Okay, folks, your lifestyle intrigues me. There are times when I just want to climb into the car or imaginary (for now) RV and get on the road...with no destination necessarily in mind and no time constraints either.
But these are some of the things I'd wonder about:
1. Where do you find a doctor when you need one?
2. Where do you find a vet when you need one?
3. Can you have a business or work and still be on the road?
4. What if you don't find a place to park for the night?
5. How do you keep up with old friends you've met at other parks?
6. What if one of you is disabled or is terminally ill?
7. Can you get things sent to you by mail, UPS or FedEx?
Ms50something wrote: Okay, folks, your lifestyle intrigues me. There are times when I just want to climb into the car or imaginary (for now) RV and get on the road...with no destination necessarily in mind and no time constraints either.
But these are some of the things I'd wonder about:
1. Where do you find a doctor when you need one?
At the clinic. You just have to look up the local clinic.
Ms50something wrote:
2. Where do you find a vet when you need one?
Vets are all over. Yellow pages in the front office if internet isn't availble. My phone has this kind of nav feature too.
Ms50something wrote:
3. Can you have a business or work and still be on the road?
While living in an RV - yes absolutely. While on the road? With some limitations. Naturally if your job is servicing events, you need to be on the road. But it will constrain this 'non-destinationed wander' thing you speak of, any job that isn't entirely location or immediate communication independant will.
Ms50something wrote:
4. What if you don't find a place to park for the night?
Pull into a spot of gravel or a parking lot. The worst that will happen is somebody comes and tells you to skedaddle. Start your genset if you have one and kick back.
Ms50something wrote:
5. How do you keep up with old friends you've met at other parks?
Email, telephone, even snail mail.
Ms50something wrote:
6. What if one of you is disabled or is terminally ill?
... Then its just like you're in a house. Only you're not. What exactly are you asking? Wherever you live, you compensate for what your partner cannot do, whether that is because of disability or illness.
Ms50something wrote:
7. Can you get things sent to you by mail, UPS or FedEx?
1,2: I believe most fulltimers have internet and it's easy to find services with internet.
4: Also easy to scope out the next night's stay via the internet, but there's always WalMart.
5: Internet, phone, however you normally would in a S&B
6: Escapees in Livington TX has a place for you. Others just park it in a permanent spot, others sell and get a S&B.
7: Yes. Mail forwarding services, prices vary, mine is America's Mailbox in SD, runs $150 annually mas o menos, plus postage.
We have been full time for about 6 years.
1. We call or do a web search for a doctor/hospital that is in our insurance plan.
2. We travel with out one. One less ????
3. We have met several that work.
4. This would be poor planing. Never has happen. Don't drive at night.
5. Email, cell phones
6. Good health here, but see all sorts of disabilities.
7. Mail is forwarded. UPS and FedEx will deliver.
Ms50something wrote: Okay, folks, your lifestyle intrigues me. There are times when I just want to climb into the car or imaginary (for now) RV and get on the road...with no destination necessarily in mind and no time constraints either.
But these are some of the things I'd wonder about:
1. Where do you find a doctor when you need one? "Doc in a Box".....Urgent Care Clinics or an Emergency Room will solve most of your needs. Most likely, you will be staying in certain places for longer periods of time, so you can check with locals as to who they use...or just check on-line for most of your needs...
2. Where do you find a vet when you need one?Basically the same answer as before...if you see someone with a dog, ask them who they use...or can recommend. Internet or Yellow pages are always helpful.
3. Can you have a business or work and still be on the road?Thousands of people work at home, via internet jobs, so you could do the same, but it depends on what you can offer.
Other options are for local work (temp agency) where you hang your hat for awhile. You won't be quite as mobile, but you can earn some $$$ then travel awhile.
4. What if you don't find a place to park for the night?Many people park at Walmarts or Flying J or Rest Areas. This shouldn't become a habit, but it does give you an option. It's really just to sleep, not "camp".
5. How do you keep up with old friends you've met at other parks?Same way you keep up with old friends anywhere....e-mail, snail-mail, telephone....
6. What if one of you is disabled or is terminally ill?I would guess it depends on how severe the problem is, and if you can still travel. We will all reach a point when we have to drop anchor and settle back down. These are serious conditions, where you would want to have a primary doctor for treatment, not random Urgent Care or E/R doctors. If this is your situation, I think you will be limited to making trips out from a central point/home.
7. Can you get things sent to you by mail, UPS or FedEx?Yes, but it takes planning on your part. You can have mail sent to a specific PO as General Delivery, to be picked up when you arrive in that town. Or have it sent to the Campground you plan to visit, but contact the owner, to see if they will "receive" for you. UPS will often deliver to their various "stores" around the country, so you could check with them (FedEx is the same)...and I think "MailBox, Etc" will do the same thing for a fee.
Sue
Bill & Claudia / DD Jenn / DS Chris Dogs: Sophie, Abby, Brandy, Kahlie, Annie, Maggie & Beau RIP: Cookie (Sheltie) & Gidget (Lab-mix) over the Rainbow Bridge.
2000 Winnebago "Minnie" 31C, Ford V-10
Purchased April 2008 FMCA# F407293 The Pets
Okay, folks, your lifestyle intrigues me. There are times when I just want to climb into the car or imaginary (for now) RV and get on the road...with no destination necessarily in mind and no time constraints either.
But these are some of the things I'd wonder about:
1. Where do you find a doctor when you need one?
2. Where do you find a vet when you need one?
3. Can you have a business or work and still be on the road?
4. What if you don't find a place to park for the night?
5. How do you keep up with old friends you've met at other parks?
6. What if one of you is disabled or is terminally ill?
7. Can you get things sent to you by mail, UPS or FedEx?
Sue
Hi Sue,
While we are not authorities, we have been full timeing for a little over 18 months. 1&2; Dr. Dentist & Vet. has been word of mouth from locals or Yellow pages (which is a good idea, you can ask if they take your insurance.)3; Business, I'm sure you can, there are several posts and timing about it. 4; If you don't find a place, then Wal-Mart, truck stops, mall parking lots, someplace that is well lite and you feel safe. 5; E-mail, phone,etc. 6; My husband is 100% disabled so we figured we'll see and do as much as we can while we can. 7; We have a UPS address with a forwarding account, we call with an address for them to forward to where ever we are.
All of our bills and banking is done over the internet.
We're still learning! You can do this, and keep asking questions!
Ms50something wrote: Okay, folks, your lifestyle intrigues me. There are times when I just want to climb into the car or imaginary (for now) RV and get on the road...with no destination necessarily in mind and no time constraints either.
But these are some of the things I'd wonder about:
1. Where do you find a doctor when you need one? Hard to find a town that doesn't have one and EVERY hospital does.
2. Where do you find a vet when you need one? Can't imagine I'd ever need one unless I couldn't find a doctor.
3. Can you have a business or work and still be on the road? Probably could but wouldn't DREAM of taking away from my free time.
4. What if you don't find a place to park for the night? EVERYONE I know has been somewhere every night.
5. How do you keep up with old friends you've met at other parks? Telephone, email, forum postgs and pms, personal visits, christmas cards. All depends on the situation just like when NOT RVing.
6. What if one of you is disabled or is terminally ill? Then one of us would be taking care of the other of attending a funeral. It's not IF but WHEN.
7. Can you get things sent to you by mail, UPS or FedEx? No problem as long as you have an actual ADDRESS for them to send to. They won't deliver to a PO box however.
Sue
Good luck / skip
2004 F-250 SCREW Long Bed (new)
OR 2004 F-150 HD (85,000 towing miles) Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
We have enough YOUTH...how about a fountain of SMART
Good questions. We've wondered the same thing too. Just curious if most folks sell their stick houses and then wander about. We have the attention span of a gnat and generally move after no more than 3 days in one place. We'd sure put a heap of miles on our rig if we full-timed with short stayovers like that. Not to mention the fuel we'd go through! And we jog everyday and often find some locations have more loose dogs than we care to deal with. If we won the lotto tomorrow I'd give the full-timing thing a try but I'd definitely have to own shares in Chevron or Texaco. Might as well get a return on my purchases.
Are you considering trying this or just "blue-skying?" Take care.
You can move every day without the fuel being a killer - just don't move very far each day.
Doctor - I've never really had a permanent doctor for more than a year or two at a time. I find they are usually at the walk-in clinic if I need their services but I try to avoid them because I have noticed that most people end up dying while in the care of a Dr. If I can avoid the quacks I should live forever.
Vet - we needed one last winter so we asked our friends in Albuquerque for a recommendation and ended up finding one that was light years ahead of the one we have used for years in Nipawin. Now the challenge will be to get back to her whenever we need vet care.
Business or work - we both are still working and we intend to do so for several more years.
What if you don't find a place to park for the night?
When I shut the key off we're home. We've spent the night by a toll booth in Mexico, in a Flying J parking lot, on the street in front of a friend's house, in a rest area beside the interstate. If I'm tired and need to stop then we will find a place to stop.
Friends - we see more of our friends now than we ever did in the past. We've made new friends that we meet up with again and again on the road and for our oldest and dearest friends we just pull into their yard (see "places to stop" above). Its our friends you should worry about - they can't avoid us anymore.
What if one of you is disabled or is terminally ill?
We're not. We'll deal with it when/if it happens. Just as you will if you don't choose this lifestyle.
Mail, UPS or FedEx - there's a package on its way here right now - should be 2 days enroute from B.C.
Offline
FMCA# F407293
Good questions. We've wondered the same thing too. Just curious if most folks sell their stick houses and then wander about. We have the attention span of a gnat and generally move after no more than 3 days in one place. We'd sure put a heap of miles on our rig if we full-timed with short stayovers like that. Not to mention the fuel we'd go through! And we jog everyday and often find some locations have more loose dogs than we care to deal with. If we won the lotto tomorrow I'd give the full-timing thing a try but I'd definitely have to own shares in Chevron or Texaco. Might as well get a return on my purchases.
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