First thing you did when you went full time

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First thing you did when you went full time

December 14, 2016, 09:49:40 pm

I've been working on going full time for a while and now I'm getting close. I'm winding down clearing out the house and just put it up for sale. I may very well move out of the house while it's being sold, so may buy an RV very soon so I can clean it up and get it ready for full time living. I was just wondering... for those of you who are full time, what is the first thing you did after you moved out of your sticks and bricks? Did you boondock? Did you stay at an RV Park? Did you stay local or did you travel somewhere? Did you stay in a friends driveway? I'll be traveling with my pooch and I have to admit, I'm a little nervous about all of this. I can stay at my neighbors house for a few days, but I don't have plans after that. It feels like a free-fall in a way; good but a little unsettling.

What did you do your first night as a full time rver?

Thanks...

Mimi

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #1 – December 14, 2016, 10:10:35 pm

I acquired my Lazy Daze RV at the same time my house sold. The house was nearly empty, so I moved into the rig in my driveway; just using the bathroom in the house. When the house closed, I arranged to park in a friends yard locally. I alternated between his yard, boondocking, and state parks for three months until I retired and hit the road. Towns and neighborhoods have different rules about staying in an RV, so check to be sure you can do as planned.

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #2 – December 14, 2016, 10:16:02 pm

Quote from: pleinguy - December 14, 2016, 10:10:35 pm

I alternated between his yard, boondocking, and state parks for three months until I retired and hit the road.

Now that you've been on the road awhile, where do you "camp" or park most of the time? In the summer, do you find your way north and vice versa in the winter? Thank you.

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #3 – December 14, 2016, 10:28:10 pm

Mimi,

You did not mention what your plans were for Domicile and mail.

In my case, I bought the RV first and lived in it in my driveway for a couple of months while fixing up the house for sale. I had decided to use Escapees for mail and to use a Texas Domicile.
So during this period, I set up the Mail service and changed my address with the Post Office and on as many bills as I had. If you are getting a new Drivers License this is important since most States require a Bank Statement and some other mail showing the new address. In my case when I went to get my Texas License, I had Bank Statements and other bills
showing the new address. Don't have the new mail service send the mail back to your address you just changed because it will just get into an endless loop. (ask me how I know this)

Living in my driveway allowed me to "move-in" gradually and I had time to properly load the RV and figure out where everything went. I left while the house was for sale and went to Texas to establish Domicile i.e. License, Tags, Insurance, etc. Once I was "Legal" and obviously living in the RV, I was free to start exploring.

I did find an interesting transition time between starting out sort of as a tourist/vacation mindset and the eventual living in the RV mindset I have now.

So I guess the best thing is to make sure you have a plan for legal Domicile, Mail, Insurance and, if necessary, build the details you will need beforehand. This takes time.

You might benefit from the Graduating to Fulltime discussions on the Escapees Forum.

Stay where you feel comfortable at first.

Good Luck, it's worth it.

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #4 – December 14, 2016, 11:11:30 pm

Hi Bob,

Well, I have to maintain residency here in order to keep prop 13, so I'm going to use my son's address until I buy another place here a couple of years down the road (if I end up doing it at all), then I plan to rent it out. I can still use a PO Box/mail forwarding for my mail, but I need to keep a physical address here.

Quote

I did find an interesting transition time between starting out sort of as a tourist/vacation mindset and the eventual living in the RV mindset I have now.

You might benefit from the Graduating to Fulltime discussions on the Escapees Forum.

Stay where you feel comfortable at first.

Good Luck, it's worth it.

The tourist/vacation mindset is so right! Along with that, I worry a little about having a longing for a familiar place to go, like a sticks and bricks. I camped in an RV one time in my life when I was 15. That was a looong time ago. :-) How long did it take for you to move into the full time mindset? Did you do anything special to get yourself there?

I'll read the Graduating to Fulltime discussions at Escapees. Thank you. That sounds just like what I need. I can't wait to feel the freedom I can only feel traveling in my RV.

Thanks..

Mimi

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #5 – December 14, 2016, 11:28:20 pm

Quote from: pleinguy - December 14, 2016, 10:10:35 pm

I acquired my Lazy Daze RV at the same time my house sold. The house was nearly empty, so I moved into the rig in my driveway; just using the bathroom in the house. When the house closed, I arranged to park in a friends yard locally. I alternated between his yard, boondocking, and state parks for three months until I retired and hit the road. Towns and neighborhoods have different rules about staying in an RV, so check to be sure you can do as planned.

That's perfect. I'd like to do just that; live in my driveway and get the RV ready for when the house sells. The three months you were boondocking and staying in state parks, did you stay near to where your house was? How did you decide where to go that first day after you retired? It's a strange concept for me, this being totally free to come and go when and where you please. I can't wait! I have read about different areas having different rules for full time folks, but I have to do a little more study in that area.

Thanks for your insight.

Mimi

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #6 – December 14, 2016, 11:44:53 pm

Quote from: Opuntia - December 14, 2016, 11:11:30 pm

How long did it take for you to move into the full time mindset? Did you do anything special to get yourself there?
Mimi

Well when I started out the goal seemed to be to see everything, eat out, generally behave like I was on a week vacation and had to pack everything in. This was expensive and a bit stressful. I got out of cities and did more Parks and boondocking and just generally relaxed. Eventually finding laundry, propane, or an oil change replaced concerts and dining. I still do and can do those things as a vacationeer, but it's seldom. I find I like sitting in a local diner in a small town reading their weekly paper. Being a solo I don't have any pressure to see or do stuff, so I take it easy, see what I want to and relax.

For example I visited the McDonald Observatory in Texas for a star party. I stayed in a State Park down the mountain. I had time to study and learn about what I was going to be looking at beforehand. This was one of the best things I've done and if I had been in vacation mode, I would have simply checked it off a list.

In Tucson I stayed a month to learn the area, visit the Air Museum and the Desert Museum and the Missile Silo and other sights, but staying a month allowed me to feel more a part of the place.

Now I tend to spend longer time when I get somewhere. What's the rush? I have no schedule. I only have a vague notion of what day it is generally.

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #7 – December 15, 2016, 12:40:53 am

Travel around the US for a year. Not usually staying more than a week and mostly public campgrounds. After hanging around near home, the Pacific NW last summer we have moved to the southwest, and are slowing down and staying for a month at a couple RV parks.

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #8 – December 15, 2016, 12:51:37 am

Quote from: Bob Lawhon - December 14, 2016, 11:44:53 pm

Well when I started out the goal seemed to be to see everything, eat out, generally behave like I was on a week vacation and had to pack everything in. This was expensive and a bit stressful. I got out of cities and did more Parks and boondocking and just generally relaxed. Eventually finding laundry, propane, or an oil change replaced concerts and dining. I still do and can do those things as a vacationeer, but it's seldom. I find I like sitting in a local diner in a small town reading their weekly paper. Being a solo I don't have any pressure to see or do stuff, so I take it easy, see what I want to and relax.

For example I visited the McDonald Observatory in Texas for a star party. I stayed in a State Park down the mountain. I had time to study and learn about what I was going to be looking at beforehand. This was one of the best things I've done and if I had been in vacation mode, I would have simply checked it off a list.

In Tucson I stayed a month to learn the area, visit the Air Museum and the Desert Museum and the Missile Silo and other sights, but staying a month allowed me to feel more a part of the place.

Now I tend to spend longer time when I get somewhere. What's the rush? I have no schedule. I only have a vague notion of what day it is generally.

What a lovely description of a perfect life; sitting in a local diner, relaxing and reading the local rag as if you've been there all your life. I can understand how being solo made it more enjoyable to experience that. At the same time, I can also see myself driving all over the place trying to experience everything as quickly as possible, yes, like I was on a two week vacation. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I'll have to shut that part of my brain down. Do you travel the country or do you have a favorite route you take? How often do you boondock on BLM land or National Parks?

The McDonald Observatory star party? There is another example of a wonderful event that I would never experience if I stayed here, nailed down to this house. How lucky you are to have known about it and been able to attend the event. Staying there for a while made that possible. This is one of the reasons I decided to full time. I don't think I could build memories speeding from one place to the next. I hope I can achieve date vagueness.:-)

Mimi

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #9 – December 15, 2016, 01:00:13 am

Quote from: Jay Carlson - December 15, 2016, 12:40:53 am

Travel around the US for a year. Not usually staying more than a week and mostly public campgrounds. After hanging around near home, the Pacific NW last summer we have moved to the southwest, and are slowing down and staying for a month at a couple RV parks.

Are public campgrounds the National Parks? When you traveled around the US, how did you pick where you were going to stay? I'm a little overwhelmed I think by all the choices of places to see and stay. I don't want to miss a nice place because I went off in the wrong direction. How do you decide where you're going to go?

Thanks...

Mimi

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #10 – December 15, 2016, 09:42:28 am

"Are public campgrounds the National Parks?"
----
"Public campgrounds" may be found in town, county, district or regional parks, in state parks, in national and state forests, in national parks and monuments, in Corps of Engineers parks, on BLM lands, in campgrounds managed by a "public" entity, e.g., PG&E in northern CA, in county or area fairgrounds, in wildlife refuges, and more......

Attractions, facilities, amenities, and costs of public campgrounds vary widely, ranging from free, open, no designated sites (and few, if any, amenities) to pricey, crowded, jammed-together sites that may offer at least partial hookups.

Private "campgrounds" are usually RV parks; facilities, amenities, and costs vary within this group, too, but these places are owned by individuals or corporations/entities.

Additional overnight locations may be a Walmart or other parking lot (where permitted), a casino lot, a truck stop, a rest area, a business that offers campsites for a one or two-night stay, e.g., Harvest Hosts members, "driveway" or property stays, e.g., Escapees "Day's End", "Sno-parks", occasionally a hospital or church parking lot, and/or other "lot squat" places; these are not campgrounds, just convenient (maybe!) overnight "in late, out early" locations, usually when one is en route to somewhere else.

Many towns and cities have very strictly-enforced regulations against RV overnight street parking; prohibitions have definitely increased in recent years, and a 2 a.m. "roust" is not uncommon. Know the local rules and protocols.

HTH.

Joan

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #11 – December 15, 2016, 09:54:46 am

If you are age 62 or older, you may want to get your Senior Pass NOW! The Congress has just passed an increase in the price and, once the President signs it, the price increase will be immediate. It's going from $10 lifetime to $80 lifetime, or you can buy an annual Senior Pass for $20.

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #12 – December 15, 2016, 10:25:44 am

"If you are age 62 or older, you may want to get your Senior Pass NOW!"
---
And, if you already have a Senior Pass, don't lose it! (It's a good idea for each eligible person in your "travel family" to get his/her own Senior Pass.)

All the "passes" info is here:

America the Beautiful Passes (U.S. National Park Service)

Joan

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #13 – December 15, 2016, 11:18:00 am

Quote from: JCT - December 15, 2016, 09:42:28 am

"Are public campgrounds the National Parks?"
----
"Public campgrounds" may be found in town, county, district or regional parks, in state parks, in national and state forests, in national parks and monuments, in Corps of Engineers parks, on BLM lands, in campgrounds managed by a "public" entity, e.g., PG&E in northern CA, in county or area fairgrounds, in wildlife refuges, and more......

HTH.

Joan

Wow Joan! Thank you for all that great information! I've been reading this forum, IRV2, Andy's blog and many other Internet sites, but I can see now that I never really understood all that. I don't want to stay on a street in a town somewhere where I might have to try to hide from folks. I guess if I get caught and it's late, I can see having to park in a town, but I plan to do everything I can to avoid that. My dog awakens me at 3 am to go to the bathroom. I don't want another surprise in the wee hours of the morning! I was planning to find boondocking locations, or maybe some places with at least electrical hookups and then driving my toad into the local town to explore. That brings me to my next question. With all those choices of places to park and/or stay, is there anywhere on the Internet where these locations are reviewed? If I can avoid pulling into a place with a reputation I'm unaware of, I'd like to do that! My dog can be pretty fierce, but I'd rather avoid the whole thing to begin with.

I can't thank you enough for all that great information! I've copied it to my mobile boondocking folder for future reference!

Mimi

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #14 – December 15, 2016, 11:26:11 am

Quote from: JCT - December 15, 2016, 10:25:44 am

"If you are age 62 or older, you may want to get your Senior Pass NOW!"
---
And, if you already have a Senior Pass, don't lose it! (It's a good idea for each eligible person in your "travel family" to get his/her own Senior Pass.)

All the "passes" info is here:

America the Beautiful Passes (U.S. National Park Service)
lic par
Joan

Thank you! I forgot about that! I remember reading about that somewhere. I'm not quite there yet, but it's the first thing I'll do when I get there!

<edit>It looks like I can use the America the Beautiful pass in the meantime. The NPS site is a great resource. Thank you!

Mimi

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #15 – December 15, 2016, 11:50:05 am

To answer your question about reviews etc.. there are a ton of places where campgrounds are reviewed (even on Yelp). Personally I use the ALLSTAYS app to find my next place to stay. I'm not saying that its the best, its just the one that I use the most. It will give you all kids of information about places to stay, including amenities, reviews, when they are open, their websites (if they have) etc... good luck on your adventures.

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #16 – December 15, 2016, 12:03:31 pm

Thanks Rebecca. I'll check out Allstays. I didn't know they were on Yelp. I did a search and there are a lot of sites with reviews.

Is there an issue with staying in places in an older LD? I read some places won't let you stay if your rig is over 10 years old.

Mimi

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #17 – December 15, 2016, 12:10:49 pm

Mimi, here is another resource for your perusing pleasure, Bob Wells' Cheap RV Living site and You Tube channel. Very entertaining and informative if you are interested in boondocking:

Cheap RV Living.com-Home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFr5LUX8Fts

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #18 – December 15, 2016, 12:10:58 pm

Quote from: Opuntia - December 15, 2016, 12:03:31 pm

Is there an issue with staying in places in an older LD? I read some places won't let you stay if your rig is over 10 years old

Some high-end RV Resorts have such rules.
The nice thing about an LD, with the heritage paint job, ishtar it is tough to figure our how old it is.
Keep the paint in good shape and you can 'sneak' in.
Our LD is 14 years old and I have, on occasion, fudged the model year when checking in at parks where I'm concerned they have an age limit.
If your rig looks old and shabby, expect issues with this..

Larry

Larry

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #19 – December 15, 2016, 12:12:43 pm

Quote from: Linda Hylton - December 15, 2016, 09:54:46 am

If you are age 62 or older, you may want to get your Senior Pass NOW! The Congress has just passed an increase in the price and, once the President signs it, the price increase will be immediate. It's going from $10 lifetime to $80 lifetime, or you can buy an annual Senior Pass for $20.

Thanks. I never thought I'd wish to be a little older! lol

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #20 – December 15, 2016, 12:18:58 pm

Quote from: Opuntia - December 15, 2016, 12:03:31 pm

Is there an issue with staying in places in an older LD? I read some places won't let you stay if your rig is over 10 years old

Some high-end RV Resorts have such rules.
The nice thing about an LD, with the heritage paint job, ishtar it is tough to figure our how old it is.
Keep the paint in good shape and you can 'sneak' in.
Our LD is 14 years old and I have, on occasion, fudged the model year when checking in at parks where I'm concerned they have an age limit.
If your rig looks old and shabby, expect issues with this..

Larry

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #21 – December 15, 2016, 12:20:57 pm

Very short "starter list":

US AND CANADA CAMPGROUNDS - FORMAL AND DISPERSED PUBLIC CAMPING LOCATIONS - Home

Allstays Camp and RV | RV Parks Campgrounds App

Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder Mobile App | Oh, Ranger!

RV Park Reviews - Trusted Reviews of Campgrounds & RV Parks

Campsite Photos, Camping Pictures, and Campground Reviews - campsitephotos.com

Individual national forest websites; also try www.forestcamping.com

Individual state's park system websites

https://www.blm.gov/locations BLM state websites; search each state of interest for camping/recreation.

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #22 – December 15, 2016, 12:21:31 pm

Quote from: HiLola - December 15, 2016, 12:10:49 pm

Mimi, here is another resource for your perusing pleasure, Bob Wells' Cheap RV Living site and You Tube channel. Very entertaining and informative if you are interested in boondocking:

Yes! I've been watching his videos along with others! He's very informative, a lot of fun and a great resource for a newbie like me! RV Sue and her Canine Crew is a wonderful blog filled with great information and park reviews, which is really important to me. I've been watching a lot of Kirsten Dirksen's videos and Living Big in a Tiny House. I love watching Nelson Tiny Houses too. I really love the idea of living in a small space, off the grid, without a mortgage. That's my dream. Bob and the others and everyone in here and IRV2 have been an inspiration to me. I can't thank everyone enough for sharing such great information!

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #23 – December 15, 2016, 12:28:12 pm

Quote from: Larry Wade - December 15, 2016, 12:10:58 pm

Some high-end RV Resorts have such rules.
The nice thing about an LD, with the heritage paint job, ishtar it is tough to figure our how old it is.
Keep the paint in good shape and you can 'sneak' in.
Our LD is 14 years old and I have, on occasion, fudged the model year when checking in at parks where I'm concerned they have an age limit.
If your rig looks old and shabby, expect issues with this..

Larry

Larry

I don't plan to stay in RV Resorts because I want to be in nature as much as I can but, that said, I will want to be in a campground off and on so, I am a little concerned about that. Once I find my LD, if the paint isn't great, I'd planned to have it painted/restored at the factory because I want it to look shiny and new. I don't know if the factory does that or not but, if not, there must be someone out there who can do it.

Thanks Larry,

Mimi

Re: First thing you did when you went full time

Reply #24 – December 15, 2016, 12:36:12 pm

Quote from: JCT - December 15, 2016, 12:20:57 pm

Very short "starter list":

Wow! I'd found the BLM site, but not the others. This is a tremendous list. I can't imagine needing anything else along with the NPS site. Does the rvparkreviews.com website offer pretty accurate reviews? I guess in combination with Yelp and some of the others, I can get a good idea of good places to camp.

Thank you!

Mimi

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