Most overlooked aspects, common mistakes, problems encountered in full timing?

[87MH]

Originally Posted by Air83

Alexandra,
We have a large group of AS here in The Woodlands, Tx. We meet twice a week and eat out together. IM me and I will give you the information. Tonight we will be at Mel's in Tomball.
Ginger

Alexandra (and all AS enthusiasts):

Congratulations on formulating a good plan for your near term life expectations.

As an initial learning opportunity for travel, community, and all things Airstream, please consider a visit to Texas Airstream Harbor (TAHI). TAHI (Tay-High) is a perfect place to stage month and season long travels. TAHI, a great alternative to Forum type camping and State Parks (and one of the most affordable) is in East Texas, the Texas Airstream Harbor Inc (TAHI). TAHI may be best suited for you for many reasons, and Houston and the Texas and Louisiana coasts are only a couple of hours away.


You can read more about the Harbor on Lake Sam Rayburn (SE of Lufkin) at:

Texas Airstream Harbor, Inc.


Full hookups are only $15 per night and less if you decide to stay for a week or so. You need not be a WBCCI member to rent at the park - the only requirement is an Airstream product.

The park is a non-profit organization, and relies on volunteer labor to keep costs at a minimum. As such, living at the park is unbelievably inexpensive.

TAHI is a secure gated community - lots of roads and park areas to ride bikes on. Birding is second to none in Texas. We are right on the shore of Lake Sam Rayburn, so most any type of fishing is available almost from your parking spot. Lake Rayburn is one of the top Bass lakes in the US. Even more so this year since the low water levels in 2011. The water experts are projecting that 2016 will be the best fishing year since the lake was first filled back in the early 70's.

TAHI (Texas Airstream Harbor) is a couple of hours north of Houston, so plenty of medical and entertainment are close at hand. Lufkin, Texas (more than 33,000 population) is only a half hour drive away.

It is possible to purchase an existing "cabanna" (usually a 12' X 20' room) with an attached cover for the Airstream for a minimal price - depending on availability. Yearly assessments at this time are only $400 per year. The assessment covers pretty much everything (roads, water, sewerage, trash, taxes) except for phone and electricity. The real benefit of a cabanna is the ability to leave your winter "things" in a secure, locked environment while you travel to cooler climes in the summer.

There are themed rallies usually once a month. In February of 2016 the dates will be the eleventh thru the fourteenth.

Most of us travel expensively in a large variety of rigs. The February rally will be an ideal time to actually see the rigs and learn how people have outfitted them...there is no substitute for face to face interchanges for real learning experiences.

PM or e-mail me if you have any questions.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by PammieSue

Really? Please explain how the motorhome expresses it's displeasure, we would certainly want to be aware.

By potentially developing more mechanical problems than it would otherwise, and by attracting the wrong kind of biological attention.

The engines are full of fluids that are supposed to circulate, parts intended to move, and structure that is designed to function at elevated temperatures - they were engineered to be run more-or-less daily. They don't do well if left in stasis for long periods of time.

Additionally, engines that are not run tend to attract rodents that do damage to plastic and rubber parts, as the rodents interpret it as a permanent safe space. With a properly sealed chassis, it might be possible to keep rodents out of the coach itself, but the engine compartment is necessarily open to the environment. There are threads on here that talk about rodents devouring wire harnesses and other devastating mischief.

My husband and I keep our AS motorhome in a rented garage with electrical hook-up and a full suite of rodent countermeasures in place. The longest I've ever let it sit without exercise (local driving) is 2 weeks, and we try to take it on a full trip of at least several hundred miles once a month (which can be challenging as neither of us are retired and we still have a minor child living at home). These measures being intended to keep it in top operating condition.

[xrvr]

Another stopover for a period of time is Top of Georgia AS park. About eight dollars a night, full hookups and in the mountains. Run by Ga WBCCI unit, good people. Stay a day or a year, your choice.

[3wd67rg]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

By potentially developing more mechanical problems than it would otherwise, and by attracting the wrong kind of biological attention.

The engines are full of fluids that are supposed to circulate, parts intended to move, and structure that is designed to function at elevated temperatures - they were engineered to be run more-or-less daily. They don't do well if left in stasis for long periods of time.

Additionally, engines that are not run tend to attract rodents that do damage to plastic and rubber parts, as the rodents interpret it as a permanent safe space. With a properly sealed chassis, it might be possible to keep rodents out of the coach itself, but the engine compartment is necessarily open to the environment. There are threads on here that talk about rodents devouring wire harnesses and other devastating mischief.

My husband and I keep our AS motorhome in a rented garage with electrical hook-up and a full suite of rodent countermeasures in place. The longest I've ever let it sit without exercise (local driving) is 2 weeks, and we try to take it on a full trip of at least several hundred miles once a month (which can be challenging as neither of us are retired and we still have a minor child living at home). These measures being intended to keep it in top operating condition.

We start her up periodically and run her. She had a mouse problem before we got her, we cleaned all that out. She's has had at least one mouse, (we were aware of), since. The kitties dispatched it. I pay attention to the places mousies like to go and be. No new droppings or nesting materials since that happened. Chibi and KatyKat live in our Airstream full time.
We are not as well off financially as many here are and we DO park our AS Moho for 2 to 5 months at a time. I wish we had enough money to go on more frequent trips, but hey, that's life.

[65Streamer]

Lots of fultiming info in early posts from Howard at: RV-dreams.com

Financial, taxes, home base selection, connectivity, travel, alternative work opportunities like hosting to offset camp costs. Full disclosure from pre-retirement age individuals.

Good luck-wish you well. Keep us posted.

[BoldAdventure]

Originally Posted by Alexandra

I'm sure it's not a fit for a lot of young people - being younger, you have the tendency to test out all of your options, and once something doesn't work out, you move on to the next thing. When you're in that state of being, life is a fling. One of the main reasons we decided on this is because we can work from anywhere (as long as we have internet) and we are tired of rushing around. Every time we've gone on a trip, we wish we could stay and explore for a long period of time instead of just a week - a couple weeks simply isn't enough time to do anything. Fiance's father was a full timer and he thought we should give it a go. Plus, once we purchase land, we'll need one to live in while we build a home, so we might as well go for it anyways. What sort of expectations would you suggest?

That's a good idea - didn't think about finding people that way - are there a lot on there?

Thank you!

We're pretty young too. And both work from the road, with one kid who is 8 months and the other just turned 2.

There are A LOT of full-timers on in the 25-40ish age bracket on the road. Most of us are all on instagram, to give you an idea, this was our New Years gathering in Anza Borrego. And I think myself and one other person are the only ones who post on this forum regularly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiD8mn2_gAU

BTW, if you use Slack, you can join us here too: http://wanderslack.com/

[DreamStreamr]

We quit our jobs 9 years ago, sold the house and contents, and moved into our 25' Airstream. We messed up a couple of things right out of the gate.
1. we started out full of excitement about our freedoms, and moved too quickly.
2. we alienated some of our family members because we were the ones who left and didn't keep up very well with them at first.
3. we might have stored some things we shouldn't have - we won't know this until some day we unpack the 5' X 7' storage unit and see what's in there that we still want.

We started out in 2007 with Sprint data card, Verizon MiFi, and Verizon phone service. Dropped Sprint service, and moved to new Verizon "no contract" recently, saving $60/month.

Still loving it, although starting to get ideas of building a house in a few years. Not yet. . .

Let us know if any questions? We're happy to talk or email anytime.