Pre-Fulltiming Check List

I just saw this check list for people who are planning to go full time in their RV and I thought that it was worth copying.

[FONT=Verdana,]A Full-timers Pre Departure Checklist By firedude

Careful planning and preparation will make the transition so much smoother and enjoyable when things are done in advance!

____ Yard sale and disposal of excess "stuff".

____ Establish Legal residency if selling home.

____ Establish Mail Forwarding and handling.

____ Change of address with Post office, accounts, friends and family

____ Check with current insurance companies such as medical etc.

_____Have a complete medical examine and dental check up as well as a list of all medications.

____ Have your estate Planned: whether a trust or will with an executor named.

____ Secure Storage facility if needed.

____ Secure Full-timers Insurance

____ Cell Phone service.

____ Internet service. (optional)

____ Satellite TV service. (optional)

____ Secure important papers etc. Scan onto hard drive and download to disc; transfer to secure location: include warranties, receipts, medical transcripts, vet documents,

____ Make list of personal items to take.

____ Pets shot Records if needed.

____ Passports for out of country travel such as Canada

____ Plan your first month and go slow, rest and enjoy.

*** Remember the key to an easy less stressful transition is planning, planning and planning![/FONT]

Now you post this!! We left our stick house two days ago!! ( a little frazzled)

Driving across rt 74 in IL as we "type"

I'm sorry I was late posting this, kognito. Now you can add to the things that were left off. I definitely understand how you feel. We had our "big" auction sale a little over a year ago and we have never looked back. It has been fantastic. By the way, did you come to the fulltimers session at the Rally in Elkhart?

John

John,

My post was very much "tounge in cheek"

We are on our way to SD to get our new drivers licenses, and right now our 5th looks more like a U-haul, than a home!! We figured it was better to store stuff in a more central location than NJ!

One thing I will add to the list is that a few weeks ago my wife and I both had eye exams, and our eye doctor was more than happy to write us each an extra presciption (in case we have an eye glass accident on the road)

We will stop in Elkhart for the escapade, but we need to be back in NJ before then end of September (house sale closes at the end of the month)

Doug

JP Morgan37
I can add items that can casue a bit of stress to the fulltiime. have one of your parents die and take care of the life insurance and stocks. It has been over 1 1/2 years and I am not finished yet. Thanks goodness for mail forwarding, cell phones, and faxs. We have been full time for about 4 years and loving it. It is just money. Kids won't fight over it.

The main thing that we are trying to do is to cover all bases so that our kids won't have to deal with it. We have everything we own in a Revocable Trust. Our funerals and burial are all arranged and paid for. I'm not eligible but Sue is covered with Long Term Care insurance and we have the CARE option through Escapees.

I understand what you are going through with deceased loved ones. We've delt with some of that also.

But hey, life is good and God is great. Enjoy this beautiful land and live every day with enthusiasm.

John

My job keeps me on the road for about 10 months out of the year. After paying for Motel rooms and paying for a house, we finally figured out how crazy that was. We bought an older Coachmen last May, had the garage sale and headed out for the next job. It didn't take long for us to realize that we love this life, but the Coachmen was a bit small for us. Picked up our 3670RL a week ago last Friday and still have huge grins on our faces. We didn't have a checklist, but did about 90% of the things on that list. There are a couple that I didn't think of but plan on it after looking at the check list. One thing we did do was get Vonage internet phone service. We love it. My wife is an internet junkie and that is a must no matter where we stop. The phone service is one flat rate, you keep your same phone number, and free calls to Canada, Mexico, England and Europe. No matter where you stop, just plug it in and your in business. With my wife being British and gowing up in Canada, between the phone and internet, it allows her to keep in touch with family wherever they or we might be located.

I have something to add to the list,,,

When you go from stick house to rv, make sure that all your final payments are well documented on utilities, etc. Hold onto them for several months or longer. If you do phone transactions, make sure you record date, time and person that you talk to.

Also, realize you are going to make mistakes. When packing our first RV, we took some things that we can live without and left behind some things that we need/ed to replace.

Enjoy!!

To use your Vonage VOIP phone service, what method do you use for Internet (satellite, AirCard, CG WiFi etc.)?

Jim

It plugs into either Broadband Cable or DSL phone line. At least that is what this non-techie understands. I don't see why you couldn't use it for satelitte though. You just have to have a hard wired connection to the internet. We still have our cell phones for wireless calling. But whenever we are parked for anytime and have internet it gives us unlimited free calling over half the world. You have a choice of area codes but not the full number. We chose an area code where we lived for the last 20 yrs, before going full time. That way family and friends back home can call us and it's not a toll call for them.

I see.

So do you often times have a hard-wired broadband/DSL Internet connection when you travel?

As for working with satellite, last I heard, the network latency was too much, so it was not a practical fit. With improving compression techniques, perhaps this method is improving.

If I am not mistaken, someone at the 2007 rally in Goshen was also using a VOIP service for RV travel. Not sure who it was or what service they used but this is worth discussing as technological advances are such that what didn't work last year may work this year.

Thanks for sharing what works for you. Share more as you can.

Thanks,

Jim

Jim,

I'm using a Sierra A590 (EVDO rev A) aircard with Verizon service. My wife has no problems with Skype. She has video calls every other week with her folks in Germany.

I was surprised at how good the connection is, not much latency at all. Her father is a ham radio operator in Germany, and we have discussed having to say "over" but so far it has not been necessary.

Doug

Thanks Doug.

So Skype VOIP works on an AirCard. Interesting. And I think cellular data services are getting faster and more robust all the time. So your VOIP via Cellular Data should get better too.

Thanks for sharing.

Jim

We have some issues about going fulltime and I hope someone out there has already figured this one out. We both still work and we won't be heading out for the hills for awhile. We move into our 5th wheel at the end of the month!

We were going to get a P.O. Box and use our daughter's physical address for our drivers license and insurance. Then I got to thinking it should match our voters registration cards, which led me to worry about being called in for jury duty.

That wouldn't be a problem but our daughter lives in another county from where our rig will be parked and from where we work.

We could use the address where we'll be living but we can't stay through the winter because of all of the wintering Texan's coming home..... We can move back in the spring and stay till our hearts are content but that won't help us right now.

Does anyone know if you can use a P.O. Box on your Texas drivers license or do you have to have a physical address? Or any other suggestions?

See, there is still lots that we need to learn about Full-time RVing.

Cary & Emmett;

I would not recommend that you use your daughters address as your physical address. If you want to maintain your Texas "residence", my recommendation would be to join Escapees in Livingston and set up a Private Mail Box, (PMB) there. Change your drivers license to match the PMB address and you can still have all of your personal mail sent to your daughters address until you get ready to hit the road. Then switch your mail over to the Escapees mail forwarding. I don't know of anyone that has been called for jury duty that uses a PMB, and then if you should happen to get called, just reply that you are a full time RV'er and that you are not in the state.

Hope this helps,

John

Mailbox - address

We don't mind getting called for jury duty...

It's just that we've gone to one vehicle and that was a little adjustment. That would take into consideration one of us having to go to jury duty, doctor, etc but not in another county in the other direction.

Thanks, I'll check out their site.
Cary