Guides to RVing Full Time

Nobody knows how many people live full-time in RVs. But it's certainly in the hundreds of thousands and most likely more than a million. And more are joining the ranks everyday.

Truth be told, living in a traditional home isn't much different from living in one that moves with the turn of an ignition key. Cell phones, wireless Internet and mail forwarding services make it easy to live anywhere. When would-be full-timers, whether they are retired or still working, begin pondering the lifestyle, they are often surprised to find that it really is possible to be a modern-day gypsy and still live as comfortably as they would in a home with a permanent foundation.

Fortunately, there's a lot of reading material to help them learn the ropes. Here are just a few of the most popular titles at RVbookstore.com. Most are available at other large bookstores as well.

Basic Guides
As Dragnet TV detective Joe Friday used to mutter, “Just the facts, ma'am” (or something like that-my memory is fuzzy on Joe Friday trivia). When someone is pondering the full-time RV life, the place to start researching is with “just the facts”-the basics. Several books do this well.

Trailer Life's Complete Guide to Full-Time RVing is the most comprehensive volume. Written by RV experts Bill and Jan Moeller, it covers just about everything in its 560 pages, and poses this question to readers: “Is full-timing right for you?” That is, of course, where anyone or any couple should begin. Not everyone is cut out for a life in a mobile abode that's typically a quarter the size (or less) of their previous home. The book, which sells for $29.95, was published in 1998, so some of the information is dated.

A smaller book, but a goodie, is Gaylord Maxwell's Fulltiming: An Introduction to Full-Time RVing. It's more meat and potatoes than the Moeller's book, but less expensive at $12.95. “It should be read before some of the more comprehensive [books] on the subject of living full time in an RV,” says Maxwell. This is a really good starter reference.

Living Aboard Your RV by Janet and Gordon Groene is another worthy candidate for research into the full-time lifestyle. This has been a best seller for years, and covers virtually all the bases. Its information value falls in between Trailer Life's thick guide and Maxwell's slim one.

The Escapees Club has published two good books, both written by club founder Kay Peterson. Survival of the Snowbirds, which she co-wrote with her husband, Joe, is appropriate for our current times of high gas prices because it focuses on “boondocking” -living without paying for hookups. Right now, saving money on campgrounds can help even out a budget stretched by high fuel prices. This was one of the first books I ever read about RVing and it planted the idea in my mind that “Gee, it's not really so expensive to live on the road.” The book was first published in 1982 but has been updated as recently as 1997. The other Escapee book, Home Is Where You Park It, is a concise primer about how to live full time in an RV. It includes discussion about traveling with children, which is an issue with many younger would-be full-timers who may wish to home school their kids.

Emotional Issues
One book that stands apart from all the other full-timer books is by psychologists Judy Farrow and Lou Stoetzer, who concentrate on the psychological and emotional aspects of full-time RVing. Full-timing involves much more than buying a rig and learning to operate it. For couples it involves major changes in their relationships with each other, their family and friends. “Not all couples can handle so much togetherness,” the authors write. I highly recommend this book for anyone considering going full time, especially couples.

So...how much does it cost to travel full time in an RV? For some people, it's well within their budget. But for others, there simply isn't enough money without earning something as they go. Two excellent books provide comprehensive information and instructions about how to earn income while traveling by RV. Support Your RV Lifestyle by Jaimie Hall is outstanding. There is virtually nothing in this book a would-be “workamper” doesn't need to know. Hall offers thorough advice and provides an extensive resource section that readers can use to make contact with prospective employees. The book was updated in 2004.

Last year, Arline Chandler released an update of her slim volume Roadwork. Except this time Roadwork II is a whopping 498 pages. And it's good-really good. Chandler spent years living the full-time lifestyle and researching it, and it shows. The book is exhaustive. I used to recommend Jaimie Hall's book without question before Chandler's updated edition landed on my desk. Now I say, flip a coin. You can't go wrong with either book. But, better yet, if you're really serious about working on the road, get both books, each a very reasonable $19.95.

Finally, after cutting ties with a traditional home, full-timers often need to establish a new home base, and they have a choice of where to do it. That's where the slim book Selecting an RV Home Base 2005 comes into play. It provides residency requirements for each of the 50 states, as well as federal and state tax information about each one. Where a full-timer sets up a home base can make a huge difference at tax time-you can save thousands of dollars a year by registering in one state instead of another.

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And a note: Trailer Life's Towing Guide 2005 is now available, although I believe only through RVbookstore.com and Trailer Life. For anyone who plans to tow a trailer or fifth wheel, or a dinghy behind a motorhome, this slim volume is essential. It covers cars, light trucks, SUVs and vans for 2005 and the four years before.