Making The Decision To RV Full Time

Like all important decisions in life the leap to full time RVing is right at the top. We're beginning our fourth year as full timers and looking back I can honestly say it's one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. I’ve wanted to write about this issue for a while and was waiting for a good couple to interview on the subject. This is Dale and Lisa Forsythe. They’ve been RVing for nine years and full-timing for three. I asked Dale what influenced their decision to go full time and he said that they both liked traveling and wanted to retire early. They also wanted to do it while they were still healthy enough to enjoy the experience. He’s got a pacemaker and the health issue was particularly important to Lisa because both her mom and dad died in their 60’s. They started full-timing when he was 54 and she was 45. I asked how he went about preparing to make the leap. Dale told me that Lisa wasn’t too keen on the idea at first so he started planning how they could do it. He read books and internet articles and every time they went camping he would find the full-time RVers and “pick their brains.” She went along with him when he did this and began to warm up to the idea.They decided they would try it and if either one didn’t like it they would stop. Dale says when people would ask her about it at first she would say “We’ll try it for 10 years…” but she doesn’t say that anymore, now she just says she’ a “full-timer” and loves the lifestyle. They sold their house and divided up their stuff between two daughters. Lisa gets to see some of her “former” stuff from time to time when they visit with them. She says the full-time lifestyle taught her to be satisfied with less and to focus on more important things in life instead of the accumulation of more stuff. They full time in this nice New Horizon 5er. Their favorite travel destination is Cody, Wyoming at Buffalo Bill State Park. Her least favorite part about full time RVing is the lack of a bathtub and having to use a laundry. They solve the bathtub issue by checking into a nice hotel a couple times a year. Their preferred camping style is boondocking and they travel with their two dogs Micah (top) and Mocha (bottom). If you’re thinking about becoming a full-time RVer you should know that there are thousands of us out here from all walks of life in all kinds of RV rigs. Talk to us next time you go camping or just come to an RV park or campground where we hang out and we’ll tell you everything we know about the lifestyle good and bad. Living the dream - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing