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I wish I could do this with my husband. Honestly, we could just put a full sized mattress in our minivan, and travel in it, with occasional cheap motel stays for showering. But, the problem is, he snores! And I am a very light sleeper. We have slept in separate bedrooms ever since the oldest kid moved out, freeing up a bedroom. Now, when we travel, I rent an airbnb with at least 1 bedroom and a couch in the living room that I can sleep on. It's really limiting what we can do - no more cruises.
I always thought we would jump into an RV and travel in our retirement years. We started out with a VW camper in the early 1970s and traveled from Maine to Key West and many places in between.
Now I am glad we rented RVs with our kids and explored the national parks, especially out West, in the 1990s and did not wait until retirement. We all have had the photos and great memories to enjoy over the years. The parks were certainly busy then but manageable.
Now there are motels pretty much everywhere we want to go. I don't think the expenses of a RV are worth it to us now as well as the driving concerns on busier roads.
Plus I agree with another poster that after about 2-3 weeks we are ready to return to the comforts of home. We fly and rent cars for our long distance travels now but I also think it's great for the people who enjoy the RV lifestyle to see our beautiful country!
We never went full timing. We had friends who did and after a couple of years they found a place to settle down.
We did travel quite a bit with smaller trailers. Over the years we visited 20 National Parks and many other sights. In Arizona we joined a community based RV club wher different club members would plan and lead a caravan. Camping with friends is quite pleasant. Trips to Mexico took us to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, the Copper Canyon and some lessor known places.
I was a commercial traveler for 20 years, I take no joy from hotels, motels and endless restaurants.
We have found that we tend to run slower as we age. We "retired" from RV travel a couple of years ago after my 80th birthday.
Cruises are quite accessible for folks that live in Florida. We have come to intensely dislike flying.
We have a seasonal campsite which we park our 5th wheel on from May 1st to Oct 31st. We go up to the camper every weekend, and stay for 2 weeks during the summer. This has been our practice for 5 years now.
I would absolutely love to switch the 5th wheel up to a small bus style RV, and tow our small car around for a few months at a time. As long as it has a Diesel engine, the fuel mileage wouldn't be too bad. As for the costs of campgrounds, primitive campsites are MUCH cheaper than full hook-ups. There would be no need for full hook-up campsites as the RV is self contained. (generator, gas refrigerator, gas heat, water tanks...) One of the big things to keep costs down is to not travel constantly, as we would stay in 1 location a few weeks before moving on.
We have 3 more years until retirement, and this is what we intend to do. We will however keep a full time residence.
These next 3 years will go so slowly...
That being said...back to work for me!!! Argh!
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Oblivia
We have a seasonal campsite which we park our 5th wheel on from May 1st to Oct 31st. We go up to the camper every weekend, and stay for 2 weeks during the summer. This has been our practice for 5 years now.
I would absolutely love to switch the 5th wheel up to a small bus style RV, and tow our small car around for a few months at a time. ... One of the big things to keep costs down is to not travel constantly, as we would stay in 1 location a few weeks before moving on.
We have 3 more years until retirement, and this is what we intend to do. We will however keep a full time residence.
These next 3 years will go so slowly...
That being said...back to work for me!!! Argh!
I keep (3) rural places in 'destination areas' of USA that are FT rented out, but have RV hook-ups and shop with apartment / laundry for my use when I am in the region(for free) . I keep a CHEAP 50 mpg car at each location, so I can fly back and forth as well. Works OK during 'active' retirement, but I plan to sell these by age 80, and find a view home in a scenic area to stay put. (Near an airport and a college).
Fly / drive has worked pretty well. Our RV is small enough to fit in normal parking, so places like LV and Tucson ($3/ day parking) are good places to leave RV for awhile and fly home or to eldercare responsibilities.
FT RV will not work for us, but a mini RV allows either or both of us the RV option if then destination is appropriate. We do farm stays and private homes, so usually free parking overnight / up to a week. Often one of us will help drive to a destination, then fly away for other interests / tasks.
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 11-14-2018 at 02:05 PM..
Everyone seems to assume you that you must always be on the road and on the move if you're RVing. It's quite possible to stay long-term - or even permanently - in one RV park and live in the camper just as if it's a tiny house. Maybe someone's already pointed this out; I haven't read the entire thread.
There are so many things I loved about RV travel in our Roadtrek van (30 mpg based on diesel Sprinter chassis). Our longest trip was 8 weeks out west seeing all the wonderful national parks up close and all day long. When we wanted lunch just pull over, bathroom ditto, nap ditto. We didn't have to waste time looking for a restaurant with questionable food (I have food allergies) or gas stations with dirty bathrooms. We were able to see things and get photographs impossible without the RV van.
We were on the go so much on that trip (Florida to Utah and back) we both lost weight lol, about 10 pounds each. He had to buy new pants in Arizona because his were falling down.
It's 10 years old now and only used around town (hauls 8' lumber) cuz hub is "traveled out". Still used for local daytrips.
We'll miss it because when we started staying at hotels again we realized how convenient it is to have everything you need with you. No bedbugs. All food and drinks we like in the RV fridge. Hotels have changed since we last stayed in them, lots more chemical smells in the room. Now we have to spend more time finding restaurants and navigating to them and then back in the dark.
Our van RV was easy to drive in cities. Our RV site in New Jersey had a fantastic view of statue of Liberty with the tour boat boarding right next door. Not a "resort" park for sure but a great location.
But as stated earlier things have really changed in RV parks too. Lots less availability. Many people buying RV's and fewer places to stay the night. Oh the stories I could tell about renting an RV in Alaska (too far to drive from FL) and seeing foreign people who had never driven an RV careening off at top speed in a whopper size one.
Our marriage survived 8 weeks in a very small RV and 10 years of travel. Could we live full-time in a larger one? I could but not him, he likes his home. Speaking of that, we used our RV to drive all over Florida, 2 coasts, looking for a new home 10 years ago. Found it by driving through neighborhoods and correlating with online multi-list. No way would we have found our perfect home without the RV assist.
We've stayed at some grungy RV parks and some amazingly wonderful ones (national and state parks).
Choosing your neighbors is just as important in an RV maybe more as you are living so close.
Most people doing full time RV'ing will go back to a traditional home sooner or later. It can be an incredible experience but not for the faint of heart.
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