A Million Americans Are Living In Their RVs

longknife

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Sep 21, 2012
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Is it because they want to, they lost their other home to repo, or they can’t afford anything else?

A million Americans live full-time in RVs, according to the RV Industry Association. Some have to do it because they can’t afford other options, but many do it by choice. Last year was a record for RV sales, according to the data firm Statistical Surveys. More than 10.5 million households own at least one RV, a jump from 2005 when 7.5 million households had RVs, according to RVIA.

And there’s this:

A 30 year mortgage is essentially a suffocating lifetime financial commitment for many people, and so a lot of Americans are choosing to embrace the RV lifestyle in order to escape those financial chains. One family that the Washington Post recently interviewed says that they are “redefining what the American Dream means”…

We’re a family of four redefining what the American Dream means. It’s happiness, not a four-bedroom house with a two-car garage,” said Robert Meinhofer, who is 45.

The Meinhofers and a dozen others who spoke with The Washington Post about this modern nomadic lifestyle said living in 200 to 400 square feet has improved their marriages and made them happier, even if they’re earning less. There’s no official term for this lifestyle, but most refer to themselves as “full-time RVers,” “digital nomads” or “workampers.”

I don’t see how a family of four could possibly live in an RV, no matter how big it is.

More of this @ A Million Americans Are Living In Their RVs As The American Dream Continues To Be "Redefined"
 
We sold our house and most of our possessions. We moved into an rv and spend time traveling around the U.S. When I was working I saw portions of the country but we only spent a few days as I only had so long off.

Now we can go spend a week at a national park, or a month in Houston. We travel the northern states during the summer months and the south in winter. Alaska is great during July and August.

I don't mind not having to mow the yard, rake leaves or shovel snow. It takes a little getting used to living in a smaller space but then when you are in places like national parks it is easy to spend more time outside then inside.
 
I've lived in an RV when I was on the road. When we retire we plan to live in one full-time.

Great way to live, explore, and enjoy life. I'm actually surprised the number isn't higher. But I would imagine they don't count anyone who owns a regular home.
 
I know a young lady (35 or so) lives in a very small rv, works odd jobs.
Know a number of retired that have done the same as we do.
Know others that live in a house in summer then use one to move south.
Know a family of seven lived and traveled for three years just so the children could see the country.
There are those that have traveled for many years then just found an RV park that they liked and are now stationary until they die.

There are RV parks that have pools, exercise equipment, tennis courts.
There is one that has an eight hole golf course, woodworking shop, lapidary shop, stained glass shop and others. All for the use of those that stay there.
Some places have bingo nights, horse shoe competitions, pot lucks, banquets on holidays, live entertainment.

You might be parked next to a mechanic or a mechanical engineer. You meet people from all walks of life.

The article does not take into account those that vacation in the RV. The whole point is that there may be those that are on hard times in an RV. But there are those that chose it for a reason.
 
Does this include people living in houseboats (of various types)?

England has a network of small canals, and living in canal boats is a Thing.

FEMA trailer anyone?
 
We full time in a luxury motorhome. We love it. We didn’t have to. We wanted to.

This is my home on wheels.
 

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I know a young lady (35 or so) lives in a very small rv, works odd jobs.
Know a number of retired that have done the same as we do.
Know others that live in a house in summer then use one to move south.
Know a family of seven lived and traveled for three years just so the children could see the country.
There are those that have traveled for many years then just found an RV park that they liked and are now stationary until they die.

There are RV parks that have pools, exercise equipment, tennis courts.
There is one that has an eight hole golf course, woodworking shop, lapidary shop, stained glass shop and others. All for the use of those that stay there.
Some places have bingo nights, horse shoe competitions, pot lucks, banquets on holidays, live entertainment.

You might be parked next to a mechanic or a mechanical engineer. You meet people from all walks of life.

The article does not take into account those that vacation in the RV. The whole point is that there may be those that are on hard times in an RV. But there are those that chose it for a reason.

I didn't mean that they should take into account those who live in one for a vacation. But many people, like me, lived in one while working away from home. For many years I was only home 6 or 8 days a month, plus holidays. I was in my travel trailer the rest of the time. If someone has a regular home, but they are only in it 2 months out of 12, aren't they pretty much living in an RV full time?
 
I was a full-timer for 10 years. It's a choice for some, but a necessity for others. I've known others who lived in an RV full time until they found a place they wanted to spend the rest of their days. It's a great way to travel and see what's out there. With the money you save on rent/mortgage payments, you can usually afford a nice down payment on a home.
 
True. But many more poor dispossessed Americans are living on the streets. Not by choice but by necessity. But we give sanctuary to illegal aliens.American poor live in tents on streets or forgotten parts of our cities. I don't think they are given so much high sentiment.
 
True. But many more poor dispossessed Americans are living on the streets. Not by choice but by necessity. But we give sanctuary to illegal aliens.American poor live in tents on streets or forgotten parts of our cities. I don't think they are given so much high sentiment.
Agreed. Lots of people can't even afford an RV. One of the reasons I am so against welcoming all the illegal invaders into this country is the fact that we really, really, really, need to take care of our own first. Living in tents in Anchorage in the winter sucks. I did it when I was in the Army, but then, that was a temporary assignment.
We need to address AMERICANS first, before we allow these welfare-seeking moochers into our country.
 
I know a young lady (35 or so) lives in a very small rv, works odd jobs.
Know a number of retired that have done the same as we do.
Know others that live in a house in summer then use one to move south.
Know a family of seven lived and traveled for three years just so the children could see the country.
There are those that have traveled for many years then just found an RV park that they liked and are now stationary until they die.

There are RV parks that have pools, exercise equipment, tennis courts.
There is one that has an eight hole golf course, woodworking shop, lapidary shop, stained glass shop and others. All for the use of those that stay there.
Some places have bingo nights, horse shoe competitions, pot lucks, banquets on holidays, live entertainment.

You might be parked next to a mechanic or a mechanical engineer. You meet people from all walks of life.

The article does not take into account those that vacation in the RV. The whole point is that there may be those that are on hard times in an RV. But there are those that chose it for a reason.

I didn't mean that they should take into account those who live in one for a vacation. But many people, like me, lived in one while working away from home. For many years I was only home 6 or 8 days a month, plus holidays. I was in my travel trailer the rest of the time. If someone has a regular home, but they are only in it 2 months out of 12, aren't they pretty much living in an RV full time?
Not sure what they used as a cutoff for living in an RV as far as the article.
I know those of us that do not own a sticks and bricks as we call them, do not consider them fulltime, we call them some timers. Just a bit of a joke, but I think you might well be able to say they live in an RV.

Nothing wrong with either one, just a matter of personal choice. In our case our home was in the north. Did not like the idea of leaving the house alone for months during the winter. Too much of a chance of a window being broke and trying to heat the outside. No need to worry about break-ins. No need to keep up the yard.

Hope you enjoyed your time in your RV as much as possible.
 
I am not knocking anyone doing this and for those who are retiring, why give the state 30 grand in taxes a year on your paid off home. But I do worry that the mobile lifestyle is not,conducive to putting down roots and developing communities. Take the hurricane. You folded up the awning and hauled ass probably not to come back any time soon. Where do you vote. How many taxes do you slide by while changing locations? Let me reiterate, I am not knocking anyone doing this but if enough people adopt the gypsy lifestyle for long enough it will become a disrupter
 
People live in tents along the by ways, others in forgotten off the beaten path in tents. Others on side streets. I hate to rain on the happy parade, but we give sanctuary to illegal aliens, and we forget Americans living on the streets. We blame them or other wise demonize them. But as long as some of ya'al have a nice warm RV to live in, god is in his heaven.
 
All cheer for the gypsy lifestyle! If retired persons choose to become "full-timers", more power to them. It's up to them to decide to spend their retirement years and funds travelling and enjoying themselves, or to pay the government for the dubious privilege of living in a community.
 
RV-Lifestyle-Public-Domain-768x512.jpg


Is it because they want to, they lost their other home to repo, or they can’t afford anything else?

A million Americans live full-time in RVs, according to the RV Industry Association. Some have to do it because they can’t afford other options, but many do it by choice. Last year was a record for RV sales, according to the data firm Statistical Surveys. More than 10.5 million households own at least one RV, a jump from 2005 when 7.5 million households had RVs, according to RVIA.

And there’s this:

A 30 year mortgage is essentially a suffocating lifetime financial commitment for many people, and so a lot of Americans are choosing to embrace the RV lifestyle in order to escape those financial chains. One family that the Washington Post recently interviewed says that they are “redefining what the American Dream means”…

We’re a family of four redefining what the American Dream means. It’s happiness, not a four-bedroom house with a two-car garage,” said Robert Meinhofer, who is 45.

The Meinhofers and a dozen others who spoke with The Washington Post about this modern nomadic lifestyle said living in 200 to 400 square feet has improved their marriages and made them happier, even if they’re earning less. There’s no official term for this lifestyle, but most refer to themselves as “full-time RVers,” “digital nomads” or “workampers.”

I don’t see how a family of four could possibly live in an RV, no matter how big it is.

More of this @ A Million Americans Are Living In Their RVs As The American Dream Continues To Be "Redefined"

Everybody I know who lives in an RV does so by choice and not out of necessity. And these are not among America's poor by any means or because they can't qualify for a mortgage. They all could if they wanted to. I would not like the lifestyle for long periods myself, but I can appreciate how people of a certain temperament would embrace it.
 
I am not knocking anyone doing this and for those who are retiring, why give the state 30 grand in taxes a year on your paid off home. But I do worry that the mobile lifestyle is not,conducive to putting down roots and developing communities. Take the hurricane. You folded up the awning and hauled ass probably not to come back any time soon. Where do you vote. How many taxes do you slide by while changing locations? Let me reiterate, I am not knocking anyone doing this but if enough people adopt the gypsy lifestyle for long enough it will become a disrupter
Don't know about others but as for myself I will answer some of your questions and you decide for yourself.

I vote in the state I use as my state of residence, the one that I use as my mail forwarding address.
I pay taxes on the RV.
I pay a company which employs a number of people to keep then forward my mail.
I pay fees at campgrounds which hire people, pay taxes and pay utility bills.
I pay sales taxes everywhere I go. Most campgrounds make you pay a visitors tax on top of sales tax.
I possibly buy more fuel in a year then most retired do in three.

I have numerous friends that I keep in contact with and when possible we meet up at one place or another.
At some point, either age or health you are forced of the road, at that point you revert to your exit strategy, which means moving onto land, buying a house, renting and apartment or whatever.

So though I do not pay a income tax, or real estate tax. I am not bypassing any taxes in the sense you think. But since I visit places and explore areas I do help keep people employed rather then the retired person that spends most of their day in the house and only ventures out to have a cup or two of coffee each day.
 
I have neighbors here who have nice houses ....and love to spend long times in their rvs...

I am not like them

I need walls and fences....I need privacy.... I need stability .......I need my stairs to go up and down in my home.... go to my second floor...to give my pet a stable life....

but....

the fact that I can not do it... that I can not live like that....doesn't mean it's not ok for you

Lord knows it is what it is
 
in all truth

I personally would prefer to die....than live like that

I like stability
 
People live in tents along the by ways, others in forgotten off the beaten path in tents. Others on side streets. I hate to rain on the happy parade, but we give sanctuary to illegal aliens, and we forget Americans living on the streets. We blame them or other wise demonize them. But as long as some of ya'al have a nice warm RV to live in, god is in his heaven.
While I feel sorry for those that are homeless I refuse to have it ruin my life. Some of them do make the choice to live on the street. Some do not.
I do not agree with allowing illegals in or allowing them to remain. I pay taxes, I help where I can.

But I refuse to allow someone like you to make me feel bad about my life and the way I live it.
 
I know a young lady (35 or so) lives in a very small rv, works odd jobs.
Know a number of retired that have done the same as we do.
Know others that live in a house in summer then use one to move south.
Know a family of seven lived and traveled for three years just so the children could see the country.
There are those that have traveled for many years then just found an RV park that they liked and are now stationary until they die.

There are RV parks that have pools, exercise equipment, tennis courts.
There is one that has an eight hole golf course, woodworking shop, lapidary shop, stained glass shop and others. All for the use of those that stay there.
Some places have bingo nights, horse shoe competitions, pot lucks, banquets on holidays, live entertainment.

You might be parked next to a mechanic or a mechanical engineer. You meet people from all walks of life.

The article does not take into account those that vacation in the RV. The whole point is that there may be those that are on hard times in an RV. But there are those that chose it for a reason.

I didn't mean that they should take into account those who live in one for a vacation. But many people, like me, lived in one while working away from home. For many years I was only home 6 or 8 days a month, plus holidays. I was in my travel trailer the rest of the time. If someone has a regular home, but they are only in it 2 months out of 12, aren't they pretty much living in an RV full time?
Not sure what they used as a cutoff for living in an RV as far as the article.
I know those of us that do not own a sticks and bricks as we call them, do not consider them fulltime, we call them some timers. Just a bit of a joke, but I think you might well be able to say they live in an RV.

Nothing wrong with either one, just a matter of personal choice. In our case our home was in the north. Did not like the idea of leaving the house alone for months during the winter. Too much of a chance of a window being broke and trying to heat the outside. No need to worry about break-ins. No need to keep up the yard.

Hope you enjoyed your time in your RV as much as possible.

I did and I still am. Just another year or so and I retire. So we might be full timing it. As for now, I am no longer on the road so the RV is for fun.
 

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