Excited to see a site with a wealth of information for those WANTING to become fulltimers. We have many questions and would love the expertise of those that have been in our "shoes". Let me introduce ourselves, we: a family of four, including our 4-legged Elwood. Our intent is to travel across the country wherever work takes us while homeschooling our 9 and 12 year old boys. My busband will be incharge of the homeschooling and outdoor adventures. I am a labor and delivery nurse, planning on becoming a travel nurse.
We have been thinking and playing with the idea of fulltiming for 3-4 months now, tired of the rat race and schooling in CA. We are a family that makes decisions quick and jumps on them quicker, so we are trying to get all of our "ducks in a row" before our rent/lease is up in May, 2013. We have the 5th wheel picked out and the truck to pull it, but are waiting until we are closer to the end of our lease to buy, so we won't have to pay storage fees or live with just 1 vehicle. Due to homeschooling we have decided to make our domicile Texas, so here is where we begin to solidify our fulltiming decision and start acting on it.
There is a lot of information and questions to filter through in taking this giant leap! We hope we can get some help from this site and its members.
Plan of action: sell, sell, sell most of our 2500 sq. ft household! (yay!), purchase a 41 ft. Road Warrior 5th wheel, purchase Ford F450 (with our trade-ins), set up residence in TX, plan to be living on the road by the end of June 2013!
Thanks for any advice you can provide!
Jason & Renee Grosdidier
Alie and Jims Carrilite said
09:58 PM Dec 15, 2012
Sounds like a plan!
Welcome to the forum. We're hoping to be fulltime this spring (whenever the house sells), and start traveling in November 2013.
Jwar said
11:27 PM Dec 15, 2012
Hooray for you guys. I am not a FT'er yet but noticed you live in my state. I elected on florida as my son lives there for a home resendecy address. After chatting with my accountant he advised me into getting a florida drivers license, using my sons address and change all our bank accounts (two) to a Fl bank first. This way we can purchase a DP as a florida resident in Ca without paying Ca tax.
We may have a 6 yr old granchild with us as her mother is totaly illresponsible at this point in her life. We will also look into home school as we have never done that.
Wishing you the best whater your decision is.
John
Terry and Jo said
04:46 AM Dec 16, 2012
Welcome, Jason and Renee.
You will find this to be a good site for information. In addition to all the knowledgeable folks on the forums, Howard and Linda have put a wealth of information on the rest of their website. They put a lot of information in their daily journal, but also check out the "Site Map" on the home page of the website. In that section, you can begin to find a lot of answers to some of your questions. Also, when in the forum area, make use of the "Search" function up in the blue bar towards the top of the forum categories.
Feel free to ask your questions as there are no dumb questions. You might get a few smart-alecky answers, but it is usually always in jest. The only dumb questions are those that don't get asked in order to get an answer.
When using the forums, try to choose a relevant category that relates to your question if you are starting a new thread. It makes it easier for us to find relevant questions and you get better answers as not everyone checks all of the categories.
Good luck with the research and planning. It looks like a lot of your plans are started, but you would still have time to change a choice should your questions find answers that show a negative light on your choices.
Glad to have you as part of the family.
Terry
Trabuco said
06:17 AM Dec 16, 2012
Welcome Jason and Renee,
Sounds like you guys have your act together and know exactly what you want!! Good luck with the adventure.
53 Merc said
04:04 PM Dec 16, 2012
Welcome. We did the homeschooling of our grandson i TX, so be aware there is a tremondous amount of information out there. I can recommend FEAST, a homeschool book center in San Antonio. Numerous support groups exist out there, so do your due diligence and join the world of adventure. May I suggest if you plan on buying a larger pickup/truck, look into purchase in state of residence. CA is gonna kill you on taxes, licenses and insurance. TX will be a little gentler, but it is still expensive. Likewise the 5er, of whatever denomination. So, make your residence choice in one or the other before you begin this event/adventure.
Jgrosdidier said
11:03 PM Dec 16, 2012
Thank you everyone for your input and advice, we really appreciate it. Can anyone recommend a mail-forwarding service that will also be able to be our permanent address (ie. for setting up residence, getting registered, licenses, insurance etc.)?
Lucky Mike said
11:34 PM Dec 16, 2012
Most in texas use Escapees Rv Club.......seems to be a good deal
Workinrvers said
04:21 PM Dec 17, 2012
Lucky Mike wrote:
Most in texas use Escapees Rv Club.......seems to be a good deal
Hello Forum!
Excited to see a site with a wealth of information for those WANTING to become fulltimers. We have many questions and would love the expertise of those that have been in our "shoes". Let me introduce ourselves, we: a family of four, including our 4-legged Elwood. Our intent is to travel across the country wherever work takes us while homeschooling our 9 and 12 year old boys. My busband will be incharge of the homeschooling and outdoor adventures. I am a labor and delivery nurse, planning on becoming a travel nurse.
We have been thinking and playing with the idea of fulltiming for 3-4 months now, tired of the rat race and schooling in CA. We are a family that makes decisions quick and jumps on them quicker, so we are trying to get all of our "ducks in a row" before our rent/lease is up in May, 2013. We have the 5th wheel picked out and the truck to pull it, but are waiting until we are closer to the end of our lease to buy, so we won't have to pay storage fees or live with just 1 vehicle. Due to homeschooling we have decided to make our domicile Texas, so here is where we begin to solidify our fulltiming decision and start acting on it.
There is a lot of information and questions to filter through in taking this giant leap! We hope we can get some help from this site and its members.
Plan of action: sell, sell, sell most of our 2500 sq. ft household! (yay!), purchase a 41 ft. Road Warrior 5th wheel, purchase Ford F450 (with our trade-ins), set up residence in TX, plan to be living on the road by the end of June 2013!
Thanks for any advice you can provide!
Jason & Renee Grosdidier
Welcome to the forum.
We're hoping to be fulltime this spring (whenever the house sells), and start traveling in November 2013.
Hooray for you guys. I am not a FT'er yet but noticed you live in my state. I elected on florida as my son lives there for a home resendecy address. After chatting with my accountant he advised me into getting a florida drivers license, using my sons address and change all our bank accounts (two) to a Fl bank first. This way we can purchase a DP as a florida resident in Ca without paying Ca tax.
We may have a 6 yr old granchild with us as her mother is totaly illresponsible at this point in her life. We will also look into home school as we have never done that.
Wishing you the best whater your decision is.
John
Welcome, Jason and Renee.
You will find this to be a good site for information. In addition to all the knowledgeable folks on the forums, Howard and Linda have put a wealth of information on the rest of their website. They put a lot of information in their daily journal, but also check out the "Site Map" on the home page of the website. In that section, you can begin to find a lot of answers to some of your questions. Also, when in the forum area, make use of the "Search" function up in the blue bar towards the top of the forum categories.
Feel free to ask your questions as there are no dumb questions. You might get a few smart-alecky answers, but it is usually always in jest. The only dumb questions are those that don't get asked in order to get an answer.
When using the forums, try to choose a relevant category that relates to your question if you are starting a new thread. It makes it easier for us to find relevant questions and you get better answers as not everyone checks all of the categories.
Good luck with the research and planning. It looks like a lot of your plans are started, but you would still have time to change a choice should your questions find answers that show a negative light on your choices.
Glad to have you as part of the family.
Terry
Sounds like you guys have your act together and know exactly what you want!! Good luck with the adventure.
May I suggest if you plan on buying a larger pickup/truck, look into purchase in state of residence. CA is gonna kill you on taxes, licenses and insurance. TX will be a little gentler, but it is still expensive. Likewise the 5er, of whatever denomination. So, make your residence choice in one or the other before you begin this event/adventure.
X2 - Great to work with.