Planning stage, any advice please (1 Viewer)

[Coolbeanz]

Well the kids have fled home which leaves me & my husband in our early 50's with a love of travel and cycling and a desire to give up work and travel Europe. We have just bought a MH and put our house up for sale (had an offer on it yesterday!) We don't want to wait until retirement age as we will be too old to cycle too far then. We plan on buying a smaller house and helping our son by letting him rent it cheap so that we retain a property here and have a base to come back to when needed. I have been reading various blogs trying to ascertain the approximate monthly living costs of touring. We envisage staying for a week or so at a time in each place while we explore the area on our bikes and plan on covering France, Spain, Italy, Greece, and everywhere in-between. If anyone has any advice on living costs it would be much appreciated or any other advice for that matter? Scary decision to give up well paid secure jobs but what the heck! You only live once and I am off to a funeral later today for someone that was the same age as me. A giant leap into the exciting and scary unknown but can't wait to see what adventures will unfold!! :help:

 

[ourcampersbeentrashed]

Although we have never full timed having read many threads on here the costs seem to vary dependent on your lifestyle.

Some use cheap sites in the winter months either in the UK or abroad and spend summer travelling more extensively and others spend a lot of time just travelling and wild camping using occasional site visits for emptying waste etc.

I am sure some of our fulltimers will be along to give their experiences but to be quite honest, to me it depends on where you stay and how you use your free time.

Get out there and live life to the full, visit lots of places see and experience new things and be able to say "I regret nothing"

Dont forget to keep some contingency funds in case there are periods where your new property isnt rented out and where you may be liable for some bills.

Good luck and enjoy

and most of all

HAVE FUN

 

[scotjimland]

Good luck with your plans..

we did it for three years.. as for cost, there are quite a few fulltimers on here who will all give different answers..

how far will you travel each year, will you live on sites or look for free aires or wild spots.. do you plan on eating out.. some stay on sites for months on end.. others move around.. it really is.... how long is a piece of string ..

I can only say what we spent over three years, including servicing, insurance, VED etc ..

£12k per year .. and that was not living 'high on the hog' .. we rarely ate out, used only free or cheap aires abroad and CLs in the UK .. but we did a lot of miles, so our fuel bill was quite high .. we travelled in France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco..

A fantastic three years.. but it was not cheap.. and you will probably spend more than you anticipate..

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[Coolbeanz]

Scotjimland you must be near us as we live in East Bergholt, I used to work for Suffolk Coastal DC.

 

[scotjimland]

Scotjimland you must be near us as we live in East Bergholt, I used to work for Suffolk Coastal DC.

Small World.. we are in a very sleepy village not far away .. Alderton

if you would like to discuss your plans, perhaps we can meet up some time..

 

[darklord]

My only bit of advice,......just do it! you can spend as long talking yourself out of something as you can into it, get on with it and do what youve done all the rest of your life, deal with problems as they come up.
You can stay at places for under 10 euros a night abroad, and in this country CL/CS owners will be pleased to see you in the winter. Youve budgeted for food all your life, so thats easy, as Scotjim said, its up to you how much fuel you use........and lets face it, if funds are getting a little low, no problem hanging around on a Portugese beach till the end of the month is it?

Go for it, and have fun, your a long time dead

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[Gaston aires]

Do yourselves a favour and buy a small flat as a precaution. Rent it out and then travel. You will have a income to use when travelling. it will be more costly than you think but a great adventure as well.
Best of luck

PS we met some Canadians who had been travelling for 7 years, continent by continent. They bought and sold there MH after each continent.

 

[Coolbeanz]

Small World.. we are in a very sleepy village not far away .. Alderton

if you would like to discuss your plans, perhaps we can meet up some time..

Lovely area to live. Would love to meet up and chat. Will message you sort a day/time.

 

[Carol]

As you are finding out a forum like this along with the Internet can give so much in the way of information, that you are never really on your own when traveling, sounds like a great plan to me, hope it all comes together, and keep us up to date with your plans and travels. :thumb:

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[motorhomelover]

Well the kids have fled home which leaves me & my husband in our early 50's with a love of travel and cycling and a desire to give up work and travel Europe. We have just bought a MH and put our house up for sale (had an offer on it yesterday!) We don't want to wait until retirement age as we will be too old to cycle too far then. We plan on buying a smaller house and helping our son by letting him rent it cheap so that we retain a property here and have a base to come back to when needed. I have been reading various blogs trying to ascertain the approximate monthly living costs of touring. We envisage staying for a week or so at a time in each place while we explore the area on our bikes and plan on covering France, Spain, Italy, Greece, and everywhere in-between. If anyone has any advice on living costs it would be much appreciated or any other advice for that matter? Scary decision to give up well paid secure jobs but what the heck! You only live once and I am off to a funeral later today for someone that was the same age as me. A giant leap into the exciting and scary unknown but can't wait to see what adventures will unfold!! :help:

For travel in France. Joind passion France over 4000 free yes free places to stop
We did 3 weeks for less than £700 for two of us
Look it up on Google
Well worth the £28 membership fee
Good luck with your plane
Ian

 

[Minxy]

Now just hold on there 'musky'!!!

Do NOT do anything rash - it's not so much about what you want to do NOW but what you will do when you no longer want to travel around all the time/live in your motorhome. You need to think about contingency plans, for example what if one of you was ill long term and therefore you need a permanent base (your home in the UK?) for some reason, or had to give up living in the van/travelling so much.

You need to work out where your income is coming from for however many years - this will probably need to last you from now until you can get your pensions (you won't be able to get your state pensions until at least 65 (if not 66/67) and this will depend on how many years NI contribution you have made. Same with your works' pensions (assuming you have any). It is surprising just how MUCH money you need behind you when looking to leave work at your age. Don't forget it isn't just about living expenses, but also things like repairs, changing MHs etc in the future.

My hubby left work at the age of 51 in December 2009, I left at the age of 48 in December 2012 but in order to get to that point where we could do this and still be okay financially we had been saving and investing our spare money in earnest for around the last 10 years. We were also very fortunate that we both got severance too, not massive, but it all helps. We haven't gone off for long trips, we've got 2 big ones planned this year, one of 5 weeks and another of 7 weeks, as well as shorter ones, as we still like being at home too, but we don't have the restrictions of having to go out to work any more which is great.

So my advice is: despite the urge to get up and just take off, instead pretend you are working out the finances etc for someone else (so you do it in a much more realistic and less emotional way) and hopefully you'll be able to see if what you want to do is viable. I really can understand the desire to 'just do it' BUT there's no point in doing it if you're just going to worry about the 'what ifs'.

Planning is the KEY.

 

[Philiphall]

Good luck I started full timing last November and am loving it. its what you make it, I havnt left the UK yet as busy travelling around enjoying myself. Often wild camp I normally use lay-bys that have HGV's parked up and it seems pretty safe. I also use the C & CC sites as you get a discount once you are 55 normally at this time of year its about £8 a night (but I am on my own) On average its 3-4 site nights or wild camps a week. I dont have any property in the UK but am just buying a leisure land plot in France ( 2 acres 10,000 euros) so have a registered address.

Remember you are a long time dead so make sure you enjoy life to the full

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[Rayb182]

Small World.. we are in a very sleepy village not far away .. Alderton

if you would like to discuss your plans, perhaps we can meet up some time..

We could have a mini meet at our favourite place, you know where he he

 

[Coolbeanz]

Ongoing finances aren't a problem as that has already been sorted. I am a Financial Inclusion Officer so very clued up in areas of money. It was more about getting pointers from people that have already experienced living in a MH for lengthy periods and the pitfalls. Looking forward to getting rid of a lot of the trappings we all consider so essential to life and getting on with living:thumb:.

 

[Coolbeanz]

We could have a mini meet at our favourite place, you know where he he

another local and lovely area, Great Bentley :thumb:

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[Welsh girl]

We have fulltimed in our van for 5 years and sold up in 2008. A haven't travelled extensively yet as a had commitments, but now we will be starting and have booked a 3 month tour round France, this its only or second time to France but it will cost us less to stay on sites over there than it will here plus the fuel is cheaper.
The roads are a pleasure to drive, much better than here.
And hopefully the weather will be better too?
No need for the heating as much either.
No home to worry about break ins, flower and garden tending etc.
We have our home on wheels.
Have home will travel.

 

[chaser]

For travel in France. Joind passion France over 4000 free yes free places to stop
We did 3 weeks for less than £700 for two of us
Look it up on Google
Well worth the £28 membership fee
Good luck with your plane
Ian

couldnt agree more , fantastic sites for free, unbelievable really, we did a month on these last year with just odd nights on motorway aires to fill up

 

[wizzer59]

Just wanted to say :shout:I WISH I COULD DO IT

and the very best of luck and try to keep us posted, a blog seems to be a good idea so friends and family can keep up with you, and don't forget to avoid the tolls abroad, after all whats the hurry:thumb: Happy travelsriving2:

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[deborah]

Just do it..

We took a sabbatical year and lived in our MH full time,touring Europe extensively. we then arranged a swap in Canada. We had the time of our lives.living costs all depend on how you like to spend, you can do it on a shoe string in a well equipped MH. Fuel costs aside, which again depends how far you want to travel between stops. Beans on toast are as cheap as chips in any country... Overnighting in campsites vary hugely. If you stay out of the bigger resorts and slightly off track it can be very cheap. If you have a well equipped camper you can camp for free. We rented our home which provided a monthly income which more than saw us through without having to scrimp, so I would consider this carefully. That way it doesn't eat into any capital. Have a go, you will only regret not doing it, you will never regret doing it!:thumb:

 

[Andyrv]

Hi

Hi Guy's, first of all just do it, I've been living the dream for about 6 month's and luv'in it for a start I have no worries (other than will my gas last till the next fill up) it's been a learning curve first off if you havn't got a lpg conversion get one! Makes a lot of difference and check out any local calor gas center's you can get lpg at 0.68p per ltr here in Oxford, secondly your biggest cost other than fuel will be heating and cooking so think about your motorhome and what's going to be best for you, staying on site's all the time can be expensive so you may need a generator if wild camping, as for living cost's well we get by and by we I mean me and two dog's we get by on around £50-£60 a week, that dosn't include traveling fuel, but if your not on a site, batteries won't last long so depending on your budget think about the thing's you do now and how will do them on the road washing etc. But at the end of the day don't worry to much because believe me after 6 month's I 've forgotton what livin in a house is like and the freedom you will find is well worth it. I'm 49 by the way so let go of that old life and live the new one, good luck Andy.

 

[Gromett]

I have been fulltiming for 4 years.

I live on around £8,000 per year currently.

When I start touring I expect this to rise to between £10,000 and £12,000 per year.

I spend most of the year wild camped, pub car parks, friends and road side. I do spend the colder winter months on a site usually about 3 months per year.

I would recommend changing over to refillable LPG bottles rather than calor. It works out at £10 a refill cheaper so as a fulltimer it pays for itself pretty quickly. In addition the convenience factor of not having to wait till it is empty is a godsend.

Diesel and Gas are my biggest compulsory expenses. I have therefore gone for a small van to allow me to get better MPG and as I said swapped over to LPG for gas.

Food is the next biggest expense but I rarely eat out so around £35 per week.

I budget £500 a year for services/MOT etc. The last 2 years it has been £1,000 though..

I don't regret going fulltiming in the slightest and whenever I think of settling down into a house again my heart sinks. I have a sneaky feeling I will be doing this the rest of my life.:thumb:

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

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[teddybard]

Hi Guys

Best of Luck whatever the outcome
You might use your fount of local knowledge
there seems to be a lot near you .
Equally you might enjoy the Show at Newark
In a few Weeks as well as picking up more
advice.

Roger & Sheila.

 

[Taran_Las]

Here are two examples of blogs outlining cost:

Here and here

(I appreciate you may have already read these.)

 

[kaz1962]

Interesting!!

Hi Coolbeanz

You guys are one step ahead of us by already buying your motorhome. We are exactly the same situation. kids have flown the nest, would love to hit the open road heading for the heat and we have both not long turned 50. As you say, scary but how exciting though. Will be interesting to follow your progress if that's ok. We are totally novice at this but we aren't stupid so how hard can it be.

Kaz

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[stevensson10]

Well the kids have fled home which leaves me & my husband in our early 50's with a love of travel and cycling and a desire to give up work and travel Europe. We have just bought a MH and put our house up for sale (had an offer on it yesterday!) We don't want to wait until retirement age as we will be too old to cycle too far then. We plan on buying a smaller house and helping our son by letting him rent it cheap so that we retain a property here and have a base to come back to when needed. I have been reading various blogs trying to ascertain the approximate monthly living costs of touring. We envisage staying for a week or so at a time in each place while we explore the area on our bikes and plan on covering France, Spain, Italy, Greece, and everywhere in-between. If anyone has any advice on living costs it would be much appreciated or any other advice for that matter? Scary decision to give up well paid secure jobs but what the heck! You only live once and I am off to a funeral later today for someone that was the same age as me. A giant leap into the exciting and scary unknown but can't wait to see what adventures will unfold!! :help:

don't worry a bout anything just go youll love it steve:thumb:

 

[Coolbeanz]

Update

Well my husband wasn't overly keen on having tenants in a second property and my son was really keen to rent our current house rather than us downsizing so we did the sums and decided to keep our house. My son moved in with his partner this month as their cottage was full of damp. This means we can spend some quality time together before we go. The latest plan is that we retire at the end of February and after a sneaky holiday to Goa for a total relax and some fab food we will then return to load the motorhome before heading for the Eurotunnel and the adventure that awaits the other side!! Hubby has decided we need a bigger garage and a fixed bed so the MH is up for sale and getting a lot of interest. We have found a model that would be a suitable replacement so just waiting on a definite sale. Getting really excited now and counting down the weeks.

 

[ianlou2]

just do it

have been full time now for nearly 9 years,and have spent every winter in sunny places
spain (we are here now) leave uk sept-oct and return may-june no fixed dates.we are now in our 50s, life is too short, houses will still be there when you have gone,you have to look at your house as money in the bank and its only bricks and four walls, we have had bad tennants
thats life. but we have some very good ones.

all the best, enjoy while you can,we have meet lots of fultimers on the roads wish they had done it 10 years earlier and not at late 60s

hope this helps:thumb:

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[PhilandMena]

This link should help you with France. (First rate info,)
http://about-france.com/routes-from-calais.htm

Use this link to ascertain toll fares, tick the caravan box and it will calculate toll fares for a class 2 motorhome.
http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/

Sooner or later, you will look at Morocco (do it sooner as prices are on the increase). This is a great blog with loads of info.
http://www.europebycamper.com/search/label/Morocco

Use this forum to find out about Aires, campsites and especially anything you don't understand about your Motorhome, just ask away, there a good bunch and will help if they can.

Finally, don't forget to enjoy yourselves.

Happy trails

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

We spent 5 years at 9 months each year in a MH in Australia (where we live), so not really full timers, but the first key to cost containment is to keep fuel and accommodation costs under control. After that, some areas are much cheaper to live in than others.
We usually prefer to tour, rather than prop for long periods and may only move a short distance before stopping again to explore an area for a few days.

We also volunteer in National Parks along the way. This gets us free parking and we learn about the "secret places".

We have also volunteered on cattle stations and other places. This sometimes gets us free board as well as fantastic experiences that tourists simply can't get.

You never get to know an area until you get to know the people who live there.

We recently came home from 6 months in Europe in a MH.
We spent 10 weeks in Turkey and had a fabulous time. It was the highlight of our year.
Other highlights were Albania and Montenegro.
Living costs in those countries are probably half or less compared with many other countries in Europe.

Cheers,
Peter

 

[buttons]

Ongoing finances aren't a problem as that has already been sorted. I am a Financial Inclusion Officer so very clued up in areas of money. It was more about getting pointers from people that have already experienced living in a MH for lengthy periods and the pitfalls. Looking forward to getting rid of a lot of the trappings we all consider so essential to life and getting on with living:thumb:.

There are other options to selling up and starting to dispose of your assets at 50. Today you have a much higher chance of living into your eighties than dying in your fifties. Living in a motorhome has as many restrictions as it does freedoms. Linking retirement with instance full timing, in my opinion can sometimes be an illusion.

Speaking from experience, early well funded retirement is a fantastic experience, enjoy it but only decide on your options after testing retirement first. Thirty years of happy retirement requires much planning.

Only my informed opinion of course but enjoy whatever you decide to do.

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