Hello! How does RV'ing work?

[Wallacejnj]

Hello from sunny San Diego!

I am currently an active duty Marine stationed in the San Diego area. My wife and I are very interested in full time RV living after retirement. I don't know much about how this works, what kind of money is required, etc.. Hopefully, connecting with some experienced folks on here might help us with being able to make informed choices.

We are currently interested in a 35-40 ft. Class A. Our travels would primarily take place two times a year, once in May from the San Diego area to Maine and one again in October back to San Diego. Can anyone give us an idea what the total expenses for that type of trip would be? But before I get too ahead of myself, here are a few simple questions:

Are there any brands of vehicles that are preferred? I'm sure that is sort of a loaded question, but really are there any manufacturers to avoid?

What are the typical costs, per mile, to operate a 35-40 ft. Class A?

What are typical pitfalls when just getting started?

Thanks for whatever info can be provided!

Jim

 

[sushidog]

I'd suggest you check out 2 forums: http://www.rv-dreams.com/forum.html and http://www.rvnetwork.com/

Books could be written (and have been) about the questions you ask. The short answer is you can live a FT RV lifestyle on whatever income you have.

Is your class A a diesel pusher or a gas model?

Chip

 

[mockturtle]

Another great RV forum that has a Full-timie RVing subforum, is RV Net
My late husband and I full-timed in a Class A diesel.  It was a Foretravel and was very well built.  I now fulltime in my small Tiger TX. 
How much one spends on RV living depends on several things.
1.  How much you travel [fuel is by far my biggest expense] The cost per mile depends on the fuel type, engine type, etc. but you can count on at least $0.50/mile.
2.  Where you camp
3.  Your lifestyle, e.g., eating out, entertainment. 
You can spending as much or as little as you want in the RV lifestyle.  The main thing is:  Pay cash for your RV, if at all possible, and avoid all debts.  You will need to tow a 'toad/towed' [dinghy] with a large Class A because you will need to go places your motorhome cannot, so consider this a part of the equation. 
Good luck, welcome to our forum and God bless you for serving our country. 

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

The above posters have given you good advice.

I‘ll add one thing for you to think about.

A lot of people think a converted bus is FAR superior to any motor home.  Frankly, a lot of motorhomes are built as cheaply as the manufacturer can get away with.  It‘s been said that "When a bus is in an accident, it looks like a bus was in an accident.  When a motorhome is in an accident, it looks like a tornado hit a trailer park."

Some people try to do their own conversions.  Because the quality of the workmanship can be all over the map, many insurance companies won‘t touch a homebuilt.  There are commercial companies that specialize in doing such conversions, and it‘s a lot easier to insure one of those.

Thank you for your service.

Regards
John

 

[cyndi]

Jim, welcome to the CRVL forums! Thanks you for your service and sacrifice. Please tell your wife I said thanks for her sacrifice,too.

You've got some pretty good answers above. Expenses are all over the board and it's entirely up to you. I know people getting by on $400 a month and I know people with no limits. I do think that it's a lot easier to get by in this life if you are debt free.

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

I do the New England to the Southwest and back routine. In my Class C, getting between 7-9 mpg I think it took about $1700 the last time. That was about 4000 miles because I don't take the interstate. Gas was around $3.50/gal. It also takes me about 4 months to cross, so I'm stopping and staying, a lot.

 

[rvwandering]

 Welcome Jim!  Good advice so far. Have you considered getting a fifth wheel or trailer instead of a motorhome? They're not as expensive, have more room and requires less maintenance so they're popular choices for fulltimers who don't travel a lot. The major con is that your daily driver is a big truck.

 Check this website too - http://www.hitchitch.com/links.html   HitchItch has the blogs of people fulltiming in every type of RV and most are willing to answer questions about their choice of dwelling and lifestyle. Most of us on CheapRVLiving have vans or small RVs and although we're ready to help newcomers we might not have the answers that you're seeking. 

 Some pitfalls are: one half of the couple is not as enthusiastic as the other half which causes tension
                            purchasing the wrong RV for the particular fulltime lifestyle 
                            buying new and taking a huge deprecation hit
                            buying old and inheriting problems

 This is a great lifestyle. Good luck in your search!

 

[LucyImHome]

Welcome!
First, don't think that the first rv you get will be the "one". Look at all your options, buy something, and learn from it what you like and don't like. So don't drop your life savings into that first one. Seems a lot of folks start out with a big beast because they're coming from a house. Then they realize what a pain it is to get into and out of spots and how everything costs so much more, like tires, repairs..... Look on craigslist and go do some test drives of various sizes. That'll help you get a feel for what size is comfortable for you for now.
Another thing to consider is the cost of a space to park/live. I know San Diego is expensive. Sometimes you can find space in a mobile home park. Joshua Tree or Twentynine Palms would be cheaper. Also figure out what state you want to be your "home" state. CA is very spendy to license an rv.
There are threads on here that will go into great detail with all of your questions, and more. Much much more.