Does anyone have any experience with parents that have moved into an RV full time?

August 8, 2004 11:38 PM

Retired parents selling the homestead and buying an RVfilter... (mi)

My parents are taking the plunge. They are in their early 70's and are planning to see lots more of the country, and finally relax after finally divesting themselves of responsibility for kids and grandkids. Does anyone have any experience with parents that have taken the full time RV plunge? They sold their previous RV (which they used for a few months each year) several years ago, so they do have experience with the lifestyle, but I wonder about the leap to living out of it...

posted by TomSophieIvy to Society & Culture (1 answer total)

Lots of people do it. Apparently the high-end RV industry is several Billion $ a year, in the US alone. The rest of the RV industry isn't so profitable. Feature-Creep tends to ensure that RVs (particularly expensive ones) will lose value quickly. Modern RVs can be as well-appointed as modern suerp-yachts, or as bare as your average dinghy. Danger of drowning in an RV is somewhat less than in a Yacht, unless your RV happens to have a bath tub...

Be aware that owning an RV limits your travel to the landmass it is located on. Buying a yacht limits your travel to the region of water you are willing to sail to. My grandparents had many friends who got into RVs or Yachts and experienced just those limitations. Both sets of my grandparents moved into investment-grade residences around the time their kids were in high-school, then used their savings to travel around the world. They are happy.

Most of the people who chose Yachts or RVs are happy too.
posted by Kwantsar at 1:12 AM on August 9, 2004