3 years left

[Bobber]

Finally bought my retirement home. 2011 DRV Mobile Suites 36RSSB3. Hope to find some answers and give some.

[Notanlines]

Where do you plan on retiring?

[Bobber]

The plan is to try out going full time with a seasonal site here in Minnesota and traveling from October - April.

[LarryFlew]

Cool. We are not full time but do summer in Minnesota at our home and winter in Arizona about 30 miles south of Phoenix in Casa Grande. ENJOY!!!

[Bobber]

That’s nice. The DW has agreed to try full time. We plan on spending at least our first winter in Arizona. Spend 5-7 days boondocking then a couple days in a campground re-suppling. Time will tell if we like it.

[LarryFlew]

Hard to get late reservations in many parts of AZ if not staying in same park for 3 months. You may also experience KOA parks rule of no trailer over 10 years old although not all of them abide by that rule.

[Bobber]

Are there many places to dump and refill water? I guess we really don’t need to check in to campgrounds. Can you dump and refill and pay a fee at most campgrounds?

[LarryFlew]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThiLmcAXruE vid of places to overnight for cheap or free. Some basic resources like dumping at Cabelas or Bass pro shops.

[DutchmenSport]

We're about as close to full timing as one can get, with the exception, we still own our house. We added our son to the deed on the house, he's been living there for the last 8 years with his little boy and we return home every now and then for a few night and then off again. We set up 50 amp RV service, water and a workable solution for our septic tank.

Depending on several things, we'll either be in Florida, Georgia, or South Carolina from January to about March, or home during that time. This year, we are staying home from December to the beginning of March (2023). Need some time to recoup finances, take care of personal business, and enjoy the holidays with our son and grandson this year.

Full timing takes a lot of pre-planning and right now is the time you have to do that. First, you decided on your camper. You'll have a while to use it and shake out the bugs and give you an opportunity customize it for your unique lifestyle. This always takes about a year or more to figure out.

You'll need a permanent residence to maintain your drivers license, auto and trailer registration, and vehicle/trailer insurance. You'll need to figure out your banking needs, credit cards, and how you acquire available cash when not in your home area. You'll need to figure out how you receive your mail. You'll also need to figure out how you deal with your personal health insurance, if that be Medicare, Supplementals, or some other avenue you decide. You'll also need a bank to have your retirement check, or your Social Security check, or your retirement funds deposited to. You'll also need to figure out which cell phone service will work best for you (if you decide to keep phones), and connecting to the internet because campground wifi services are 100% not reliable or dependable (sometimes they work .... marginally .... or not at all .. or none available at all). You'll also need to consider a residence for voting. And don't forget about your medical needs, namely ... your primary physical care ... where, how, and who? If you are are on the road, who do you go to if you need attention and it's just impossible to return to your "home" physician.

All these things need to be worked out before just uprooting, selling your home, and hitting the road. Especially if you are receiving a retirement check from anywhere.

But ... you've got the time to figure it all out, and it will happen. And you've already made the first major decision ... the full timing RV! Congrats! Now ... get out there, use it as much as you can and with every trip you make between now and then, use the opportunity to help prepare for doing "it" full time!

[Bobber]

Thanks for all the advice DutchmenSport.

[Notanlines]

Ol' Dutch, he 'da man! Yes, he did (and usually does) a fine job of putting things in perspective.
Not only do you have to insure that Momma is in a happy place, but YOU have to be there also. Boondocking can be a great experience for a few days, but unless you are bona fide loners, these sites will become very hum drum.
Luck to you!