-to-day use. If you're considering a 5th wheel, you're still looking at a big-ass truck.

jon-nyc

Yeah my buddy bought a 5th wheel and an F350. Used them for a year and then sold them again. (Apparently it’s hard and/or expensive to rent for a year)

The F350 is big.

Axtremus

Re: the couple living in RV, how will they and the various election boards determine where they are eligible to vote in any given election?

Will they become just another "disenfranchised voter" or "voter fraud' statistics?

Rich

I've got a couple friends that park them nearly year round at a local race track. They use their very little for actual traveling, so that cuts down on the maintenance. I must say, they do make for nicer than average porta-potties.

If living for months at a time at different locations were my thing, I'd just go for owning a small, cheap to maintain house/condo as a base, and travel as necessary. There seems to be no shortage of places to rent while traveling.

George K · "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

Another thing...but no intent to derail.

When we rented, the rental included the RV....and nothing else.

No cookware.
No linens.
No dishes.

Nothing. Had to pack all that shit as well.

It was fun, but, basically a PITA.

Jolly

Mom and dad had a Class C, and two Class A's (a Winnebago and a Pace Arrow). They used theirs for some traveling, but mostly they did craft shows in the Ark-la-tex and Mississippi.

Mom had her regular groceries, linens and kitchenware for the house and a complete set for just the motorhome. Much easier.

With the Class C, they started out with a small 250 Honda motorcycle on the back bumper for buzzing around after parking. That didn't last long. Dad soon had a standard shift something (usually a compact pickup with camper shell) he'd pull behind the motorhome.

Loki

Someone wise told me don’t bother thinking about retirement until you are close because the variables change so much and you will only be thinking about the context of the times in which you retire.

How far out are you?