House is sold, we are excited and scared! So many questions?
rljmowl said
03:53 AM Oct 4, 2012
Our house has sold quickly and we are going to become full timers right out of the gate. We have tent camped for years, but know very little about RVing. We are excited to get going but are seeking some wisdom of experienced full timers. How do you handle mail? medical visits for prescriptions?
We have not bought our 5th wheel yet, still shopping for the right "used" one. Any pointers on the search? What are the feelings of having a washer and dryer? I think it is a big plus but I have heard both sides.
I would greatly appreciate any advise. We close on the 23rd of this month and hopefully will start our new adventure than.
bjoyce said
04:23 AM Oct 4, 2012
Start by reading about everythng on the main RV-Dreams site, http://www.rv-dreams.com/ . Then once your brains are ready start going through topics here on the forum, maybe using "Search", to see earlier answers. You will end up with answers to your questions but reading will generate more even more questions you want answers for.
We know multiple people who have decided to full time, jumped in and thrived. Many who haven't camped at all.
Technomadia said
02:59 PM Oct 4, 2012
Congrats on the sale of your home!
You'll probably find that most of your questions have already been discussed here, so do take some time reading through. And also visiting the websites of many of the posters here that are listed in their signatures.
We also have a free blog series at http://www.technomadia.com/excuses that goes over a lot of the logistical things like healthcare, earning a mobile income, mail/taxes, pets, etc.
Cheers to your adventures ahead!
- Cherie
Lucky Mike said
04:10 PM Oct 4, 2012
Washer Dryer is a personal preference.......there great in a pinch , but to some they try to do all there weekly laundry in a day and most onboard systems cannot handle it.....
As far as a 5vr.........threads on here will guide you through it.......if you find a unit you like , shop around look prices are dropping and there are good deals to be found!!!!
hope to see you out here.....................Good luck
RVRon said
08:24 PM Oct 4, 2012
rljmowl wrote:
Our house has sold quickly and we are going to become full timers right out of the gate. We have tent camped for years, but know very little about RVing. We are excited to get going but are seeking some wisdom of experienced full timers. How do you handle mail? medical visits for prescriptions?
We have not bought our 5th wheel yet, still shopping for the right "used" one. Any pointers on the search? What are the feelings of having a washer and dryer? I think it is a big plus but I have heard both sides.
I would greatly appreciate any advise. We close on the 23rd of this month and hopefully will start our new adventure than.
We were in the same boat with the house sale... ours sold in just 2 days and 30 days later we were fulltimers! The advice that Bill and others gave out about checking out the rest of the RV-Dreams.com website should be good for most things and if you need clarification just check the forum for additional info.
We do not have a washer/driver in our rig for the primary reason that our preference for camp sites are Federal/State/Local campgrounds and a lot of these do not have sewer hookups. Because washers use a lot of water it all has to go somewhere and your gray water tank will fill right away so you need to have a sewer connection at the campsite. We're in our 7th month of fulltiming and have had no problem finding laundry facilities nearby, usually in the campground but at least in the nearest town. The machines are big and we can get done in under 2 hours.
If you have any other questions that you can't find answers to ask away!
-- Edited by RVRon on Friday 5th of October 2012 05:43:01 AM
rljmowl said
01:43 AM Oct 5, 2012
Thank you all for your replies and advise. Husband and I have been reading a lot on this site. Lots of helpful information! I will also check out the free blog for more information.
I hope to meet some of you soon!
Robin
Hdrider said
04:36 AM Oct 5, 2012
As others have said. There is alot of info available on here with a search. But you you don't find what your looking for by all means ask away.
As far as the washer and drier thing. We are very happy we have them. We just do a load normally every other day when we are in a campground with hookups. That keeps us caught up unless it's time for something large like a blanket. Now if we go camping for a few days where we don't have hookups it does take a little effort catching up unless we go to a laundry. But we really try to NOT go to a laundry.
Rosie RV Thumper and Dog Dog said
03:58 AM Oct 6, 2012
We've been full-timing for 4 weeks now. We purchased a 2013 DRV Tradition and a 2012 Ford F350 Super Duty Diesel Dually. After living in our RV for only a month we have learned so much about what we like and don't like about it. We looked for a long time for the right 5th wheel and while we love ours, there are things we would do differently if we had a do-over.
Check the slides. When our slides are in there is a space of about 5' x 3' that is accessable. We can access the refrigerator and one pantry cabinet but that's it. In order to access the living room, bathroom or bedroom, all three slides have to be extended. The living room/ kitchen slides work in tandem so there is one switch and they extend together. In order to get up the stairs to the bedroom or bathroom, the living room/kitchen slides have to be extended. If I had it to do again, I'd pay attention to what you can access with the slides in. There are times when we might need to get something at a rest area or some other quick stop but we just can't put all of the slides out.
Washer and dryer. I LOVE my washer and dryer. I don't have the combo unit, I have a separate washer and dryer. The thing to remember is small loads. If you don't overfill them, they do a great job... clean clothes with no wrinkles. I have an aversion to laundry mats.
I don't like my oven. I have never cooked in an RV oven before and while it bakes just like a normal oven, it does not brown anything. If I had a do-over, I'd get a microwave/convection oven and a cooktop but no oven. Ours came with a regular microwave and a stove/oven. I'd much rather have the cabinet space. I will be having a microwave/convection installed when I get a chance. I did read up on RV ovens and purchased a pizza stone to dispurse the heat evenly so that is not a problem. However, the pizza stone broke in half the first time I used the oven. It's still in there...just in two peices instead of one.
We love our level-up system. Every time I see someone manually leveling their RV I send up a special thanks for the Level-up Automatic leveling system. We looked at many used 5th wheels and saw automatic leveling systems on some of them so even on a used unit, it's a possibility.
Just some things to consider. Have fun getting set-up. It's a crazy ride.
Rosie
Rob_Fla said
01:36 PM Oct 6, 2012
Rosie RV Thumper and Dog Dog wrote:
Check the slides. When our slides are in there is a space of about 5' x 3' that is accessable. We can access the refrigerator and one pantry cabinet but that's it.
In order to get up the stairs to the bedroom or bathroom, the living room/kitchen slides have to be extended.
Washer and dryer. I LOVE my washer and dryer. I don't have the combo unit, I have a separate washer and dryer.
I don't like my oven. I have never cooked in an RV oven before and while it bakes just like a normal oven, it does not brown anything. If I had a do-over, I'd get a microwave/convection oven and a cooktop but no oven.
We love our level-up system.
Rosie
Like Rosie, we looked at 5th Wheels for quite a long time.
We have been RVing for many years and have had several Travel Trailers and 5 Wheels so we had a pretty good idea of what layout we were looking for.
We made sure we had access to the bathroom, bedroom and refrigerator with the slides in. Most 5th Wheels with rear slides on both sides do not have access to the rear area as the slide meet in the middle. Ours is like this, no access to rear living area with slides in.
Ours does not have a oven, just a cooktop and convection Microwave. In previous RV's the oven did not work all that great, we use a small toaster oven and the convection Microwave and do not miss the gas oven at all. We do like having the extra kitchen drawers where the oven normally goes.
On the Washer / Dryer there are lots of pros and cons. It is mostly a personal preference, for us we are like Rosie, we love our stackable Washer / Dryer. They work great.
An Automatic Leveling System was not available from the factory on our 5er at the time of purchase, we are looking at installing a leveling system sometime this fall to make setup eaiser.
Robert
Terry and Jo said
05:41 PM Oct 6, 2012
I would venture to say that if one is moving regularly, the ability to reach certain areas with the slides in is important. In our case, we haven't started traveling yet so we don't have that issue. If you prefer to have the access, then avoid any floor plan in an RV that has a side bathroom where the shower, sink and commode are all in one room on the off door side. Split bathrooms have the commode and a sink on one side of the coach and the shower and another sink on the other side. That leaves one with access through a centered door to the bedroom. Other floor plans may have the access door to the bedroom on the door side of the coach which would also allow one to enter that area without opening slides.
Most times when we travel and need a bathroom, we are usually stopping at a truck stop or rest area anyway. With access to part of the refrigerator, we can still make a sandwich, or whatever is quick, and then travel on. The few times we've towed our coach somewhere, we've never felt the real need to have access to any part of the coach. But, that is just us.
Our Mobile Suite has the hallway on the off-door side because of us having a side bathroom. I have even found a reason for why I like that bathroom like it is. Back in January, I had a bout with a stomach virus and spent the night one night suffering from nausea and diarrhea with episodes at about 30 minute intervals from midnight until 5:00am. At one point, I nearly passed out, and I was reclined on the bathroom floor. After posting about that, someone commented that they were surprised that I had room to pass out and lie down. So, I created a blog post showing the differences between a side bathroom and its size and a split bathroom and its size in the commode area. If you are really interested, here is a blog post showing some pictures........of the bathrooms, not of me in my sick state.
Jo and I have a separate washer and dryer set by Whirlpool. While we occasionally use the big washer at the RV park next door for the big blankets for the beds, Jo prefers to wash and dry at home so she can do other things while the laundry is working. In the past, he has been doing about 2 loads, every other night after work. Lately, because of her need to wash on a daily basis for a spell, she washed and dryed a load each evening. Now, she is even considering doing that more often as it limits the amount of work she has to do each evening that she does wash. Bedding and towels are generally washed on Saturdays.
Overall, I suggest looking at a lot of RV's and picture yourself doing the normal day to day things in them to see how things might be a problem....or not be one.
Good luck with the research and planning. It is definitely a "trip."
Terry
heyduke said
08:13 PM Oct 6, 2012
no washer, no dryer, no regrets....
Dave Buck said
02:24 PM Oct 7, 2012
We bought our Mobile Suite used so did not have the option to order. We did look for the model we wanted that had the things on our list that we had to have. We do not have a washer/dryer. We probably would have if ordering new. If we find it difficult to do laundry then we may add them at some time. As we do volunteer work and usually spend from a month or two at a place there are usually full hookups and when we do travel we usually stay at a part with full hookups every few days.
Even though we have had a regular oven in a previous RV my wife wanted one in our fulltime unit. We have both in our new unit and I think she may have used the regular oven one time. She has used the convection oven for everything else. If the regular oven could easily be removed and replaced with a cabinet I would do it.
We don't have level up but that is something I think we will add as resources become available.
Terry and Jo said
08:30 PM Oct 7, 2012
Probably one of the most logical reasons for have the regular oven is that should our microwave/convection over go out, Jo still has an option for baking or whatever. While ours isn't used very much, there are some things that she would prefer the regular oven in cooking. She has a tendency to do roasts on a slow cook overnight and the meat comes apart with a fork. And she would prefer the regular oven for beans as well.
Terry
rclvnv said
12:17 AM Oct 8, 2012
Like many who have replied,we spent a lot of time on this forum as well as taking more than a year to decide what we wanted in a full-time RV.We were not new to this,but were new to full-time,so we tried to be as careful as we could be, knowing we were going to be living in it for some time to come. We are getting on to two years now of being fell-time & remain very pleased.
No matter what brand or configuration you choose,remember that once you are full-time, anything major needing repair will make you "homeless" if it needs to be kept for a while. We had two major warranty issues, each of which required the rig to be tied up for a week. So, if buying new, the length of wnt'y is a factor,if buying used, have a thorough independent inspection done, if at all possible. If buying new or used,from a dealer, the dealer and its abilities are of utmost importance. Our dealer was able to do the wnt'y work. Others on the owner's forum in which I'm active have had problems with a dealer ill-equipped to do the needed fixes. Our mfgr., (Open Range), has been stellar about fixes, but I've seen on the Owner's forum that some folks had to go back to Indiana to the factory service center, because their dealer was unable or unwilling to do timely repairs (one thing if you are a week-end camper, quite another if it's your home).
Spend a lot of time "in" not just looking "at" potential rigs. I don't know how many times we went back to the dealer lot and asked to be left alone for a long time in a particular unit. After a bit of "quiet" (no salesman) time in a rig we were able to get a sense of what we liked or didn't. Just prior to finding ours we "lost" one we decided on, but was sold when we went back. Worked out fine for us, because we found ours the next week. It felt right for us. As luck would have it, it had the auto level (a godsend), and the layout with three slides permits access to the kitchen,bath and the bed,(but not the dresser), when slides are in, but I admit, even after all the looking we did, I hadn't sought these features.
This IS a big event in your lives. You are right to feel some anxiety.If anyone who has ever taken such a big step can honestly say that there aren't things they would do over, I've not met them. So many considerations, based on plans that could always possibly change, there are bound to be adjustments later on. You'll do fine, I'm sure. Travel Safe.
Richard
FT Dreamin said
10:54 AM Oct 12, 2012
I love, love, love my Splendide! I would rather take a beating than go to the laundromat - I do small loads - in my time, my schedule. We have a 40' Class A DP - no slides - can get to everything! :) We had never had a camper of any sort till we bought this one last December - we were FT by January and haven't looked back! Good luch with your new adventure!
The BEST piece of advice I wish someone had given us - NEVER leave your dump valves open while hooked up to a sewer! Close, fill, open, dump, close - repeat!
rljmowl said
03:36 AM Oct 21, 2012
Thank you everyone for all of your help and advise. We made our purchase today! A 2001 Coachman Catalina. We got a great deal, got it inspected, can get to frig/bath/bed with slide in. Decided to wait on W/D. We figured we would learn the ins and outs of fulltiming for a couple yrs and then trade for a newer model if we decide on features we must have.
Thanks again! We have learned so much from this site. Hopefully soon, we can be giving some advise!
Our house has sold quickly and we are going to become full timers right out of the gate. We have tent camped for years, but know very little about RVing. We are excited to get going but are seeking some wisdom of experienced full timers. How do you handle mail? medical visits for prescriptions?
We have not bought our 5th wheel yet, still shopping for the right "used" one. Any pointers on the search? What are the feelings of having a washer and dryer? I think it is a big plus but I have heard both sides.
I would greatly appreciate any advise. We close on the 23rd of this month and hopefully will start our new adventure than.
Start by reading about everythng on the main RV-Dreams site, http://www.rv-dreams.com/ . Then once your brains are ready start going through topics here on the forum, maybe using "Search", to see earlier answers. You will end up with answers to your questions but reading will generate more even more questions you want answers for.
We know multiple people who have decided to full time, jumped in and thrived. Many who haven't camped at all.
Congrats on the sale of your home!
You'll probably find that most of your questions have already been discussed here, so do take some time reading through. And also visiting the websites of many of the posters here that are listed in their signatures.
We also have a free blog series at http://www.technomadia.com/excuses that goes over a lot of the logistical things like healthcare, earning a mobile income, mail/taxes, pets, etc.
Cheers to your adventures ahead!
- Cherie
As far as a 5vr.........threads on here will guide you through it.......if you find a unit you like , shop around look prices are dropping and there are good deals to be found!!!!
hope to see you out here.....................Good luck
We were in the same boat with the house sale... ours sold in just 2 days and 30 days later we were fulltimers! The advice that Bill and others gave out about checking out the rest of the RV-Dreams.com website should be good for most things and if you need clarification just check the forum for additional info.
We do not have a washer/driver in our rig for the primary reason that our preference for camp sites are Federal/State/Local campgrounds and a lot of these do not have sewer hookups. Because washers use a lot of water it all has to go somewhere and your gray water tank will fill right away so you need to have a sewer connection at the campsite. We're in our 7th month of fulltiming and have had no problem finding laundry facilities nearby, usually in the campground but at least in the nearest town. The machines are big and we can get done in under 2 hours.
If you have any other questions that you can't find answers to ask away!
-- Edited by RVRon on Friday 5th of October 2012 05:43:01 AM
Thank you all for your replies and advise. Husband and I have been reading a lot on this site. Lots of helpful information!
I will also check out the free blog for more information.
I hope to meet some of you soon!
Robin
As others have said. There is alot of info available on here with a search. But you you don't find what your looking for by all means ask away.
As far as the washer and drier thing. We are very happy we have them. We just do a load normally every other day when we are in a campground with hookups. That keeps us caught up unless it's time for something large like a blanket. Now if we go camping for a few days where we don't have hookups it does take a little effort catching up unless we go to a laundry. But we really try to NOT go to a laundry.
We've been full-timing for 4 weeks now. We purchased a 2013 DRV Tradition and a 2012 Ford F350 Super Duty Diesel Dually. After living in our RV for only a month we have learned so much about what we like and don't like about it. We looked for a long time for the right 5th wheel and while we love ours, there are things we would do differently if we had a do-over.
Check the slides. When our slides are in there is a space of about 5' x 3' that is accessable. We can access the refrigerator and one pantry cabinet but that's it. In order to access the living room, bathroom or bedroom, all three slides have to be extended. The living room/ kitchen slides work in tandem so there is one switch and they extend together. In order to get up the stairs to the bedroom or bathroom, the living room/kitchen slides have to be extended. If I had it to do again, I'd pay attention to what you can access with the slides in. There are times when we might need to get something at a rest area or some other quick stop but we just can't put all of the slides out.
Washer and dryer. I LOVE my washer and dryer. I don't have the combo unit, I have a separate washer and dryer. The thing to remember is small loads. If you don't overfill them, they do a great job... clean clothes with no wrinkles. I have an aversion to laundry mats.
I don't like my oven. I have never cooked in an RV oven before and while it bakes just like a normal oven, it does not brown anything. If I had a do-over, I'd get a microwave/convection oven and a cooktop but no oven. Ours came with a regular microwave and a stove/oven. I'd much rather have the cabinet space. I will be having a microwave/convection installed when I get a chance. I did read up on RV ovens and purchased a pizza stone to dispurse the heat evenly so that is not a problem. However, the pizza stone broke in half the first time I used the oven. It's still in there...just in two peices instead of one.
We love our level-up system. Every time I see someone manually leveling their RV I send up a special thanks for the Level-up Automatic leveling system. We looked at many used 5th wheels and saw automatic leveling systems on some of them so even on a used unit, it's a possibility.
Just some things to consider. Have fun getting set-up. It's a crazy ride.
Rosie
Like Rosie, we looked at 5th Wheels for quite a long time.
We have been RVing for many years and have had several Travel Trailers and 5 Wheels so we had a pretty good idea of what layout we were looking for.
We made sure we had access to the bathroom, bedroom and refrigerator with the slides in. Most 5th Wheels with rear slides on both sides do not have access to the rear area as the slide meet in the middle. Ours is like this, no access to rear living area with slides in.
Ours does not have a oven, just a cooktop and convection Microwave. In previous RV's the oven did not work all that great, we use a small toaster oven and the convection Microwave and do not miss the gas oven at all. We do like having the extra kitchen drawers where the oven normally goes.
On the Washer / Dryer there are lots of pros and cons. It is mostly a personal preference, for us we are like Rosie, we love our stackable Washer / Dryer. They work great.
An Automatic Leveling System was not available from the factory on our 5er at the time of purchase, we are looking at installing a leveling system sometime this fall to make setup eaiser.
Robert
I would venture to say that if one is moving regularly, the ability to reach certain areas with the slides in is important. In our case, we haven't started traveling yet so we don't have that issue. If you prefer to have the access, then avoid any floor plan in an RV that has a side bathroom where the shower, sink and commode are all in one room on the off door side. Split bathrooms have the commode and a sink on one side of the coach and the shower and another sink on the other side. That leaves one with access through a centered door to the bedroom. Other floor plans may have the access door to the bedroom on the door side of the coach which would also allow one to enter that area without opening slides.
Most times when we travel and need a bathroom, we are usually stopping at a truck stop or rest area anyway. With access to part of the refrigerator, we can still make a sandwich, or whatever is quick, and then travel on. The few times we've towed our coach somewhere, we've never felt the real need to have access to any part of the coach. But, that is just us.
Our Mobile Suite has the hallway on the off-door side because of us having a side bathroom. I have even found a reason for why I like that bathroom like it is. Back in January, I had a bout with a stomach virus and spent the night one night suffering from nausea and diarrhea with episodes at about 30 minute intervals from midnight until 5:00am. At one point, I nearly passed out, and I was reclined on the bathroom floor. After posting about that, someone commented that they were surprised that I had room to pass out and lie down. So, I created a blog post showing the differences between a side bathroom and its size and a split bathroom and its size in the commode area. If you are really interested, here is a blog post showing some pictures........of the bathrooms, not of me in my sick state.
I KNEW There Was a Reason
Jo and I have a separate washer and dryer set by Whirlpool. While we occasionally use the big washer at the RV park next door for the big blankets for the beds, Jo prefers to wash and dry at home so she can do other things while the laundry is working. In the past, he has been doing about 2 loads, every other night after work. Lately, because of her need to wash on a daily basis for a spell, she washed and dryed a load each evening. Now, she is even considering doing that more often as it limits the amount of work she has to do each evening that she does wash. Bedding and towels are generally washed on Saturdays.
Overall, I suggest looking at a lot of RV's and picture yourself doing the normal day to day things in them to see how things might be a problem....or not be one.
Good luck with the research and planning. It is definitely a "trip."
Terry
Even though we have had a regular oven in a previous RV my wife wanted one in our fulltime unit. We have both in our new unit and I think she may have used the regular oven one time. She has used the convection oven for everything else. If the regular oven could easily be removed and replaced with a cabinet I would do it.
We don't have level up but that is something I think we will add as resources become available.
Probably one of the most logical reasons for have the regular oven is that should our microwave/convection over go out, Jo still has an option for baking or whatever. While ours isn't used very much, there are some things that she would prefer the regular oven in cooking. She has a tendency to do roasts on a slow cook overnight and the meat comes apart with a fork. And she would prefer the regular oven for beans as well.
Terry
Like many who have replied,we spent a lot of time on this forum as well as taking more than a year to decide what we wanted in a full-time RV.We were not new to this,but were new to full-time,so we tried to be as careful as we could be, knowing we were going to be living in it for some time to come. We are getting on to two years now of being fell-time & remain very pleased.
No matter what brand or configuration you choose,remember that once you are full-time, anything major needing repair will make you "homeless" if it needs to be kept for a while. We had two major warranty issues, each of which required the rig to be tied up for a week. So, if buying new, the length of wnt'y is a factor,if buying used, have a thorough independent inspection done, if at all possible. If buying new or used,from a dealer, the dealer and its abilities are of utmost importance. Our dealer was able to do the wnt'y work. Others on the owner's forum in which I'm active have had problems with a dealer ill-equipped to do the needed fixes. Our mfgr., (Open Range), has been stellar about fixes, but I've seen on the Owner's forum that some folks had to go back to Indiana to the factory service center, because their dealer was unable or unwilling to do timely repairs (one thing if you are a week-end camper, quite another if it's your home).
Spend a lot of time "in" not just looking "at" potential rigs. I don't know how many times we went back to the dealer lot and asked to be left alone for a long time in a particular unit. After a bit of "quiet" (no salesman) time in a rig we were able to get a sense of what we liked or didn't. Just prior to finding ours we "lost" one we decided on, but was sold when we went back. Worked out fine for us, because we found ours the next week. It felt right for us. As luck would have it, it had the auto level (a godsend), and the layout with three slides permits access to the kitchen,bath and the bed,(but not the dresser), when slides are in, but I admit, even after all the looking we did, I hadn't sought these features.
This IS a big event in your lives. You are right to feel some anxiety.If anyone who has ever taken such a big step can honestly say that there aren't things they would do over, I've not met them. So many considerations, based on plans that could always possibly change, there are bound to be adjustments later on. You'll do fine, I'm sure. Travel Safe.
Richard
The BEST piece of advice I wish someone had given us - NEVER leave your dump valves open while hooked up to a sewer! Close, fill, open, dump, close - repeat!
Thanks again! We have learned so much from this site. Hopefully soon, we can be giving some advise!
Robin