Full Timer's Roll Call

[Steven@147]

Hi Everyone.

Lord willing, my family of 4 will begin our full-time living in our 2021 Grand Design Solitude 378MBS in a couple months. We plan to tour around our beautiful country 8 to 10 months out of the year then park (with a full hookup) on my sister's land in Idaho. I look forward to feedback and advice via these forums.

Here's some info about us:
Me, my wife, and two kids. Wife and two kids are emigrating here from the Philippines (I've been here since 1981) and have been living in less than 300 sq. ft. poor-condition place. So, they are use to small spaces already. They are also very petite ladies. The 5th wheel will already be a upgrade for them.

I've lived in a 2,500 sq. ft. house most of my life but grew up in the Philippines and go there often. So, I'm use to doing with less and actually prefer it.

I do my entire business from home (laptop and a second screen is all I need) during normal work hours. The kids would be doing online college for the first couple years. My wife creates crafts to sell online.

I thought that the best way to immerse them into the United States is to actually see the states and meet the peopl rather than being stuck in one state.

Eventually, we will likely get a small dog to travel with us.

THE PLAN:
Each trip would be 9 to 10 months long staying at different places for at least two weeks at a time. We would then tour the surrounding areas to experience the "local vibes" and scenery. We would return to my sister's property in Idaho which will have a full hookup for us in a RV driveway built just for us. It will be a few yards away from a second house on her property built for visitors which we could use when it's not occupied.

The RV and vehicle:
We purchased a 2021 Grand Design Solitude 378MBS (two bed rooms) pulled by a 2019 Ford F350 Diesel Dually.

As a project to keep the kids busy and learning, we plan plan to post videos online of their experience as they tour this beautiful country of ours.

See you on the road!

Welcome to the fulltime family here on the forum. Any questions you have about fulltiming, just ask, there are lots of full-timers here and those that dream of doing so. Great set up and [plan you have and mooch-docking on your family's property, ID is a beautiful state, we visited there last year when we went to Yellowstone. staying in place for a week or two you wont get movement fatigue. It can get tiring setting up and packing up every few days and moving again. You can get better rates staying 2 weeks in some places. Your wife and kids are going to be wowed by all the beautiful places in the US. Like visiting 48 individual but interconnected countries each unique to their own area. I have been blessed in my life being able to visit a lot of countries in this world, including the Philippines, makes us appreciate all that we have and the experiences we've had now fulltiming that much more

. Go out and make some memories!

[MoonShadow_1911]

Wow, I totally missed this thread!

We have been full-timing since August 2021.

We are in a 2021 Reflection 320MKS, pulling it with a 2019 F350 SD SRW diesel.

Started with two dogs and the wife, had to help one of the dogs over the rainbow bridge on July 3, 2023, so it's now one dog and the wife.

Wife is retired, I work full-time remote in the IT field.

We use Starlink for our primary Internet, Verizon hotspot for our primary backup, T-Mobile hotspot for our secondary backup, and AT&T for our tertiary backup.

I have a love/hate relationship with my truck's 48 gallon fuel tank. I love the 400+ miles I can drive without having to stop to full up. I HATE dropping between $150.00-$300.00 to fill the sucker up!

All in all, we love full-timing as we get to see the country! Have no set plans for stopping. We are also visiting states we might want to live in when we are done.

[Second Chance]

... We are also visiting states we might want to live in when we are done.

That was our plan eight years ago... haven't found "the place," yet. Looks like it will have more to do with proximity to grandkids and health care than anything else, though.

Rob

[MoonShadow_1911]

That was our plan eight years ago... haven't found "the place," yet. Looks like it will have more to do with proximity to grandkids and health care than anything else, though.

Rob

In the mean time, enjoy the road! At least, that's the "plan"!

[fmartinmn]

We just joined the ranks as "most timers". We pulled our rig from MN to TX via CA, NV, AZ and NM visiting friends and family along the way. We spent 3 nights at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta enjoying an almost overwhelming experience. We are work camping at Redbud Ranch RV Resort in Hutto, TX. Lord willing, we will return to MN in May via "don't know yet". I understand it's a nice route.

[orbiker]

We just joined the ranks as "most timers". We pulled our rig from MN to TX via CA, NV, AZ and NM visiting friends and family along the way. We spent 3 nights at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta enjoying an almost overwhelming experience. We are work camping at Redbud Ranch RV Resort in Hutto, TX. Lord willing, we will return to MN in May via "don't know yet". I understand it's a nice route.

Sounds good.
Can you give some details about going to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta?

Thanks, KEN

[fmartinmn]

Sounds good.
Can you give some details about going to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta?

Thanks, KEN

Parking your rig in the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta park is the best way to see all the events without having to spend hours in line to get in. Sites open for reservations in January and they go fast, in about 2 hours. There are 4 campgrounds to choose from, so you need to know which ones are your highest priority. Tickets for daily events go on sale in April or you can buy them at the park. For example, we were in the VIP West campground for 3 nights and the site came with 2 event tickets.($355 for 3 nights) We purchased 4 more event tickets at the park. You need one ticket per person for each morning or evening event. Camping is rally style with just enough space for one vehicle. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would go again.

[orbiker]

Parking your rig in the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta park is the best way to see all the events without having to spend hours in line to get in. Sites open for reservations in January and they go fast, in about 2 hours. There are 4 campgrounds to choose from, so you need to know which ones are your highest priority. Tickets for daily events go on sale in April or you can buy them at the park. For example, we were in the VIP West campground for 3 nights and the site came with 2 event tickets.($355 for 3 nights) We purchased 4 more event tickets at the park. You need one ticket per person for each morning or evening event. Camping is rally style with just enough space for one vehicle. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would go again.

Thanks for the details. We will need to look in to this sometime in the future. KEN

[DanandJen]

We are Daniel and Jennifer been fulltime for 1 1/2 years but just bought a 2020 Reflection 337RLS 5er this past april, we tow it with our 2020 Ram 2500 Diesel. getting ready to outfit it with solar and already have 400AH of lithium and putting in a 3000watt inverter. Right now we are in Mesa, AZ for the winter.

We are in our late 30s and never bought a house and was tired of renting and paying someone else’s mortgage so our first RV we bought was a 2000 northwood nash 5th wheel lived in it for the year until we found a great price on the Reflection we have now and own it outright.

[Soundsailor]

We are Daniel and Jennifer been fulltime for 1 1/2 years but just bought a 2020 Reflection 337RLS 5er this past april, we tow it with our 2020 Ram 2500 Diesel. getting ready to outfit it with solar and already have 400AH of lithium and putting in a 3000watt inverter. Right now we are in Mesa, AZ for the winter.

We are in our late 30s and never bought a house and was tired of renting and paying someone else’s mortgage so our first RV we bought was a 2000 northwood nash 5th wheel lived in it for the year until we found a great price on the Reflection we have now and own it outright.

Welcome to the forum, plenty of full-timers here. Let us know if you need help with anything.