Author Topic: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome  (Read 26828 times)

401Killer

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 157
Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« on: April 25, 2014, 06:23:48 AM »
My fiancé and I are excited to retire because we plan on purchasing a reasonable motorhome and slow travel for as long as we would like. From Florida to Alaska to Canada and everything in between is our playground. I picture us spending months in one area if we wanted to. I've already learned a good amount about RV's and know roughly what we would want. We don't need a bus(A Class) style motor but more of a C class without the over cab sleeper(much more aero efficient). It does not have to be huge but nice enough serve its purpose. The only real cost would be fuel, maintenance and food while exploring.

By that time the house will have been paid off for an incredible long time and there would be no way we would have car payments or any debt(don't really have much now). The motor home would be paid for with cash and we could even consider renting out our house for extra income.

Does anyone else have plans similar to this? What sort of issues or things have you wondered about that could make this expensive or a tough option?

Thegoblinchief

  • Guest
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2014, 06:32:07 AM »
Reading Drive Nacho Drive (their book as well as the blog) and the more recent Bumfuzzle posts could help give an idea.

Friends of my parents have RVed across much of the country, and they also crossed Australia in an RV. They own an RV that's basically conversion van sized.

Consider car camping as well, since you can gain 2-3x fuel economy by using a hatchback with a hitch rack or pop-up versus even a van-sized RV.

Rickk

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 81
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2014, 06:35:43 AM »
yes - this is more popular than you would expect.
There are a fair number of people who sell EVERYTHING except what fits in the motorhome and go fulltiming. 
Our plan is similar to yours except to sell it all and pay cash for everything and start rolling.  It can be quite inexpensive to live that way if you so desire (after the initial investment).  Living a mustachian existence on the road is quite possible.

Check out rvsue for an extreme example - she spends very little:
http://rvsueandcrew.net/
There are plenty of people making money on the road and living happily:
http://www.rv-dreams-journal.com/
http://www.technomadia.com/
Or people who are pretty much retired (living off investing) and really have a good blog
http://www.wheelingit.us/

imbros

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 48
  • Location: WI
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2014, 08:33:43 AM »
yes - this is more popular than you would expect.
There are a fair number of people who sell EVERYTHING except what fits in the motorhome and go fulltiming. 
Our plan is similar to yours except to sell it all and pay cash for everything and start rolling.  It can be quite inexpensive to live that way if you so desire (after the initial investment).  Living a mustachian existence on the road is quite possible.

Check out rvsue for an extreme example - she spends very little:
http://rvsueandcrew.net/
There are plenty of people making money on the road and living happily:
http://www.rv-dreams-journal.com/
http://www.technomadia.com/
Or people who are pretty much retired (living off investing) and really have a good blog
http://www.wheelingit.us/

Thank you for the links. I think the idea sounds very interesting and doable, especially for a single person or a childless couple.

arebelspy

  • Administrator
  • Senior Mustachian
  • *****
  • Posts: 28444
  • Age: -997
  • Location: Seattle, WA
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2014, 08:43:13 AM »
Yup.  That's one of our potential (and perhaps most likely) plans for the year after FIRE.  Sounds like a fun adventure!
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

eliandjax1

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 31
  • Age: 37
  • Location: Texas
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #5 on: April 25, 2014, 08:55:26 AM »
We are currently living in an rv full time with two boys. We originally were only going to do it for a year and travel then settle in a new area when we were thru. After our year of travel we settled in texas and decided we liked the low expenses and freedom of a camper. This also keeps us from accumulating stuff!

One thing you may have not have thought about when thinking of ur expenses is parking and propane. Rvs use propane for pretty much everything especially if you are not hooked up to eletric. We use approx 30-50 $ a month between cooking, hot water, and furnace.

Also parking can range from free to north of 100 $ a night. Your plans for staying months at a time is a good one as most rv parks offer reasonable monthly fees and some even throw in free utilties.

YK-Phil

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1173
  • Location: Nayarit (Mexico)
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2014, 09:01:58 AM »
This is a very likely option for us as well. While we are now set on getting a small lot and build a tiny house, we might also get a small camper, maybe a Type II VW bus if we can find one in decent shape at a decent price, and travel the country during the nice months of the year. My daughter and her boyfriend, who now live aboard a Catalina 36 sailboat, considered RVing full time before opting for the ocean life.

soccerluvof4

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7161
  • Location: Artic Midwest
  • Retired at 50
    • My Journal
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2014, 09:33:26 AM »
Yea, this is our plan as well once the kiddos are gone. I am not one that wants to live in one spot so probably just buy or build a rink e dink house or condo and take off in the winter. All subject to change/adjust depending on where kids end up. But its for sure what I want to do. Thanks for the links !

biscuitwhomper

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 50
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #8 on: April 25, 2014, 09:39:16 AM »
Yea, this is our plan as well once the kiddos are gone. I am not one that wants to live in one spot so probably just buy or build a rink e dink house or condo and take off in the winter. All subject to change/adjust depending on where kids end up. But its for sure what I want to do. Thanks for the links !

Good plan.   I hope to sell most everything, then build a small 800 square foot home in a very lost-cost area.    Two months on the road, then perhaps 1-2 months back home.   Repeat as your heart desires.   Having a small, modest home to serve as a base camp seems like a real smart idea.

I think an important part of this strategy is making sure you feel confident and secure leaving your home for months on end.    Having good neighbors or a secure condo are two ways to achieve this.

elaine amj

  • CMTO 2023 Attendees
  • Walrus Stache
  • *
  • Posts: 5548
  • Location: Ontario
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #9 on: April 25, 2014, 09:43:06 AM »
This is part of our dreams as well. I don't know about living in one for years on end though. It might get old after a few years. I did tell my husband - if we get bored with it, we can sell it and then rent/buy a small house somewhere.

The issues I see are:
- cost of driving a big vehicle (or a small vehicle towing a big vehicle) all over the place
- privacy. I read a blog of a couple who did it for a year. They loved it - but mentioned one thing they missed was privacy from each other. I do like my space and often get into moods where I just like to shut the door to my room and be completely alone for a few hours. Not much space for aloneness in a RV! On the other hand, my husband would adore all the togetherness lol. I laugh that wherever I go in the house to be alone, eventually both kids, the dog AND my husband appear wherever I am.
- hard to do other kinds of travel. we like to fly/cruise/do whatever sometimes and that might be more difficult since we would have to figure out what to do with the RV and all our stuff. Plus I would hate to be without local transportation wherever we are at.

Another thought I had was to do vacation rentals or short term rentals for say a month at a time. Then we could use planes/rental cars to get around.

Knowing my husband and I, we might do different things for different years. I can totally see us buying a used trailer/RV/whatever and using it for 1-2 years almost full time. Then selling it for close to cost and doing something else.

Spending oodles of time in the great outdoors is super tempting. One of our favorite types of vacationing is camping in a tent with lots of hiking and canoeing and campfires.

The hard part is knowing what to do with the kiddos. My ER plans coincide with when they go to university. I'm preparing them now - warning that I might sell the house and buy an RV so they will have to be prepared to get their own place to live. Feel a bit guilty though - so might end up revising that to turning our house into a student home and renting out unused rooms to their friends. The kids can pay me rent or else pay for taxes/maintenance of the house.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2014, 09:55:05 AM by elaine amj »

agent_clone

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 250
  • Location: Australia
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2014, 07:34:27 PM »
In Australia there's are a lot of retired people who go travelling around for months at a time with their campervan/caravans.  There's even a term for them: Grey Nomads.  They tend to drive down the roads in the middle of nowhere (There is plenty of middle of nowhere in Australia) and park their vans by the side of the road rather than using caravan parks (to the frustration of the caravan park owners) during their travels.

I've met a couple who from memory took about 8 months to go down the west coast of Australia.

rebooted

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #11 on: September 12, 2014, 03:04:34 PM »
My wife and I have done just this, and largely due to the MMM blog waking us up to the fact that we'd already saved enough money to retire (we're in early 40s) and were working unnecessarily. Earlier this year I left my job, we sold or gave away almost everything we owned, sold the house we'd lived in for 14 years, and bought a (pretty large) RV. We now roam around the U.S. exploring. Our monthly cost of living is much lower than before, and it's a really refreshing/freeing feeling to know that everything you own fits in an RV!

If you have any questions about the full-time RV lifestyle, feel free to ask. We know of RVers who do this extremely cheaply ($25k/year) by camping in national/state parks a lot, and others who live on $100k+/year staying in fancy RV resorts. We're somewhere in the middle.

-Mike

hyla

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 177
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #12 on: September 12, 2014, 03:20:22 PM »
From Florida to Alaska to Canada and everything in between is our playground. I picture us spending months in one area if we wanted to.

Ask about winterization when purchasing if you plan to be in northern areas in winter, but be aware that even RVs which are supposedly insulated for winter may not be ideal for longer stays in places with real winter.  I lived in an RV in Wyoming in late winter a few years ago, and one morning we woke up to frozen propane lines and sub freezing temperatures INSIDE the RV!

Bateaux

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2318
  • Location: Port Vincent
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #13 on: September 14, 2014, 09:10:42 AM »
We have a 23 foot travel trailer for weekends.  It's been a joy for us and was cheap to purchase.  Tent camping in the south during summer is miserable so we only camp in parks with power during hot months.  I've decided somewhere in our future I want a Class A diesel-powered luxury camper.  They are really cheap after about 10 years and most are like new.  Boondocking with a nice solar array in cooler states would allow us to be self sufficient pretty much year round.  Tons of free camping out there in really neat places.  There are rigs with onboard washer/dryer, stand up shower and full kitchens.  I like how this couple has adapted to full time RV. Gonewiththewynns.com

falcondisruptor

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 151
  • Location: Ottawa, ON
    • Simple Cheap Mom
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #14 on: September 15, 2014, 07:06:41 PM »
This is something I would really like to do.  SO isn't on board yet, but is coming around.  We have a toddler and I feel like we should go out and explore before we have school to deal with.  If we really liked it, I think homeschooling would become a bigger contender though.  I wanted to post in this thread so I could come back and check in on all those who have actually done it.

MsRichLife

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 539
  • Age: 46
    • Living My Rich Life
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #15 on: September 15, 2014, 08:26:51 PM »
It's something we've been considering also. We have a toddler and I like the idea of doing it after FIRE, before he goes to school and we settle down. DH is still in need of a little convincing, but I think he's somewhat agreed to trying it for a year.

2ndTimer

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4607
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #16 on: September 16, 2014, 09:11:25 AM »
An older friend (78) who owns an RV confided that one of her great regrets is that they didn't just travel in it for a year or so between the sale of their last house and their purchase of their current one.

DragonSlayer

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 217
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #17 on: September 16, 2014, 09:51:43 AM »
We currently RV part time and one thing I cannot stress enough: Be sure you (or someone) is fairly handy and can handle some repairs/troubleshooting yourself. RV systems are relatively simple to learn and fix and you will not regret putting forth the effort to do so. While RV's are generally fairly reliable, they are filled with moving parts that will break and need regular maintenance.

Paying someone to do all the work will get costly. Just a few things we've had to do while on the road: Caulk some roof leaks. Replace the control board on the water heater. Repair the generator. Adjust the airflow in the water heater. Repair the awning after a storm. Change the oil in the engine. Replace the roof top air conditioner. Repair some electrical thing in the dash that shook loose and killed the dash lights. Replace the house and engine batteries. Etc. Etc.

It's not always a lot of work, but it's not much different from having a house in that there are always things that need to be maintained and repaired. The more work you can do yourself, the more money you can save (and the less time you'll spend waiting around in garages waiting for repairs).

Roland of Gilead

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2454
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #18 on: September 16, 2014, 10:07:25 AM »
Our retirement starts next year in a custom built (by us) camper/motorhome.   Similar plans, travel from Alaska to Florida and everywhere between.

We solved the insulation problem during our build by using double pane windows and extra polyisocyanurate R13 foam insulation in floor, walls, ceiling.   We even have insulated tanks and battery compartment.

Spartana

  • Guest
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #19 on: September 16, 2014, 03:04:42 PM »
I've been doing the part time travel thing (in a small truck with a shell) for several years now. Have a home base but usually travel, with my dog, several months a year. My plan is to sell the house this year and do it full time for awhile before I settle down somewhere new (and have NO IDEA where or when that will be). I recently bought a new mid sized 4 cylinder SUV (Dodge Journey - bigger then most small SUVs with 3 rows of foldable seats)and have been doing some shortish trips in that. Camping a bit but some budget motels too and plan to do some short stays of a month or two in off season vacation rentals once I am travelling full time and no longer have a home base. It's much cheap for me to do it this way then in a RV - cost to buy, insure, maintain, fuel and camp fees - but not as comfy. But as a single female who lives on salads and sandwiches, can shower and use a campground bathroom, it's all I need. I usually bring a big tent and all sorts of pretty luxurious camping supplies and stay in that if I'm staying in one place awhile.
« Last Edit: September 16, 2014, 03:10:22 PM by Spartana »

Peach Fuzz

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 19
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #20 on: September 20, 2014, 02:41:43 PM »
I love this idea and have thought of something similar. Posting to follow the thread and get more great ideas. :)

Seppie

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 42
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #21 on: September 20, 2014, 03:43:46 PM »
We are talking about getting a small piece of land and building a 400 sq foot house on that to use as a home base. We would rent it out on air bnb or vrbo while we travel by foot, bicycle, car, plane, boat, or ???? a good part of the year.

This would give us the income from 2 full time rental properties, plus whatever we made from renting the tiny small house out part time. I work from home/travel for work now, and can work from almost anywhere, though of course that may change in the interim. We do have other retirement savings, but would probably leave that alone until we are older.

We are thinking tandem bike cross country, hiking the PCT or AT, renting an apartment on the beach somewhere cheap...but still have a little place that we can call our own to come back to. We just realized that our youngest kids will be seniors in 5 years. Weird.

SailAway

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 101
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #22 on: September 20, 2014, 04:55:01 PM »
Well our plan is a sailboat, not an RV, but same general concept. Retire, sell everything, buy boat, sail around the world. Who knows where we'll settle after that.

jmusic

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 465
  • Location: Somewhere...
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #23 on: September 20, 2014, 06:13:50 PM »
I've actually been looking into a custom Sprinter Van based RV, built for maximum stealth and boondocking capability.  This could drastically cut down on parking expenses. 

Bonus that they get ~20mpg highway, and run on diesel which you can also run most of the appliances off of to totally eliminate propane. 

A few resources that I've researched:
http://www.sprinter-rv.com/
http://sprinter-source.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=4

Most RV's have piss-poor solar designs, these two sites tell you how to do it RIGHT!
http://www.jackdanmayer.com/rv_electrical_and_solar.htm
http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the-rv-battery-charging-puzzle-2/


Custom Sprinter Conversion companies:
http://www.outsidevan.com/
http://www.sportsmobile.com/index.html

arebelspy

  • Administrator
  • Senior Mustachian
  • *****
  • Posts: 28444
  • Age: -997
  • Location: Seattle, WA
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #24 on: September 20, 2014, 10:04:17 PM »
I've actually been looking into a custom Sprinter Van based RV, built for maximum stealth and boondocking capability.  This could drastically cut down on parking expenses. 

To add to your resources, for those interested, I read a blog with a couple and a baby that travel South America in their Sprinter Van: www.sprinterlife.com

This page has some good pictures and ideas of what it can look like: http://sprinterlife.com/our-home
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Dicey

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 22318
  • Age: 66
  • Location: NorCal
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #25 on: September 21, 2014, 01:51:29 AM »
One of the most badass RV'ers with a blog is Glenn Morrisette over at "To Simplify". He's a working musician who downsized everything into a van conversion RV. He then upgraded to a larger class B. Next, he customized a Westie virtually from scratch. His blog has over four million views and there's a ton of great info and inspiration.

There's also a site called Hitch Itch which is a sort of clearinghouse for RV bloggers. To Simplify is there, as are a number of the other blogs cited in earlier comments, and scads more. Virtually every possible option is being blogged about by someone there.

Finally there is a Yahoo Group that only covers Class B's and anyone can join. There's another site for B's, but IIRC, you must actually prove you own one before they'll let you in their group, which isn't all that helpful if you're trying to figure out what to buy.

This is an awesome option. Best of luck to you!

rusty

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 76
  • Location: North Carolina
    • My Medigap Consultant
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #26 on: September 21, 2014, 06:50:28 AM »
When I worked at my former insurance company, I had a client who lost his wife to cancer.  After a year or so (he was late 60's), he decided to sell the house and buy an old motor home.  He bought a 20 year old model and an Ford escort as a tow behind.  I saw him a year later and he had been in 14 states the previous year.  He estimated his monthly cost was $800 a month (food, fuel, campgrounds, etc).  He moved slowly; staying in one place for a week or so. 

My favorite statement from him was "if I like my neighbors, I stay awhile.  If I don't, I move the next day.  Not enough time left to put up with stuff I don't have to."

The last sentence was part of why I started my own insurance company...
R

Beric01

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1156
  • Age: 33
  • Location: SF Bay Area
  • Law-abiding cyclist
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #27 on: September 21, 2014, 02:46:42 PM »
This has always sounded interesting to me, but I just couldn't get past the costs. It would indeed be amazing to see the US in this way, but it would take quite the annual budget due to fuel expenses/maintenance etc.

Roland of Gilead

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2454
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #28 on: September 21, 2014, 06:37:26 PM »
This has always sounded interesting to me, but I just couldn't get past the costs. It would indeed be amazing to see the US in this way, but it would take quite the annual budget due to fuel expenses/maintenance etc.

Well, if you don't have a house to pay for, you can knock off about $20,000 in annual expenses right there.   That goes a long way toward fuel and maintenance.

People who do this plus maintain an empty house while on their journey definitely need a big budget.


arebelspy

  • Administrator
  • Senior Mustachian
  • *****
  • Posts: 28444
  • Age: -997
  • Location: Seattle, WA
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #29 on: September 21, 2014, 07:22:04 PM »
This has always sounded interesting to me, but I just couldn't get past the costs. It would indeed be amazing to see the US in this way, but it would take quite the annual budget due to fuel expenses/maintenance etc.

Well, if you don't have a house to pay for, you can knock off about $20,000 in annual expenses right there.   That goes a long way toward fuel and maintenance.

People who do this plus maintain an empty house while on their journey definitely need a big budget.

Unless you rent the house, to turn it into a money maker and have it cover most of your budget (hopefully).  :)
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Beric01

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1156
  • Age: 33
  • Location: SF Bay Area
  • Law-abiding cyclist
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #30 on: September 21, 2014, 08:26:07 PM »
This has always sounded interesting to me, but I just couldn't get past the costs. It would indeed be amazing to see the US in this way, but it would take quite the annual budget due to fuel expenses/maintenance etc.

Well, if you don't have a house to pay for, you can knock off about $20,000 in annual expenses right there.   That goes a long way toward fuel and maintenance.

People who do this plus maintain an empty house while on their journey definitely need a big budget.

My entire FIRE budget is 20K/yr, but I was doing some research and didn't see full-time RV'ing getting under 20K/yr. My main issue is no economies of scale due to being single. The only additional costs for having one more person in an RV are food. But I'd have to do more research - that was probably on a non - Mustachian budget.

Roland of Gilead

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2454
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #31 on: September 21, 2014, 08:47:25 PM »
My entire FIRE budget is 20K/yr, but I was doing some research and didn't see full-time RV'ing getting under 20K/yr. My main issue is no economies of scale due to being single. The only additional costs for having one more person in an RV are food. But I'd have to do more research - that was probably on a non - Mustachian budget.

Must be a small house with low real estate tax and no mortgage.

RVsue spends about $800 to $900 a month full time RV'ing, or about $11,000 a year.

A middle class family in Texas might pay $7,000 just in real estate tax on a $200,000 home.

Beric01

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1156
  • Age: 33
  • Location: SF Bay Area
  • Law-abiding cyclist
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #32 on: September 21, 2014, 11:33:01 PM »
My entire FIRE budget is 20K/yr, but I was doing some research and didn't see full-time RV'ing getting under 20K/yr. My main issue is no economies of scale due to being single. The only additional costs for having one more person in an RV are food. But I'd have to do more research - that was probably on a non - Mustachian budget.

Must be a small house with low real estate tax and no mortgage.

RVsue spends about $800 to $900 a month full time RV'ing, or about $11,000 a year.

A middle class family in Texas might pay $7,000 just in real estate tax on a $200,000 home.

I'm a lifetime renter. I never plan to own a home, so if I went full-time RV I would not have a "base camp". I think the issue is how much driving you're doing. If I have an RV, I want to travel the US - like really travel and see a lot. And that costs a LOT of money in fuel alone. RV hook-ups are also not cheap, particularly for short-term. I'm guessing that people who are living in an RV full-time for cheap just don't move camp a lot, so they save on fuel and get long-term hookup rates. I just don't see much point in having an RV instead of just renting an apartment if that's what you're doing.

rocketpj

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 964
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #33 on: September 22, 2014, 12:11:26 AM »
A middle class family in Texas might pay $7,000 just in real estate tax on a $200,000 home.

Say WHAT?  Is that normal for property tax in the US, or is Texas a high tax state?  That is about 2.5x what I pay on a $400K home in my town - and taxes are relatively high here compared to other towns/cities in BC. 

That said, I suppose its possible the taxes pay for some of the things we have other levels of government paying for here. 


Theadyn

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 172
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #34 on: September 22, 2014, 07:22:30 AM »
A middle class family in Texas might pay $7,000 just in real estate tax on a $200,000 home.

Say WHAT?  Is that normal for property tax in the US, or is Texas a high tax state?  That is about 2.5x what I pay on a $400K home in my town - and taxes are relatively high here compared to other towns/cities in BC. 

That said, I suppose its possible the taxes pay for some of the things we have other levels of government paying for here.

Tis true.  Before leaving Texas in 2012, our $179k homes property taxes were almost $6k a year.  That was in Corpus Christi.  My sister still lives down there, on Padre Island, her $500k home has a $13k a year tax bill.    Last year here in Oklahoma, my $85k house property tax bill was $731.  Texas has no state income tax, Oklahoma does.  Give and take in any state, I imagine.

Theadyn

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 172
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #35 on: September 22, 2014, 07:32:17 AM »
I would be doing it now if I had a passive income, lol.  (Hey, that's why I'm here, right?  Working towards that FI)  Have the RV now, single, grown kid.  Have even considered following the weather and working on the road to be able to do just that.  There are many people out there doing it fairly cheap, I've been reading cheaprvliving.com for a while to learn things.   It's really making me reconsider downsizing the RV I have now and going with a conversion van or class B.

Meggslynn

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 253
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #36 on: September 22, 2014, 08:18:15 AM »
We will be doing this as well. We are planning on waiting till our son is out of highschool so there will be nothing holding us in one spot with maybe a couple practice runs during the summer beforehand with our son.

Jessa

  • CMTO 2023 Attendees
  • Walrus Stache
  • *
  • Posts: 7496
  • Age: 43
  • Location: MA, USA
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #37 on: September 22, 2014, 08:40:08 AM »
We have talked about it, it's definitely something we will look into in 10 years or so. We wouldn't do it full-time, though, we are homebody-type people and we like to be near family. Maybe 2-3 months of the year. We both have family that is far away, who we don't get to see very much now, and my best friend is 2,000 miles away, so we'd like to take a leisurely drive, stay a few weeks visiting (without the expense of hotels or the imposition of staying with our loved ones), come back when we get homesick. We'd also like to see...oh, the Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, California, Texas, Wisconsin...just places we've never been!

nawhite

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1081
  • Location: Golden, CO
    • The Reckless Choice
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #38 on: September 22, 2014, 09:48:13 AM »
A middle class family in Texas might pay $7,000 just in real estate tax on a $200,000 home.

Say WHAT?  Is that normal for property tax in the US, or is Texas a high tax state?  That is about 2.5x what I pay on a $400K home in my town - and taxes are relatively high here compared to other towns/cities in BC. 

That said, I suppose its possible the taxes pay for some of the things we have other levels of government paying for here.

Tis true.  Before leaving Texas in 2012, our $179k homes property taxes were almost $6k a year.  That was in Corpus Christi.  My sister still lives down there, on Padre Island, her $500k home has a $13k a year tax bill.    Last year here in Oklahoma, my $85k house property tax bill was $731.  Texas has no state income tax, Oklahoma does.  Give and take in any state, I imagine.

This is very state dependent. In TX, the property taxes are really high and the state sales taxes are 6.25% but the income tax is non-existent. In Colorado, the property taxes are REALLY low (I pay $1,100/year for a $220k house) but the income taxes are 4.3% and the state sales taxes are 2.9%.

Because states each tax in different ways, it can be very beneficial to declare residency/live in a certain state if you don't follow the normal model (house, 2.1 kids, 1.7 cars etc). For instance, for a travelling RV'er, Texas residency is awesome because you don't have to pay the high property taxes and you don't have to pay income taxes. But if you are a Mustachian working towards FIRE, Colorado can be fairly good to you (though some other states may be even nicer).

Spartana

  • Guest
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #39 on: September 22, 2014, 02:32:09 PM »
This has always sounded interesting to me, but I just couldn't get past the costs. It would indeed be amazing to see the US in this way, but it would take quite the annual budget due to fuel expenses/maintenance etc.
Boondocking! Basically free camping in an RV - often times on beautiful BLM wilderness land... or Walmart parking lots :-)! Park the cheaply bough used RV and ride your bike everywhere. Or better yet, since I know you are a bike rider, look into bike touring instead of RVing. Hiker/biker camp sites are often free or maybe $5/night (at least here in the Calif State Parks), and your only expense is food. Check out the various journals at www.crazyguyonabike.com. You could off-set your camping stays with budget motels or even cheap room or apt rentals in an area you would like to stay awhile. That might even be cheaper then a campground too - maybe just a few hundred bucks a month for room rental. Or you could just get an inexpensive compact car and tent camp. That's what I do (with a small truck and now an SUV) and it's great and cheap and I do this as a single female - if I had a travelling companion, it would be half the cost.
« Last Edit: September 22, 2014, 02:37:27 PM by Spartana »

Beric01

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1156
  • Age: 33
  • Location: SF Bay Area
  • Law-abiding cyclist
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #40 on: September 22, 2014, 02:53:40 PM »
This has always sounded interesting to me, but I just couldn't get past the costs. It would indeed be amazing to see the US in this way, but it would take quite the annual budget due to fuel expenses/maintenance etc.
Boondocking! Basically free camping in an RV - often times on beautiful BLM wilderness land... or Walmart parking lots :-)! Park the cheaply bough used RV and ride your bike everywhere. Or better yet, since I know you are a bike rider, look into bike touring instead of RVing. Hiker/biker camp sites are often free or maybe $5/night (at least here in the Calif State Parks), and your only expense is food. Check out the various journals at www.crazyguyonabike.com. You could off-set your camping stays with budget motels or even cheap room or apt rentals in an area you would like to stay awhile. That might even be cheaper then a campground too - maybe just a few hundred bucks a month for room rental. Or you could just get an inexpensive compact car and tent camp. That's what I do (with a small truck and now an SUV) and it's great and cheap and I do this as a single female - if I had a travelling companion, it would be half the cost.

Wow - this actually sounds awesome! Now that I think about it I really don't need a huge RV. Travelling the US by bike sounds even better and I'll have to look into it, but I should easily be able to do it affordably in a compact car.

Thanks for putting the idea in my head! That's why I love these forums. :-)

Zaga

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2903
  • Age: 44
  • Location: North of Pittsburgh, PA
    • A Wall of Hats
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #41 on: September 22, 2014, 06:15:30 PM »
My dad is over 70 and while he and his wife do have a permanent home, most months they spend at least a week out in their RV.  It's a VERY small tow behind RV, but they are both pretty small people.  He tows it with a small truck, I think it's a Ford Ranger or similar..  They go to various campgrounds, and have a way of finding some fairly cheap ones in good locations.  (I would tell you if I remembered how he does it.)

The RV has just a toilet, a tiny kitchen, a bed slightly wider than a twin, and a bench/couch down the one side.  It's not really what I would want for long term, but if you're staying at a campground with shower facilities it works out quite nicely for short trips.  I like it a lot because when they visit us they stay in our backyard.  I would offer them our guest room but dad's wife is very allergic to our dog so she needs to not be in the house with him :-(

I also have a cousin who lives in one of those RV buses and travels full time, but I don't know any details of how they afford it.  I assume they are ER'd, but I'm not sure.  It does seem so very nice.

Spartana

  • Guest
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #42 on: September 22, 2014, 06:27:24 PM »
This has always sounded interesting to me, but I just couldn't get past the costs. It would indeed be amazing to see the US in this way, but it would take quite the annual budget due to fuel expenses/maintenance etc.
Boondocking! Basically free camping in an RV - often times on beautiful BLM wilderness land... or Walmart parking lots :-)! Park the cheaply bough used RV and ride your bike everywhere. Or better yet, since I know you are a bike rider, look into bike touring instead of RVing. Hiker/biker camp sites are often free or maybe $5/night (at least here in the Calif State Parks), and your only expense is food. Check out the various journals at www.crazyguyonabike.com. You could off-set your camping stays with budget motels or even cheap room or apt rentals in an area you would like to stay awhile. That might even be cheaper then a campground too - maybe just a few hundred bucks a month for room rental. Or you could just get an inexpensive compact car and tent camp. That's what I do (with a small truck and now an SUV) and it's great and cheap and I do this as a single female - if I had a travelling companion, it would be half the cost.

Wow - this actually sounds awesome! Now that I think about it I really don't need a huge RV. Travelling the US by bike sounds even better and I'll have to look into it, but I should easily be able to do it affordably in a compact car.

Thanks for putting the idea in my head! That's why I love these forums. :-)
And you have the option for overseas travel too without having to rent or buy an RV somewhere out of country.

I think RVing is really nice. Nothing like coming "home" to a warm, safe shelter parked in a beautiful place after a hard days biking or hiking in the freezing rain! A place where you don't have to try and make a fire in the rain (or while swatting at the bugs), where there's food and a place to cook it, a cold beer, a soft bed and, yes, the all important internet connection! But it can be costly compared to some other ways of travel - and limiting if you want to go overseas. But the comfort and security of having a home, and being able to take it with you to beautiful places, might make it all worthwhile.

Daisy

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2263
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #43 on: September 22, 2014, 09:10:26 PM »
I have a small car and occasionally search online for what kind of camper or travel trailer would work with it.

Just recently, I came across this little doo-hicky and thought the concept was really neat, but the price tag seems outrageous (it's either $6k or $8k depending on what I read). However, I thought if I had a period where I wanted to drive around the country and camp around and lug a bike and kayak around, that this might be useful. Then, after the trip is over I can sell it used. Any thoughts?

http://www.sylvansport.com/

I haven't gone camping in forever and have a tent and some camping gear, but the ease of setup and transport for other equipment sounds really interesting.
« Last Edit: September 22, 2014, 09:25:06 PM by Daisy »

arebelspy

  • Administrator
  • Senior Mustachian
  • *****
  • Posts: 28444
  • Age: -997
  • Location: Seattle, WA
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #44 on: September 22, 2014, 10:51:00 PM »
the price tag seems outrageous (it's either $6k or $8k depending on what I read)...

http://www.sylvansport.com/

The page you linked to says 2k for the low end model.

Something like that is okay for camping, but I'd rather just cram a car full of stuff if I was going camping.  If I was going to live on the road, I'd prefer an RV for the toilet/shower possibilities, personally, but I could see some people going for full time camping.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Theadyn

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 172
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #45 on: September 23, 2014, 04:04:48 AM »
There's this site http://freecampsites.net/ that helps find free or low cost camping for those in the U.S.

Sparkie

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 59
  • Location: Melbourne
    • Stealthsprinter
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #46 on: September 23, 2014, 06:56:51 PM »
I've actually been looking into a custom Sprinter Van based RV, built for maximum stealth and boondocking capability.  This could drastically cut down on parking expenses. 

Bonus that they get ~20mpg highway, and run on diesel which you can also run most of the appliances off of to totally eliminate propane. 

I did just that. Converted my Sprinter to run everything from solar and diesel, with good insulation. Pretty much freecamped for 2.5 years. Brilliant time, but back in a house now :(
Details of the van build and travels are in my signature.

Spartana

  • Guest
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #47 on: September 23, 2014, 07:00:46 PM »
I've actually been looking into a custom Sprinter Van based RV, built for maximum stealth and boondocking capability.  This could drastically cut down on parking expenses. 

Bonus that they get ~20mpg highway, and run on diesel which you can also run most of the appliances off of to totally eliminate propane. 

I did just that. Converted my Sprinter to run everything from solar and diesel, with good insulation. Pretty much freecamped for 2.5 years. Brilliant time, but back in a house now :(
Details of the van build and travels are in my signature.
Sprinter Van are great! I've been seeing a lot of new van (mostly by Dodge and Nissan) that are on par size-wise with Sprinter or even bigger that apparently get pretty good gas mileage. Some are even diesels. Probably easy to convert to an RV. I looked at some of the smaller V-6 Itascas and Riatas and like those a lot - 20 mpg and can park in a regular parking spot. Out of my el cheapo price range though and I'd probably get something like a small pop up tent trailer or little hard top pop up like the Hi-Lo
« Last Edit: September 23, 2014, 07:05:23 PM by Spartana »

Daisy

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2263
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #48 on: September 23, 2014, 08:20:49 PM »
the price tag seems outrageous (it's either $6k or $8k depending on what I read)...

http://www.sylvansport.com/

The page you linked to says 2k for the low end model.

Something like that is okay for camping, but I'd rather just cram a car full of stuff if I was going camping.  If I was going to live on the road, I'd prefer an RV for the toilet/shower possibilities, personally, but I could see some people going for full time camping.

Maybe that wasn't the right link. I had been browsing it at work. They also have a smaller model that's not a camper but just a trailer...that's probably $2k. Check this:
http://go.sylvansport.com/

I have some friends that bought a travel trailer vs. an RV because they said they like being able to park at the campground, then unhitch the trailer and take the car to the grocery store or other places without lugging the trailer. I think they get better gas mileage too.

The issue is I have a small car, so I can't lug around a travel trailer. This Sylvan Sport Go camper is light enough for regular cars (not SUVs). It is pretty much a glorified tent, but claims to fit 4 people and can carry a lot of extra gear like bikes and kayaks that wouldn't fit in my small car. It seems really easy to set up. I guess it's like buying an extension to a small car for travelling and camping purposes. I could leave the camper at the campground and take the car for any errands.

I guess I could stick with just a regular tent and try to buy a hitch for bikes and stuff. This concept sounded cool though, yet pricey. I couldn't find any used ones being sold and wondered if I decided to take a long road trip if I could buy one of these then sell it used after I am done. Then I'd only be down the depreciation value. And I'd save money on hotels. And get the great gas mileage on my small car to boot!

Longwaytogo

  • Guest
Re: Our Retirement Plans Include a Motorhome
« Reply #49 on: September 23, 2014, 09:32:19 PM »
I've actually been looking into a custom Sprinter Van based RV, built for maximum stealth and boondocking capability.  This could drastically cut down on parking expenses. 

To add to your resources, for those interested, I read a blog with a couple and a baby that travel South America in their Sprinter Van: www.sprinterlife.com

This page has some good pictures and ideas of what it can look like: http://sprinterlife.com/our-home

You beat me to adding their link! I love that blog, both good/interesting writers. They also quite often rent a house for a few months at a time and really get to know a city/country before moving on. "slow travel" is for sure the cheapest way to go when RV'ing. We vacation in my parents RV now and it gets 5.2-6 MPG depending on if we are towing a car. One weekend trip to the beach is more gas then we typically use in a month. But then we stay at a $30 a night state park right on the ocean and cook our own meals in the kitchen so ends up a wash I guess (especially since my parents shelled out the 100K for the rig and let us use it for free)

Our dream had long been to travel the country in a RV in retirement as well. Although now with sites like VRBO and airBNB I think just having a pickup with a cap full of gear doing a combo of tenting and renting condo's/ houses may be more fun.

Still have many years to dream and plan, though we my do some Tim Ferris "mini retirements" for 6-8 weeks during some summer breaks with this style of travel.