Not for us

[Alex_and_Tee]

Well, I’m sad to say I think my wife and I have decided that, after 6 months of full timing, it is not for us. Neither is living in a 55+ resort.

We are in Palm Creek in Casa Grande, AZ. The park is beautiful and there is lots to do here but my wife is 54 and works from home 40 hours a week. I started a machinery distributorship with a partner and I am out 3-4 days a week making sales calls during the day. So, other than the occasional show in the evening we really can’t take advantage of all there is to offer. Plus everyone here is at least 10 years older than me and probably 15-20 years older than my wife so we really don’t fit in.

As far as the motor home goes, it’s a 2022 Allegro Open Road 36LA. It’s nice enough but we miss not having the space that a home provides. Yes, I know we should have probably rented something and tried it first before buying but even spending a week or two doesn’t compare to full time living. I never thought there would be so much to do to the motor home. It’s always dumping black tanks every 4 days, recharging the soft water system every two weeks, descaling the Truma every few weeks, refilling the propane tank every other week, etc., etc.

I’m sure if I had done more homework prior to diving in I would have been better prepared but, it is what it is.

[WILDEBILL308]

I reread most of this. The OP is just moving from a nice house with lots of room to a small RV. He and wife are still working and not traveling. I can see why they are not happy with the experience.
By the way I am part time, but last year we drove 11,600 miles visited 21 states and stayed in 51 campgrounds. Not bad for part time.
Bill

[LouLawrence]

rgatijnet1 wrote:
20 years and 100,000 miles with the same coach is great.

We bought our 2nd RV in 1999 (a 1988) and kept that until we bought our current 1998 in October of 2020. Hope to keep this one for just about as long!

[rgatijnet1]

20 years and 100,000 miles with the same coach is great.

[Rice]

mtrumpet wrote:
Very interesting insight. Question: Are you still full-timing today?

Yes. I say I'd be willing to stop if I found a place to live, but wonder if I'd waver if it really happened. Having things breaking on a 20-year-old motorhome is beyond annoying, but I find a lot of psychological comfort in knowing that if I can't stand my neighbor's barking dog any more, I can just move.

And I still really like going to places I wouldn't bother to go to on purpose, like if I had two or three weeks to travel somewhere and had to prioritize. I would really miss that.

rgatijnet1 wrote:
How many miles have you logged in those 20 years?

I just checked the odometer. About 100,000. The last two years were only 2,000 each because of Covid, but otherwise, the miles per year ranged from 3,000 to 8,000.

[LouLawrence]

rgatijnet1 wrote:

Rice wrote:

mtrumpet wrote:
It seems that you dove into full timing right off the bat. Many here that eventually went full time were first weekend warriors (for lack of a better term) for many years prior to going full time.

Not us! Almost 20 years ago, we decided to start traveling fulltime, put our houses up for sale, and flew halfway across the country to pick up and drive home our first (and still only) RV--a 40-foot motorhome.

But 20 years ago, you had to come up with the idea yourself, and figure out how to get information about the nuts and bolts. Forums like this were invaluable, and there weren't bloggers and youtubers who had a financial interest in promoting the lifestyle.

And by the time that year was over, we'd put together a massive amount of knowledge. It was kind of like going to a library and researching compared to looking at a newsfeed.

These days people just kind of fall into the lifestyle--certainly the idea and very much the execution as well. Back then you had to really want it because figuring out how to make it happen was a lot of work. Nowadays there are very few barriers to entry, which can have bad results.

Plus, there's the terminology issue. Especially after the big recession, a lot of people moved into RVs as a (hopefully) cheaper alternative to a house or apartment, and called it fulltiming. Because they live fulltime in an RV.

And that's what the OP ended up doing--he said he'd paid his site rent through November, with options for two more years. I'd say (and I know people will push back) that that's not fulltiming as most people traditionally understood it.

But it gets lumped in with the fulltime travel lifestyle, when it might more appropriate to be lumped in with living in a trailer park or mobile home park lifestyle--small dwellings that don't move and are cheaper than a house or apartment. And people who aren't steeped in knowledge don't necessarily know the difference.

That's not to say that people who started fulltiming in 2003 didn't get it wrong. But I think a lot more people these days are getting it wrong because they didn't have to put in a lot of work to understand exactly what it is, and to let it marinate in their brains.

How many miles have you logged in those 20 years?

Can't answer for Rice, but we have been full timing since 1997 and traveling full time since 2000. We have logged over 300,000 miles but stopped counting a few years back. We now average 10,000-15,000 miles per year.

[mtrumpet]

Rice wrote:

mtrumpet wrote:
It seems that you dove into full timing right off the bat. Many here that eventually went full time were first weekend warriors (for lack of a better term) for many years prior to going full time.

Not us! Almost 20 years ago, we decided to start traveling fulltime, put our houses up for sale, and flew halfway across the country to pick up and drive home our first (and still only) RV--a 40-foot motorhome.

But 20 years ago, you had to come up with the idea yourself, and figure out how to get information about the nuts and bolts. Forums like this were invaluable, and there weren't bloggers and youtubers who had a financial interest in promoting the lifestyle.

And by the time that year was over, we'd put together a massive amount of knowledge. It was kind of like going to a library and researching compared to looking at a newsfeed.

These days people just kind of fall into the lifestyle--certainly the idea and very much the execution as well. Back then you had to really want it because figuring out how to make it happen was a lot of work. Nowadays there are very few barriers to entry, which can have bad results.

Plus, there's the terminology issue. Especially after the big recession, a lot of people moved into RVs as a (hopefully) cheaper alternative to a house or apartment, and called it fulltiming. Because they live fulltime in an RV.

And that's what the OP ended up doing--he said he'd paid his site rent through November, with options for two more years. I'd say (and I know people will push back) that that's not fulltiming as most people traditionally understood it.

But it gets lumped in with the fulltime travel lifestyle, when it might more appropriate to be lumped in with living in a trailer park or mobile home park lifestyle--small dwellings that don't move and are cheaper than a house or apartment. And people who aren't steeped in knowledge don't necessarily know the difference.

That's not to say that people who started fulltiming in 2003 didn't get it wrong. But I think a lot more people these days are getting it wrong because they didn't have to put in a lot of work to understand exactly what it is, and to let it marinate in their brains.

Very interesting insight. Question: Are you still full-timing today?

[rgatijnet1]

Rice wrote:

mtrumpet wrote:
It seems that you dove into full timing right off the bat. Many here that eventually went full time were first weekend warriors (for lack of a better term) for many years prior to going full time.

Not us! Almost 20 years ago, we decided to start traveling fulltime, put our houses up for sale, and flew halfway across the country to pick up and drive home our first (and still only) RV--a 40-foot motorhome.

But 20 years ago, you had to come up with the idea yourself, and figure out how to get information about the nuts and bolts. Forums like this were invaluable, and there weren't bloggers and youtubers who had a financial interest in promoting the lifestyle.

And by the time that year was over, we'd put together a massive amount of knowledge. It was kind of like going to a library and researching compared to looking at a newsfeed.

These days people just kind of fall into the lifestyle--certainly the idea and very much the execution as well. Back then you had to really want it because figuring out how to make it happen was a lot of work. Nowadays there are very few barriers to entry, which can have bad results.

Plus, there's the terminology issue. Especially after the big recession, a lot of people moved into RVs as a (hopefully) cheaper alternative to a house or apartment, and called it fulltiming. Because they live fulltime in an RV.

And that's what the OP ended up doing--he said he'd paid his site rent through November, with options for two more years. I'd say (and I know people will push back) that that's not fulltiming as most people traditionally understood it.

But it gets lumped in with the fulltime travel lifestyle, when it might more appropriate to be lumped in with living in a trailer park or mobile home park lifestyle--small dwellings that don't move and are cheaper than a house or apartment. And people who aren't steeped in knowledge don't necessarily know the difference.

That's not to say that people who started fulltiming in 2003 didn't get it wrong. But I think a lot more people these days are getting it wrong because they didn't have to put in a lot of work to understand exactly what it is, and to let it marinate in their brains.

How many miles have you logged in those 20 years?

[Rice]

Lantley wrote:
Great post ^^^^^^^ Rice

Thanks. You prompted me to re-read it, and I noticed a grammar error and fixed it, so it's even better now. 🙂

[Lantley]

Great post ^^^^^^^ Rice

[Rice]

mtrumpet wrote:
It seems that you dove into full timing right off the bat. Many here that eventually went full time were first weekend warriors (for lack of a better term) for many years prior to going full time.

Not us! Almost 20 years ago, we decided to start traveling fulltime, put our houses up for sale, and flew halfway across the country to pick up and drive home our first (and still only) RV--a 40-foot motorhome.

But 20 years ago, you had to come up with the idea yourself, and figure out how to get information about the nuts and bolts. Forums like this were invaluable, and there weren't bloggers and youtubers who had a financial interest in promoting the lifestyle.

And by the time that year was over, we'd put together a massive amount of knowledge. It was kind of like going to a library and researching compared to looking at a newsfeed.

These days people just kind of fall into the lifestyle--certainly the idea and very much the execution as well. Back then you had to really want it because figuring out how to make it happen was a lot of work. Nowadays there are very few barriers to entry, which can have bad results.

Plus, there's the terminology issue. Especially after the big recession, a lot of people moved into RVs as a (hopefully) cheaper alternative to a house or apartment, and called it fulltiming. Because they live fulltime in an RV.

And that's what the OP ended up doing--he said he'd paid his site rent through November, with options for two more years. I'd say (and I know people will push back) that that's not fulltiming as most people traditionally understood it.

But it gets lumped in with the fulltime travel lifestyle, when it might more appropriate to be lumped in with living in a trailer park or mobile home park lifestyle--small dwellings that don't move and are cheaper than a house or apartment. And people who aren't steeped in knowledge don't necessarily know the difference.

That's not to say that people who started fulltiming in 2003 didn't get it wrong. But I think a lot more people these days are getting it wrong because they didn't have to put in a lot of work to understand exactly what it is, and to let it marinate in their brains.

[mtrumpet]

It seems that you dove into full timing right off the bat. Many here that eventually went full time were first weekend warriors (for lack of a better term) for many years prior to going full time. By the time the decision was made to go full time, they had a lot of RVing experience and knew what to expect.

While my wife and absolutely love the RV life style and have been RV'ing now for 22 years. However, we too might not be in for FULL timing. However, being only weeks away from retirement at this writing, we will be part-time full-timers, keeping a home base, but hitting the road for weeks and even a couple of months at a time.


(Man, it's been a while since I've visited this forum. Good to be back!)

[4x4van]

valhalla360 wrote:
I agree with your choice...if it's not working do something different.

But I would suggest, filing this away as a learning experience and possibly revisiting in a few years.

It sounds like right now both of you are working full time with no travel while hanging out in God's waiting room...of course, you aren't going to get the experience magical full time RV experience.

In a few years when you have more freedom, it can mean traveling the country seeing new and interesting places. With no work, a little puttering around the RV will be a diversion rather than a chore. If you do hang out down south for the winter, it's 3-4 months and the people will be closer your age and more likely to have similar interests...plus you will have the time to fully partake in the activities (assuming that is of interest).

Excellent point. More power to the OP for trying something, and changing lanes when it didn't work out. As valhalla360 says; it might be smart to revisit in a few years. My mom lived by the mantra to try everything in life at least twice! If you didn't like it the first time, it might've been a fluke! That's how I live my life, and that's how I raised my kids to live theirs.

[Rice]

Alex and Tee wrote:
This $12,000 is basically the same as if we rented an apartment for 6 months so, in my mind, we spent $2000 a month “renting” our motor home instead of renting the house we were in and learning a life lesson about what we thought we might like and didn’t.

It appears you rode the wave of increasing RV prices perfectly. You really lucked out.

We've been fulltiming for 18 years, happily until the last couple of years. We sat still for Covid, and for that period dealt only with the hassles of living in an RV and didn't derive any of the benefits of travel that make up for it. It was eye opening.

It sounds like your experience is pretty much the same as our Covid experience--living in the confined space and dealing with the hassles of an RV, with no benefit that you wouldn't have in an apartment or house. So I completely understand why you'd be dissatisfied.

Also, when we began fulltiming, I was 41 and my boyfriend was 31, so I very much understand your not feeling like you have a lot in common with the majority of residents in a Casa Grande RV park. Even now, the most I can come up with is that older people tend to be quieter than younger people, and I like that. But that's merely coexistence, and most people want something deeper.

Perhaps you could have done more research, but I'm not sure that would have helped because so much of the information these days has an agenda. Back in 2002, anything on the internet was there just because someone wanted to share, and not to make money. There was a lot less information, but it was more transparent and reliable.

Shoot--we had to come up with even the idea of selling our houses and traveling around in an RV, and then go looking for information about it. Had never heard of such a thing. Is there anybody these days who's not at least aware that the lifestyle exists? And since that awareness comes from lifestyle blogs and youtube channels, it comes with a curated portrayal of the lifestyle.

Are you going to make a bunch of youtube videos about how and why it didn't work out for you? I doubt it. They'd probably be really useful information, but they wouldn't be popular because people gravitate to upbeat aspirational content, with maybe an occasional (and no doubt portrayed as ultimately amusing) setback.

And sure, you could have done a deep dive into workcamping and found out that it very often involves cleaning toilets, but that's certainly not how it's pimped. Instead, the focus is on getting a full hookup site for free in exchange for a few hours of work around the campground. Details, details. And details aren't what draw eyes to websites.

Again, I'm glad you were able to get out of this relatively unscathed. And perhaps in the future, when your wife doesn't need or want to be working any more, you can experience fulltiming in what I consider the "classic" way--traveling all around in a way that you can't really do as standalone vacations. Maybe by then, the pressure on campgrounds will have alleviated, and you could experience the gold standard of fulltiming that is increasingly hard these days--traveling around without making reservations or even having an agenda. (Assuming that would even appeal to you, of course.)

Regardless, thanks for sharing your story. It's a useful counterpoint to all the rah rah rah-ing that's out there.

[Rice]

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:
I fully respect your decision, but I'm just curious about one thing. Why would you have to empty your black tank every four days if you're stationary in an RV resort?

I hope you're not advocating that people leave their black tanks open when stationary. But I agree--a 50-gallon black tank shouldn't be anywhere near 2/3 full after 4 days. I know people always emphasize using lots and lots of water when flushing, but there's a balance to be had between using a lot of water and having to dump the tank constantly.

larry cad wrote:
I'm not sure how your RV task list compares to your home task list, but as a home owner and 40' DP owner myself, I can't believe it takes more work to keep the RV going.

A perfect example is dealing human waste. In a house, you just flush the toilet and never have to think about it again. That's not the case in an RV.

And even gray water--in an RV, it's best to avoid putting grease or food particles in the gray tank, or through the gray tank if you leave it open when stationary (which a lot of people recommend you not do even though it doesn't present the same risk as leaving your black tank open).

Of course toilets and pipes in houses can clog, but that's an issue that's dealt with when it happens, not something that is dealt with on a constant basis, like the black tank in an RV.