Last Updated on 03/02/2024 by Glynn Willard
If you decide to sell everything and live fulltime in an RV, have you thought about what comes next? Here’s an insight from our fulltime life.
A little over two years and we’re feeling the exhaustion from travel. We’ve hit a crossroads and are asking ourselves, “should we continue living fulltime in an RV?”
Or “should we stop fulltiming and sell the RV?” We have a lot of options, but bottom line, if we stop fulltiming, it feels like we have to start over.
And that can be perceived as scary or exciting.
Now What After Fulltime RV’ing?
Living fulltime in a travel trailer and almost exclusively boondocking can be a very inexpensive way to live. But it still requires an income.
When we started, we just wanted to document our travels on YouTube for family, friends and our own memories. We didn’t expect to gain many subscribers.
And I suppose in the world of YouTube, we don’t have many. But it was enough for us to start thinking we could make a living off of YouTube.
Not so. It requires a lot of work, time and very little pay for longer than it would take us to build a business from scratch and take either guaranteed payments or a salary.
We were just going to live off the funds from the sale of our business. But after awhile, we craved additional income. Not to buy stuff we don’t need, but instead to eliminate the degradation of our savings.
We feel like we’ve seen a lot and loved every minute of it, but we also crave our own land and a small house.
Who knows, maybe we’re really nesters. Regardless, we have some decisions to make. And these decisions are easier to make than to execute.
- Home school laws.
- State taxes.
- Health and auto insurance rates.
- Real estate taxes.
- Home prices
- Proximity to services and the types of services.
- Business law and taxation if we buy or start a business.
- Availability of jobs if we don’t buy or start a business.
Adopt A Hybrid Part Time RV Life?
We’ve thought about buying some land with either a small house or a pad site for the RV. This would require remote work as it would exhaust a large portion of our funds.
But it would allow us the best of both worlds. We could own land to plant roots and also travel whenever the mood strikes us. I believe this is very trendy now for fulltimers.
It brings with it complications and expenses, but it could be worth it for us.
Sell The RV and Buy A Small House?
Selling the tow vehicle and travel trailer is also a good option. There’s currently a lot of value tied up in a great diesel tow vehicle as well as a hard to come by travel trailer.
It would supply enough additional funding to write a check for a house. But this is only possible if there’s a new income to live off of after the purchase.
This scenario is also appealing because we could take a break from travels, document the changes on our channel and resume traveling at a later date.
This would ultimately lead to a hybrid lifestyle if the income is remote.
But, am I ready for the expenses and complications that a sticks and bricks home includes? That’s a tough one and weighs heavily on our decision. One thing is for sure, the smaller the house, the easier and more affordable!
Start A New Business?
This is the scariest option for us. We have the knowledge and could successfully pull it off, but with one big caveat. It would take more time than we’re willing to commit to produce a return on investment.
A digital business would be the most appealing, but it’s a tough market. We’re very interested in bringing manufacturing back to the United States, so we have looked into this option.
The initial expenses may be more than we can afford and the current cost of borrowing is prohibitive (currently 10% interest on business loans).
We’ve also been around the block enough times to realize that we’re only willing to work on something that’s both fullfilling and enjoyable.
All of this said, it’s still worth considering.
Buy An Existing Business After Fulltime?
This has more appeal than starting fresh. But finding a business that can be fullfilling, appropriately priced and in the right location is no easy task.
Essentially, this would mean buying a job. But we’re okay with this aspect. In fact, I’m craving a big project to dive into.
I’ve learned to turn work off and focus time with the family instead of focusing only on business. That in itself was worth two years on the road.
This option is my first choice, but perhaps the most difficult to find.
Look For A Stationary Job After Fulltime?
When we began this journey, it was so easy to say, “I’ll just get a job when we’re done!” Man was I naïve! At my age and an entrepreneur, I thought I would be a shoe in for any type of employment.
Turns out most careers require very finite skill sets in the digital world. Building computers and learning Linux as a hobby counts for nothing.
And building a team and leading them to success for decades outside the corporate environment also seems to count for nothing.
Marketing to a region and building customer relation management systems from scratch (and keeping these clients) also seems to count for nothing.
The ability to maintain above a 90% closing rate on sales for my business over twenty years also seems to count for very little.
Maybe it’s how I present my resume. I’m old school and believe in face to face interaction, but that seems impossible in today’s corporate environment.
Despite all of these issues, this option holds appeal. I fantasize about doing a great job for a company, but completely turning it off when I’m home with the family.
I’ve never experienced this and believe it would be a real advantage.
Find A Remote Job For Part Time RV Living?
Everything I stated in finding a stationary job also applies to this option. Perhaps even more so. In fact, this might be the most appealing as it would allow us to live anywhere.
I realize remote jobs are generally lower pay if they’re not IT based. We don’t need the six figure income we used to have, but we do need to make enough to be comfortable as a family.
I picture 40ish acres of land with a small house and a barn to store the RV as well as do projects. I still work a normal work week, but we can take the job on the road whenever we like.
This way I can still “check out” when I’m not working and bee with the family. We’ve certainly learned how to navigate boondocking all over the west very well.
The only more appealing option is to own a digital business, so that I can work the hours I am most productive (5AM-noon).
Where To Buy A Home After Fulltime RV’ing?
Here’s something we never expected. Where do you want to live after fulltiming in an RV? We thought we knew before traveling. But two years on the road has made it very difficult to decide.
It’s like opening a menu at a restaurant and instead of five or six great entrees, there’s over fifty. There are A Lot of places we find appealing.
But our number one limitation and most important is we want to be near friends and family. We found that we missed being around our friends and family the most on the road.
So, being from the east coast, this limits us to staying in that region. And the mid east is not for us!
We like the aesthetics of the northeast a lot and will probably seek a home/job in that region. But there’s more to it than geography.
We have to consider:
You see, there’s so much to consider when starting out in a new location. It’s enough to make your head spin!
Keep The RV Or Sell It?
We would love to keep the RV, but we’ve emotionally unattached ourselves in case we need the funds to buy a house.
So this decision relies entirely on the previous options.
In a perfect world, we could keep the RV even if I find a stationary job. It really is a quality built rig. And that says a lot in the RV world where most are trash.
Yes a strong statement, but it’s true.
Takeaway
If you are getting ready to sell everything and fulltime, make sure you have a rough outline of your options if you decide to stop living fulltime in an RV.
You’ll appreciate having a plan and allowing it to evolve as you make some amazing memories!
What will you do if you decide to stop living fulltime in an RV?
Happy and safe travels!
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