Ready, Set, Go Fulltime Rving Until…The End
Me playing in the rain on the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, Wyoming
Before we talk about, “THE END,” I have a few more tips or details to help you before the end does come! The type of details that may seem mundane, boring or whatever, but in all seriousness, it needs to be discussed, plus one more thing I will share at the end.
Not only are these things important, they will save you $$$$$ now and in the future:
When you travel, how will you get mail? I would highly suggest a mailbox, in what state you want to claim as your home base, or do what we do: Americas Mailbox in South Dakota. While we still are residents in Arizona and you do not need to be a resident of South Dakota, you can enjoy cheap vehicle insurance and registration, a referral for health insurance and a competent team to help you with all the paperwork, including the mail. You could have all your mail sent to them and they will send it to you wherever you go. There are different plans to choose from for this service. Even though we have our mail box with Americas Mailbox, we have chosen to use our daughter’s address as our “home base,” so we do get mail sent to her address. By the way, you will save a lot of $$$$$$$$ by registering and insuring your vehicles through Americas Mailbox. But you need a RV to do this! Just send your paperwork well before you leave on your fulltime RV adventure. It could take a month or more till you get those new South Dakota license plates!
A great debate is health insurance. Yikes! If you are on Medicare, good for you! That is the easiest. However, Medicare does not totally cover ALL expenses so that is why you get a supplemental insurance. I suggest contacting Michael Monson, whom Americas Mailbox also recommends. He will help you with health insurance and supplemental health insurance. If you are not retirement age yet, see if you can get health insurance from your employer if you work remote, or contact Michael Monson. He is awesome and so helpful!
Get handy! Again, you will save a lot of $$$$$$ if you are handy. Think of your RV as a rolling earthquake each time you drive down the road. Things move and jostle, get out of place, kind of like our bodies when we get moved around in our vehicles bouncing down the smooth roads of America! RV supply stores, like Camping World and others have been visited by us a time or two. You can watch YouTube videos about fixing something to your trailer’s year, make and model - just do a search. Or you can join the multitude of Facebook groups regarding RV living. They are there to help!
An overnight stay in Beaver, Utah
Now that ultimate question: How long will you RV travel? On the funny side, I have seen answers like until I am in a pine box, or when I am done drinking beer. But yet, there have been people that have passed unexpectantly, which can happen to anyone one us, especially when it is a couple and the husband passes before the wife or vice versa. Very, very hard to go through. Decisions will need to be made, like:
Will the surviving spouse continue the fulltime RV lifestyle?
Will you buy a house, rent somewhere, buy land?
How old is too old to RV?
I have seen 80+ youngins’ still RV and good for them if they can! Life is short and sometimes you may feel like you have to cram everything to do in such a little bit of time, especially if you started fulltime rving late in life. It is important to sit with your spouse (if you have one) and discuss this serious topic. Someday you will stop fulltime rving. It is inevitable.
Some people sell their rigs and tow vehicles and get a park model (like a mobile home) at an RV park. Some others buy land and build a house on it to live the rest of their days. Yet, others may move in with their children, maybe their own casita or the children will take care of the parents until the end. Or if life is really hard, some people will move into care facilities and let others care for them.
It is a HARD decision, and one that should require much thought and agreement if there are two of you. I know I do not want to do this the rest of my life. John drives the semi and I have no interest in learning to drive it. If something happens to him or if he does not want to do this lifestyle anymore, I want to sell everything, except the Ford Bronco, and buy or rent a park model. Hopefully they are still affordable when our time comes! That is our plan so far!
So, this was not an easy talk, at least toward the end, but a necessary one as someday you will not fulltime RV. But for now, I hope this series has been helpful and delightful. I included as much links as I could think of (the ones in bold, underlined and with italics, and I am sure there is more that I may be forgetting), but I think this is a good start to the fulltime rv life!
Driving to Cody, Wyoming for our summer work camping gig!
I am going to include the links to the previous blogs on this series of fulltime rving. I would love to hear from you and please feel free to leave a comment!! Thanks for hanging out and reading what I hope insightful truths to you!
Are you ready for the adventure of your life???