Affluent Homeless

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Will

A friend was recently talking to a university professor who studies sub cultures within a culture. When this professor started to look at the lifestyle we live he came to the realization that there is a complete sub culture of people who live Full Time in RV’s and Boats. On the spot he came up with a designation for these people as the “Affluent Homeless”.

The people in this lifestyle are the ones that have not bought into the American and Canadian Dream of the two car garage, 2.4 children, and debt to the eyeballs.

Boeing and McConnell Douglas in the U.S. commissioned a study a number of years ago that showed that the average number of pension checks that people who retire at 65

Retirement Age Vs Age of Death Graph

collect is 18. In other words the average life expectancy for a 65 year old retiree is 1 1/2 years or 18 months. So what happened to the American dream. You work to 65 and then you die at 66 1/2. This just does not sound like a dream to me. In doing the research for my book, this number of 18 months was confirmed by the Canada Pension Plan, and the Pension plan office of the large company in Canada where I used to work. To see one of the study results Click Here. There are many others out there.

Now the interesting part of this study also showed that people who retired at 55 lived an average 18 years or till they were 73 years old. People that retired at 45 lived to an average age of 82.

So why are they living much longer. My research showed that these younger retirees go out and do things whereas people who retire at 65 tend to become sedentary. Once you get in the habit of doing something, chances are you will keep doing it.

One of the great things to do is to become a Full Time RV’er. Full Time RV’ers on the whole really are the “Affluent Homeless”. Since they usually do not have the huge upkeep costs of homes, mortgages, two cars, property taxes, power bills, water and sewer bills, they quickly find themselves in a much better position financially.

People who would normally not see themselves retiring till 65 suddenly see a way where they can retire early and really enjoy the American dream for a greater number of years.

But to really benefit you do have to retire early. Part of the research I did showed that people who did want to retire at 65 and do something like Full Time RV did actually buy the RV, but then since they were so accustomed to a certain routine, they ended up using it for 3 or 4 weeks and then parked it for the rest of the year. Their habitual way of living told them that a vacation was 3 or 4 weeks long and that was it. If you really do want to form a new habit for your retirement years you do have to start younger. It is for the above reason that you can find so many good deals on very low mileage RV’s only a few years old. The people had the dream but their conditioning and age stopped them from doing it.

The interesting part is that people who start RV’ing earlier will continue driving and enjoying the lifestyle many years after they turn 65. The key is starting early.

Many people would say “But I cannot Afford to retire early”. My question is can you afford not to. If you really take a close look at what you are actually living on after you pay all your bills, taxes, mortgage, car payments, and everything else, and I mean really study it, you will probably find out you live on a few hundred dollars a month. Now if you can sell your home, one of your cars, and just about everything else and then buy a good used RV for 50 or 60 thousand, 100 thousand for a really nice used RV. What would you have left

Our New Home The Day We Purchased It

to live on then. We purchased our 36 foot A class RV for $30,000 and lived in it comfortably for 11 years. That works out to less than $3000 per year. RV parks when we actually used them were about $500 a month. But there are many that are much more reasonable especially well away from major

Modern RV By Fleetwood. You Can Easily Find Units Like This Used. But They Are Also Quite Reasonable New

cities. I have a friend in Canada who pays over $5000 a year just in property taxes on his couple of acres of property.

Knowing the numbers I retired from my job at 55. I was able to take a reduced pension that still allows me to live comfortably in a Full Time Lifestyle. My wife and I also have a business set up on the internet and I sell my “Full Time in an RV” Book. This extra money is just icing on the cake. In some of my previous posts you will see information on how you too could make money on the road.

Just because all your neighbors and friends are trapped in their vision of the American dream, does not mean you have to be. People will try and dissuade you from doing something like Full Time RV’ing. But let them do it their way and die at 66 1/2 while you go on really enjoying your life for many years. Always remember that the main reason that someone will try and dissuade you from doing something like Full Time RV is the fact that they are afraid to change their lifestyle and do not want to look bad since you are not afraid to change yours.

Don’t just take my word for it. There are many websites, and blogs about this lifestyle that give you a lot of information about how nice it really is as well as ideas of how they were able to afford to do it if they did not have a house to sell or a pension to support them. There is also a lot of information in my book “Full Time in an RV” on how to accomplish this lifestyle and how to calculate the costs.

As you may know from earlier blog posts our current RV is a Sailboat. Once the mobile lifestyle catches hold of you, you will find that you will never want to go back and you will try different versions of it also. It may be difficult to convince someone to give up the American Lifestyle and try something like Full Time RV Living, but believe me it is almost impossible to convince them to go back to the Brick and Mortar lifestyle once they embrace the Full Time Mobile lifestyle.

See you on the Road.

An RV Income Opportunity

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Will

Look for something and it comes to you, usually in buckets. The problem is most people are not looking for anything.

We have been watching for more income opportunities to share with our readers, and one just fell into our lap that is custom made for the Full Time RV fraternity. I have actually watched this in action and can swear that it works.

While we had our sailboat in La Paz Mexico we ran into a fellow named David who invented something called the Glide Cycle. The way this came about is the fact that David was an avid runner and sports enthusiast who started to have a lot of trouble with his knees like a lot of baby boomers do. Well as it turned out his doctor told him that he would never run again, and that he would probably have to have knee replacement surgery.

Well not being the complacent type, he decided that these options just did not work for him. He set out to discover a way to continue running and also avoid knee surgery. What he invented was called the Glide Cycle. The Glide Cycle is an arch type frame with a couple of wheels set up a little bit similar to a Bicycle but with no bars between the legs, and no pedals. The unit supports any percentage or your weight that you set it for and allows you to run.

What David quickly discovered was the fact that almost anyone could use it. Amputees could run again, as well as obese people and people with a number of major medical conditions. In fact a number of orthopedic and medical professionals are now recommending the Glide Cycle and its cousin the Glide Track to their patients.

David (The Inventor) Showing my Wife Marilyn How to Adjust The Glide Cycle

But the key to all this was the fact that even healthy people loved the Glide Cycle and he started to sell a large number of them to healthy people who wanted to do something new and different in the way of sports. He personally sold about a quarter million dollars worth of them just riding around Ashland Oregon where his factory is. This lead to the idea of having distributors buy a Glide Cycle and then just riding them around to advertise and sell them. As I said I saw this in action here in La Paz. We were walking along side him as he was just strolling in the Glide Cycle. We could not go more than a few hundred feet and someone would stop him and ask questions. In the first week he had it with him here in La’s Paz he sold 5 of them, and that was just by going out running with it in the mornings. So we know the business model works.

My wife and I have now gone on board with David’s company and are setting up an

Marilyn. Normally a Non Runner. Look At The Smile On Her Face

affiliate marketing system. It is going to be set up in a couple of tiers. First of all is the typical affiliate system you find on the internet. It will not cost anything to join, and anything that you sell on your website will give you a commission. But the real money maker is having a bike and riding it around and letting people stop you to take orders. In the case as above, 5 bikes will give you about $1500. in commissions.

The idea is that the affiliate will do the sales and training, and Glide Cycle does the shipping. You will not have to handle inventory. The business would be set up similar to a standard drop shipping company.

Now for an RV’er this is great. Their entire business expense would involve buying oneself a Glide Cycle, or one each for themselves and their Partner, they would also need a computer and some way to connect to the internet. That is about it. We would take care of training you at no cost to you, and even this part is easy as it involves mostly watching some videos and learning how to adjust the unit for different riders. I have also had some professional sales training and can help with giving some training in that area. David said that even larger numbers of people stopped them when he was riding together with his partner Cindy. So having two Glide Cycles and riding together is advantageous.

You can see the Glide Cycle in Action at www.glidecycle.com. We will have the Glide Cycle affiliate website running very soon also. But for now if you are interested in joining us, just email my wife Marilyn at marilyn@glidecycle.com

A Glide Cycle snaps apart and fits into a bag a little larger than a suitcase. So it is even easier to carry along on or in the RV than a bicycle is. It can be taken apart or reassembled in a couple of minutes. It is also easily carried along on an airplane as baggage.

David has the Glide Cycle fully patented so there is no worry of cheap Asian knockoffs flooding the market. He is also trying to keep a large percentage of the manufacturing in North America.

The Glide Cycle is looking to be the next Skate Board Phenomenon. Everyone that sees it wants one. And if you watch some of the testimonials from people in the videos on the website and the Glide Cycle Youtube channel you will see that this is not a passing fad. Peoples lives have been changed. I personally watched a stroke victim get on and run, although his normal walk was quite labored. David just received an email from a very obese woman who was telling him that she could not even walk before and was now doing 3 miles a day on the Glide Cycle. She was also going along with her grand children for walks.

So I know there is a business opportunity for RV’ers here. Imagine paying for your entire lifestyle just by getting out your Glide Cycle in the various places that you stop at and then taking orders. When you see the Glide Cycle in action on the web site you will understand the curiosity.

Full-Time RVing in Canada is Now Available For Sale

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Will

Full-Time RVing in Canada

The Full-Time RVing in Canada site has gone live.

Full-Time RVing in Canada is now available for sale. This comprehensive guide shows you what you need to know to be a Canadian Full Timer. Health Care, Taxes, Voting and Province of Residency are some of the topics that are discussed. Then the rest of the book is devoted to the how to, where to, what type of rig, along with a lot of the technical information that you need to know.

There is a free download on the site that will give you an excerpt from the book along with the covers and table of contents.

To get your copy just visit Full-Time Rving in Canada now.

Another type of Full Time RV

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Will

As most of my readers will have noticed, I have been conspicuous by my absence. My life has changed completely in the last while. No I have not moved away from full time RVing, it is just that the type of RV has changed drastically.

Our Current 36 Ft RV

A few months ago I retired from my full time job. Next we liquidated almost everything that we had, which included giving away our van, car, and motor home. The final step involved moving a few more keepsakes into the storage space, and moving onto our sailboat full time.

There was a period of about a month or two of mad scrambling where we worked like crazy to get all our last minute things done on the boat, and to get everything squared away with our business affairs.

When this was all done we did a test sail, or shakedown cruise to the Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) of British Columbia. The purpose of this cruise was to check out all the new systems that we had installed on the boat, which included a water maker, solar panels, windmill, ham radio, ssb radio, a pactor email system, wind vane steering and numerous other systems.

When we returned to Vancouver we fixed up the few problems that we did find, and then prepared to head south towards the tropics. The final event was a send off party on the docks for our family and friends.

We ran into some of the same things as when we first started full time RV’ing in a motor home. People come up with all kinds of reasons why you should not go. Our kids were quite upset with our going. But we ended up showing them that they would spend less money coming to visit us in Mexico, then they actually spent driving out from Alberta, and spending time in Hotels on the way down. And former experience has shown us that we actually see more of our kids when we are in an exotic location than we do when we are close to them.

As I have discussed in other posts, retiring and then sitting around is a death sentence. I want to keep going, and have things to do that interest me.

So now the RV has changed. We are on the water instead of on pavement. We can go anywhere in the world instead of being restricted to north America. It is just an expansion of the lifestyle.

I never want to be accused of being one of those who lived their entire life trying to make it safely to death. I am living life.

Join Me!

We have started a blog about our sailing adventure. It can be found at www.shamanchronicles.com

Continuing in the Full Time RV Lifestyle.

Posted on February 14, 2010 by Will

As some of my followers will have noticed, I have not been very active in the last couple of months. I have had a number of things keeping me very busy.

We did a six week trip to Mexico, and are now back. But since I have been back I have been getting ready for retirement which is only about three months away.

As some of you may be aware of my wife and I are switching to a new form or Full Time RV’ing when I retire. What we are going to do is move onto our 36 foot sailboat, and sail her around the world over the next 10 years or so.

I have been shopping for some of the final items that I need for our sailboat such as a radar, water maker, and wind vane steering.

This stage in our lives is just as exciting as when we made our decision to become Full Time Land RV’ers. Believe me this transient lifestyle is a lifestyle that grows on you and will not let you go when it has fully gotten its claws into you.

If you go back thousands of years you will discover that man evolved as a nomadic being. It was only when the populations of humans became large that mankind settled into a stationary lifestyle. But I do not believe that hundreds of thousands of years of evolution can be bred out of the human race so quickly. I found that when I started the mobile lifestyle, I could not get enough of it. Hence the switch to a sailboat to travel around the world.

As I noted a sailboat is just another RV. It just expands the horizons even more. When you start your RV lifestyle you will begin to appreciate what I am talking about. There is always another place to discover and explore. There are always new people to befriend, and new humanitarian projects to get involved in. Life is an adventure to be lived.

I do not want to get to the end of my life and say to myself, “Man that was Boring.” But rather I want to say “Man What a Trip.” I also do not want to get to the end of my life only to discover that I have lived someone Else’s version of it.

On our family website we have a saying that is partly a quote from Mark Twain, and partly my interpretation of it. The quote says.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than the ones you did.”

Mark Twain

Our Translation of this is:

Twenty years from now when you are sitting in that retirement home, what are you going to remember about your life?

Will it be the houses, cars, and things you have owned,

or will it be the the places you have been, the people you have met and the things you have done?

Really think about this.

Our Other RV

Escaping to Mexico in Your RV

Posted on January 16, 2010 by Will

As I was sitting here starting to type this post, a couple walked by in front of my bungalow in La Cruz Mexico. He was wearing shorts, and she was wearing a bikini. I myself am wearing shorts.

Yesterday I talked to a friend in San Francisco, and she told me that they were preparing for a week of storms and rain. Other people have told us about cold temperatures in the Southern USA and Florida.

All this tells me that there will be a lot of people wanting to get their RV some place warm.

If you are a full time RV’er then now is the ideal time to come to Mexico. Many of the RV parks are almost empty this year. The US dollar is at about 13 Pesos. And with the lack of tourists due to the so called recession, there are deals to be had everywhere.

If you are new at this you really do not have to worry. You can cross the border at Nogales and within about 4 hours be ensconced in an RV park in San Carlos. This is the Mexican RV gateway. Here you will find other RV’ers that are either just learning, or experienced Full Time RV’ers that will help you to learn the ropes.

The highway from the border to San Carlos is in excellent shape, with the only hitch being that you have to drive through Hermosillo. But the roads through the city are in great shape and are easily traversed with an RV. About the only thing to be aware of is that you know the names of the upcoming cities so that you will able to recognize the direction signs. There are 2 places in Hermosillo where you have to turn left, so it is prudent to try and stay in the left lane whenever possible.

There is a Costco store in Hermosillo, so if you need a place to stock up on food and liquor you can do it here. There are directions on the Costco website to get to the store.

As you travel south from San Carlos there will be a few more towns that you have to go through, but most of them are easy to navigate. As before just be aware of the names of the town further down the road. This would be exactly the same as driving into San Francisco from the north, and know that you have to watch for signs to Los Angeles and San Diego. Having a good map book like the Guia Roji (Red Guide) available from Amazon is a good idea.

Tolls and Gasoline are both paid cash in Mexico. For the tolls it is a good idea to have money ready, it does not have to be exact change, but you do not want to be sitting there holding up a line of other vehicles. The toll amounts are always marked just before the toll booths, so you know how much you will have to have ready.

Gasoline is always full serve. When buying gas, get out of the rig and watch what is happening at the pump. This is one area in Mexico where you will still find petty theft. Count your money into the attendants hand so they cannot claim that you short changed them. It is also common to tip the attendants. I usually tip 10 pesos (about 80 cents) For a large RV you may want to tip some more.

If you go into any of the large Mexican grocery stores you will find kids and disabled people bagging your groceries. These people are not paid. They are also usually tipped. The going rate is about 1 peso (8 cents) per bag.

Bartering is not commonly found anymore, except for in the village markets and tourist markets. But so many tourists have been paying whatever the vendor asks the first time around that the prices in tourist markets have gone through the roof. A short while ago a vendor tried to sell me 8 blown glass drinking glasses for $100 US. I found them later in the Wal Mart down the street for about $2. US each or a total of $16 dollars. Much later on yet we found a Mexican Restaurant Supply wholesaler who agreed to sell to us. We ended up buying a large box full of the same type of blown glass for about $40 US. So unless you really want to practice your bargaining, stay out of the tourist markets, and buy where the locals shop.

Most of these things are a learning experience. But the other experienced RV’ers that you meet will usually gladly take you by the hand and show you how it is done. They will show you where the American style stores are if you are uncomfortable with the Mexican markets. They will give you directions and suggestions. And in many cases you can find someone to buddy with who is going in the same direction as you.

So take the plunge, Turn south at Tuscon and find the jewel that many other RV’ers have already found.

What do I Want to do in my Rig as a Full Time RV’er

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Will

You may wonder what it is you are going to do in your RV, once you become a full time RV’er. Well that is an easy question to answer. You are going to do all of the same things you like to do now. Always remember that when you move into an RV as a Full Time RV’er that you are not actually moving into an RV at all but actually moving into a home on wheels. If you move, it does not mean that your interests are going to change.

If you had a hobby before becoming a full timer, you will have the same hobby after. If you loved TV and movies, you will still like TV and movies. If you loved to entertain you will still want to do that.

With that in mind you will have one more criteria that you can use when looking for that perfect RV for full timing. That criteria is can I still enjoy what it is I like to do in my new home.

If you were looking at a new house, you would be looking at it with an eye to continuing to do what you like to do. I would suggest that you view any potential RV’s in the same way. For example if you love to quilt, can you work around the table comfortably. If you love to watch TV and movies, can you comfortably sit and watch the TV without getting a crook in the neck. If you like to cook and entertain, is there enough room, and is the kitchen area set up in such a way that you can do this.

All The Comforts Of Home

In closing I would say that if you are looking at an RV to full time in, do not look at it as an RV at all but rather look at it as a new home. You will start to look at RV’s from a different perspective when you make that switch.

The perfect RV is out there. Arm yourself with your requirements and happy hunting.

Storage Considerations for a Full Time RV

Posted on November 11, 2009 by Will

When people first look at RV’s they are usually taken by how nice many of them look, and how much they feel like a brick and mortar home. Yet it is true that many modern RV’s are truly comfortable and roomy. But if you base your purchase on just that, you may be in for a bit of a surprise.

When you talk to Full Time RV’ers about their choice of rig, you will find that the majority are quite happy with their decision except for one thing. And that one thing is storage. There never seems to be enough of it. As I mention in my book “Full Time in an RV” budget for at least 50% more space than you think you will need.

If you have hobbies or other interests that you now do in your fixed home, chances are that you are still going to enjoy them on the road. Look at how much storage space you will need for your art supplies, tools, or other hobby related stuff. You can get a good idea by looking at how much space these things take up now.

Moving into an RV Full Time is moving into a new home. An RV is nothing more than a home on wheels. Your interests and hobbies are not going to change. You may have to do them a little differently, but you will still want your supplies with you.

A word of caution here. All RV’s have a GVWR. This is a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. If your RV is pulled into the scale by the highway patrol, and they find you are overweight, not only will you have to pay a stiff fine, you will also not be allowed to continue until after you remove the excess weight. So with this in mind get a good handle on how much the things you want to take with you weigh, and then look for an RV that is rated to carry that much and more. You also have to put the weight of the water, waste water, propane, and fuel you will be carrying into this equation. In my book I give some information on how to calculate these weights.

If you are going to require a lot of storage space, then usually a motor home is the way to go. Most newer motor home have lots of basement storage space, and some of it usually goes right across and allows you to carry some very large items.

Second on the list is usually 5th wheel trailers. These usually only have one large storage compartment in them. Usually at the front underneath part of the overhang.

Regular holiday type trailers usually have the least amount of storage space, and these are really usually only designed for 2 week vacations.

There are also C class motor homes, while usually not being known for large amounts of storage, there are a few out there that are quite surprising in that respect.

If you look at the spec sheets of most modern RV’s you will usually find statistics for the amount of cubic inside and outside storage capability. This is a good place to start. But take a close look at the unit, and make sure it will work for you. If none of the storage bins are large enough to take your golf clubs or skis or what have you, then all that cubic capacity is not going to be any good to you.

Room For All Your Stuff

Our own RV is an older 36 foot motor home. In the picture you can see it parked on the beach in Chacala Mexico. As you can see in the photo there is a zodiac boat, plastic lawn chairs, a table, ladder, and various other items. We have room for all this and much more besides. We were also carrying a 7 and 1/2 horse boat motor and gas tank. It is the ability to carry the things with you that allow you to do the things you want to do, that makes this such a great lifestyle. Now you can have all your interests and hobbies, and travel besides. How much better does it get.

Other RV Blogs for information and entertainment.

Posted on October 18, 2009 by Will

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, the main reason for my blog is to help you in the technical side of Full Time RV’ing. I hope to stay fairly true to this but there are times that the reader also needs real life stories and information from other view points.

In this are I have found that a lot of bloggers are very supportive of each other, and do not usually hesitate to mention other blogs.

This is my intention in this post. There are a number of sites that I follow my self, both for information, and inspiration for my own blogs.

One of the blogs I have mentioned before is RV Home Yet This bog is written from a feminine perspective, and on her blog site/website Jaimie also has some of her books for sale. Interestingly I just discovered that Jaimie has also just received her Personal Coaching certificate, which is something that I also have. Just from reading a few of her postings, I find I identify with her quite closely.

Another Blog by a female Full Time RV’er is Travels with Miranda. It is written by a young Canadian Gal, who is traveling with 2 cats. I met Rae at our RV park a number of months ago, and she actually helped to edit my book “Full Time in an RV” . One my last posts talked about a brake incident that almost ended in tragedy for Rae.

A new blog that I have just been made aware of is Croft’s Mexico. I just found out about this blog from Rae’s blog. Interestingly the blogger in this case is someone I used to work with. His blog has a lot to do with RV travel in Mexico which is probably obvious.

Today Google alerts alerted me to another interesting blog called Frugal Retirement Living This website/blog deals with retirement living in RV’s, sailboats, other countries and overseas. It gives a lot of information on living an exciting but low cost retirement life.

Another similar site is the Frugal RV Travel Blog. This blog is also part of a website by Marianne Edwards. On her website she also sells a number of Frugal RV guides that she has written. Marianne also has a Travel Blog List where she list a large number of other blogs. As I mentioned earlier, bloggers support each other in this way.

Something I learned when I was taking my coaching training, is that you teach people not to be competitive, but to help each other. The most successful people are not the ones who compete for a piece of the pie, but work together to make a bigger pie. In our case it is getting more people interested in RV’ing and traveling instead of trying to get more of the current RV crowd to follow our blog.

We all have different information and different angles on the information. The more sides of a topic you see, the easier it will be to see the whole story. So go ahead, check out other blogs, I will not feel hurt. In fact I will be happy to see the light in your eyes as you start to understand this lifestyle that us bloggers already love.

Many of the blogs listed have RSS feeds. What an RSS feed does for you is tell you when a blog has been posted. This way you do not always have to go back to the blog site to check if there is anything new. Instead you will be sent a notice that you can receive in one of your Outlook folders, or Internet explorer. I prefer the Outlook folder method myself, since I have to check email each day anyhow, and the RSS feed folder is right there. The problem is though that not all types of RSS feeds are consistent and they inform you in different ways. To understand how they work, google RSS feeds for more information, it would be a bit too much to explain all the variations in this post.

From One RV to Another.

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Will

Our Other RV a 36 ft Sceptre Sailboat

This week we took a small holiday from everything. We packed what we needed from the RV and went to our other RV. At this point you may be wondering “What?” But beside our 36 foot A class, we also own a 36 foot sailboat. We have been out on our RV (sailboat) now for about 5 days. Tomorrow we have to head back to the Marina since work is calling.

As I have mentioned before, the Full Time RV Lifestyle can be very addicting. Once you really get to understand what it is all about, you really never want to go back.

As our plans stand at the moment, it is our intention to take our sailboat, off shore and around the world once I retire next year. We also plan to keep an RV parked on the west coast, so that we have a place to come back to when we do return trips from our boat. We truly want to travel both North America, and the world.

Having talked to other people who do something similar, they tell me that it is still more economical to live this way than it is to live full time in a brick and mortar house. That is unless one insists on spending all their time in either marinas or RV parks.

But the beauty of both these types of RV’ing is the fact that one does not have to connected to any services if they are so inclined. In an RV you can park in a free area, and on a boat you can swing on the hook.

In this article I am not going to go into any technical RV’ing type information, but am just tossing this bit of information out there in the hopes that it may start you thinking along a different line.

The sailboat type RV idea first came to me during a trip to the Dominican Republic, where I took a sailboat excursion, with a father and daughter team from Spain. When I looked at what it would cost me to travel around the world for a few years using airlines and hotels, compared to what it cost them to do the same thing, I was hooked. It was this same thinking that eventually led to the land RV lifestyle. Even though in that case, it was my job that finally pushed me over the edge to actually do it.

So go ahead free up your mind, and take a close look at the RV lifestyle. I promise you it will not disappoint. If you would like to try it but are having some fear or other issues that are holding you back, I can offer my services, since I am also a certified life coach. My wife is a life coach also. We were both trained by Bob Proctor of LifeSuccess. I hope to specialize in coaching people who really want to make changes in their life in regard to Full Time RV’ing, be it by RV or Boat. These areas are my passion, and I want to help others who would like to try it. You can contact us for coaching at the coaching link at the top of this page.

Contact the Full Time RV Author

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Will

Against my better judgment, I am putting this post up here. I am going to give you my cell phone number, and encourage you to call me with calls about Full Time RV’ing. I have lots of free incoming minutes, and if you use something like Skype or Vonage, the call should cost you very little also.

The reason I am doing this is that I would like to make my postings reflect genuine Full Time RV’ing questions, especially on the technical side of things. I have lots of material for posts, but I believe more people will be interested if I am doing posts on material that is relevant to them.

So here goes. My phone number is 604 454 4143. Since I still have a full time job, it is best to call me after 6 pm pacific or 9pm eastern time. You can also post questions at info@fulltimeinanrv.com or fulltimeinanrv@imanse.ca if you prefer that to making a phone call. Any response from either email address will come from fulltimeinanrv@imanse.ca

If you do hit my voice mail, leave me a message, and I will either post an article or get back to you using Skype. The number in your call display will either be a very strange number, or local number to you.

So go ahead call, or send me your Full Timing questions. I look forward to hearing from you.

Family and Friend contact as a Full Time RV’er

Posted on September 24, 2009 by Will

One of the fears that people express about living the Full Time RV lifestyle, is that they think they will loose touch with their family and friends. Well from our personal experience, and almost all the other Full Timers that I have talked to I have found the the opposite is usually true. In most cases people will actually see more of their family and friends than they ever did. I would qualify this slightly since as I stated in an earlier post that some people will actually try to stop you from living your dream. But as I said in that post, those people were probably not really your friends anyway.

One of the beauties of Full Time RV’ing is that you can usually park your rig at your friends or families homes, have great visiting time with them, but not really impose, because you have your own place to sleep.

Many people have actually installed RV hookups at their families or friends homes. You may think this is difficult, but it can be very easy. In one of my up coming posts I will show you how you can even put in an RV sewer attachment without having to dig in large 3″ or 4″ sewer pipe.

For us, we have actually had a couple of our daughters fly down to Mexico at different times to spend time with us. We got to see more of our daughters during those visits, than we usually do in an entires years worth of visits. We have also had friends come and join us as we traveled around Mexico in our RV. Some flew down to travel with us, and others brought their own RV’s and stayed at the same places we were.

Teresa visiting us in Mexico

It’s amazaing that usually what you fear the most is usually the exact opposite of what actually happens.

In the picture which was taken on the free beach at Chacala Mexico, you see my wife Marilyn, and my daughter Teresa. Teresa found a flight from Vancouver to Puerto Vallarta for about $100. US and came down to join us for 2 weeks. She still talks about it to this day.

In my book “Full Time in an RV” I go into these topics a lot deeper. Both the visiting with friends, and having friends visiting you. And the RV connection set ups at friends or families homes. In these posts I can only touch on these topics. I cannot go into them in depth like I do in the book.

Outline of an RV park.

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Will

One of the things I get asked about a lot is RV parks. People mainly ask what they are like, and how much do they cost. Well RV parks are much like neighborhoods in any city, they vary a lot. You can find great ones, and you can find dumps. Unfortunately just like the poor neighborhoods, dumpy RV parks are the ones that seem to make it into the news. If a person only used this as a reference they would get a very bad taste in regard to RV parks in a very big hurry. But someone who is a full time RV’er gets the chance to talk to other full time RV’ers, and find out where the really great parks are. Such is the case of the park where we are staying. Our RV park is kept spotless, there are people there all the time who trade labor for RV spots. We have a beautiful swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, fire pit, and there are regular parties and music events. There is also a large meeting room with a TV and stereo system. In the meeting room there is a free book exchange.

To take a look at the RV park click here. Pacific Border RV Park or you can take a virtual tour by clicking on Virtual Tour Underneath the viewing area you can select photos, panorama or theater. When either is selected, you can see different photos and panoramas by clicking on the icons that you will see when you move your cursor to the top of the viewing area.

This park has free high speed WiFi internet that is accessible to all the sites. Laundry is only $1 was and dry. There is free cable TV. And all the sites are wired for Telephone if you want to put in a temporary phone line or ADSL.

All this costs about $600 a month, or $7200 per year. One of the fellows I work with pays over $5000 just in taxes on his house on a small acerage. Then he still has to pay all the utilities and his mortgage.

I have a lot more freedom than he does, since I can just unplug and move when the mood strikes me. If I want to go to Mexico for the winter to get away from the cold, I can. He is tied to his house, and has to get someone to take care of things when he takes a two week vacation.

As far as the RV park goes, the pictures and tour say it all, what else can I say. We have been here off and on for about 2 years, and we love it.

The Psychology of Full Time RV Living

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Will

The psychology of Full Time RV Living is one of the articles that I wanted to write in this blog. But Jamie at RV Lifestyle Experts beat me to it. So it will be easier for me just to provide a link to her article.

See her article on Full Time RV Living Flexibility here.

I am also a Life Coach with Bob Proctors LifeSuccess Company. And I recognize the difficulty some people have with change. By the time a person is six years old, almost all their conditioning is complete. This conditioning says that a person should own a house on property, have 2.3 kids, two cars in the garage, and go on a vacation once a year. Full Time RV Living just does not fit into this paradigm.

It is only people who challenge their own habitual way of thinking that actually can break free of this conditioning and do things like move out of a house and into “life.”

Just the fact that you are reading this blog, tells me that you are one of these thinkers. You recognize that life can be what you want it to be, and not what the masses tell you it should be.

Enjoy.

Other RV Blogs of Note.

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Will

When I started this blog I stated that I would not be touching on RV travel, scenery, adventures and the like. The purpose of my blog is to support my ebook “Full Time in an RV”. My book is about the technical aspects of RV’ing especially as it relates to Full Time RV’ing. In my book I go into communications on the road, working on the road, battery, solar, electrical, water, and sewer systems to name a few. I will be touching on most of these areas in my blog posts.

But the reader is probably also interested in other aspects of RV’ing that I personally will not be addressing in this Blog. A couple of great blogs that I will tell you about where you can see some of the actual RV lifestyle, both full and part time are:

Travels With Miranda Her byline reads:

“This is the story of a thirty-year old Canadian gal, two cats, an RV, and the call of the open road.

Not all who wander are lost!”

Rae is a single Canadian girl from out east who put her job on hold for a year to get out on the road full time. It is now looking like it is going to be much more than a year.

Rae is a prolific writer, and has some excellent posts. You can also get to her blog from the Blogroll links on the right side of this page.

Another great Blog is “RV Home Yet”. Jaimie Hall-Bruzenak runs this blog about her adventures on the road, along with links to her website where she has a lot of RV information and books available. You can also get to her blog from the Blogroll links.

I am hoping that between these blogs and mine, you can get a more well rounded idea of what the RV lifestyle, both full time and part time is all about.

RV Lifestyle Seminars

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Will

Each year the Okanagan College in Kelowna British Columbia puts on an RV owners lifestyle seminar. This last spring I had the pleasure of being one of the instructors at the seminar. There were about 150 RV’ers in attendance, attending up to 4 different seminars each day.

There were RV’ers in attendance from a number of the western Canadian provinces as well as a number of U.S. states. These RV’ers attended seminars that ranged in scope from electrical systems, maintenance, full timing, satellite TV and internet, single RV’ing, waste tank maintenance and dumping, propane, and almost anything else the current and future RV’er wants to know.

Another lifestyle seminar is scheduled for June 25, 26, 27 and 28 of 2010. You can get all the details by following the “RV Lifestyle Seminar Link”.

My involvement in the seminar was teaching the Full time RV’ing course. Also while I was there I was asked to teach the Satellite TV course, as the instructor that was supposed to teach that course had other commitments.

I am hoping to be an instructor again next year, and I hope to see some of the readers of this blog there. If you see me there, please introduce yourself.

RV Lifestyle Banner

Click on the Banner to take you to the web page for the RV Lifestyle Seminar.

Finding Out Who Your Friends Are

Posted on August 29, 2009 by Will

Have you ever noticed that when you want to do something different than the crowd, that many in the crowd try to stop you in some way. You may get comments like that sounds great but! Or do you know how dangerous that is!

A number of the people that I know as full timers have talked about this phenomenon, The people they thought of as their friends will do anything in their power to stop them. Many peoples hopes and dreams have been shattered by other peoples fears.

There comes a point in your life where you have to ignore what other people say, and do what you really want to do. It is one of the most liberating experiences that you will ever come across.

We have lived full time in our RV for over 10 years. It has been the best 10 years of our life. There were a number of Nay Sayers, but we ignored their advice, and went ahead anyway. We heard more from these Nay Sayers, when we first took the RV to Mexico. But as it turns out nothing that they said would happen has come to pass. In fact in most cases it was totally the opposite of what they predicted would happen. We ended up meeting many fantastic people who had the same interests as us. We also met many wonderful Mexican people on the free beaches where we stayed. We were invited into Mexican homes for meals and companionship. And we now would not trade this life for anything.

I have come to realize that my true friends are the ones that encourage me to follow my dreams and support me in all my endeavors. Some of the people who tried to stop me either because of fear or jealousy, I no longer associate with.

Now that I have mentioned jealousy, I will say that sometimes it seems that these people do not want to see you succeed at something that they are afraid of doing, or they do not believe that they can do. So they will do anything they can to stop you so that they feel better about themselves.

So I would encourage you that if you have the desire to move out of your present home and into the full time RV lifestyle, that you listen only to yourself, and ignore the Nay Sayers around you. An estimated 1,000,000 people are already full timers in North America. If it works for them, it will work for you also.

Just to help you along and make it easier to adjust to the full time RV lifestyle you can get all the information you need in my Book “Full Time in an RV”

Mariachi in Front of Our Motor Home on the Beach at Chacala Mexico

How Full Timing Started for Me.

Posted on August 25, 2009 by Will

It was not that I ever dream’t of becoming a full timer. For me it happened in a more round about fashion. But the results are the same as for a lot of people who made a decision to become full time RV’ers.

I was working on the road for the local phone company, taking care of and building microwave and cellular towers. My shift was 8 days on and 6 off. What was happening was that I would get home from my shift on the road, and meet my wife at our sailboat. We would then take the boat out for the 6 days that I was off, only to return to the condo for one night so that I could do laundry, and get ready for my next shift out of town. We started to wonder why we had the condo since I was only there for 2 nights a month, and my wife was only there for about 2 weeks a month.

My company was paying board and lodging for me to be out of town, and would pay it if we elected to stay out of town for my days off. This got us to thinking that we could use the board and lodging money to buy a motor home and stay on the road for extended periods of time, with the result being that my company would be paying for my motor home.

We found a good deal on a 10 year old Class A motor home, and gave up the condo. I drove my company truck, and my wife followed me with the motor home, pulling the car. This worked great for many years. The company did end up paying for the motor home, and my wife and I got to spend a lot more time together. What also worked out great was the fact that when I took my holidays at the end of the year, we did not even have to pack, but just started driving to Mexico from wherever my last job of the year had been. By saving my over time as time off, we were able to spend up to 3 months at a time parked on the beaches of Mexico.

What ended up happening was that we started to love the full time RV lifestyle so much that we will probably never move back to a permanent home. There just is no better lifestyle. The change that will happen is that when I retire from my job, we are going to take our sailboat around the world, but also keep an RV so we have a place to come back to when we come and visit family and friends. But then what really is the difference. A sailboat is just another type of RV.

So if you are a person that lives in hotels, you may find that an RV is a better way to go. In our case the living out allowance was more than my wife was making at her job, and the money was tax free.

If you have a partner that can join you on the road as you follow a job around, that partner can also be running a business out of the RV as I discussed in previous posts.

There are many advantages to being a full time RV’er. This is just one more of them.

Live Longer by Becoming A Full Time RV’er

Posted on August 15, 2009 by Will

As I was doing research on full time RV’ing, I came across an interesting statistic. The Statistic said that if you retire at 65, you have 18 months to live, but if you retire at 55, you have 18 years. Basically the research showed that your will loose 1 year of life expectancy for every year you work past 55. The statistics for the Canada pension plan, and for the company pension plan where I work, back this up. The research was originally done for Boeing in the USA.

Graph showing retirement versus age of death relationship.

To see the actual study, click here.

After doing some more research I found some reasons that this seems to happen. The main thing seemed to be the fact that people who retire at 55 or earlier are still young enough to get involved in something to keep them busy and keep their minds occupied. People who have something to do that interests them seem to live a lot longer. Where as people who retire at 65 have a lot lesser chance of getting involved in an activity to take the place of the job that they left.

How many times have you heard people say “When I retire I am going to……….”. But most of them never do, it is just to late in life to make that change.

So the secret would seem to be to get involved in something you are going to do after you retire, many years before you actually do retire. Then when you do pull the pin, that activity is already a habit, and you continue doing it.

The magic age seems to be about 45 to 50. It seems that if you are not doing what you plan on doing when you retire by the age of 45 to 50, chances are very great that you will never actually do it.

Full time RV’ing is an excellent activity for a retiree. It is an activity that gives you something to live for everyday. You can get involved in volunteer programs all over North America, you can run a small business on the road, you can see new things continually, and the list goes on and on.

This is not saying that you have to be a retiree to be a full time RV’er. I have been a full time RV’er for over 10 years, and I am still working. But next year I turn 55, and I will be pulling the pin. Then look out world, here comes Will.

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