How long have been full time?

[Bacoats]

We are trading our 43 foot trawler (slow moving yacht) for full time RV. Our friends that have more experience with RV's tell us that people don't stay full time for long. They also say the average person keeps their RV for 1 year and three months before trading. I am 63 and would like to do this for 10 years. I would like to buy my last RV first. Is this reasonable? Two questions:
1--how long total living in an RV
2--how many times did you trade up.

[railrider1]

My wife and I have been full time now for three years and don't plan on giving it up for a long time. We love traveling and meeting new people. We bought our current motor home new in 2006 and still love it. We knew the moment we first saw it it would be perfect for us. We both will turn 65 in June and as long as our health allows we will be full timers. So jump in and see this great land of ours. Hope to see you on the road.

[Abclipper]

This will be our 5th year full timing. We love the feeling of freedom to do whatever we want to do. There are many places yet that we want to travel to. In Canada and the USA. We know many RVers that have been full timing for 10 to 15 years and are still loving the lifestyle.. For us we also plan on living the RVers life for as many years as we possibly can, fortunately we are both still in good health..Regrets none. Other then we wish we had retired earlier and started this life 10 years ago.. So good luck on whatever you decide. As for us we shall keep on traveling and loving every minute of it.

[StephJohn]

We've been at it for a year and a half. We think we can easily do it for 10 years. We overbought our RV and we are so glad we did.

[gruelens]

They also say the average person keeps their RV for 1 year and three months before trading.

Average 15 months ownership is hard to fathom. That means for everybody over 15 months there is one that owns less time. Not what I have run across . Your question of 10 years in the same motorhome is realistic providing you buy a coach with life left in it and maintain it. I am sure that is what you are planning to do, so I say certainly so!

We were fulltime 5 years in a motorhome. Then 5 years fulltime aboard a 40' trawler. Back in a motorhome again. Wheels or keels .......... we choose wheels .

[Dog Folks]

8 years in June.

We are lucky enough to be in the same trailer.

I guess we picked well.

[pdq_bc]

hi. and welcome to the forum

we have been full timing for almost three years. we bought our itasca suncruiser (35P) with the thought of it being the motorhome we'd full time in. we bought it brand new in 2010. still have it and like it very much. have not found one we'd like better.

know that full timing is NOT for everyone. for us, we are really enjoying it and will continue to full time for as long as it works for us. life is not static - go with the flow….

good luck,
pdq

[Clay L]

We full timed for 11 years and became snow birds this year.
We started with a 30 footer with no slides but didn't intend to full time. We were going to take a six month or so trip around the country and look for a place near a coast to build or buy. We planned to be liveaboards on a sailboat.

After a little over a year we found we were having so much fun that we decided to become full timers and traded the smaller rig in on a new one with two slides that was 35 feet long.

It was a wonderful 11 years and we wouldn't trade the experience for anything, but time and things change and we changed also.

[AFChap]

We researched carefully for a few uears and examined many brands before we focused in on a couple of manufacturers and bought a dealer show coach as they we replacing it with the next year model. That was 10 1/2 years ago. We have apx 80k on the coach, 7 years of it fulltime. DW thought she needed to have a stick house, so now we do, and are still traveling about half the year.

[WheelingIt]

We are in our 5th year and still in the same rig we started out in. No plans to change anything.

[poppopc]

So far so good.(see sig.)
Winters on SPI, TX. summers in the N.MT. ND.MN.

[Keith K]

We're in our ninth year of full timing, and plan to continue for the next 10 years or more, which will put us in our late 70s. We expect our motorhome, a 2006 model, to last until then. We started with a good quality gas MH, but quickly realized that for the length of time we expected it to last, a good quality DP that we could renovate and redecorate as time went on was our best bet. We found that just traveling and exploring was not enough, and so we volunteer each year, some times for three months, some times longer. Doing so has kept us intellectually engaged - we've become "birders" from our times at wildlife refuges, expects at seals and sea lions from our times on the Oregon Coast, learned of the history of fisheries in the West from our time in the Black Hills, and so much more. In addition we've made lifelong friends of the people we worked for and with. Plus the free sites give us a little extra to explore new dining experiences. So c'mon and join us - get a good quality MH (there are plenty of pristine used ones) and hit the road!

[lajuene]

2 years and 20+ to go... Loving it!

[tricotec]

We're coming up on 4 years. We bought a cheaper, older (but nice) gasoline powered coach and full-timed in it for 3 years. We wanted to know for sure that we liked the lifestyle before committing too much. We love our lifestyle. We purchased a much nicer, bigger and more expensive coach this year because we're committed to the lifestyle for the long haul.

Home is where it's parked!

[jerichorick]

Started in '05 after being retired for a few years. There are many RV volunteer opportunities available. The great thing about volunteering is that you give back to the community and see this great nation. Servants on Wheels Ever Ready is a Christian ministry. Our service is providing physical maintenance, anything from simple painting to complete structure building. No special talents are needed to serve. The projects provide RV parking and the necessary materials for the work to be done.

We only stay in a stick dwelling when visiting family and don't have access to our 'home'. Love the life and freedom without giving up my house. Home is where the wheels are stopped! WalMart or RV project or park, we are always home.

[Bacoats]

Thank you for all of the encouraging posts. I know we will love full time RV since we have loved living 4 years on a trawler. I just hope we buy the right one the first time...we are thinking 36 or 37 ....plenty big enough since we have veal ready learned to downsize. However it is hard to know what is a quality manufacturer. You have all been great. We will join you when our trawler sells.

[jerichorick]

There are Newbe threads in the forum but we could advise you here if you wish. I'll go first.

Most who have diesel pushers, better known as DP's will tell you that this is the only way to go. I am right there in that thought group. The advantages are too numerous to count and out weight the disadvantages 10 fold in my opinion.

A great floor plan can be seen in the Winnebago/Itasca line. The QD is found in the big rigs and the U I have only found in the 40' units. I am only suggesting this floor plan as a great layout for full-timing. Again, my opinion.

A residential refrigerator is much better than the traditional RV style. A good true sine wave inverter is also a better choice along with AGM batteries. The stacked washer/dryer is much more convenient than the single combined unit.

My first driver to choosing an RV is the chassis and drive train. These are the foundation of your rig. I have always favored Freightliner, Allison and Cummins.

Newmar seems has a great track record. The Winnebago lines seem to be suffering with quality control issues as compared to earlier production years but is still a good choice. Again, my opinion.

For many reasons I don't suggest buying new. More often than not your unit will be in the shop for extended periods of time trying to get the bugs out of it.

DEF (diesel emissions fluid) is new to RVing since late 2010. It is still a bit hard to find but is available at the pump at the major truck stops, and by the box container at automotive stores and Walmart (the RVers other campground).

I know these comments have nothing to do with the original post but I hope they are accepted as they are given.

Happy trails in this new adventure.

Rick

[pyoots]

Have been RVing since 2006. We thought we would like to travel in an RV so we started out cheap and "old", and hit the road with very little experience. Learned through trial and error and other RVers. On our first cross country trip we stopped off in Las Cruces, NM and traded for an almost new (still in warranty) upgrade. Traded two years later for a larger rig with more bells and whistles.

RVing is a personal choice. Some people take to it like a duck to water and some get tired quick and bail out. As an RV club member, I find that once a member gets a little long in the tooth and is unable to physically perform the routine tasks, they give it up.

We do it because we love it. Still have a stick house, and travel every other year with vigor. We live in FL so we are on vacation all the time.

[RickO]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

The two statistics you cite do seem to differ from what I've experienced.

We bought our last coach first in 2007 shortly after I retired and we hit the road. We were full time for most of a five year period but have recently bought a stick house in Arizona and will be selling the coach soon.

The type of rig you choose should be a function of your budget, your expectations, how and where you plan to travel, and most importantly... what you WANT.

Best of luck

Rick

[Bacoats]

Could not sell the trawler so we have opted for a smaller RV, ACE 27.1 and have a little of both worlds.