Full-timing

Howard and Linda Payne of RV-Dreams.com are going to be giving a seminar on the full-timing lifestyle in the upcoming Tampa RV Super Show in January. Howard has asked the readers of his daily blog to give him suggestions on what they advice they consider important or what questions those who are new to the lifestyle would like answered.

When people have asked us about full-timing, the first thing we tell them as a couple is that they must like each other. Now that sounds strange, but you have to realize that as a full-timer, you will be downsizing from a three, four or five bedroom house to a box that by law can have no more than 400 interior square feet. In our fifth wheel, that translates to a living room/kitchen floor space that is three paces wide by eight paces long. Pace that off on your driveway to get an idea of the size and you'll see what we mean by needing to like each other.

Beyond that, if you don't already own a rig you have to decide on whether you'd prefer to live in a motorhome, a fifth-wheel, a travel trailer, a Class C, a Class B or a truck camper. Is it sounding complex? There are benefits and downsides to each and you'll get a different opinion on what to buy from each full-timer you talk to about it.

You have to work out a budget; can you afford to spend every night in a private campground or will you have to rely on state/county/city parks and/or boondocking? What is it in your current lifestyle that you can't give up? Eating out every night? Playing golf three times a week? New square-dancing costume every month? Will your savings/pension/SS be sufficient to allow you to enjoy those things you currently enjoy?

Do you have a goal in traveling? Ours is to play golf in all fifty states, although we're in no hurry to check each state off our list (as mentioned before, we're starting our eighth year of full-timing and still have ten states we've not explored). A couple we met this summer has the goal of visiting every national park/monument/historic site in the U.S. Others use their time to visit friends and family across the country. Some folks work full or part time and just travel from job to job.

There's a lot to consider before making the decision to become a full-timer. Even the definition of full-timer varies; some folks take their rig to one campground in the summer and park it there for six months then move south to a second campground for the remainder of the year and call that full-timing. Some still own a house, but travel for nine to twelve months of the year and call it full-timing. Most of us who full-time have sold our homes and stay on the move twelve months of the year, whether it be moving every two to three days, once a week, bi-monthly, monthly or whatever. But I have to say choosing this lifestyle is one of the smartest decisions we ever made.

So, did that answer any questions?