Full Time

Dave

Traveling Two
The decision has been made, we will full time in two years in our Sundance 3300SK. Actually we will work camper somewhere. We will sell the house and car and give away most household items. My question is and in the full timer opinion what would be the "order of events" we should be taking, anything you would do different, any precautions etc. Your full timing input will be most useful. Thanks!!
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Hi Dave, we are still fairly new at full timing with 2 years under our belts. I think deciding what to keep if anything was our first priority. We rent a 10X24 storage facility and kept a few pieces of furniture and things we just couldn't let go. Some for sentiment and most for when we stop full timing. The next thing was to start getting our accounts going paperless and our bill paying on line. We have a yahoo address so no matter where we are we didn't have to go through an ISP for e-mail etc. You will need to decide where you will maintain a residence. We chose IL because of state tax reasons and we have family in IL that can forward our mail. Because of the high fuel prices, we don't travel too much right now so we spend summers in WI and winters in TX. We try to take our time and take different routes north and south each year. Make sure you get insurance for your RV that is specific for RV's and full timers. We use Progressive but there are other options. In fact we just switched our truck to AIG and saved a LOT. Rates vary on your residence. Those are the basics I think and I'm sure you'll get input from other members. Good luck. You might not want to wait 2 years. You could change your mind by then:D.
 

SmokeyBare

Well-known member
Dave,

Congratulations to you both at coming to the decision to try full timing. You'll do fine if you both are willing to give it a try.

When we decided to go full time here's what worked for us...

We first established our mail forwarding service in the state we would soon call our home state... South Dakota... as we slowly emptied the house, we lived in the RV which was parked in the our driveway. We wanted to really get a feel for how it was going to be once we drove out the driveway one last time.

We waited until the next spring to get our driver license and vehicle plates and change insurance agent for the Truck. Our first BIG TRIP was to be Alaska... we were able to get all three items taken care of in one short day. It was surprisingly simple. I felt much better once our vehicle plates and driver license matched our mail address.

We selected South Dakota because the state has low insurance rates, no vehicle emission testing, NO State income tax, has a very low sales tax (3%) we found out when we purchased our BigHorn. There are other things that are a positive as well... the negative side would be the requirement of being in state ( I believe I am correct) to get our driver license renewed. Karen's will be due in April of 2010 and that's not the best time to be in South Dakota. We could at that time decide to change our home state to one of the other popular ones.

Keep in mind Full timer insurance should include liabality coverage. Should some one fall out of your RV... Should you be sued.... you will need to be covered for those such issues.

Work Camping... IF you will be getting a pay check... please remember you will be required to pay a state income tax... if the state you work requires taxes be paid on income. IF you volunteer at an RV park... and they require you be on site... the value of the RV Site... will not be considered income... I believe the key there is being required to be ON SITE. As always... check with a professional tax person to be sure.

We have been on the road 4 years now... and have no plans to plant roots yet. The changes have impacted our travels some no doubt as it will many.... but we are always ready for the next Campgrounds... the next turn of the highway... It's been ONE HUGE ADVENTURE for us... We love the lifestyle.

Good Luck on your very own adventures...
 
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