Early in the full-time process

[sworron]

Hi, everyone:

Just joined the forum. Me and my wife are looking to sell our house and buy an RV and DRW truck in a couple of years to start our full-time RV adventure. We're still in the research stage now, but really like the Solitude 375RES. We're reading, researching and studying a lot, but I can't wait to pick your brains on all the details. I can see from the posts, a lot of people on this forum who have done this already have a lot of insights to share and I'm looking forward to learning from everyone.

Thanks for letting us join you in you RV lifestyle,

Scott and Cindy

[el Rojo]

Welcome aboard!

[D2Reid]

Hi, everyone:

Me and my wife are looking to sell our house and buy an RV and DRW truck in a couple of years ...

Scott and Cindy

Welcome to the forum. Like you guys we started planning our retirement full timing adventure years before the event. It became a hobby. At one point we had looked at so many RV's I finally had to start a spiral note book that I could put brochures and pages of notes in to keep them all straight. The other thing for you to start now is downsizing the house. It got a little intense for us trying to do it all in a few weeks. Go clean the attic out.

One rule that we used to determine if we needed something or not; If you haven't used it in the last year you don't need it, unless it holds great sentimental value.

[Hobo Bill]

Welcome. It is so good you are planning ahead. We have only been full timing for 8 months, but had planned it for years. Sold everything too. Downsizing will be your greatest challenge, both mentally and physically, If you have been in your stick house for any length of time you will have accumulated tons of stuff. We actually did it on two steps ... sold our house and moved into an appartment for one year, then downsized again. For us that was mentally easier. We got our 5th wheel a year before we went full timing, and just had it at a park for weekends. That gave us the chance to take a few short trips and learn. We hit the road in December. We only have 6,200 miles but we are happy. Good luck and ask questions if you have them.

[sworron]

Downsizing will be your greatest challenge, both mentally and physically,

Hi, Hobo Bill. I see you're from Cuyahoga Falls, OH. We live in Kent, OH and before that we lived in Cuyahoga Falls. Wow, what a small world. Thanks for the insights (and from D2Reid), as we are learning that the downsizing is one of the biggest things to do. We're working on a plan, but I agree it will be a big challenge mentally, emotionally and physically. But I think we're up for it since the freedom and adventure is waiting on the other size.

[Steven@147]

Yes Welcome! We just went fulltime July 4th after a year of planning and execution. Yes downsizing and getting rid of stuff was the biggest challenge for us as well. We have been married for 42 years and had a 2700 sq ft house full of stuff. Last xmas we rented a Penske truck and filled it up with everything our kids wanted and drove it from Texas up to Indiana and Ohio to our kids. That got rid of some stuff. Then started having garage sales spring of this year. We listed our house July 1st thinking to get it on the market, didn't know how long it might take to sell. Well we had an offer in only one day on the market with a 30 day closing. We then had to hustle to get rid of the last of our stuff to empty out the house. A lot of donations to the Salvation Army and Goodwill just to get rid of the stuff.

At the same time as downsizing we were researching for the fulltime rig we wanted. Last year in February we bought the RV we wanted and a new tow vehicle, that allowed us to take a break now and then from downsizing, take the rig out and get used to living in it. Additionally all through this time we have been planning our domicile, maintaining our Texas residency with fulltiming, change of address and changes in healthcare and vehicle insurance changes.
The Escapee's RV group has been invaluable in helping us plan and execute. The last 30 days have been stressful to say the least because our house sold so fast. Now we are beginning to relax in a long term RV park to catch our breath and plan for the next adventures in fulltiming.

Good luck to you, several of us here have gone though the process. Ask questions, we can share advice on what we did and how we navigated the change to fulltiming.

[Second Chance]

Choosing your RV and tow vehicle is only a small part of the full-time lifestyle. Suggested reading:

Read everything under the "Full-Time RVing" heading in the menus on the left here:

https://www.rv-dreams.com/

Escapees RV Club resources:

https://www.rvnetwork.com/forum/36-g...g-to-fulltime/

Domicile (an extremely important component): https://www.escapees.com/education/domicile/

Escapees RV Club also offers mail forwarding services with an address that serves as your legal domicile (as do other organizations).

Rob