If you already have a place you like and if don't want to travel much, any discussing of possible home bases becomes somewhat irrelevant. In that situation, you'd be pretty well set where you are.
My post, which took a while to compose, was meant for people new to rving who WANT to explore a good bit but who are uncertain about giving up a occasional base to provide a sense of home and community occasionally. I tried to cover most angles given such a goal, especially how to enjoy the maximize travel opportunities at a time of high cost fuels.
I think that what you've discovered is very common for new full timers - it's not exactly what you thought it would be! If I'm recalling your earlier posts you and your wife were seriously considering a park model in Florida as a home base but now you seem to be having a great time exploring the country. My advise to any new full timer would be to not rush things. You have the time now to experience new places and things. There is so much to see and discover and selecting a home base could cut down on the most enjoyable part of full timing - freedom.
If you're heading west after Durango don't miss all of the national parks and monuments in the four corners area and southern Utah. They're absolutely gorgeous.
As I read through the posts in this thread I picked up on Aramingo’s misinterpretation of Cloud Dancer’s post about living where it gets hot. It looks like that is cleared up. E-mails and forum posts are very easy to misinterpret. A recent post of mine in the Class B forum was grossly misrepresented by others and therefore no real new ideas were possible.
We live in Baton Rouge, and as I posted elsewhere, we had an opportunity to change that, but decided that we like rootedness, and so why go thru the shock of transplantation until new roots are formed. (This metaphor comes to mind as we have been doing a lot of yard work in our new place!)
We reasoned that heat and humidity was something not all that terrible. I think the many millions of good folks who live in the southeast probably think so as well. The same is true of people who live in any other region of the country.
If you stay in one place, wherever it is, you or your neighbors will invariably have days when they complain that the weather is a bummer – be it frigid cold or sweltering heat. However, if its hot, you can go for a boat ride, and when it is frigid cold, go cross-country skiing.
We lived in the Atlanta area for over 20 years. Before that it was the PacNW (wet side). Big differences in climates. But we enjoy FTing because we get to experience other climates in every season. But only because we have an RV that can take winters in VA and summers in FL/GA.
Some like it hot and humid, some hot and dry. No where have we found the perfect climate, without the extremes one way or another. But the advantage of retired and FTing is you can search for something that suits your needs. It's a big country and there's something for everyone.
2006 DRV Elite Suite 36TK3....our home
2008 Ford F450 Lariat CC 4x4......his office
Working Fulltimers since 3/2005
"Shoot for the Moon! Even if you miss it, you will land among the Stars."
Full timing for awhile does have its advantages at present. Mainly I'm thinking hypothetically here. I haven't ruled in a seasonal homebase nor have I ruled it out.
Florida never interested us. Too suburban, too crowded, too expensive especially if fair skin makes its main attraction--beaches--inadvisable. Besides, I always found sunbathing boring. Neither of us golfs or has done any deep-sea fishing.
As we travel, I do find it hard to find a decent restauants in some scenic states. I don't mean gourmet level necessarily but at least some good simple homemade food and some variety. I can understand this absence in small towns but I'm surprised that in many relatively populous communities it's so hard to find a decent meal or anything remotely different. How they can take the same old routine I don't know. Has anyone here ever watched the foreign film, "Babette's Feast?" You'll know what I mean.
A good meal is one of life's (and travel's) greatest pleasures, even if you find it in the humblest environment. It's even more enjoyable with friends (which is why I like potlatches). I guess we're spoiled from living in or near central Philly for so long. One thing for sure--our parents never ate so well.
We like our trailer's present size but wouldn't mind having the use of larger living quarters occasionally, especially when it comes to cooking options. However we can handle the tradeoff...for now (In Texas hill country, we don't have to).
Another point in favor of a seasonal homebase. It would be nice to invite family and old friends down occasional. We can't do that at present.
Finally I'd think it's nice to have some friends you get to see from year to year. However, I'd bet you can accomplish that simply by returning to a favorite, resort-like campground for once every winter (and possibly a second once every summer).
Taxes...yes. We'd enjoy our home base to be outside of Charlottesville, VA when we get to the full time stage in a couple of years...except for the whole tax issue. Our kids are in Virginia. C'ville as lovely hiking nearby, cultural activities due to the University and Paramount Theater, wonderful healthcare, and a rediculous number of excellent restaurants. Looking at a map we had also zeroed in on the TX hill country as a good central location with low taxes, but we've never been there.
Olson wrote: I'm surprised there hasn't been any discussion of taxes in this.
Which taxes?
Here's my discussion:
There is no limit to how much they can tax us. They need more money,....they raise taxes. You can NOT escape paying taxes.
Like I've said, I NOW place a high value on our choice of purpose-built house, and on its location. BUT, it's not free, and I knew THAT PRIOR to building the house. The amount of property taxes that we pay here is simply part of the cost of our lifestyle (and it's worth it, except for the school taxes). The other things that we pay taxes on (like sales and income taxes), we've reduced as much as feasable. We do not buy much, and we do not make much.
Willie & Betty Sue
Miko & Sparky
2003 41 ft Dutch Star Diesel Pusher/Spartan
Floorplan 4010
Blazer toad & Ranger bassboat
Pamvanw-VA is very pretty in that area however Virginia hasn't found a way to tax the air you breathe YET. Having lived in VA for almost 9 years, be sure and research the taxes. VA has state income tax, personal property taxes, high real estate tax rates, higher taxes on eating out. You name it they have found a way to tax it. Our personal property tax on our Motorhome is more that the real estate tax on our house by a large margin. We recently switched our residence to Texas and the switch will save us almost $7,000 in taxes alone. The Hill country is nice especially west of Austin, different than C-ville, more arid and barren than VA. Hills come close to the Blue Ridge but the views aren't as spectacular. Austin is a large city and the traffic is horrible, by my standards.
Aramingo-You'd be surprised where you can find a good meal. One of the best Mexican places we've ever found is in Pinedale Wy. a town with a population of 1400 and it's the biggest town in the county. There is also a great little Italian Bistro there. If you look you can find good food.
You are so correct about fulltiming for a bit before you decide what to do. If you travel for a few months you'll discover places that you really like and enjoy. We really like Loveland, CO. but we wouldn't want to live there. It's far enough out of Denver to still have small town feel but it's large enough to have many amenities. We feel the same about Hot Springs Ar. a great place to visit. Texas has always been special to me,I grew up here, went to high school and college in Houston and lived in just about all the major cities. When I introduced my Bride to Texas last year she loves it just about as much as I do. We are Escapees and the first time we stayed at Rainbows End in Livingston we fell in love with the place. It feels like home and it's like the old neighbor hood you grew up in. Small town Texas it's great. We are in our third stay at Rainbows End it felt the same when we drove in last Saturday as it did the first time. We purchased our homebase here on Monday and couldn't be happier. Sure it's hotter here than farther north but from what I've heard location is what real estate is all about.
If you want or need a homebase find a place where you want to be. We wanted someplace to be able to come back to and put our feet up for a bit before we head out again.
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