New To Full Time Rv'ing. Home Base Considerations. (information, transport, easy)

[Don&Susan]

We are near retirement. Well, actually I am retired but my wife has a year to go. We want to sell it all then and do the "full time" RV thing but we have been getting a little discouraged about the problems that may face us when it comes time to register vehicles, renew driver licenses, and continue to carry insurance (both vehicle and health) if we sell our home and don't have a permanent address anymore. Will just a P.O. Box do? From what we've read, it doesn't appear so. There's many questions concerning the legal issues but we have found no one who is actually willing to say how they solved these issues permanently. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[StealthRabbit]

There are many options for you, but generally full-timers have a mail forwarding service that bulk ships their mail at their direction. Many advantages to having your domicile in particular states, but the No income tax states are popular (which you are aware in FL). SD has a very short domicile requirement (1 night yr) thus folks use it, and they often register their vehicles in neighboring MT (Sale tax free). Same happens in WA and OR.

For bills and banking, do most via internet. (Cell phones and internet have made full-timing much ez'r).

I would suggest hanging out at escapees.com for information and look into the classes they offer to aid in the transition. Escapees.com

[Don&Susan]

We thank you, StealthRabbit, for your very quick response and for your information. We will check out the website you mentioned and try to learn more.

Don & Susan

[poster]

Also if you have children or siblings you could maintain your "official" domain at their home. Keep a phone line there in your name or actually lease a room from them to prove your residence. All depending on what paper work is required by the state for a license and such.

For my future planning I happen to have cousins in both South Dakota and Montana

[Don&Susan]

Hi poster.

Thanks for the advice. We have no children but do have a cousin in Colorado but I would not want to bother him with this. We'll try and find another way if possible.

[rtandc]

Escapees is great you can also check out Full Time RVer » Sign up for the Full Time RVer eNewsletter for info also

[Don&Susan]

Thank you, rtandc.

We have seen Full Time RVer. It is very useful but still, we can't seem to actually find anyone who can tell us exactly what they did to be legal as full timers.

[moved]

You can get a mailbox at a Private Mailbox place, like the UPS store. It gives you an actual street address, and you can leave a certain amount of $$ with them to forward your mail. When you reach a place where you're going to stay for a little while, you just call them up, give them the address to send it to, and it goes out Priority Mail, usually the same day.

As for your phone, a cell phone will work fine. If you have a laptop, you can pay your bills online, if you don't you can use a library computer.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Don&Susan

... we can't seem to actually find anyone who can tell us exactly what they did to be legal as full timers.

This will vary by state as far as what they consider 'residency / domicile' requirement. Many are 6 months + one day, BUT they should have exceptions for 'fulltimers'. You will need a street address for Licenses and taxes and insurance, but many RV parks and mail forwarding services offer this.

I would be concerned with:

• Auto-bill pay
• State and county taxes
• Healthcare options that are transportable.
• Vehicle registration and emission req.
• Dependable mail forwarding.

Then I would get a cell phone and broadband card for computer, and 'Hit-the-road'

[mrschilicook]

Before my husband died, we were "part-timers". We traveled several months out of the year but had a residence in Nevada. Many of our friends are full-timers.

Several are residents of Texas via the Escapee's club. The club provides a legal address for "residence" which allows them to vote, rec. mail, register vehicles, and all of those other things that require an address to accomplish.
Most of them have a checking account in Texas but many of them have also kept their established banks since most bills are paid either automatically or on-line via their bank. It's located in Livingston Texas and has tens of thousands of members. It is more than just a mail service and most of the full-timers I know prefer it over some of the other alternatives.

I have two friends who chose different states. One chose Florida and one chose either N or S Dakota because of the sales tax laws and changing insurance rules. They established residence via a mail service (they are advertised in Motorhome Mag) and again, set up a checking account and registered to vote. Their mail is forwarded to them as needed to whatever campground they request.

As far as what determines residency you should also be asking what determines your NOT a resident. I know that some states assumes your a resident if your in the state X number of days..and expects you to pro-rate the residency for income tax purposes. Of course they have to figure out your there first.

Good luck. I think everyone who is entering the full-time thing has this problems...it's kind of like retiring...the "Where" is the hardest question. The rest is easy.