Say you’re chatting with new neighbors in a campground. They’re newbies, but you’ve been RVing for a while now. They’re considering becoming full-timers some day and wonder if you will too. What would you tell them?
Is your plan to become a full-time RVer? Do you think it’s something you’ll consider in the future? Is it something you’ll never consider?
Speaking of full-time RVers, did you know we have a newsletter for full-timers and aspiring full-timers? And, it’s not JUST for full-timers. All RVers will enjoy it! Check out last Wednesday’s issue here.
We would like to be full time RVs but family responsibilities keep us tied to our house. So we appreciate a couple of weeks a year when we get to travel and pretend.
Wife doesn’t like to be away for more than 2-3 weeks at a time, so no FT for me.
We are 2/3rds timers: winter 5 months 5th wheel RV in FL; 2 months TN home; 3 months RV north & northern NE; 2 months home – repeat. We enjoy our S&B and when the time comes that we can no longer RV we’ll finally settle down there
When my bride (of 35 years) retires in three years, we plan to be gone a lot, but we won’t become full timers.
Not a candidate for full timing. I enjoy my gardens too much, and my dogs enjoy their yard for running and hunting. We will continue to travel and camp as we have the past 20 years
There was 1 option not included in the poll. Have you ever been a Full time RV’r in the past but are no longer. My husband and I lived in a RV for 10 yrs before buying our first home.
6 months is enough
We were full timers for two years, between selling the home we lived in and relocating to the home we have now. We traveled the East Coast, north to south and then headed across Interstate 10 to California and returned on interstate 40 to Pennsylvania. Now we live in PA and take extended trips in the summer months of 4 – 6 weeks, last year we took interstate 70 to Moab, UT and then down to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fest and this year we were in New England for 5 weeks. And we spend 3 months in FL or TX in the winter. We enjoyed our time living full-time in the RV but we like having a home to come back to and spread out. I would say we are one-third timers now!
No plans for full timing but we’ve spent up to 10 months at a time while I get medical attention in Houston. May as well be full-timers! But no way. We love our home in northern NV and would never give it up.
MD Anderson I presume
You presume correctly, George. It’s the ONLY place to go if you are fighting cancer.
Been Full Timers for 10 years and love it. Have family all over, so can go see them in different states, and visit without bothering them at their place. Met great friends, seen beautiful places, and able to leave if weather is bad( mostly) . It’s not fun for everyone and we had friends that couldn’t do it, but that’s ok. You need to be comfortable. What ever you choose, enjoy it, we do.
When my wife died, I had to decide between keeping the RV or the house. I decided to keep the RV and full-time. However, I soon connected with an old friend and we live in her house and travel when we can.
Unfortunately my wife doesn’t enjoy RV’ing, so sadly we will be selling our 2020 Montana 5th wheel and tow vehicle. So definitely not full timing in my future!
I did not select an answer because I USED TO BE a full-timer … for 7 years after I retired we roamed the country in our class a, and were on the road about half the time for several years after that. We still have the same RV, and travel occasionally.
Same for me (only for us it was 8 years FT)! We now travel with a club about every two months. You needed that additional category for us!
Definitely not. Why? Three reasons. DW and I took Gaylord Maxwell’s survey at the end of one of his books (probably about full-timing) and we both failed to get a score that indicated we could full-time. Second, we lived in our RV for 8 months while our house was built and we were both relieved to get into the house when it was finally finished. Three, we took a four-month trip to Alaska and back. Well before it ended I was steeling myself periodically by reminding myself that we would be home in 7 days, 5 days, whatever. I am too tied to my family’s farm to ever surrender it and go full time.
As the saying goes, “sir, that ship has sailed.”
My hubby and I sold our 1,444 sq. ft. home to live full time in our 26’ RV in November 2020. Sure there was a bit of a learning curve, but we’re glad we did before we got any older at 70 and 66 respectively. We have kids and grandkids, other family members, and friends to visit plus we’re enjoying the freedom of not being tied down to a sticks and bricks.
I’ve become a full-time RVer, unintentionally. We had begun building a small house just a few lots away from our existing permanent, but winter only, residence. My boyfriend passed away when the house was about 1/3 complete. Since his passing and dealing with estate issues, I’ve become houseless while waiting for probate to close. As we were building out-of-pocket, I chose to sell our house (much too big for me and pup) and our older rv and buy something I felt comfortable living in, while slowly making progress on the new house. As happens in life, little stumbles along the way have kept delaying major progress so full-time is now the norm. Sometimes it’s several months parked at the property, and others it’s months in Arizona or traveling around the lower 48 states visiting family and friends. I’m comfortable with this life and find that I start getting antsy if “stuck” in one place too long!
Good for you …. always keep moving forward when life makes turns in the road
Life always gets in the way of the dream. At some point, living in a RV will come to an end, out of necessity. Driving a big rig may no longer be practical or safe and unforeseen medical needs surface. Then, having a home to live in is a better alternative than some other care facility. Problem for many will be the price of homes will no longer be affordable. Sorry for sounding pessimistic.
17 years full time. We’ve had a ball! Over 100K miles around North America. Alaska 3 times. Canada from Winnipeg, west. Baja Mexico.
👍🤙😎🍸
I used to think so, but I really enjoy coming back to our sticks and bricks house after a trip.
We full timed for 10 years in our late 60’s.
As we aged we set up a home base with sticks a bricks.
we still camp for 5 1/2 months at a favorite campground close to our home base. But cannot handle the long trips like we used to. Pushing 80.
Thank you for your time.
If full timing I could not take my shop and yard with me. I worked hard for both and that is my enjoyment. Traveling thru the summer will last as long as I can. Not selling the RV any time soon, I hope.
I thought we would but life will sometimes change your plans
Sorry to hear that, Tom. Take care. 🙂 –Diane at RVtravel.com
We never planned on becoming full timers and bought our current place with the intention of it being a home base. I even have a 40×60 garage built for the purpose of working on the RV. The only regret I have was not having a pit to drive over for working on the underside without needing to raise the RV up. Our son lives on site and takes care of the upkeep. A quote from the movie “Gone With the Wind,” “land is the only thing in the world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.”.
Several years ago my wife asked me this question and I said give me ten minutes to be ready.
She told me to enjoy my self.
We travel monthly in our motorhome but always come back home.
When we can’t travel any more, we will have a home.
We have been and I’m sick of it,I can’t wait for the housing market to get better !!
6 yrs in a 40ft box is insane..
The only thing that keeps me sane is we volunteer in state parks..
My wife’s comfort by way of owning a home for us to regroup and handle medical needs between trips is very important to me. I expect that in the unfortunate event that I outlive my wife, I can see myself spending a few years FT annoying family scattered around various locations. Mostly because I can barely manage my closet, let alone an entire home.
Already am. I jumped straight into the deep end too, my first night in a camper was the night after I bought mine to live in full time for work. But between years of camping and years of living in AirBNBs and hotels for work, I figured I could handle it. 5 months later and I can hardly imagine going back to a regular house/apartment.