A big Hello from a couple planning to full time (1 Viewer)

ukrockabilly

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Nov 8, 2013
3
3
Swindon
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newbie
Hiya folks,

We are a couple Steve and Alicja who are planning to full time as soon as the kids leave home.
We took our kids traveling for 2 years when they were in late teens, just sold up, bought an old jeep, and travelled Europe, staying in youth hostels, hotels, family homes, rentals. We all loved it. We have been back about 7 years, and want to get back on the road.

We aren't rich or have a well paid jobs, but we plan to get an RV and full time it, once the kids are left home and settled. We will rent our house out, and continue our business of buying and selling vintage clothes, home wares as we travel, hopefully that will fund our lifestyle as we are not champagne Charlies.....lol
We are still quite young(late 40s), but don't want to wait for the normal retirement age.

So any advice, guidance or warnings will received with thanks

Anyhoo, a big hello to everyone here
 

rainbow chasers

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Oct 30, 2009
3,680
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Mid Cornwall
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9,132
MH
Various
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9
Fixed bed, different zones so you can escape each other if required and not so big that it limits your site availability.

Get the size and comforts right, and it will be a breeze.

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ukrockabilly

Free Member
Nov 8, 2013
3
3
Swindon
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28,936
MH
not yet
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newbie
Agree with the fixed bed Rainbow, putting it up and down will get tiresome very fast on a full time basis.
Not sure if 5th wheel or RV and toad, we will be mainly on the continent..
 

Melchior

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Jun 26, 2013
129
82
Amstelveen, Netherlands
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26,679
MH
Alcove
Exp
Since August 2012
No tips from me I'm afraid but just wanted to chip in and say what a great idea this is. I'm glad you say you're still young at late 40's as it makes me feel like a VERY young chap at 32! ::bigsmile:

Miss M and I have often thrown the idea of upping sticks and doing 6 months around Europe in our MH. We have no children (do have 5 guinea pigs though, they could not come with us!) but have good jobs (hers better than mine, she's must clevererer than me, see) and it would be foolish at this point to have such a long break.

Good on yer - please do keep us posted as to how you get on and mostly ENJOY IT you lucky people!!!

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Terry

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Dec 27, 2007
11,904
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Can't remember ;)
Hi and welcome :thumb: what you like at DIY this could be perfect to finish converting Link Removed
terry
 
Oct 7, 2011
350
387
hereford
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18,408
MH
Hymer A class
Exp
since 1980
Buy an old Hymer. I've had 5, not regretted any of them, loads of different layouts to suit, cost from about £4000 up.
If you can afford it get a turbo diesel, much more power on hills.:thumb:
 
Feb 27, 2011
14,671
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UK
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15,452
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Self Build
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Since 2005
Excellent decision. Do it while you are still young enough to enjoy it to the fullest. I went fulltiming at 37, now 42 and haven't regretted it for a minute.

There is loads of advice that could be given. But at the vehicle choosing stage the three most important choices are.

1) Size. too big and you don't have the flexibility to move around quite so much. Also fuel costs are increased. Too small and you can go nuts in winter. I have had a 10Mtr+ Bus conversion and am now in a tiny panel van conversion. The bus was great when it was parked but no good for moving around. The van is brilliant for whizzing around in. but not so good in the depths of winter. You need to get the balance right.

2) Interior layout. Imagine spending 4 weeks solid cooped up in that space with your partner. A decent lounging spot each is needed as sitting at the dinette solidly soon gets old.

3) Payload. As a fulltimer you need a little bit more payload than a holiday tripper. I now get by with only a panel van but when I first started fulltiming there was so much stuff I didn't want to get rid of. Took a while but I finally shook off my emotional attachment to things/objects. Everything I own now has to have a practical use.
It is very hard mindset to get but once you get it the sense of release is amazing. I don't wander round shops any more looking. I just go in get what I came for and leave. No retail temptations any more :thumb: Letting go of that x,y or z you had since a teenager is hard but it does improve the fuel economy and the space you have for other more useful stuff:winky:

Most of all, enjoy yourself and don't sweat the small stuff.

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ukrockabilly

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Nov 8, 2013
3
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Swindon
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Thanks for the great tips and sharing of your experiences. I agree the size vs moving around will be tricky.
The trip around Europe gave us a good idea of spending a lot of time together, days in a car with kids.......lol, honestly we were great.
I think we are aiming for a slightly larger home as we need a work space area and storage for items we will be selling, hence the toying between 5th wheel or a car towing RV.
And we want to have visitors, who we will pick up at a local airport, do a week of cruising and then drop them off.
We can't wait, and really hope to meet lots of nice folk along the way, our budget will be about 20-25K, not fussed about age, modern looking, just about comfort, reliability and fun
 
Last edited:
Nov 6, 2008
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4,847
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Coachmen Concord 300TS
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8 years with an RV
I will add my pennyworth. We had a 32ft Winnebago, and loved it. It would have been ideal for the two of us, and a toad would have been necessary, then because of family circumstances, we changed to a 5th wheel.
We are now almost half way through our European winter tour, and i must admit, the 5er has been just great.
A large enough trailer (30ft) to live comfortably in, and a 6 seat pick up for checking out places before hand, trips to the supermarket, and general sight seeing.
Being petrol/lpg powered the economy is not too bad, and the comfort is superb.
We are very pleased with the 5er. and it has been very homely and comfortable for us.
The grandkids, and mum and dad are coming over to Spain in feb, and we will site the trailer, and collect them from the airport in the truck. Something that would be awkward with a small toad.
We loved the Winnebago A-class, but equally love the 5er.

Good luck

Craig
 

superk

Free Member
Aug 22, 2007
495
57
Devon
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148
MH
Van Conversion now sold
Exp
8 years
Hi
can I point you towards MIke and Ali Kingston's blog - they have been full-timing since 2002 and have had a number of vehicles so their experience may help (they started with an RV and car but have steadily gone for smaller motorhomes:
http://www.motorhomelifers.co.uk/

also Barry and Margaret Williamson who have been travelling for 25 years and again started with an RV but later went smaller:
http://www.magbaztravels.com/

you might find Heather Jackson's tour of Europe in an RV an enjoyable read:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Europe-Motorhome-Mid-Life-Around-Southern/dp/1412081416/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

or indeed my own:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Katie-Pulled-Boris-Motorhome/dp/1782999590/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1383934275&sr=1-1

or our website:
http://www.howkatiepulledboris.com

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Feb 27, 2011
14,671
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Since 2005
Hi
can I point you towards MIke and Ali Kingston's blog - they have been full-timing since 2002 and have had a number of vehicles so their experience may help (they started with an RV and car but have steadily gone for smaller motorhomes:
http://www.motorhomelifers.co.uk/

also Barry and Margaret Williamson who have been travelling for 25 years and again started with an RV but later went smaller:
http://www.magbaztravels.com/

you might find Heather Jackson's tour of Europe in an RV an enjoyable read:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1412081416/?tag=mhf04-21

or indeed my own:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1782999590/?tag=mhf04-21

or our website:
http://www.howkatiepulledboris.com

Strange that, I have gone smaller as well. The van I have now is the same size as Mike and Ali's but they have two people in it :Eeek:

If I were looking for a new van now I would probably go for the XLWB types such as the Iveco. Or better yet something like the iveco 65c18 based ones. which is 6.5T but stil an extra long wheel base panel van. This would give me an extra meter of space inside plus rear wheel drive (higher base for adding stuff underneath) and loads of payload so I could put bigger water tanks and battery banks in.

Sorry headed off into dreamland again there :ROFLMAO:
 

Kiwi Coss

Free Member
Jan 3, 2013
261
796
New Zealand
Funster No
24,132
MH
Coachbuilt
Exp
2011
Hi
can I point you towards MIke and Ali Kingston's blog - they have been full-timing since 2002 and have had a number of vehicles so their experience may help (they started with an RV and car but have steadily gone for smaller motorhomes:
http://www.motorhomelifers.co.uk/

also Barry and Margaret Williamson who have been travelling for 25 years and again started with an RV but later went smaller:
http://www.magbaztravels.com/

you might find Heather Jackson's tour of Europe in an RV an enjoyable read:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Europe-Motorhome-Mid-Life-Around-Southern/dp/1412081416/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

or indeed my own:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Katie-Pulled-Boris-Motorhome/dp/1782999590/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1383934275&sr=1-1

or our website:
http://www.howkatiepulledboris.com

We are full timing. How do you get these sites? They would come in handy for us as we send emails which sometimes are too big to receive in some email boxes.
 

superk

Free Member
Aug 22, 2007
495
57
Devon
Funster No
148
MH
Van Conversion now sold
Exp
8 years
I'm presuming you mean the websites?

You need to buy a domain name (like www.howkatiepulledboris.com). I use http://www.uk2.net/?gclid=CLe195rv1boCFWTHtAodMS8Ahg

Buying the domain name is easy just Google domain name and you will see how it's done.

You then need to construct a website. However, you can combine the two. I use http://www.moonfruit.com/ because I'm a numpty on the HTML code and Moonfruit makes it real easy and you can get the domain name website and have multiple emails. There are many others.
Keith

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Kiwi Coss

Free Member
Jan 3, 2013
261
796
New Zealand
Funster No
24,132
MH
Coachbuilt
Exp
2011
We are full timing (wild camping mostly) in a 6 meter swift Sundance and find the length is perfect. Not too big so that it causes problems parking in carparks or restricted places and not too small so we get under each others skin. Rear lounge so we can both stretch out and relax. Only time we go to campsites is in large cities London,Paris. Other times we park on the street in areas we have found in London. Any other advice you want just ask. Colin
 

Armytwowheels

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Aug 10, 2012
6,448
14,780
Market Harborough
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22,346
MH
Carthago S Plus - Iveco
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Since 2011
Hello and welcome. What an excellent idea. We are planning a similar escape to start next year, just go to sell the house ban buy two more!! Hope to be on the road by next winter. Keep us posted on your progress.
 

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