Why We Need a Home Base & a NEW RV NOW! (RV Living)
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- Опубліковано 4 лип 2024
- Why do we need a home base and a new RV now? After all the other times we could have used it?
Did you see our Everything Breaks video anout our Grand Design RV? Do you know about Larry's incurable neurodisorder?
@Lippert. @GrandDesignRVTV
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:36 What is a Full Time RVer
5:29 Our Dream Home Base
7:28 Why Home Base Now?
10:34 Can we afford it?
12:13 Should you sell your home?
14:31 The Original Plan
18:42 Should YOU have a home base
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Links to videos 🎥
Boondocking Big Mistake
• Boondocking Damage! W...
Health Insurance - Obama Care
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Health Crisis
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Time to Quit
• Why I Quit- Not Retire...
Travel From Florida to Utah
• Travel Florida To Utah...
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We are a married couple in our mid 50s who downsized and sold our house so we can see the sights and enjoy every day to live deliberately as full time RVers - traveling with our dog Scruffy, in our Grand Design Solitude 310 GK fifth wheel.
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#rvliving #homebase #quittingfulltimerv
here are links to the videos we mentioned in this video:
"Health Insurance" Obama care
ua-cam.com/video/qajLyax2Kfk/v-deo.htmlsi=Ta-sM7CJ8zVtJg2t
"Health Crisis"
ua-cam.com/video/WZCNVTae7oM/v-deo.htmlsi=tMwaL_wogNDS7kiT
"I Quit"
ua-cam.com/video/iemh3zC5pQw/v-deo.htmlsi=GlZmUs13uv32N8nK
"Boondocking Damage"
ua-cam.com/video/6De4mk2zJwY/v-deo.htmlsi=DtUW6wwdTv1SEYIJ
"RV Travel from Florida to Utah:
ua-cam.com/video/3wb9hKbj1jQ/v-deo.htmlsi=HjbfPDgRbLzcb3FY
We sold our house in a subdivision bought a 27ft travel trailer and traveled for a year full time. Then we parked at a family members house for several months while we figured out if we still wanted to travel. We decided to buy five acres with an old mobile home on it. The taxes are low and we can leave without worrying about it since it has no real value. There is no landscaping to worry about but lots of space and a shop for projects.
Sounds exactly like what we are looking for. But we would slowly build a tiny house and get rid of the mobile home.
@@DownsizingMakesCents Yes it was a difficult decision to make but we have remodeled the inside and feel comfortable here now. We also had a 22x40 ft rv cover built with full hookups so we can use our rv for guests.
@@drewsbenmad Are you inviting us 😉
Yes. We’d like to have hookups for friends.
be careful about zoning when building a tiny house. @@DownsizingMakesCents
Was it a bargain and how did you find it? What state?
We are HALF-timers. 😊 6 months on our 4 acres in Missouri and 6 months in Florida, for the past 5 years.
However, we plan to sell the homestead. It is just too much work to keep up. We plan to buy a SMALL home near our daughter in Joplin for our home base. Since Missouri is in the middle of the country, we can add traveling in the summer months, rather than spending all our time with upkeep of our acreage.
Why do you want acres? It is so much work!
We are 70, and retired at 60. We still have 2 children (we adopted ) ages 13 and 10½, and we homeschool. 😊
Love you guys so much! Keep up the fantastic videos!
We want acreage that’s more natural with little to no upkeep. We would love to have room for RV friends or join Boondockers Welcome 🤔
Smaller home is definitely key. We are looking now - ridiculous prices for what is being offered
And thank you. We try our best to give important information in an enjoyable way 🤗
I’m a 4th generation Floridian and my wife has lived in Florida since the early 70s. In 2021 we retired, sold our paid off big house and were able to buy a smaller home on a larger lot along with a 5th wheel and f350 to pull it. We now travel when and where we want to, plus our new home is 5 minutes away from our kids and grandkids.
We’re contemplating selling the 5th and going with a super C also.
Sounds like you have a great situation. A lot like what we want 👍
Retiring in a month at age 67....but I've lived in a stationary RV for several years already...I. looking forward to traveling soon...you guys are great and alot of fun to watch! Made my day.
Well, this comment made my day.
Good luck on retirement and travel 🤗
Larry - we have a port house in a RV Resort. We travel 2-3 times a year for 2-4 months at a time. We refer to ourselves as “Sometimers”. This works great for us. Excited to leave and excited to return and decompress/reset. Safe Travels!
Sometimers 😉
Sounds great. We are stresssed and excited to see what happens.
Thanks
My hubby & I left the stick/brick life in CA when an early retirement opportunity arose at hubby's work. We sold out of everything and went full-time RV traveling for nearly 12 years with only what we carried with us. But after lockdowns, age of the rig, our future health issues,... We were looking for a home base for the 2nd 1/2 of our retirement. We landed in western KY & found out that this area was perfect for us to resettle. So we've been able to find a perfect home for us & we still travel around on shorter trips (car & hotel) - the rig had served us well & was donated to disabled vets for them to take it off our hands. We dont regret the years of traveling & dont regret settling down again.
Carolyn,
Wow. 12 years? You should have a channel to share your experiences 😉
Sounds like you have had the best of both worlds.
We are still looking for land - and a new RV.
We aren’t fans of hotels so I think we will always have sort of RV 🤗
Alice
Three years ago we sold our home in Ontario, travelled the world for a year and then bought a condo in Bucerias, Mexico (winter months and rental income) and a 1997 Roadtrek 190 Versatile for the summer months in Canada. Last year we drove from Ontario to Mexico and back via Vancouver Island and it was fabulous. I guess we're snowbirds now. Good luck to you guys:)
We love Canada in the summer. The weather and lots of friends and family there.
Sounds like you guys have it figured out 🤗
I understand totally, if you can afford to have a home base and your dream RV. I think that is the ultimate life style at our age with some medical issues, ache and pains.
Thank you. We hope to make it happen 🤗
We retired early and sold our 4 BR house and bought an F250 and 30' fifth wheel. (We did not have high paying jobs, but we've planned and we've chosen a simpler lifestyle.) We kept our income property, a Victorian home in the city, split into 5 one-bedroom apartments. We moved into one of the apartments as our home base, and our daughter lives there when she's not at college. We traveled for 6 weeks, came home for 6 weeks, traveled 3 months, home for 6 weeks, and are heading out for 6 months this time. I consider us full time, but my husband does not. We travel every 3-14 days when we are RVing. We are working toward being on the road for 10 months of the year, spending a month or so each fall and spring at our home base for Dr. appointments, property maintenance, and visiting friends and family.
That’s pretty cool about your income property. Does the RV stay there when not in use?
Well, you know Larry would agree with your husband about not being full timers.
Have fun with all the travel
We’re retired 5 yrs ago but could only get away for 2-3 days at a time because my MIL lived with us. She moved to a retirement residence this April and we were able to go away longer BUT we’re a,ways worried about the house while we were away. So we sold our house, used some proceeds to pay for a new A class and rented a 1000 sq ft apartment. We both have good pensions so income e is not an issue to pay for the apartment. Next week we’re heading from Ottawa Canada to Texas for 6 weeks. We have also leased a summer seasonal site as we need to park the a class somewhere so we can enjoy being outdoors for a few days at a time in between summer trips. We hope to make 4-5 trips a year, some for a week or 2 and others for longer.
Congratulations on retiring. Sounds like you have a great set up and will be enjoying yourselves for longer periods soon.
We love traveling to Canada - Larry grew up in Ontario.
Have a great New Year, Alice
Your downsizing videos helped us in our downsizing plans. This video has lots of wisdom from experience. Thanks for sharing. We are 62 now and retired. We sold the 3800 sq ft home on 3 aces 2-1/2years ago for all those reasons you spoke of. We rented for 2 yrs while Joe worked his last 2 years and we hated it. We were going to go straight out and full time around the United States, but with all the craziness in the world we decided to look for a l landing spot that was ours, for all the reasons you mentioned! We bought 1 acre in Taylor County Florida 2 yrs ago, and we currently here developing with full time hookups for our 5th wheel. Then we bought 1 acre in Ohio, where we are from, that has a trailer and a 100 year old big red barn. It was nice because the utilities were there and we added rv hookup’s. Our oldest son has some serious health issues and can’t afford living on his own. He stays in the trailer and watches over everything thing for us.
So I don’t know what we call ourselves, we are still trying to figure it out. I know we love Florida and we are exploring the state parks! Love the springs!! Take care! Merry Christmas!
Thank you so much. We always hope our experiences help others.
I’d love to find a property with a big red barn ❤️
And state parks are amazing - we still want to visit them. We have a reservation for two weeks in March - will we keep it? I hope so.
Glad it sounds like you have a great set up.
Fingers crossed. 🤗
I love your personalities. Y’all are always so informative and fun to watch. Safe travels y’all!
It means so much to read this. We always hope to be helpful, but still fun. 🤗
We have not retired yet but will soon and will keep a home base. It's natural to us to make a and have a home. We travel a lot now and at times just need to stop being in motion. You two make great points on how you approach your RV and home base life. Take care!!
Thank you very much. For some, this is controversial. We loved being full time, but with all that has happened, we need some quiet time 😉
Always keep evolving! Good points made!! Really sorry to learn about your frame but I see potential in your plan!!👍
No choice but to “evolve”
We will have an update after the inspection and the adjuster
We sold our house and 2 acres almost 2 years ago but kept the farm and 36 acres. We have lots of dry storage from the old buildings and have full hookups for our fifth wheel. We're in Tennessee so we travel during the summer and winter and stay home in the spring and fall. No house or yard to worry about when we are gone, but still a place to call home that we can come back to anytime we want. We just stay in the trailer when we are at the farm.
That’s awesome. We would love to find land with an old barn.
Room for us? 😉
So much exciting things for you guys!! Can’t wait to see it all. Merry Christmas Larry & Alice, from Lisa & Mike in Kentucky🤗🎄❤️
Lisa, give Mike a big Christmas hug from us - in Florida 🤗 🎄🎁🎅
Part-timer here. We almost sold it, but my DW got a gut feeling not to. I've been married to her for almost 40 years. I've learned to listen to her gut feelings. We're mostly traveling in the winter months, through the south. Back home in the spring. Right now, it's mostly 8 - 14 days in one place.
Glad you listened to her.
Look at what happened to us.
We can’t find anything livable in our price range.
Enjoy your part time camping 🤗
I think you are making a good decision. I don't think I could ever go fulltime or half time but we do like taking trips that are a month or less and enjoy our weekend warrior trips. I'll be curious to see what you get.
We will know more in a few days. The weekend warrior is not my thing 😁
I skipped the living RV full time route. Thought about it ! Built a tiny home 18 years ago in Florida. Have a Casita for traveling and camping. Less stress in my opinion than constantly moving . Thanks for sharing your adventure.👍😁
Ralph,
I tell you, a part of me wished we did the same as you. We went full time right when Covid hit. Then Larry got very sick.
Constantly moving was tiring. Doing 6 months at a homebase and 6 months travel sounds good right now.
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents
It’s okay! You guys probably find a nice spot ! I live southeast of Gainesville on a lake ! I like living part time under the oak trees! Lol Then travel to State Parks etc . We’ve never stayed in a RV park. Just got our first RV three years ago. Tent camped for over 60 years! A are a bit older than you guys . Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 😁👍
Hi Guys. - We have only been on the road for 1 1/2 years but are looking for a home base as well. We wore ourselves out traveling up the Oregon coast last summer and thats when we knew we should have a place to rest and recover for those times when travel gets stressful. We've started doing a lot of research on areas and look forward to following you guys as you look for a place as well
You guys totally get it. It’s awesome but tiring traveling so much.
We wish you the best on your search 🤗
We sold it!! Closing is Jan. 25th! It has been crazy the past few months selling everything we own and doing projects on our rig, which we've been fortunate to have parked in our driveway. It has become home, and we're ready to get on that road! We are looking forward to finally meeting you both at Bootleggers Brewery! 🔆🐾
We did the same thing while selling our house - moochdocked in our front yard 😁
Congratulations 🍾🎉🎊🎈
And see you at the meetup 🤗
We can relate to your story. We were f/t and kind of looking for a home base as we traveled. We stayed at a nice RV park in AZ that had 'park model' homes. We bought one. This last summer our RV had a brake recall and our rig sat for 2 months waiting for parts at the dealer. Got the rig back and took a 'shake down' trip to a campground 2 hours away. Found out during the shake down the fridge was not working as it should. Back to the dealer for two more months. Bottom line if we did not have the 'home base' we would have been in hotels for about 4 months with our dog.
Definitely. We have been lucky that what broke, Larry could fix. Except the slide. And we were lucky it was fixed in a day.
And a hotel with a dog is horrible. We might have to sleep on our kids floor if we end up fixing the RV - we don’t see getting a homebase quickly.
Thank you for your service and input in the RV Dwellers/Nomadic Community!
Back in January 2018, the wife and I along with our three large four legged companions transition from a 1600 square foot house(which we had lived in for 10 years) to a 31 feet four season travel trailer just in a span of one month to venture a new territory as we have gotten a better career opportunity in a neighboring state. We consider ourselves a full-time RV Dwellers/Nomads as we boondock 96% in our home state and travel for two month of the year with our rv to other states. We are glad to report that as of January 1, 2024, we have officially crossed our 6th year anniversary as a full-time rv dwellers/Nomadic lifestyle. We are now preparing to upgrade our first and current rig to a 5th wheel toy hauler to carry our junks as we continue our journey on the road. I wish the best to come for you and yours on whatever decisions you make to continue on your journeys down the road. Safe travels and take the less traveled path.
-Howdy, from the Nevada Desert!🏕🏜🤠
Hey, Nevada,
96 percent? Wow. You are saving some serious cash. I guess you have a great solar system
Good luck on your new adventures and rig.
And thanks for the well wishes. Safe travels,
Alice
Full time Rv travel is risky. We have been lucky so far for 2.5 years. But looking to sell the class A for a travel trailer and go part time.
It has its risks for sure. Good luck with the new adventures
Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you both . So nice to see you guys getting a home base. Take care and many blessings 🙏🏻🥰🥰🎄🎄
Thank you. Happy New Year to you, too.
We hope we find one that ticks all the boxes 🤗
We just recently did just this! Welcome to part timing from Florida! Hope you find the perfect property. We are loving the area we are in!
It seems to be a rapidly growing group 😉
And thank you. 🤞 🤗
We briefly flirted with the idea of a home base -- paid $85,000 cash for 1.6 acres, really nice two-car garage insulated with a well and over-sized septic tank and drainfield -- existing foundation for a prior modular home that was huge and a large and tall storage shed with a loft. But Developer Don was a butt munch and I got tired of dealing with his DA in short order. After 9 months, we had a chance to sell it and clear $21,000 after commission and closing costs -- we took the money, hit the road and never looked back.
Love to hear a successful story like that. That is a really good price you paid, we cant find anything even close to that. 2 acres of raw land costs 40 to 60k in florida in the areas we are interested in, if there is property it starts at around 200k. Larry
We are definitely full-time. No house since April 2020. Covered 30 states so far (some of them, 2-3 times). It’s been epic! 😊
Dawn, that is awesome. Glad you are enjoying it. Love to meet you if you go to the Tampa RV Show 🤗
I think a building big enough to park an RV inside with living quarters would be perfect. Especially if it was near a family member or someone that could look after it while you're traveling.
Thanks. We hope it will all work out.
Traveling full-time in an RV is a young person‘s game, and even at that it gets tiring after a period of time. We thought of doing that for about 10 seconds. At 66 years old we use our 5th wheel for wintering in Florida and then use our Arctic Fox truck camper for easy out and back trips during the summer. Covers all bases well. The truck camper was a game changer for ease of travel. But in the end, it is always nice looking forward to coming back to our cabin on 115 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
What? 115 acres in the mountains? Of course I wouldn’t go full time 😁
You have room for us 😉
I do agree, full time might be suited for the youngins’
And we thought about a truck camper to go to Alaska.
We shall see what happens after the RV inspection
@@DownsizingMakesCents yes, Alaska is on our bucket list as well and it will be the truck camper we use. Can’t bear the though of pulling our 35’ 5th wheel there.
Great Video! So much of what you mentioned rang true to my wife and me. We are Floridians as well, and just became empty nesters. I plan to retire in about 3 1/2 years at the age of 60. We’ve been in our current home for 23 years. We are downsizing and using the sale of our current home to fund the building of a smaller house on a larger price of land that will be our home base so we can halftime. Our homebase will also have a 28 foot wide by 40 foot long fully enclosed metal garage to house our RV and boat. Wish you guys well and look forward to seeing what you decide to do.
Thank you.
And a bit jealous over here - sounds like you will have an awesome set up - we sold our boat when we went full time and miss it.
We will know more soon. Look on our UA-cam Community tab for the most update info
Thank you for the well wishes 🤗
Hello Alice and Larry!! Merry Christmas to you two...and your whole family!
Thank you. Same to you and yours 🤗
I guess we would classify ourselves as 3/4 timers. We spend between 7 and 9 months per year in our RV and still maintain a small house as a home base. Originally we thought of full time but after the pandemic we felt in necessary to have a home base. Our plans are to look for something even smaller than we have as we feel it is necessary to have somewhere permanent that you can go back to in the event of health or other reason.
3/4 timers 😉 love it.
Yep. We have a lot in common. If had our house on the market when it became a pandemic, I wouldn’t have sold
We’re excited for your future. We bought our home-base first. I got the RV bug as covid was creeping in and nobody really knew how bad it was going to be yet. I wanted to sell our house and buy a tag-axel diesel pusher and hit the road and bank the leftover. Then as covid became a thing to be reckoned with my wife talked some sense into my head and we shifted to downsizing,(because it made Cents😉), and bought a smaller home in a more affordable town and started saving for much more affordable rv options. We’ve studied all of the modes of RVing over the past two years and are now hoping to get a used class A next summer, God willing and fingers crossed 🤞🏼. Please keep us posted on your results and I’ll do the same. Take care and safe travels 👍🏼😎
Wish Larry was as wise as you and listened to his wife 😁
Definitely let us know how it goes with you. And we will have some kind of update by Sunday.
Best wishes. We are retired part timers. We took 7 weeks (our longest trip) out West. Normally stay on East Coast - from NJ. I like the advice you give about renting out your home instead of selling. For many of us, aging forces us to stay home more and on the road less - especially if we have medical issues and need to be near doctors. I like the idea of 6 months home and when it's too cold here then more on to a warmer environment. After our long roadtrip - we realized we still have a lot to ponder. For now - home base and part time as much as we can.
Thank you. We had a lot of info to cover. We hope it helps others when some hard decisions.
There is no RV lifestyle that fits everyone.
Enjoy your time together 🤗
That's why we will be paying off our house this October of 2024 here in California. Still traveling by rv and air. Great video. Thanks Don
That’s great. California is so expensive. We still owed on the house.
Enjoy the freedom 🤗
Good luck on your new life!
Thank you. We have a lot going on 🤗
wow you have been through a lot, best wishes you find everything you need
Thank you so much 🤗
Alice
Great info! Awesome video ☺️
Thank you. We hope the info helps
I had a Travel Trailer totaled by State Farm. Nasty bridges. Faired very well with settlement. I am now researching a trailer toad hitch.
Glad you did well with State Farm. We are seeing the Progressive adjuster today.
Wish us luck
Careful how you explain. Mine had to be as a result of the road. Not a design flaw or age wear out.
I agree… I keep a small home base for those unknown circumstances
Smart man. Wish we did that,
Alice
@@DownsizingMakesCents I hope everything works out with your RV
We are part-timers with a house in Utah and 2 RV’s. GD Momentum & Dynamax Isata 5. We bought the Isata used and saved quite a bit of money. The quality is unbeatable and we love the size! You should definitely check them out. Good luck!
We love getting advice from people with experience. Thanks. We will
And thank you 🤗
I have not bought but I am going to. I too want out of Fla in the summer.
I own a Minnie Winnebago 24foot Class C that I bought new in 2003. With some upgrades like beefed up suspension, 660 watts solar system, led lighting, internet Wi-Fi and other assorted interior updates, it’s in better shape than and condition NOW than WHEN it was new. Easy to Drive & Park & Level. Lots of storage. I have the options to tow my minivan or motorcycle storage cargo trailer or just my hitch mount EV-Bike rack. It’s the best setup ever. Now I’m looking for a reasonable Barndominum ( in Tennessee) as my home base to live at and provide indoor storage for several vehicles. I’ll be watching you story for ideas and information. Best of luck to you two. 😊
Sounds like you have a Class C set up we would like 👍
We have a lot of work ahead looking for a place - land or a small place or one with a motor home we will demolish and slowly build a place.
Sounds perfect.
Congratulations Guys! 🎉
You deserve the best. 💯 Safe Travels
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays 🎄🎁
Coach Tony & Cherise
We were thinking about you guys when we were back at Charlotte motor Speedway a couple months ago. Hope you’re doing well. Merry Christmas. Larry
We’re sometimers. My husband has no desire to be a full timer or a snowbird. We like to go see our kids and other family, travel to awesome places, but I like to be able to come home I like to be able stretch my legs, spend time in my sewing room piecing and long arm quilting. Our home is paid for, we have lived in our home for 46 years. Not getting rid of it any time soon. Good luck in what ever you decide.
Barbara,
A paid off home is “priceless.”
Sounds like you have a great life. Totally get stretching your legs and a place for your peaceful hobby.
Full or seasonal isn’t for everyone,
And thank you for the well wishes,
Alice
We have been traveling in our Class C about 60-75% of the time since we retired 6 years ago, but we still own WAY too much house for me. It is too much work every time we return home. My husband can't part with the place because he and I built a big 3 bay shop with indoor parking for our motorhome back in 2004 when we still had children at home. He has every tool needed to do work on motorhome, cars and tractors. I would love to have a small barndominium.
That’s a tough one - when you can’t agree.
We are there now. I want a Class C. Larry wants a smaller fifth wheel - doesn’t want to give up his dually.
We wish you the best
We break up our 6 months-March-May-Home-Then June -Home-Then Sept to Nov 1st -Home and then we are home from Nov to March
-It just makes it more fun to travel because once we are home for awhile, then we are ready to get going and we look forward to it -I hope you enjoy your home base 🎉🏡⭐️🚌🇺🇸
Sounds like Larry - he doesn’t want to sit for too long.
Thanks. The looking is a pain. So many homes are just not what we want.
Merry Christmas Alice and Larry. Y'all are looking good and healthy! We are what you could consider 1/4 timers. I've been retired for two years, but my wife still works full time and I work make woodcraft items full time, just to have something to keep me busy. We try to plan 3-4 day trips often to nearby areas we enjoy in northwest Texas and southern Oklahoma. Neither of us have any desire to sell our house and go full time RVing. I would enjoy getting a Super C and selling our towable 30 foot, but I'm too worried about the economy to pull the trigger on that dream. I also don't want to have to tow our car with us, which might create a problem. We paid the house off early years ago while we were both still working and now only have the normal monthly bills, so we can afford a Super C, but we don't want to buy a new one, with all the quality problems that have occurred with manufacturing due to the pandemic. I know how much better built our 2016 towable is than anything being built in todays market. I hope y'all can find a home base and a new RV for your summer trips. I know from experience what Larry is talking about when considering retirement. I also was making the most money I had ever made and it was a gut wrenching decision to retire and lose the security of that paycheck. I don't regret my decision one bit. In fact, if I had known how much fun retirement is, I would have retired when I was in my twenties, haha. Y'all stay safe in the new year and have a blessed Merry Christmas! Keep the tips and hacks coming, Larry!
All great points. Having a house paid off is awesome. Dont let that go 😁 we still
Owed on ours when we sold it.
You are right. The newer RVs are terrible. We would buy used.
Sounds like you and Larry have a lot in common. Losing that 6 figure paycheck really hurts now. But with his help, even though they have said he could come back, he can’t.
And he creates things and 3D prints them for fun - and a little extra money
We will know more in a few days.
Thank you so much. And the tips and DIY will keep coming. Larry loves to do those.
Buy a lot in higher elevation Arizona . We are seriously thinking on it
We need to be near Larry’s neuro specialist- he wrote the paper on the rare Neuro disease Larry has.
Larry, I am starting this comment as instructed. We have lived in our 38 ft 5th wheel for 7 and a half years. We have been stationary in different areas due to my job. We still travel in our 5th wheel whenever we get the chance. We love to go spend time with our grandchildren. When I finish with this job, we will travel a LOT more. We're looking forward to new things and new places.
Dale, thanks for sharing.
Writing Larry was only if you were going to contradict something he said 😉
We were kind of joking. But I love a man that follows instructions 🤗
Alice
I’m always amazed that people will sell their house an appreciating asset for a camper that depreciates rapidly. Plus no camper is built to withstand full time living. We moved to a smaller 1000square foot home. We travel part time and spend some of the winter in our AZ small park model. But it ALWAYs feels so good to just come home . I insist on being home At Christmas decorating my small home In decorations I’ve had for years. Being by the children and grandchildren. I hope Alice gets her Christmas wish of a home to come home to. Merry Christmas!
You are so right. No RV is built for full time.
And Christmas just hasn’t been the same decorating an RV.
We just shall wait and see 🤗
One of the reasons we decided to buy our park model when we sold our big house in Brooksville is that feeling that comes with getting to a fix location after our travels. We traded a 5K sqft. house for a 499sqft park model at a nice RV resort in Summerfield and we love it. Are we getting a big house again? probably not. We got used to the small space and not having to do chores that stop us from traveling (we don’t miss the pains of owning a big house). Good luck with your RV process and property search.
Sounds like we think a lot alike. No more big house or chores 👍
And thank you. It’s a bit scary but exciting
Sounds like a great choice. I would like to downsize, but my husband can't part with all his tools and workshop. At over 3500 Sq ft. this house is exhausting! It was great when we had 5 children at home, but now it is a huge upkeep issue.
Good luck on your double search. Hope you get a ton for your RV. At least values are still up some so that will help. Hard to buy in FL with land prices and insurance on stuff. Hope you can find what makes you happy. Do your thing your way. That is what we did and for the most part happy we did it. Later y'all.
We would love to have your set up. Maybe not so many animals 😁
Well, we have a lot of work ahead 🤗
What did you do?
@@justwannasay5454 bought a mini farm cabin with 5 acres of land and RV hookups. May look for more land down the road but love the small cabin we have now.
Wow, I remember that video!
David, 👍
Alice
We are still considering all of this. Have an older class a that we paid cash for in 2015. Both still working full time, have our primary home in indiana and cabin on a lake in northern lower Michigan. Almost 100% debt free. Great jobs but the road is calling LOUDLY. Probably retiring in 5 years. Kids and gkids would be devastated if we sold the cabin. We are thinking of keeping both to begin with and ease into it as "half timers" too. I will be glued to your videos as you transition. 😊 So helpful. thanks so much for your honesty!
Wow. Sounds like you have quite the life already.
You could rent the cabin months your kids and you don’t use it?
There are pros and cons to every lifestyle- we have been through more stresses than many. But we have also seen so many amazing things.
Good luck. And thanks for following our transition,
Alice
This was the video we have been waiting for. We are half timers, or what we prefer " Fun timers" who live in Northern Florida . We travel on long trips from spring til fall and back home to Florida for winter.Last year we expanded our home base to a second property. A dream man shed 75x100 steel building on 5 acres off the beaten path above Gainsville. My thoughts about your 5th wheel are , if it is totaled see if you can buy it back from the insurance company as scrap. And put it on a perminenat spot as your home base. Then take the insurance money get a pick up and a small travel trailer as that route can be the most easiest to maintain longterm. Good Luck I hope we can meet someday. You make it look fun. Inspiring us to not wait. Don't give up "Fun Timing"
Interesting. Sounds like you have the property we are looking for. If it is to be totaled, we will pull everything out. But buying it for scrap is interesting.
We will know more when the adjuster for Progressive comes by.
Thanks for the tip.
And Larry wants that man shed, too 😉
We think of ourselves as part timers. I have no interest in full timing, my wife would love to though. To me, it’s crazy to sell everything to ‘try’ the full time experience only to find it wasn’t for them, especially with the costs of then replacing all they’d lost. For that expense alone, and at our ages, we will always have a home base, especially since we don’t owe on anything. Several UA-camrs we’ve been following have gotten home bases or pulled back from travel all together. It’s called life, and everyone’s is different. Whatever you guys do, I’ll still watch when you video. If you do get a new RV, you’ll have a lot to do to get it changed to your standards. That will be a new video series! Merry Christmas to you both.🎄🎄🎄
I agree with everything you wrote. And thank you for sticking with us through it all.
We have so much video footage of our travels we never published - we could sit still for a year and still have videos 😁
We would have lots of new footage if we get a homebase and a Class C- I’ve wanted that combo for awhile 🤗
My wife and I are getting closer in life, my plan is keeping a home base but get a smaller home, and travel during summer, as our 4 kids are getting older,one married, one in college, one in high school, one in 3rd grade. So for now weekenders, and summer travel time when school's out. I have an A Class RV.
Wow. Full house on holidays 😁
Enjoy the time you have while they still like spending time with you 😁
We might look at Class As. We shall see
With some A's your going to have to modify the steering and handling, Safety Steer Mods, Air Bags, shocks, sway bar front and rear. Go Drive an A Class to see if it handles OK first. If it has white knuckle driving problems, mods have to be made. Or go look at a C Class and drive that too, and see any mods are needed. It could be really good looking RV but drive really terrible. You want it to be easy to drive for you and your wife.
@@floatdude whatever we buy will be a diesel
Love the video and information! We have started "full time" but still have a home. But we are trying to get another tiny home as a base. So far , difficult.
The prices are crazy right now.
Good luck, Alice
Your house of 23 years was beautiful! Never would have sold that for an RV.
We wanted smaller; less maintenance; away from the neighbors we had 😁
But thanks- we have great memories
Understood, but RV problems seem worse than home maintenance. I guess I see being a FT RVer as a way to deal with homelessness bc of not being able to afford a home.
(I'm not being critical, I lived in a small car with a big dog for a year. I'm facing living in a vehicle again - bigger vehicle, no dog. I'll probably stay in my neighborhood, it's home. No interest in traveling. Type B RV would be amazing, but not worth the money.)
i love u both your great to see your content !!! it helps everyone looking for a change in life . am a owner of a plumbing co in ct and almost ready to start living not by the phone 24 /7 and wont to do what u both did then settle down some were you are help me out in all of the big stuff love u both hello from edbonjovi aka leak master plumbing in ct
Ed, thank you so much. We try to help RVers avoid our mistakes and hopefully have less stress camping - plus maybe make you laugh.
Larry had a 24/7 job, too. It was stressful.
Good luck with your new adventures - leak master 😉
Alice
We were full time for 2 years and half time for 2 years with a home base in Florida.
We ended up building a small 750 sq. Ft home at this resort.
Taxes are low, HOA is low and includes ALOT including Internet and cable not to mention very very safe.
We sold the 42ft 5vers and got a class c.
I can tell you my experience at the Tampa RV show.
We’re coming to your meetup!!!
Brevard County
Sounds like we have a lot to talk about. Can’t wait to see you guys in Tampa 🤗
Looking forward to it.
Never sell your house, rent it out and use that money for travel. Doing that you will always have an extra income to live off of and still have a home base when you want. Your home is your biggest investment don't waste it. Once you sell your home and use that money you may never be able to get back into the real estate market again.
The house we had was not the type to rent out. Not a market in that area.
But if you can? That’s why we wrote on the screen “Airbnb”
Build some type of building with an apartment & shop. I know two friends that have done it for a long time. Best of both worlds & one building to keep up. Good Luck!
That sounds like a Bardominium. Those are very pricey and take a long time to build.
Many people like them. It’s just not right for us, Alice
After 3 1/2 years in my fifth wheel I decided to get a home base in Nov 2019, and not a moment too soon because we all know what happened after that. It is the best decision I’ve made because of all the reasons you both mentioned. This decision helped me downsize from my huge Solitude which is the 2nd best decision to date. I am now, a truly happy camper 😊.
Thank you. Exactly what I want to read.
Plus, smaller RV is less stress and easier to get in campgrounds 🤗
If I can give you one tip is to be careful with the amount of land you buy and the type of trees and vegetation you have on it. The more acreages you buy the more maintenance you will incur. You will end up buying mowing and maintenance equipment and all that goes with that. I didn't want to care of lawns and doing all that work again, I just wanted a little home and space for the rig without all the maintenance. I have 2 1/2 acres and that is more than enough, I sometimes think it is too much even because I am not getting any younger and I just don't want to do it. And like Larry said, I get itchy and want to hit the road and not have to worry so I have lots of trees and the ground all around is pretty much covered with fallen leaves. I do no mowing other than that trimming some trees and plants around the perimeter of the house.
@@rvnut1133 thanks for the advice. Sounds about right
Yes, don't get much acreage and trees. Trees are lovely when standing upright, but our live oaks got "oak wilt". Then during ice storms, limbs fall!! We have so much cutting and clearing to do that we had to cancel our winter trip to Arizona. 😢
Oh wow! That sucks
We have been full timing for 8 years and love this lifestyle. However we have decided that we are now going to start looking for a home base. The plan is to winter at the home base in Florida and travel during the hot summer months. We will rent a seasonal spot while searching for the perfect, for us home base. We may or may not downsize our 5th wheel to a smaller unit.
Sounds like a great plan.
We are staying at a nice private campground for really good price - cheaper than renting a home I’m sure. So we will stay here.
Unfortunately, we have to look for a new RV.
A lot is in flux
Good luck with your new half time life 🤗
We’re half-timer snowbirds. Consider a refurbished Cruise America Class C. We couldn’t be happier with ours. I have MS, so understand that desire to spend time near your trusted primary care physician.
Thanks for the advice 👍
Sorry to read about your condition. But love knowing you are enjoying half- time life 🤗
Can I ask how you can get financing for a house and an RV when you don't have a full time job? Does income from Google count since it can vary so much from month to month and year to year? If you pull too much money from your 401K to make both monthly payments you will make you ACA health insurance expensive. Thanks!!
It is a struggle to keep income low and travel. It’s expensive. UA-cam income can be lowered with deductions on taxes, but our influencer income does count when getting a mortgage, they basically look at your taxes while living off 401k. Hope that answers, Larry
@@DownsizingMakesCents yes thanks Larry. How far away are you both from getting Medicare? Then ACA requirements will go away.😀
We are 6m snowbirds
Have used Solitude 2930 past 3 years to travel, but summer & fall in PA home base. Just decided to buy small home in Ocala 55+ ( no yard maintenance) & sell the Solitude & F450. Going to downsize to a small TT & F-150. As we get older maintaining an RV ( dealer service depts hard to book when u need them) is no fun.
We also have 2 small dogs - so dog friendly hotels - 🤢- TT will enable us to still travel with our companions and to visit friends and family. Best of luck!
Sounds awesome. Ocala is a great area - close to us.
And pet friendly hotels are so expensive.
Rather sleep in my own bed than a hotel bed 😁
Thank you. We are hoping for the best
My husband and I have been living in our 2016 30 ft. Winnebago RV travel trailer fulltime for the last 4 yrs. (right at the start of Covid) The first 2 yrs we stayed stationary until my husbands job took us to Montana. Now we move every 5 to 6 months depending on the completion of his job at that location. We still have our house in Washington that we rent to our daughter and 2 others. That pays the mortgage. We are in the process of looking into getting a new 5th wheel with bunkroom as I still work from home and need an office space. I would consider us full-timers at this point.
One day we will sell the Washington house and buy property in Montana for new home base. I want something you can park your RV under and still live in it. The husband wants a big man cave shop. LOL
Unfortunately, where we want to have a homebase, you need a residence on the property before you can have an RV on it - unless you get special permit while building.
Love that your mortgage is being paid for.
I think Larry picked out the manshed first 😄
Good luck with all the changes in the New Year, Alice
Have you looked at "Outdoor RVs" brand? They are a game changer, especially when living fulltime. Love the channel good luck with the decision making. Will be watching to see what you pick.
Richard, thanks. I looked. Not one of the Glacier fifth wheels had a TV directly across from couch? That’s a major strike when you either travel full time or for months in our RV
I do appreciate the suggestion,
Alice
Hi Larry and Alice! I would be a snowbird and have a home to come back too. I would travel 6 months and go back home. Only in the winter. Larry you are looking way better. Hope you are feeling better. Hope you enjoy a Merry Christmas with your family. Enjoy the the weekend and week. See you both soon! Travel safe. Stay safe. Sorry about your Rv. Love you both! 🤗❤️😘 I will keep on praying for you Larry. You both are in my prayers. Love you and see you soon. Merry Christmas!🎄🎁
You are always so sweet, Sherri. Thank you. Hope you have a great Christmas and Happy New Year 🤗
@@DownsizingMakesCents
You both are sweet too!
Come to Columbia County Florida 45 minutes to Shands and close to the interstate. Cheaper living than Alachua County for sure. Take care of each other and treasure your health.
Thank you for the tip. We will look into that 🤗
Sounds like a great idea you two! Now I hope they do total the trailer 😆 you'd think they could just weld the crack and add a plate to the sides though. I'd say you can still own a home base and be considered a "full timer".
PS- would you guys get a tow behind car for a class C? 🤔
We will know in a couple of days when it’s inspected
The full timer thing is for Larry.
If we got a Class C, we should sell the truck - get good money for it - and get a tow behind.
@@DownsizingMakesCents sounds like a good idea, home base for sure either way. I hope it all works out, I'm sure it will 💕🤞
We have been considering selling the house and living full time in our rig. But like Larry I also have RA and also Hosimotos and a few other autoimmune issues. We thought about jist buying some undeveloped land,but in Michigan you can only camp on your land for 90.days a year. So thats not going to work. Might have to settle for a seasonal site.
Sorry to hear that. Maybe you can find a place with an old mobile home, than you could have the RV? That’s how it is in Alachua County here in Gainesville- you have to have a “residence” on the property
We are basically in a month to month site, but would rather pay a mortgage than rent - for half the year.
We plan on with a smaller rig camping cheaper, boondocking and dry camping more.
We shall see
Did you find a place to park near Gainesville? We are about 40 minutes from Shands on a lake. It might work for you.
We are about 30 min from gainesville, what the name of the place, is it the one near orange lake. Larry
i know exactly how you feel i live leesburg goto sgands every month for medical i goto the norman pix moverment i have parkinsons
So sorry to read this. We wish you all
the best
Sumo springs? I’ve seen another video where the manufacturer blamed the sumo springs. I’m hoping not as we have them.
We thought the same thing and had an hour long conversation with Sumo Springs but they denied that had anything to do with their product. We shall see. Larry
@@DownsizingMakesCents please keep us informed.
Have you considered getting some land and setting up your current rv to be stationary even if it's totaled? You can put an Rv awning over it and make a nice home base and then buy something else for traveling.
We have. Even land in the middle of nowhere is overpriced
But we may ask if we can buy it back. But buying it back, buying an RV, buying land - that doesn’t fit our budget
But who knows. We are exploring all options.
Thanks for the idea
@@DownsizingMakesCents Wishing you all the best! We love your channel ❤️
Lol...Larry
We will be snowbirds, we live in Ontario
You touched on ths health care issue so we will be coming back, they have extended the length of time out to 7 months now, but have to be in Ontario for 5 months.
For mail, insurance, licence, registration you need something with an address, im still working on it but we are thinking Man Shed with hook ups and a little property....this is a very heated subje t and very diverse....not a one size fits all.
We will be at the Tampa RV show this year hunting, and at the big meet up.
If time permitted we will introduce our selves and pick your brain.
We are not stockers...lol...we are Rob & Wendy from London 😊
Hey guys. Larry loves getting back to Ontario - tries to visit his old haunts.
Getting mail is a hassle. Right now it’s going to our kids and a service.
Love to see you at the meetup.
Depending on what happens to RV, we hope to have lots of time at the show.
Good luck. See you soon 🤗
Said perfectly
Warren, wow. What a compliment. Make sure you comment on all our videos 😉, Alice
We would never live in a RV full time-I am so glad we kept our house 🏡 ⭐️🚌🇺🇸
We are glad we sold our house, but I wish we had bought something back then
I’ve seen lots of full timer rvers looking for a home base. I have a home base. My rv can be at my home base in my 2 acres of land in Ocala fl. I have a class c. So my wife can drive it and it’s easy set up at campsites I pull a small flat tow car. All is paid for so no stress here. We travel 3 to 5 trips a years If fits us well. Nice to get away. Nice to have a home to go too. Best of luck guys. Merry Christmas
Sounds perfect. We aren’t far from you. We love the Ocala area.
Merry Christmas to you, too
Larry. Not to mentioned we are both Canadians. Born in Montreal Canada. French Canadian
Have you looked at buying a used class A or C. If you buy private you may find better deals. Get an RV inspection. We looked at many class C RVs. Find a pre pandemic unit better quality. Although its a traveling house things do break.
Mazie, I’d love to get a Class C - but Larry loves towing his fifth wheel with his dually 😁
Unfortunately, homebase is first now, Alice
Larry do you think your Sumo Springs had anything to do with the frame damage since they were just below the frame damage? I've read on here from other full-timers that they have removed theirs due to frame damage. Tom
We talked to Sumo - they said that’s a “coincidence”
We are bringing RV in today for inspection of crack and estimate. Curious what experts with trailers say
so which trailer did you 2 pick out for the replacement from the damaged trailer?
We haven’t yet.
We are going to the big RV show in Tampa next week.
We will see a lot there,
Alice
bid them down to pennies on the dollar? go alice.
Larry, i notice that the cracks are right at the spot of the sumo springs. having seen this be a suspicion on another channel, how do you feel about the sumo springs now? would you still recommend them?
That’s tricky. Larry had an hour long conversation with Sumo Springs. They deny Sumo is at fault.
We will know more after Texas Trailers does its inspection on the 27th
For now, I’d wait to install
What’s the name of the other channel that had an issue?
@@DownsizingMakesCents @MyBucketListDay mentioned that Grand Design thought the sumo springs contributed, not necessarily, caused some of his frame issues.
@@mattstueck1917 wow. Another Grand Design? We will look into that
Good luck on your choice of place to live. Personally, Florida would be one of the last places i would consider living at, for many reasons. We have been RV’ing for over 40years, now and take many trips a year from our home in Oregon. Just got back from a 3 month trip around western US. Great weather late sori g, summer and fall, and can leave in the winter. Not knocking your choice of places, just not for everyone. Enjoy your lifestyle change!
Our main reason is because there are few specialists that know his rare Neuro disease. Plus our kids are here.
@@DownsizingMakesCents totally understand, and makes perfect sense. Merry Christmas to the two of you!
@@michaelwaller6093 Thank you. Same to you 🎄
Why not Florida? Just wondering.
@@justwannasay5454 many reasons. Having grown up in the southeast, I don’t care for the weather (hot/humid), hurricanes and tornadoes, unaffordable insurance rates, and the politics of the state.
I guarantee the frame was already in trouble and the damage compounded it. Check into Grand Deceptions history.
At this point, it doesn’t matter.
Insurance is basically giving us our money back - what we paid for it.
What’s an RV company going to do. We bought it used
@@DownsizingMakesCents I am glad insurance is doing the right thing for you. I am just thrown by all the other families still screwed. I’m working on fixing that though.
I would never be a full time RVer. I need roots. But, I sure could go for a couple of acres and a tiny home. My place is too much work for one person. Now that the kids are grown and living their own life, I really need to downsize.
Janice,
It’s not for everyone. And frankly with Larry’s health and other issues, it’s difficult to continue full time.
We didn’t find the land for us, but we are still looking - even though we will be leaving Florida for the summer.
Our house was too much, too, once the kids were gone. That’s why we sold it.
A tiny house or a barndo is in our future
Good luck downsizing,
Alice
Yall want what I want. Honestly, 700 sq ft is still bigger than I want though. I want a country yard.
We wanted small, too. Unfortunately, many places require a size limit. We might have to do 1,000
Alice
Hey there!! Its About Time!! We are Part Timers/ Anytimers!! ~ Brad and Diana
Hey guys. Yeah. You guys have it made 🤗
I would suggest if you’re looking for economical homebase to go out into the middle of the country in the Midwest out there central country, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana or not Montana because they’re high priced Wyoming, some kinda high priced, but Nebraska and Kansas a lot of those small towns have places where you can get some for free and set up in there and more than likely set up your camper with a small garage type houseand it’ll be the cheapest way you’re gonna ever gonna find check that out
Russell, we appreciate the info. Others reading this can benefit.
But we need to stay near Gainesville, Florida to be near Larry’s Neuro specialist,
Alice
Most class c motorhomes have a very limited carrying capacity .If you could get by with minimal stuff in your class c, and a small tow car, it can be done Remember they are built on a van chassis, The exception would be super c motorhomes that are $$$. Good luck in whatever you do
You are so right on all you wrote.
A Super C is my dream RV - it’s good to dream 😁
However, we are concentrating on getting a homebase first. Who knows after that.
Larry still wants a fifth wheel 😆
Alice
Divorces, crazy ex wives,kids, child support and high California cost of living keeps me a "weeker".. I do plan on the "monther" being my regular lifestyle.. No home base other than my son's driveway (he doesn't know it yet).. Good luck with whatever you choose. You're already well off because you have each other !!!! Thanks DMC
Awwww. You are so sweet. Sorry you’ve had some bad times.
We wish we had a relative that had room for us.
We are kind of “monthers” right now 😉
Big 🤗
1 min into this video. Already think ur both adorable with each other. Lol. New sub here
Awwww. Sweetest comment I have read (some people are mean 😁). You made my day.
Glad you found us and I hope you send me more positive vibes, Alice
7 years full time in a Solitude 369 RL. After 4 years we got a half acre with water electric an a potty pond. We have work camped last two years. 7 months at Bryce Canyon Pines hotel Restaurant RV park tent caning gas convenience store. Last year in Colorado At Salida RV Resort. Our money to burn jobs. Getting ready to drop a couple or full hook up sites for guest . Safe Travels From Show Me RV Adventures . Clayton&Denise. Retired.
That’s awesome. We have never work camped - would love to at a national park.
And we would love to have space at a homebase for RV friends. Good for you 🤗
Why is the wife doing the husbands yard work in the first place..lol
😂 he did the heavy lifting - can rebuild, retire stuff
He put in our RV solar system all by himself
Also, check out Taylor county in Florida. They have land up there that’s not cheap but economical and you can put a camper on it illegally and live in it or a small house.
Appreciate it, but that’s too far away from UF Shands hospital