Men and Women retiring alone to a new city/state -- where will you go and why? (beach, physically)

[Tesaje]

Originally Posted by miruca

I love the RV option too ...and Anamoly provide some good advice on RV's. I have been looking at them even though my retirement plans are on hold. From what I have read, they do not seem to be an inexpensive option - either to buy or to use.

I've been researching them and other options. Small ones like the RoadTrek are very expensive - more than $80k and on up. They are a lot more expensive than the bigger class Cs. 15mpg is pretty low mileage but better than the 6-8 the big buses get. When you add up all the costs, it ends up that you spend a long, long time in nice hotels before you break even. So, I think the RV option is off the table for me.

I'm about to embark on a quick trek half way across the country to ferry the little dog I adopted to my mother. I'm also taking my sickly elderly cat along so I can attend to his needs. I set up a bed in the back of my wagon and just got a nice aerodynamic car top carrier. (I've got a non-regulation dog walk to take out there so the dog gets her physical therapy continued in her new life.) So now, the dog walk can go into the carrier and I can camp in my car with the animals. I figure any extra luggage that is in the way at night can go into the carrier even if the total weight is too much to drive with. I'll get a test out of the set up to see how well this works. If it doesn't, there are always motels.

My brother has one of these on the same kind of car and he says there is little, if any, gas mileage hit. So, I guess I'll find out soon.

[karcon]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Consider the 'guest-home' option, as I've previously mentioned, these 'home-stays' have really 'made-my-vacations'. (from social aspect, food, culture, and helpful host info).

Yikes! I'm itching for a road trip, (tho I just got back from an ideal day at the North OR Coast). A friend from Singapore showed up expected this AM, What a great Day at the coast. ~ 70F, October colors and bright sunset over Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, and perfect afternoon lighting for excellent pics at Hug Point

Thank you so much for this information! I too have wanderlust! Would love to spend a year roadtreking around the country. But I want to go to Europe and Africa too! Too little time, way too little money - so many desires! Am definitely going to check some of your suggestions out. And Cannon Beach - sigh. I just got an email from one of the hotels I stayed in last year giving me return/off season discounts. Will have to see if I can work this out. My son and his girlfriend just completed six months touring throughout Mexico and Central America and have now relocated permanently (at least for the time being) to Portland! Including my daughter, we are a traveling family! Call us gypsies!

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Tesaje

I've been researching them and other options. Small ones like the RoadTrek are very expensive - more than $80k and on up. ... When you add up all the costs, it ends up that you spend a long, long time in nice hotels before you break even. So, I think the RV option is off the table for me....

Agreed, thus I consider an RV as a short term solution.

1. Determine a block of time for travel;
2. You can buy a one-owner RV with under 50,000 miles for ~$20 - 25K.
3. Additionally, buy a 'slightly used (some can be sold 3x)' national RV resort membership for $1000 (Premier programs allow up to 14 days in each park and only require one day 'out-of-park' between parks)
4. Plan your route, incorporating the Resort Locations and time period you would like for scouting.
5. Hit the road.
6. Come home or find new home.
7. Sell RV FAST (before something breaks!)
8. Dream
9. Plan next adventure (not too fully as you age ) Might be awhile... or need some part-time employment

But I want to go to Europe and Africa too!

This is where Guest Homes shine!! International trips are really beneficial for the 'social / culture' assistance of a guest home. One of my directories has hundreds of places in The Netherlands, as they are a very accommodating culture. Africa is a bit more sparse and challenging, but there are places in my directories, and my step-dad 'sojourned' in Africa at the age of 75. He had a great time, tho it was a passion / quest. Another 80 yr old friend took a 3 week 'flying' trip around Africa with ~ 20 people in a DC3. It was very spendy, but absolutely fabulous. They landed on dirt strips all over the continent, (including the crater of a volcano) and stayed in back-country villages. WoW! The pictures and adventure stories were amazing.

Home swapping is also very big for international travel, especially amongst teachers from Europe and 'down-under'. It has worked well for those I know who have done it.

RV rental is much more affordable in Europe, as it is very common. There is one couple from Canada who shipped their Rialta to Europe, and have been flying back and forth a few years to enjoy travels there. (they have a HUGE dog that goes with them)

[Gandalara]

Has anyone every used Elderhostel? ( Elderhostel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) - Now known as Exploritas, for some reason (Exploritas: Educational Travel and Learning Vacations for Adults from Alaska to Italy)

Some one I know used it years and years ago, but their web pages just look like a travel agency now ...

Just wondering if anyone has some recent experience with them.

[Tesaje]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Agreed, thus I consider an RV as a short term solution.

1. Determine a block of time for travel;
2. You can buy a one-owner RV with under 50,000 miles for ~$20 - 25K.
3. Additionally, buy a 'slightly used (some can be sold 3x)' national RV resort membership for $1000 (Premier programs allow up to 14 days in each park and only require one day 'out-of-park' between parks)
4. Plan your route, incorporating the Resort Locations and time period you would like for scouting.
5. Hit the road.
6. Come home or find new home.
7. Sell RV FAST (before something breaks!)
8. Dream
9. Plan next adventure (not too fully as you age ) Might be awhile... or need some part-time employment

This really doesn't make sense economically. For $21-26K upfront investment plus higher fuel costs in running an RV, plus the camping fees. Let's see, conservatively, this would take 260 days of a $100 hotel room before I would just break even. RV only makes economic sense if you spend a lot of time in them. Short term, it makes no sense at all.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Tesaje

[/list] This really doesn't make sense economically. For $21-26K upfront investment plus higher fuel costs in running an RV, plus the camping fees. Let's see, conservatively, this would take 260 days of a $100 hotel room before I would just break even. RV only makes economic sense if you spend a lot of time in them. Short term, it makes no sense at all.

We do math a little differently, so it works for my short term objective.
Buy $25k, travel for one year (No housing expense beyond MH)
Sell $20k, one year and 20k miles later

Camping membership $1,000, annual fee $500, - Sell one yr later for $1,000

one yr in RV = $5000 + $500 + Maint, Insurance, & fuel (depends on where you want to go) + 2 nights / month 'out-of- resort' @$30 (can boondock between parks for free)

20,000miles @ 20 mpg = ~$2,500
= ~ $9,500 for a yr of transportation, entertainment, education, & Lodging.

That is less than I'm paying for property taxes alone, so it makes sense at the moment + I have wanderlust. That can be an expensive habit

As mentioned, I prefer to use guest homes for travel, but even at a cheap $20 / night it adds up. Especially for a yr, as I would likely need one of your $100 hotels once / week.

[Tesaje]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

We do math a little differently, so it works for my short term objective.
Buy $25k, travel for one year (No housing expense beyond MH)
Sell $20k, one year and 20k miles later

Camping membership $1,000, annual fee $500, - Sell one yr later for $1,000

one yr in RV = $5000 + $500 + Maint, Insurance, & fuel (depends on where you want to go) + 2 nights / month 'out-of- resort' @$30 (can boondock between parks for free)

20,000miles @ 20 mpg = ~$2,500
= ~ $9,500 for a yr of transportation, entertainment, education, & Lodging.

That is less than I'm paying for property taxes alone, so it makes sense at the moment + I have wanderlust. That can be an expensive habit

As mentioned, I prefer to use guest homes for travel, but even at a cheap $20 / night it adds up. Especially for a yr, as I would likely need one of your $100 hotels once / week.

Ok, I see you didn't really mean short term, but rather full time living in the RV for 1 year. That is an entirely different calculation than what most of us were thinking of using one for vacationing. With full timing and no house base, the economics are different. For my consideration, the house remains as a base and the rv would be roaming periods but not full time.

But even at $20/ night/ guest house, it adds up to only $7300/yr full time or $608/ month. Pretty cheap and less than your sell off the rv to regain some money approach..

[ConeyIsBabe]

The RV-life had always been my major fantasy ~ to live the gypsy life and see the country I tried it briefly after retiring and flying from e/coast to w/coast. My friend had a small RV and we stayed at a couple of nice national parks. After about a month, my fantasy turned into reality and I was glad to find a rental home in Napa

The RV was too small for my liking ~ I got black & blue from bumping into the bedroom walls and other walls in the rig. Most of the national parks had noisy, rowdy kids ~ I hated the idea of going outside in the COLD evenings and mornings to use the shower facility (which was not heated).

There's more, but FOR ME........... I'd much rather pull up to a good motel in a nice location and be done with it

[brightdoglover]

I'd consider some sort of small RV or trailer (14' Casita or Eco?) but not as an alternative to lodging. I'd see it as a way to spend weeks or months in a selected place without renting or buying. I'd prefer something I can pull with the smallest possible vehicle so I'd have transportation where I am. (My minimal requirement being some sort of real toilet/shower, maybe a wet bath). There are non-bathroom pull trailers that can be pulled by small cars, but I think my minimal RV would need a medium-sized SUV.
Daydream, daydream.

[mollyblythe]

Add me to the wanderlust crew---and the RVer wannabes. I've driven cross country (by car) a couple of times and around the PNW a number of times. Always wanted to have a class c RV so I could just park when I got ready, stay as long as I want and still have many of the comforts of home. (There are some beautiful spots with no motel nearby. )

We could have a Retiring Women Caravan. I luvva parade.