Full timing in an expedition camper.

magoo22

New member
Hello - this is my first post and of course it is a question.
Thinking about an early retirement in a few years and would like to sell the house and travel full time in a camper. some of these expedition camper prices scare me but what a way to travel. Is there anyone out there that is traveling and living in an expedition camper full time? If so, what make and model? solo or with another? any information would be appreciated. I see alot of nice looking European vehicles out there and then what is offered in the USA, I hope my choices become greater in a few years. Thank you, Magoo22.
 

haven

Expedition Leader
Traveling full time is a dream for many of us. But I've read many stories on ExPo of people who started full-timing, only to give it up after traveling for a period of months or years. So I would caution about cutting all ties with home right away. For example, rent your house rather than selling it immediately.

You can get a taste of full timing without leaving home, even while still working. Rent a truck camper for two weeks, park it in your driveway, and live in it. That experience will inform your decision.
 

Butch1979

Family Adventurer
We are looking at a simliar option in a few years. Problem I have so far is the COST of an "offroad" RV compared to the space and ammenities you could get in a gigantic class A motorhome...

We could get a gorgeous class A for $130k and pull a super built FJ 60 or 40 behind it for adventures and still be way under the cost of many of these offroad campers.

Tough call.

Butch
 
We are looking at a simliar option in a few years. Problem I have so far is the COST of an "offroad" RV compared to the space and ammenities you could get in a gigantic class A motorhome...

We could get a gorgeous class A for $130k and pull a super built FJ 60 or 40 behind it for adventures and still be way under the cost of many of these offroad campers.

Tough call.

Butch

But with that setup you can't get your camper, i.e. room & board actually out in the boonies for days or even weeks.

Charlie
 

Howard70

Adventurer
We are looking at a simliar option in a few years. Problem I have so far is the COST of an "offroad" RV compared to the space and ammenities you could get in a gigantic class A motorhome...
We could get a gorgeous class A for $130k and pull a super built FJ 60 or 40 behind it for adventures and still be way under the cost of many of these offroad campers....
Butch

But with that setup you can't get your camper, i.e. room & board actually out in the boonies for days or even weeks.
Charlie

I agree with Charlie. It seems like the distinction might be whether you want to travel the pavement in considerable comfort and visit the backcountry for day trips or short camping outings, or do you want to tolerate the pavement as a means of getting into the backcountry away from amenities for extended distances and periods of time? If the former is your goal then the class A towing a trail rig makes sense. If the latter is your goal then the class A and towed trail rig won't do.

Personally, I'm more interested in long, extended stays in the backcountry so an expedition "camper" makes sense for us. However, we aren't considering selling our house and living in any vehicle without a home base. Even when we lived on a sailboat for several years we kept our house. If I was thinking of completely casting off from any fixed home base and going completely vehicular I'm not sure an expedition rig would be my choice - but I don't know what vehicle would entice me to do that!

Howard
 

haven

Expedition Leader
Magoo22 told me in private message that he has experience traveling for extended periods in large Class A motor homes. So his question is more about living full time in an ExPo style vehicle, rather than determining if he would like living on the road. So if you know of someone living for an extended period in a rough road-capable camper, please post up.
 

kpredator

Adventurer
this is a good thread.very difficult to answer though,every one is different.i work on the road "construction" didnt have a home for about five years.after a while missed having
a place to come home to.did save alot of money though.as far as living in expedition type vehicle .we spent 11 months in a f150 with popup.traveling all over out west ,alaska,canada
wintering in florida.starting out it was great but towards the end it got old.thank god i brought my boat to occupy my time fishing.we are getting up near retirement and think of
our best options when the day comes.leaning towards motorhome and jeep to pull boat,get into the backcountry.havent counted out travel trailer with pickup and jeep with boat.
probably go with what we can get the best deal on at the time. a lot of this depends on your health
good luck
kp
 

loup407

Adventurer
I know there are at least a few people who appear to be full-timing in Earthroamers. You might try googling "Roaming with Rudy", which is a blog by two professional photographers living out of an ER. I've met a couple of other owners who may not visit here very much.
 

rblackwell

Adventurer
I am not sure what qualifies as "fulltiming" but since retiring in 2008 my wife and I have spent most of that time on the road in either in a Provan Tiger (19 months from the top to bottom of North and South America), an ER inside the US, and across Canada-Central Asia-Europe (15 months) in a GXV/Unimog. and we are about to go back to Europe indefinitely.

The biggest hassle about "fulltiming" and particularly outside the US is handling all your "business" like medicare, tax returns, and where to register your vehicle.

WE don't think of ourselves as "fulltimers" as when we travel we have a route or goal - we don't do what some folks do and go park in a nice place for long periods of time.
Wish we had the patience for that but we don't.
 

Deliberate Nomad

New member
As of February 2014, we are traveling full time in a Unimog U500 with GXV body. We put our stuff in storage and have no home base. As others stated this is a difficult question to answer as everyone is different. There are two of us and we decided to go with a bigger truck for more living space. Everything is a trade off, the bigger the vehicle the less places you can go regardless of off-road capability. The benefit is we have a comfortable home when the weather is not great or we are winter camping for snow sports. We intend to spend a couple years in North America and then go to South America for a few years. After that, who knows.

Costs can very considerable for expedition vehicles. We have friends that have lived and traveled for more than 2 years in an old French military truck that the bought for less the $10,000. Their amenities are minimal. It all depends on what you are comfortable with. Expedition Truck Brokers ( http://www.expedition-trucks.com/brokers/ ) is a good site for used vehicles. The European trucks greater then 22 years old can be imported to the US. There are also several new reasonable options becoming available in the US on Fuso chassis.

Your travel plans will also dictate the best vehicle. Are you planning to travel North America only or do a trip around the world. Do you want to be able to explore the smaller 4x4 roads and back country. Will you drive through small villages in Europe.

Try to go as small and as simple as will fit your needs.

More info on our truck and travels at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Perky-Mog/528416557204233?ref=hl
 

Ozarker

Pontoon Admiral
Many f the issues of sailing liveaboards seem to apply, might check out some sailing forums as the address aspects of just being away from home for extended periods. Some sell the house and buy a boat, some rent it out, some just let family stay. If you rent it, you'll need a manager. You probably won't make much at all off of it unless you own the place free and clear.

You need a tax home, many select areas that don't have personal property taxes and qualifying as a resident usually means at least a driver's license, and you'll need an address. Social Security wants a physical address as a home base but checks are direct deposit. Medicare supplement plans may only have geographic coverage or reduced away from their service area. Need to get a mail service too. Tags and a driver's license can be a problem if they expire and you're 2,000 miles from home.

Money is a factor, saying that you save money away from home or not having rent may not hold water. Fuel, oil, insurance, maintenance, parking fees, tolls, campground fees all adds up, it adds up quickly with some vehicles. Seems like the folks out west, especially in the southwest have desert and open range to venture off road and stay as long as they like. What I'm finding is there are few good spots in the Midwest, fewer east or west coast that you can camp at free. Another article talked about crack downs by municipalities and counties as to overnight parking even on private property like at Wal-Mart or Cosco. Might look up stealth camping. I'm thinking you need to budget for a camp ground every night and if you find a free spot then great. Most campers/vehicles don't have laundry facilities, another expense unless you use a bucket and a clothesline.

Food will cost more on the road than at home, usually. At home, you know where to shop and where to get better deals or better quality foods, not on the road, you're likely going to stop where you can and pay $5 for a bag of ice. Get around tourist areas in the States and the prices go up, or around large metro areas. I've always tried to say that I don't eat more on the road than at home and my food costs should be the same, neither is true. You're more active out in the boonies than in your home, usually, so you need the fuel too.

If you get a large rig, insurance will be another matter traveling full time, I have no idea how expensive that would be but I'm sure it's more than your family auto policy rated in your local area. Several good friends have done the motorhome thing, a couple at the half million dollar mark and smaller Class As, they all seem to need something weekly, you're lucky I guess if you're on the road and you have no issues at all, they aren't a truck or a car. The more goodies there are the more issues you'll have, just more to vibrate, break, come lose and leak.

I don't mean to be raining on a parade, but reality seems far from the dream I'd say. If you're naturally a minimalist you can go on the cheap. Most of the sailing forums say that you'll spend less at home than being out.

I'm thinking of doing some seminars/mentoring in different areas for a couple years, that can take me all over the country. Weekly or bi-monthly stops, an expedition rig of some kind could work, I'm not seeing it being any cheaper than flying to destinations and staying at the Holiday Inn. But, it's not the same thing, I'd rather have fun outdoors, at least in the fall and spring. :)

I have no plans to go south of the boarder or north except for AK. I already tromped through Europe and North Africa years ago so I'm staying home. All can be much cheaper heading south.

I love my bike too, we would head out and do some camping but plan on a motel from time to time regardless of what your rig is, I see some pretty nice motorhomes at motels. Bad weather forecasts seem to draw them in.
 

AFSOC

Explorer
Many f the issues of sailing liveaboards seem to apply, might check out some sailing forums as the address aspects of just being away from home for extended periods. Some sell the house and buy a boat, some rent it out, some just let family stay. If you rent it, you'll need a manager. You probably won't make much at all off of it unless you own the place free and clear.

You need a tax home, many select areas that don't have personal property taxes and qualifying as a resident usually means at least a driver's license, and you'll need an address. Social Security wants a physical address as a home base but checks are direct deposit. Medicare supplement plans may only have geographic coverage or reduced away from their service area. Need to get a mail service too. Tags and a driver's license can be a problem if they expire and you're 2,000 miles from home.

Money is a factor, saying that you save money away from home or not having rent may not hold water. Fuel, oil, insurance, maintenance, parking fees, tolls, campground fees all adds up, it adds up quickly with some vehicles. Seems like the folks out west, especially in the southwest have desert and open range to venture off road and stay as long as they like. What I'm finding is there are few good spots in the Midwest, fewer east or west coast that you can camp at free. Another article talked about crack downs by municipalities and counties as to overnight parking even on private property like at Wal-Mart or Cosco. Might look up stealth camping. I'm thinking you need to budget for a camp ground every night and if you find a free spot then great. Most campers/vehicles don't have laundry facilities, another expense unless you use a bucket and a clothesline.

Food will cost more on the road than at home, usually. At home, you know where to shop and where to get better deals or better quality foods, not on the road, you're likely going to stop where you can and pay $5 for a bag of ice. Get around tourist areas in the States and the prices go up, or around large metro areas. I've always tried to say that I don't eat more on the road than at home and my food costs should be the same, neither is true. You're more active out in the boonies than in your home, usually, so you need the fuel too.

If you get a large rig, insurance will be another matter traveling full time, I have no idea how expensive that would be but I'm sure it's more than your family auto policy rated in your local area. Several good friends have done the motorhome thing, a couple at the half million dollar mark and smaller Class As, they all seem to need something weekly, you're lucky I guess if you're on the road and you have no issues at all, they aren't a truck or a car. The more goodies there are the more issues you'll have, just more to vibrate, break, come lose and leak.

I don't mean to be raining on a parade, but reality seems far from the dream I'd say. If you're naturally a minimalist you can go on the cheap. Most of the sailing forums say that you'll spend less at home than being out.

I'm thinking of doing some seminars/mentoring in different areas for a couple years, that can take me all over the country. Weekly or bi-monthly stops, an expedition rig of some kind could work, I'm not seeing it being any cheaper than flying to destinations and staying at the Holiday Inn. But, it's not the same thing, I'd rather have fun outdoors, at least in the fall and spring. :)

I have no plans to go south of the boarder or north except for AK. I already tromped through Europe and North Africa years ago so I'm staying home. All can be much cheaper heading south.

I love my bike too, we would head out and do some camping but plan on a motel from time to time regardless of what your rig is, I see some pretty nice motorhomes at motels. Bad weather forecasts seem to draw them in.

Ozarker, I love this post. I have been pondering the same basic questions as the OP since I am on a burn down schedule to my own early retirement. Ten years of budgeting, positioning, asset re-arranging and recession battling seem easy compared to figuring out the best way to pull off a semi continuous, post retirement travel lifestyle. In the past 3-4 years, I have come to many of the same conclusions as you reflected.

One other conclusion I reached is that it may not be what we're making it out to be. What we THINK we want, may not be what we LIKE once immersed. One can never really know if you're cut out to live aboard or not until you've done it for a length of time to build routines. A $300-400K investment in a rapidly depreciating Class A or "expedition grade" camper, only to find out that either or both of us isn't 100% content is not a step I can recover from without some consequence of compromise elsewhere in my life. At this point we are leaning toward extended trials in a used, budget, Class C'ish rig. In my mind an older Class C would reveal a lot of "life on the road" shortcomings right away as we settle into a type and style of travel we are comfortable doing continously. If we can deal with the inevitable hiccups and compromises a nomadic existence brings, then we'll know we have the metal to make it as fulltimers and outfit ourselves accordingly. If we find we're not cut from that cloth, then we'll retreat and start building the picket fence.
 

haven

Expedition Leader
Apologies to regular readers on ExPo; I have posted these sentiments before.

Some people enjoy traveling solo, but most want a partner or spouse along to share the adventure. On a trip of several weeks or months, and living in a confined space, conflicts will arise. Many "expeditions" fail because the partners can't resolve their differences. Good communication is key to resolving conflict while it's at a simmer. Don't wait until bad feelings reach a full boil.

A couple of suggestions, based on my experience:

1. Make sure each party has their own space in the vehicle. This is a challenge, given the tight quarters. But everyone needs to have a space, even if only a drawer, that they can call their own. (No, giving your wife control of the kitchen is not an answer.)

2. Consciously choose a style for decision-making. Some partners prefer the "captain and first mate" approach, where one party is clearly in charge. Most others prefer the "council of chiefs" approach, where everyone is on the same footing, and decisions are made communally.

3. Make room for each person's interests. For example, one party may prefer to break camp early and get on the road each day. The second party wants to use the morning hours for photography, when the light is particularly nice. Another example is "white line fever," in which one party wants to put the hammer down to reach the day's destination. The other party wants to stop and smell the roses along the way. Try to be flexible, and compromise.

4. Give permission for one party to leave for a while. It can be enormously refreshing to separate from the group, and very rewarding to join back up in a few days or weeks. Traveling together, you tend to magnify the irritations. Being apart for a while will remind you of the strengths your partner brings to the group.

5. Similar to (4): People differ in their reactions to being separated from family. Some are satisfied to stay in touch with a phone call or email exchange. Others find there's no substitute for face to face interaction. Be prepared if one party needs to leave the trip and fly home for short visits. Don't make your partner choose between life on the road and their family.
 

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