target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#fb3_img_img_d126c2ed-8d21-5ab1-bfb1-4b94dfba5e8e.png" alt="Warning"/> Living perpetually on the road is a big commitment to change. It comes with its own challenges, and much of that stems from the problem of establishing a legal domicile (a permanent mailing address for everything from health insurance to filing taxes and voting). RV-friendly states like Florida, South Dakota, and Texas make it simpler to establish a legal domicile, but in most cases, you have to visit your home base at least once a year to stay legal.
www.escapees.com) is a major provider of services for full-timers, like mail forwarding and roadside assistance. Their Xcapers group within the club is geared to helping full-timers. They even have their own annual gathering each year, called Convergence.
Traveling workers and the gig economy
Internet connectivity and a smartphone in everybody’s pocket has nurtured the gig economy. If you can work from home, it doesn’t matter where home is, and the COVID-19 shutdowns brought that sharply into focus. Home can just as easily be a place on wheels wherever the Wi-Fi works.
There’s no sense in denying that living and working in an RV can be a very attractive choice for economic reasons, regardless of someone’s age. On the road, we’ve met plenty of twentysomethings who wanted out of Mom and Dad’s house, and an RV was the only way they could afford it. We’ve encountered several folks who inherited an RV, and living in it seemed more attractive than paying for an overpriced apartment. But whatever the reason they started, these RVers eventually decided they loved it and had no intention of “escaping” the road and returning to an anchored life.
Women on the road
The original RV full-timers were people following a mobile job. But the newest full-timers in the RV landscape are the growing number of women. We’ve talked with women RVing alone, single women, as well as widows and divorcees who are either childless or empty-nesters. The lure of the adventure of the open road is common, and the ongoing development of lighter, towable trailers and smaller, easier-to-maneuver motorhomes has made it far less daunting for anyone to indulge their dream.
Sometimes the women we talked to had been unhappy, trapped in a little apartment and an unfulfilling 9-to-5. But more than a few we’ve met found themselves trying to care for a 3,000-square-foot house with a big yard, and couldn’t figure out why they were doing it. A 30-foot universe is a universe that can be handled. A condo or even a retirement community is an option, but it can seem like a retreat from life, with more potential for loneliness.
This was the situation with Lora, our friend and neighbor, the first person we personally knew who told us, with no warning, that she was selling her large suburban house and most of the stuff in it to hit the road in an RV. Lora is a bright, happy woman with all sorts of choices. She wasn’t destitute or desperate when she made this one. And this is the ultimate point — most of us are out here RVing because we want to be. We want to see the world and experience life on a higher plane. We’re living a fun life that’s much cheaper than the old-style suburban house, car, and 9-to-5 job. We’re here, out on the road, because we’re nomads by nature. And when we pull up stakes to move on, we don’t ever say “goodbye,” we say, “See you down the road!”
Workampers
The sudden about-face in the economy in 2020, compelled millions of Americans to change their lifestyle dramatically almost overnight. Sales of RVs to people no longer able to afford their homes, or who have become work nomads pursuing jobs in the gig economy, are also at an all-time high. For a big group of retirees, day-to-day living on a paltry Social Security check is nearly impossible. As full-time RVers, they can subsidize their retirement by seeking part-time jobs and traveling to wherever the work is. Many RVers pick up jobs as campground hosts, Amazon workers, seasonal tourist attraction or resort employees, and sugar beet harvesters in Nebraska and North Dakota (or other agricultural jobs).
For many years, Amazon has employed thousands of transient workers (many of them retirees) living in trailers, who chase seasonal warehouse jobs across the country. The Amazon CamperForce program arranges for campground sites so these temporary workers have a place to park their rigs while working for several months at a time. Wages are low, hours are long, and the work itself can be tedious and exhausting, but Amazon’s appetite for workers is inexhaustible. It’s entirely possible that the box that arrived this morning with your favorite tea, a bargain box of soap bars, and a Frisbee for the dog was packed by a CamperForce RVer.
More and more companies are beginning to realize the benefits of these types of mobile employees. Some openly prefer older workers, who tend to be more dependable. Workers on Wheels (www.work-for-rvers-and-campers.com) and Workamper News (https://workamper.com) are two websites for connecting RVers and employers. They let you subscribe to a free daily email newsletter with job listings and opportunities.
Road scholars
The nationwide closing of schools for the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased the number of families who decided to “road-school” their children in the family RV. Children no longer tethered to classrooms, are learning about their country and the world in national parks and national historic sites. Zoos, parks, museums, monuments, nature centers, even shopping for groceries, all become learning experiences and teachable moments.
Fulltime Families (www.fulltimefamilies.com) is an online community that provides guidance, information, and resources for parents and children, including recommendations for road-schooling. While many states have reporting requirements for homeschooled children, many RV families make Florida or Texas their legal state of residence because they have beneficial homeschooling laws and are welcoming of full-time RVers.
Going green and living off the grid
We talk about boondocking in Chapter 20, but since the very earliest trailers were designed, the goal has been to last as long as possible without external electric and water connections. If the desire to live “off the grid” with the smallest possible carbon footprint keeps you awake nights, an RV may be the answer. The green movement and the tiny house movement are natural bedfellows with the RV world. Innovations that cram more features and conveniences into cramped spaces have been the trademark of trailers and motorhomes since the 1920s.
As solar and battery technologies continue to improve, more and more people look upon RVs as the ultimate “green machines.” RV builders today are offering solar-ready trailers and motorhomes, and conversion of older units to accommodate solar panels and lithium batteries is becoming the most common request for RV dealers and service centers. Look for a “solar ready” sticker on RVs when you go shopping. It means the rig is prewired for easily adding solar panels. (Be sure to check both Chapter 14 about electrical systems and Chapter 20 on boondocking.)
The RV industry has its own environmental certification program for vehicles. To earn a Certified Green sticker, RVs have to meet or exceed specified energy- and water-efficient requirements,
