Ready to retire and fulltime RV


Sarge

New Member
Hey folks,
Great forum. I am getting ready to retire and want to full time RV. I intend to sell my house and all furnishings, but I was thinking if any of you know of someone who is ready to quit full timing and would like to trade their rig for a house and 6 lots in a small town (pop 110) in SE KS let me know. It would save me selling everything then looking for a rig. Thanks.
 

Kirk

Senior Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Where in Kansas? I grew up there and most of my family is still there. To reach a large number of fulltimers, you might want to visit the Escapees RV Club forums as they have a very large number of them. You can find them at www.escapees.com
 

JanetG

New Member
RE: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Maybe you should ease into fulltiming, Sarge. Take a few months to travel, then return. Then take another four months, etc. Or perhaps you could rent your house for a year to a teacher before you plunge right into fulltiming. Whadda ya' think? Fulltiming is so different from a stay at home life. You might want to get your toes wet before jumping in completely. Good luck!
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Hey Sarge, JanetG is right about easing into full-timing. I have talked to many RV'ers who tried full-timing and it didn't work out. most of them are 4 or 5 month a year RV'ers now. However, it costs lots of money to go full-time and then back out and buy a house again. In any case, you should probably keep the things you really don't want to part with in storage for awhile. It took my wife 1 week to get right into full-timing forever. It took me 18 mos and a break of 18 mos before I really got over the feeling that I had to have a job. Now I'm just a lazy no good full-timer, traveling around the U.S. having fun. :laugh:
 

Sarge

New Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Thanks for all the advise. Don't think I can afford to part time rv, but I will think on it and see if I can.

Kirk,
I'm in Elk Co. SE KS. About 32 miles straight west of Indpendence, KS. Where did you grow up at?
 

hertig

Senior Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

??? How can you afford to full time, but not afford to part time?
 

C Nash

Senior Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

maybe part timing calls for keeping up the old stick house and yards :laugh:
 

Sarge

New Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

That's right C. Nash, can't have both. I'd have to sell my place to get a good enough rig.
 

DL Rupper

Senior Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Been there done that. Sold the house to get a nice rig. It worked out ok, but you really need to research everything before you commit. Surprises have a habit of creating a "gotcha". We started thinking about full-timing 19 years before I retired. Got serious 3 years before retirement. The last 6 mos before we took off were still hectic and wild. Then the second thoughts still popped up for a couple of years. Now it's all fun. :)
 

Kirk

Senior Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Sarge,
I grew up on a farm in Morris County, about mid way between Junction City and Council Grove. I left to join the Navy when I graduated from HS at 17 and have never been back except to visit. I still have family in Wichita, Council Grove and a few other places around Kansas.

As to going fulltime, we sold our house 7 1/2 years ago and hit the road. While it is true that isn't for everyone, it has been a wonder full life for us. We do a lot of volunteering for our site and that keeps the costs down and gives us a chance to fell useful, stay busy and to learn all kinds of new things. If you are interested, I would invite you to visit the URL in my signature as it tells the story of how we live.
 

Sarge

New Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Kirk,
I just finished with your site. Very good information and enjoyable reading. I was especially interested in the volunteer work that you do for your site and the parks that you described in detail. That would make fulltiming much easier for me since I will be relying on my military retirement and a small (very small) state retirement until I start drawing social security in 2 1/2 years. Thanks for the info.
 

USMC

Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Hi Sarge,
I'm retired military and we spend a lot of time at military camp grounds, also they have camp host positions available, you might look into that. later Jim
 

Kirk

Senior Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Sarge,
I'm glad that you enjoyed the site! I have another new page about to go up from Montana. We love the volunteer lifestyle and we find that when not paid you can be much more selective in what you choose to do, as well as where. We choose our next position both by where it is and by what they ask us to do. We look to find places with new experiences and new things to learn. Our next stop will be Joshua Tree National Park for Oct.-Dec.
 

TexasLily

New Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Sarge,
Please continue to post your experiences about making this hugh life-change. Your experiences will blaze a trail for those of us to hope to do the same thing in a matter of a few years. Your postings shall be read with great interest.

Lily
 

bloozeharp

New Member
RE: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

I would certainly like to be able to hang on to my home and also buy a MH but no such luck (or bucks). The realtor starts showing our lake home this week. I have enough equity in the home to purchase a fairly late model MH (looking hard at the Foretravels). The second guessing seems to be getting a little stronger as this goes along, but, my wife and I have reached the age where you have to decide whether you want to continue in the rut OR get on with a new adventure. Having been a long haul trucker for a number of years, I know what the road is and also know that there is a lot of great country to expierence out there. My wife is a traveling nurse and is the adventuresome type-she's game to let it rip. So, fulltiming, here we come!!! I've been poring over the various forums 2-3 hrs a day for over a month now and will continue to do so until my home sells and then I feel I should be able to make a decent educated purchase of my NEW home. Still amazes me how much pertinent info is available on these sites and blogs.
 

bloozeharp

New Member
RE: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." :cool:
 

Sarge

New Member
RE: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Well, I'm still not on the road. I've been looking a motor homes both on lots and on ebay. I really don't feel I know enough about them to make an intelligent decision when it comes to buying one. It started out that I was looking a some that were around 30ft and wasn't sure I could live in the confines of a motor home so I decided that I needed one at least 35ft. Then I decided that I needed one with a slide. Then I decided that I needed one with leveling jacks for when I boon docked. Then I decided I needed one with the tow package already on it. Then I decided that I needed one with a back up camera. Then I started thinking: What if I break down. What if something goes wrong with the plumbing system or the generator, or the a/c or heater. What if I don't have enough money. What if I get lost somewhere, what if a meteor lands on me, what if what if what if. This has all been very taxing on my poor little old pea brain. I'll drop in here from time to time and let you all know how I am progressing. I have been asking questions of Kirk and he has been very helpful. I'm sure I'll be bugging him some more.

Hey bloozeharp. Does that handle indicate that you are a harp player? I'm a hillbilly harp player, not too good at blues, but working on it.
 

bloozeharp

New Member
RE: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Yeah Sarge, heard my first serious harp player playing the blues back in the early 60's. Been playing since. Several years ago I sobered up, got right with the Lord, and now play with a southern gospel group. Life is good!
 

forever free

New Member
Re: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

Sarge, don't know what your situation is with the house and lots but if you can possibly do as we are you might want to check into it. We have 7 acres in the country about 7 miles outside of town. Our daughter and SIL just relocated here from Fla. and have temporarily moved into our house allowing us to start our full-timing while still sitting in our driveway. They're looking into putting their own house on part of the property. Next Oct. our other daughter and SIL, he's retiring from Coast Guard, are moving back here and taking over this house. When we bought our first 5vr we installed two full-hookup RV sites next to the house, one for us and one for visitors. We are using one now permanently while easing into full-timing. Later we hope to move to and start workcamping at a local campground to start a resume since workcamping appeals to us. I'm not retired yet but quickly headed that way. Maybe you could look into putting a n RV site on one of your lots, if permitted by local authorities, while renting out your house or prepping to sell it. Just some food for thought. Our situation is working well for us and we're looking forward to our future adventures. Kepp us informed on your progress.
 

Sarge

New Member
RE: Ready to retire and fulltime RV

forever free,
I wish I could do that, but can't keep the house etc and also buy a motor home. No authority in this little town, you can pretty much do what you want. It would be nice if I was in a situation to do that.
 
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