Full timers question ?

We sold the house and made out pretty good. Pick-up (2015 Ford F250 SD) was paid off already then purchased a 2023 Grand Design reflection 370FLS. We placed what was left in a CD. We start our fulltime adventure end of Jun 2024, then drive around spending a month and there then decide where to lay down roots again. Tired of the snow, so probably drive and stay in Spokane, Wa area then head south for the winter. Will we buy a home again? That is a bridge we'll cross when we get there. Our grand kids are in the Spokane area so we'll just stay till winter. Apartment living perhaps when we're done. Houses are pretty expensive up here so we'll see
 
There is absolutely zero chance we would ever sell everything and live in an rv full time. However we do love to take extended 4-5 week long trips and those are awesome but with the reality of how poorly rv’s are made and they don’t hold up I could never be ok with it ever being our only home.
It’s a terrible investment financially and selling only to reenter the market later is way too risky for me. I break a lot of stuff. Our rig has been back to GD every year we’ve owned it to fix what we broke or failed. It’s never been an issue to take it to them, drop it off and then pick it up when it’s ready. That alone would not allow me to be without a home base of some sort at minimum. When we aren’t traveling it’s our second home at our farm and is setup there with full hookups.
That’s for me.
I think if selling it all is what it takes to get out there then do it! Life is short. Only you can make that decision.
 
For the full timers out there, how many of you sold your home and belongings and dove into full timing ?
We sold the house and most of our belongings, but this was after about 5 years of dreaming, planning, researching, saving, etc.

Did you start out with longer trips and then worked your way into full time and then just selling everything?
We started the planning in 2018, brought our rig home in July of 2020, then sold the house and hit the road full time spring of 2022. The first couple years before full timing was spent testing, modifying, upgrading, collecting unique parts, tools, etc. All part of our plan.

Would there be a financial advantage to selling the home and placing the funds into an interest bearing account and then just living in the RV and traveling ?
That's basically what we did, but we're living off of our retirement income, not the proceeds from the house (we keep that separate). Also, be aware if you place your house proceeds into an interest bearing account, the accrued interest over time could be considered taxable income that might push you into a different tax bracket. I kinda cringe when I hear of folks who sold their house and everything to buy their "dream RV".

It would seem to be a financial advantage, but at some point you may need to go back and purchase a home and then those funds may be depreciated after a number of years a home base of some kind seems like a safe option to have.
Friends of ours are in that pickel. They sold their house and went full time 10 years ago. Now they're ready to settle back to a house and finding their options very limiting.

Wife and I are considering selling the home and just living in the RV traveling but have concerns….
That's natural. Over time you'll find your groove. We've found people we met along the road to be very helpful.
 
We full time since 2019. We sold our home and have only a 6x10 storage unit with our belongings. Our home had a pool and we didn't want to mess with renting. Now, we love our RV, it feels like home so we are not in a hurry to buy another house. Also, we work on the road so our funds are not depleting. It is true most rv parks charge ridiculous amounts these days. They also charge ridiculous cancelation fees, so I spend hours online and on the phone trying to find those that do not. On average, we stay at about 35 different parks around the country, per year. The quality of the parks we stay at has deteriorated since Covid because we can't afford $80+ per night, or over $400 per week. The price of diesel, and food isn't helping either.
With that said, I would suggest you go on a 6-9 month trip first. If you love it and want to keep going then sell the house. If you decide it's not the glamor people make it to be, then you still have your home to go to. This will also give you a sense for what it'll cost you.
We met a young couple in 2020 with a huge Momentum toyhauler who sold their home and quit their jobs to full time. Four months in they decided they hated it and were going back. Better to be sure before getting rid of everything.
Also, if you need a mail forwarding company, that'll cost over $100 a year.
 
We full time since 2019. We sold our home and have only a 6x10 storage unit with our belongings. Our home had a pool and we didn't want to mess with renting. Now, we love our RV, it feels like home so we are not in a hurry to buy another house. Also, we work on the road so our funds are not depleting. It is true most rv parks charge ridiculous amounts these days. They also charge ridiculous cancelation fees, so I spend hours online and on the phone trying to find those that do not. On average, we stay at about 35 different parks around the country, per year. The quality of the parks we stay at has deteriorated since Covid because we can't afford $80+ per night, or over $400 per week. The price of diesel, and food isn't helping either.
With that said, I would suggest you go on a 6-9 month trip first. If you love it and want to keep going then sell the house. If you decide it's not the glamor people make it to be, then you still have your home to go to. This will also give you a sense for what it'll cost you.
We met a young couple in 2020 with a huge Momentum toyhauler who sold their home and quit their jobs to full time. Four months in they decided they hated it and were going back. Better to be sure before getting rid of everything.
Also, if you need a mail forwarding company, that'll cost over $100 a year.

We had our first long trip (3 month's) and loved it, we still have our home in Oregon, so next year we will go for 6-8 months and leave when the rainy weather comes and come back in springtime. We will need to set up the mail service probably thru escapees. Maybe we can downsize to further stretch our retirement fund. (4 bd. Home) We spent most of our time in Arizona yuma, & quartzite, and a 1 month trip into California to visit some family. There are things I like to do here in Oregon, that I can’t do when in the RV traveling. The wife is remote working at this point for a year or two so we don’t need to start 401k withdrawals. So at this point I’m not going to sell the house. We have been using our thousand trails membership and we purchased the trails collection to give us more option's.
We tracked our spending for our trip and drove about 4000mi. @$660 a month in fuel and @$300 in camp membership fees.
The most expensive stay was a 15 days at a campground at the beach $800 San Onofre beach @ Camp Pendelton.
All in all it was a good first trip for us, and we like it enough to go on a longer trip in the fall, baby steps….?
 
Travelling Vet

Rob do you use the VA for your medical. If so how do you handle doctor appointments. I get all my care from the VA and have issues that require me to see 3 different set of doctors twice yearly. To have a primary doctor I have to have a permanent address and then see the doctors near that address. Makes it difficult to just travel as I would always have to go back to home base for an extended amount of time twice a year.
You should check into travelling Vet with your local VA. They have an entire department that helps Vets like us, full-time RVer's, who use the VA. They switched my medications to Walgreens and if I need something checked or an appointment they will find the closest VA clinic for you and schedule an appointment. It has worked well for me.
 
Rob do you use the VA for your medical. If so how do you handle doctor appointments. I get all my care from the VA and have issues that require me to see 3 different set of doctors twice yearly. To have a primary doctor I have to have a permanent address and then see the doctors near that address. Makes it difficult to just travel as I would always have to go back to home base for an extended amount of time twice a year.

I'm sorry, Gary - don't know why I didn't see this before. No, I do not use the VA system. I don't like the idea of someone choosing my PCP for me and having a gatekeeper for referrals. We are "on the economy" and can select the providers we want. With Medicare as primary, Tricare for Life as secondary (and providing Part D drug benefits), we have no out-of-pocket costs for anything except meds. Those are a $12 copay for a 90-day supply from Express Scripts for Tricare.

Again - my apologies.

Rob
 
You should check into travelling Vet with your local VA. They have an entire department that helps Vets like us, full-time RVer's, who use the VA. They switched my medications to Walgreens and if I need something checked or an appointment they will find the closest VA clinic for you and schedule an appointment. It has worked well for me.

Is this traveling vet a special service the VA offers? I rely on VA now as well until Medicare kicks in next march 2025
I know they offer community care for when you aren’t near a VA med center. Thanks ?
 
Or instead of selling your house, rent it out. That coud get you several thousand dollars a month. Use a management company to keep the monkey off your back for finding an approved renter for a one year lease and those management companies usually have their own maintenance staff for repairs. Management fees are usually around 8% of the monthly rent and are tax deductible and so are repairs. Bottom line is you'll still have your home if you decide full time is not for you or maybe much later in life.
 

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