Switzerland full time RV

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Welcome to the CRVL  Forums   :) 

I have a couple of websites below that I'd invite you to check out the one at the bottom.  It is a portal of handy information and contains some International resources which may be useful to you.  (or offer some ideas to pursue there) 

You are welcome to any ideas you may get from it.

All the best to you.
 
Monica99 said:
Thanks good to know I am so far the first member from Switzerland, may be one day soon there will be more -hope so  :D

(...)
Click to expand...

I am Swiss, and I was first :D

Herzlich willkommen!
 
b4 trying to ship a vehicle here to the U.S. you need to find out all the regulations concerning our EPA (emissions), DOT (safety) and Customs.

There is a non resident exemption that allows personal use of your vehicle for 1 year, but there is lots of paperwork involved. After that 1 year you must ship it back out of the U.S....so that return trip must be factored in to your shipping expense. You CAN NOT sell a non conforming vehicle here...the penalties are extreme.

more info here:

http://myoverlandadventure.com/temporarily-importing-driving-foreign-vehicle-usa/

click the links to the U.S. government sites for some mind numbing reading.
 
dr_nelson said:
I am Swiss, and I was first :D

Herzlich willkommen!
Click to expand...

hallo
ich komme aus Argentinien aber lebe in der Schweiz... aber wie lange noch - gerne würde ich in den USA RV full-time machen...
 
Monica99 said:
(...)
I found out that in Switzerland wild camping is prohibited and if I leave the RV in a permitted parking, I was told I am not allowed to stay inside.
(...)
I'll ship the RV to America where I can see that you can do wild camping freely anywhere... luck you!
(...)
Click to expand...

Hola Monica,
Encantado de conocer te :)

Let me start with saying that I have not tried "full-timing" in the US. But here is what I think, after living 38 years in Switzerland.

Back in Switzerland, I didn't live in my VW Bus, but I never had any problems parking in a city or in nature to sleep on the weekend trips or during a 3 week vacation. This was in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, UK, Ireland, and Croatia... and Switzerland. Especially in Switzerland I felt very safe and relaxed.

Btw, in most of these countries "wild camping" or sleeping in your car" is not permitted. But people and law enforcement officers tolerate it - unless you are at those high touristic spots, where parking is not allowed. And of course you shouldn't leave your table and awing etc. out over night. Just clean up and sleep, and no need to switch the parking spot or to drive to the sleeping spot.

I never had the urge for "stealth" - something I learned in the US. Of course we were careful and didn't show off our laptops or bicycles, but it never crossed my mind to make the passenger van "blend in". It was freaking orange and the curtains were turquoise with palm trees on it. It basically screamed "hippie". (yes, whenever crossing a border, they pretty much searched the van or at least asked me what I do for a living). At night, everyone could see from the outside that there was light inside the van. Not one time did I get "the knock". Maybe I was just dumb lucky...

However, I dare to say it is "harder" to do full-time in a vehicle in the US while still pursuing your job (which comes with staying in urban areas). As I mentioned, I haven't tried it in the US, but from what I read and hear, you have to be more "engaged" to get a good night's sleep in the US, i.e. find a spot, don't give the impression that someone is in the van, black out windows, etc.

Will you be "retiring" and doing full-time in the US? From what I hear, this is very feasible in the beautiful US.
 
dr_nelson said:
hola Nelson,
gracias por tu mensaje, interesante lo que decís, lo que voy a hacer, es intenarlo poco a poco. Tengo donde vivir y lo del RV es una idea que tengo ganas de probar. Eso de llevar el RV a Estados Unidos es otra idea para mas adelante pero todavía me quedan mucho para jubilarme. Por lo que mencionas con respecto al estacionamiento en USA parece mas complicado que lo que yo me imaginaba...


Hola Monica,
Encantado de conocer te :)

Let me start with saying that I have not tried "full-timing" in the US. But here is what I think, after living 38 years in Switzerland.

Back in Switzerland, I didn't live in my VW Bus, but I never had any problems parking in a city or in nature to sleep on the weekend trips or during a 3 week vacation. This was in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, UK, Ireland, and Croatia... and Switzerland. Especially in Switzerland I felt very safe and relaxed.

Btw, in most of these countries "wild camping" or sleeping in your car" is not permitted. But people and law enforcement officers tolerate it - unless you are at those high touristic spots, where parking is not allowed. And of course you shouldn't leave your table and awing etc. out over night. Just clean up and sleep, and no need to switch the parking spot or to drive to the sleeping spot.

I never had the urge for "stealth" - something I learned in the US. Of course we were careful and didn't show off our laptops or bicycles, but it never crossed my mind to make the passenger van "blend in". It was freaking orange and the curtains were turquoise with palm trees on it. It basically screamed "hippie". (yes, whenever crossing a border, they pretty much searched the van or at least asked me what I do for a living). At night, everyone could see from the outside that there was light inside the van. Not one time did I get "the knock". Maybe I was just dumb lucky...

However, I dare to say it is "harder" to do full-time in a vehicle in the US while still pursuing your job (which comes with staying in urban areas). As I mentioned, I haven't tried it in the US, but from what I read and hear, you have to be more "engaged" to get a good night's sleep in the US, i.e. find a spot, don't give the impression that someone is in the van, black out windows, etc.

Will you be "retiring" and doing full-time in the US? From what I hear, this is very feasible in the beautiful US.
Click to expand...
 
Hola Mónica, comencé a seguir tu publicación, gracias por la información que han soltado,  a sus órdenes y atenciones en Cancún, México.
del 2017 al 2021 has estado viviendo en RV?, como te fue en tu proyecto, el hermano de mi esposa vive en Illneau-Effretikon y pues nos estamos empapando con los "stellplatz" y los "jahrplatz" planes que tienen los "campplatz" en plan de "wohnung" nos ha sido díficil encontrar uno cerca de Zürich que cumpla nuestros requisitos de poder establecernos anualmente e inclusive generar el domicilio con el "Campplatz" para que nos ayude con trabajo, historial crediticio y mas planes a futuro. 
Como fue que te fue?, ya tienes el camino hecho, que nos puedes recomendar? saludos cordiales
KARIN Y JORGE
 
Hi Monica, Greek transplant here.
What we call wild camping in Europe is called "boondocking" here.
It will cost you upwards of $4000 to send your van over to USA, and there are restrictions for the age of the vehicle, so that might not work too well, as a 2004 is too old to "export". You may be better off buying a van here.
Call customs or transport companies to verify the above, and more than one preferably.
Also be mindfull that a tourist visa is good for 6 months, at the end of which you will have to leave the country, and come back in with a new visa.
 
dr_nelson said:
Hola Monica,
Encantado de conocer te :)

Let me start with saying that I have not tried "full-timing" in the US. But here is what I think, after living 38 years in Switzerland.

Back in Switzerland, I didn't live in my VW Bus, but I never had any problems parking in a city or in nature to sleep on the weekend trips or during a 3 week vacation. This was in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, UK, Ireland, and Croatia... and Switzerland. Especially in Switzerland I felt very safe and relaxed.

Btw, in most of these countries "wild camping" or sleeping in your car" is not permitted. But people and law enforcement officers tolerate it - unless you are at those high touristic spots, where parking is not allowed. And of course you shouldn't leave your table and awing etc. out over night. Just clean up and sleep, and no need to switch the parking spot or to drive to the sleeping spot.

I never had the urge for "stealth" - something I learned in the US. Of course we were careful and didn't show off our laptops or bicycles, but it never crossed my mind to make the passenger van "blend in". It was freaking orange and the curtains were turquoise with palm trees on it. It basically screamed "hippie". (yes, whenever crossing a border, they pretty much searched the van or at least asked me what I do for a living). At night, everyone could see from the outside that there was light inside the van. Not one time did I get "the knock". Maybe I was just dumb lucky...

However, I dare to say it is "harder" to do full-time in a vehicle in the US while still pursuing your job (which comes with staying in urban areas). As I mentioned, I haven't tried it in the US, but from what I read and hear, you have to be more "engaged" to get a good night's sleep in the US, i.e. find a spot, don't give the impression that someone is in the van, black out windows, etc.

Will you be "retiring" and doing full-time in the US? From what I hear, this is very feasible in the beautiful US.
Click to expand...
hello there, are you still on this site?
 
Hello Monica99, it looks like dr_nelson was last seen on this forum in August of 2017.

If you hover your cursor over the user name or picture for a moment you should be able to see some information.

And BTW, welcome back!
 
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