A Whole New Chapter in Audrey's Great RV Adventure

[W2R]

I can see how it's shaping up, being retired. My full time job will be organizing and scheduling my life, when I'm where, what maintenance needs to be done, can my dog come, what to do with everything when I head to Asia or South America....

Sounds like you might eventually join those of us who are not so interested in traveling during retirement, after all! My full time job in retirement so far (the past 2+ weeks) has been doing whatever I please each day.

Maybe later I will feel a need to fill my life with something but I doubt it will be long trips (or work). But then, you never know - - no need to rule anything out! Well, except work.

 

[audreyh1]

One of the things we did - after a few years of just travel and catching up with all the things we didn't have time for or had to put off due to work - was step back and really streamline our lives to facilitate what we enjoyed most, and to attempt to cut out as much of the hassle/waste-time stuff as possible. But it took a few years before we were ready to do that consciously. I think you need some time just experimenting and trying things before you can really "design your life". Fortunately early retirees have the time to do this.

That "design your life" approach is what ultimately led us to full-time RVing, as the house and sailboat were major drags when we wanted to be out traveling and photographing/wildlife viewing all the time.

And we still use that criteria as we move to part-time RVing. A major criteria for a "home base" was that it already be somewhere where we spend a lot of time photographing/wildlife viewing, it still had to facilitate extended travel, AND the hassle side of owning a home needed to be kept to a minimum - i.e. small house and absolutely no yard maintenance.

Just some food for thought......

Audrey

 

[W2R]

Then (without re-reading previous posts due to sheer laziness) I assume the community takes care of all of the yard maintenance, cutting grass and tending to other landscaping needs. That is terrific, Audrey! What a perfect setup for RV folks - - plus you have the advantage of a bricks-and-mortar home firmly confirming residency in a state with no income tax.

 

[audreyh1]

Then (without re-reading previous posts due to sheer laziness) I assume the community takes care of all of the yard maintenance, cutting grass and tending to other landscaping needs. That is terrific, Audrey! What a perfect setup for RV folks - - plus you have the advantage of a bricks-and-mortar home firmly confirming residency in a state with no income tax.

Yes. The house comes with full front yard landscaping, with a design pre-determined by the community landscaping master plan, an underground sprinkler system, and the back yard fully sodded with garden beds laid out per your requirements. Then you can plant the back garden beds yourself, or hire the development landscape people to do that for you as well. They have all these horticultural resources you can tap into to get your back yard up to speed which is great for us as we will be using native plants.

The whole yard thing was one of those absolute GO/NOGO issues for us. We would absolutely not buy a house today if we had to do our own landscaping, watering and maintenance. And we weren't really interested in condo or townhouse living due to privacy, AND we had to be able to keep the big rig RV on our property which is usually incompatible with smaller/closer living communities.

Oh - there is no question that we are TX residents since we lived here all our adult lives, never established residency in any other state and we have kept all the relevant registrations in order, but yes it does make it a little easier to explain when you own/inhabit real property.....

Audrey

 

[kat]

Laughing at myself.

As a kid, later in college, and more school, and work..... I was attracted to some of everything. I can be happy in too many ways. Too many choices.

Being retired is the same way.... (Duh.)

And yesterday in the mail, got a case assigned to me from a new judge who didn't know I had bailed out. (My registration is set through mid 2011.) And since it's easy, I'm keeping the case, and enjoying the variety in life.

Going to try the tent in the Honda for awhile, and renting campsites and see how it goes.

You're right, Audrey, about designing a life. Too many options.

 

[W2R]

Oh - there is no question that we are TX residents since we lived here all our adult lives, never established residency in any other state

Oh! I didn't realize that. I remembered this post but now that I re-read it, that was just about your childhood. Oops! Well, anyway it could be an advantage to other RV'ers who haven't actually lived in Texas before.

P.S. - - does this mean that you don't have a New Zealand accent? I will have to stop reading your posts with that accent. Oh well - - as long as I can keep reading Alan's posts with a British accent, all is right with the world.

 

[audreyh1]

You're right, Audrey, about designing a life. Too many options.

I found after a couple of years retired, that some of the options clearly became priorities, and others - well, sounded fun and were, but just weren't that important. I cut a lot of activities out after that to focus on the few that clearly were most important.

That was great, because I then got rid of a lot of stuff. It was like decluttering my life (with the major side benefit of decluttering stuff too).

Audrey

 

[audreyh1]

Oh! I didn't realize that. I remembered this post but now that I re-read it, that was just about your childhood. Oops! Well, anyway it could be an advantage to other RV'ers who haven't actually lived in Texas before.

P.S. - - does this mean that you don't have a New Zealand accent? I will have to stop reading your posts with that accent. Oh well - - as long as I can keep reading Alan's posts with a British accent, all is right with the world.

Yeah, we moved to TX just before my senior year in high school. DH is a native Texan born and raised in west TX.

New Zealand accent? Well, my sister does! And her husband more markedly (combo Australian/New Zealand). I have a definite southern US American accent.

When we first came to the states though, my accent was kind of Australian. I remember the other kids in high school saying: "Oh, you sound just like Olivia Newton John!". LOL!

Audrey

 

[Gone4Good]

we weren't really interested in condo or townhouse living due to privacy,

In my experience there is no greater anonymity to be found than in densely populated areas. We live within 15 feet of our neighbors (top to bottom) and nobody has a clue what we're doing. Mostly because they don't care. Meanwhile, our relatives are separated from their neighbors by acres and miles but the gossip regarding everyone's comings and goings is never ending.

If you truly want privacy, move somewhere where there are too many people to keep tabs on.

 

[NW-Bound]

As a kid, later in college, and more school, and work..... I was attracted to some of everything. I can be happy in too many ways. Too many choices...

Same here. I can see the allure of different lifestyles, different locales, different ways of making a living. I also see their pros and cons. Am I wishy washy? Maybe, but it means that I also keep an open mind. Not everything that works for somebody else will work for us. But it might. So, I research and study it, then make my move. I never regret any choices that I have made in life. I did everything based on the best info I had at that time. Having the bewildering choices in front of me does not mean I am jumping from one to the next, changing my mind each day. Ironically, I have a big inertia that keeps me from making rash decisions.

Anyway, back to RV, just one of these days, I may stumble across an offer that is so good that I cannot refuse. Meanwhile, I just hang around here, talking about it. I have posted more these last few days because my wife has been busy being with her father in the hospital. Yes, he had to go back. When a person is that old, things do not get better.

 

[Tesaje]

I see I am not alone in thinking about how to design my soon to be new life. I've been wanting to get rid of most of my stuff. I have spent way too many years storing stuff that I never use - because it could be useful. Time to stop that. I think my first project after retirement will be to do the big cleanout. It will feel so much better paring my stuff down to just that stuff I am actually using - now. It is has been feeling like a yoke for too long.

That development does look appealing in many ways. Why would people put guests into the RV? I thought there were so many ways ignorant and unthinking guests could make a mess of the RV systems. Seems like you would want to use the RV and have guests use the more familiar house facilities. But it could just be my ignorance.

I am also looking at class B van RVs and wondering if it will be something that will be worth the money spent on it. I don't quite understand why the smallest ones are so expensive. I can't imagine a single person with a couple-3 pets in tow needing more than that. I'm in the position of being able to afford whatever I really want in that area but not to waste the money on something I won't end up using a lot.

The Sprinter van is looking appealing. I'm wondering if a class B could work out to just being my only car after I retire. With only 1-2 weekly forays into town to get errands done and no more daily commuting, maybe it would suffice. If they really get 20-25 mpg, that is all I have ever gotten out of my Subaru so maybe it would be the future vehicle for me? As long as I can also get some 4x8 sheets of plywood into it also, so the design of them matters.

I don't want multiple vehicles if I can make it work. Expensive and they suffer from disuse. so many things to consider...

 

[brewer12345]

I am also looking at class B van RVs and wondering if it will be something that will be worth the money spent on it. I don't quite understand why the smallest ones are so expensive. I can't imagine a single person with a couple-3 pets in tow needing more than that. I'm in the position of being able to afford whatever I really want in that area but not to waste the money on something I won't end up using a lot.

The Sprinter van is looking appealing. I'm wondering if a class B could work out to just being my only car after I retire. With only 1-2 weekly forays into town to get errands done and no more daily commuting, maybe it would suffice. If they really get 20-25 mpg, that is all I have ever gotten out of my Subaru so maybe it would be the future vehicle for me? As long as I can also get some 4x8 sheets of plywood into it also, so the design of them matters.

I don't want multiple vehicles if I can make it work. Expensive and they suffer from disuse. so many things to consider...

You could also have a custom job done. There are companies out there that specialize in doing exactly that, like Sportsmobile. They will even trick out your van to your specs, although they will also buy a chassis and put a standard floorplan on it if you wish.

Personally, I would think seriously about that route. The other possibility that comes to mind would be to look into converting one of the Ford Transit Connect vans to your liking. They are compact, have enormous interior space considering their size, and should be quite economical to buy and run. I would be willing to bet that Sportsmobile would even entertain the idea of taking on such a project. Of course, if you are handy you could do this yourself. If you search the web there are lotrs of these conversions running around the UK and Europe, where these vans have been available and common for years.

 

[NW-Bound]

Tesaje, I don't think those can get 20-25mpg. It's more like 18 mpg with the diesel engine, and then probably only for highway driving. Still, it would make a good only transportation for a retiree. I have been pondering these very same issues.

By the way, my calico cat looks like yours in the avatar. But then, they so look somewhat alike, don't they?

 

[kat]

The Sprinter van is looking appealing. I'm wondering if a class B could work out to just being my only car after I retire. With only 1-2 weekly forays into town to get errands done and no more daily commuting, maybe it would suffice. If they really get 20-25 mpg, that is all I have ever gotten out of my Subaru so maybe it would be the future vehicle for me? As long as I can also get some 4x8 sheets of plywood into it also, so the design of them matters.

I don't want multiple vehicles if I can make it work. Expensive and they suffer from disuse. so many things to consider...

I don't want multiple vehicles either. But I have a reliable 9 year old Honda with 70,000 miles and no problems, and it still gets 31 mpgs. It's hard to swallow getting rid of.......

Otherwise, I'm looking at owning two homes and two vehicles, and turning into a person I don't recognize.

 

[NW-Bound]

Otherwise, I'm looking at owning two homes and two vehicles, and turning into a person I don't recognize.

A person who is now enjoying the fruit of her labor, something she has saved to savor later in her retirement?

 

[RonBoyd]

If they really get 20-25 mpg, that is all I have ever gotten out of my Subaru so maybe it would be the future vehicle for me?

I would, also, be suspicious of those numbers -- particularly if you do much start/stop driving. I can get over 16 MPG on the highway (say 300-400 miles at 65 MPH) but it don't take much city driving to bring the average down to 13. Granted, I have the biggest, heaviest Roadtrek and run on gasoline but the principle will be the same. Again, I voice my concern about the 3/4 ton chassis and that heighth as opposed to my one-ton chassis and lower profile.

As long as I can also get some 4x8 sheets of plywood into it also, so the design of them matters.

These vehicles are not designed for hauling consruction material, they are build to be lived in. I could not get a 4x8 sheet of anything in ours.

On the other hand, I have met a large number of folks who's RT is the family vehicle -- never heard any complaints.

 

[kat]

Again, I voice my concern about the 3/4 ton chassis and that heighth as opposed to my one-ton chassis and lower profile.

Could you explain this concern -- or point me to where you said it before? I need to learn more.

Thanks!

 

[RonBoyd]

Could you explain this concern -- or point me to where you said it before? I need to learn more.

My concern is contained in that statement (the 3/4 ton chassis and that heighth as opposed to my one-ton chassis and lower profile). No scientific evidence involved only irrational thinking I suppose.''

Oh! There have been so many threads... I don't remember where I said things

Click on "Search" at the top of the page and put in Roadtrek would give you a good start. I, for instance, found this that way:

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/any-experience-with-class-b-rvs-41445.html

 

[NW-Bound]

I did not see Tesaje's comment about cargo space with a class B until RonBoyd answered it. But that is not insurmountable. You can pull a small 4x8 open trailer to haul whatever you need. It is lower and easier to load than a pickup truck, and more economical than having a pickup just for those rare occasions that you need it.

About towing capacity of these, I have seen a snowbird pulling a small car behind his Winnebago View (or a Sprinter chassis look-alike), so I looked up its rating. It's 3,500 lbs, so certainly usable with an open trailer or small car.

I like these small class Bs a lot, but must overcome their high price and my wife's resistance. I still work part-time but she doesn't, hence she has become more spending-averse. She does not see the recreational benefits as outweighting the risks of having to come back to work, hence I must convince her otherwise or wait until the market improves further. "It's OK. It's less than one annual SWR". She still doesn't buy it.

 

[audreyh1]

In my experience there is no greater anonymity to be found than in densely populated areas. We live within 15 feet of our neighbors (top to bottom) and nobody has a clue what we're doing. Mostly because they don't care. Meanwhile, our relatives are separated from their neighbors by acres and miles but the gossip regarding everyone's comings and goings is never ending.

If you truly want privacy, move somewhere where there are too many people to keep tabs on.

I am actually not looking for anonymity, just privacy in terms of space separation from neighbors, own personal outdoors space, and no shared walls.

There will be little anonymity in my new neighborhood. We all have way too much in common especially our histories: all retired couples and ex-fulltimers? Sheesh!

Audrey

 

[audreyh1]

That development does look appealing in many ways. Why would people put guests into the RV? I thought there were so many ways ignorant and unthinking guests could make a mess of the RV systems. Seems like you would want to use the RV and have guests use the more familiar house facilities. But it could just be my ignorance.

Well, ultimately this would be judged on a case-by-case basis.

But once the RV is parked, hooked up and slides out, there aren't too many ways to mess it up. The most challenging issue would be the marine toilet, and that's pretty basic. We would take care of dumping tanks, etc. and make sure they were empty ahead of time.

Plus there is a guest bathroom close by - just across the courtyard. Someone can use house plumbing if they prefer.

I expect part of it is that younger folks such as grandchildren are the more common guests in this development, so they get sent out to the RV.

Audrey

 

[REWahoo]

I expect part of it is that younger folks such as grandchildren are the more common guests in this development, so they get sent out to the RV.

Audrey, you say that as if it is a negative. My grandkids love sleeping in grandpa's bus.

 

[audreyh1]

Audrey, you say that as if it is a negative. My grandkids love sleeping in grandpa's bus.

Nope - don't mean it as a negative. I actually think it would be a positive adventure for any of my visiting family members.

I bet your grandkids DO love it. I bet a lot of folks grandkids would. Almost as good as camping out in the backyard!

Audrey

 

[heyduke]

It is neat although I do have a couple of issues with it. First, it does not show every RV park in the area. I estimate it captures only 75-80%. Second, the location shown for the park is often not very accurate. You need to go to some other source to confirm.

still what an excellent first tool to use... i am still a year away from fulltiming but this tool has been duly bookmarked...

 

[audreyh1]

Wrote a big check today. Closed on the house.

See http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/audrey-becomes-a-landscape-designer-50758.html for pictures.

Audrey