We are very few years from retiring. Like a lot of people the cold weather just (you know).
To the Barthers that have already done this....
Did you buy another house?
Did you buy a lot for your rv?
Do you set up in a campground and stay for the winter?
Do you just roam the warmer states till spring hits?
Is someone looking after your home while your away?
Do you winterize your house or keep paying for the heat?
Thank you, Looking for opinions from people that have been there done that.

Hi Dusty
Lots of (Coloradans? Colorodites?) around here all winter.
We are at Pioneer RV near Anthem/North Phoenix because our daughter, SIL and grandson live 10 minutes away and of course the weather in Niagara Falls is only fit for honeymooners, (who don't need to go outside!) this time of year.
We are here for the winter, but may try and get out to Quartszite for the big show in January. One of these years I hope I can get grandma away from the grandson for a while so we can wander around the low desert and S. California to see the sights. He is nearly 2 years old so travelling around doesn't look good for now.
This is our 3rd year here and we have made some great friends and really enjoy the indoor pool and park activities so that is a real plus.
We have a great neighbour at home who checks the house daily, forewards the mail and makes the place look lived in. The heat is on and set at 55 degrees. The lights are on timers and the place is completely burglar alarmed.
Don

Cheri and I bought a winter home in Florida around 7 years ago and snow-birded until last Fall when we finally sold our NH home.

Lessons learned:
* Two homes are fun for two years then become a drag
* The need to pack up and travel to another base for half the year becomes a pressure rather than fun
* You struggle to find things like tools and end up having two of everything unless you can find a place to transport in the RV
* The inevitable catastrophe is tripled in negative emotions when you are 1700 miles away ( a flood, a leaky roof, a propane leak, for us to name the big ones)
* A simple thing like a leaky fill gasket on a toilet filled half our house with 2" of water due to no one being able to discover it ($12K damages)
* Taxes,insurance, maintenance doesn't go away because you're not there
* We winterized versus $3K in fuel, but every year I had water issues due to the shut down (frozen things in water softener, rust from well, pump wouldn't engage)

The bottom line for me is I'm still giddy over having only one house and one RV to maintain, that seems almost enjoyable. The main reason we jumped up to the Wanderlodge was the ability to have a live-in situation if/when we desired.

We still work, but our jobs are semi-transferable. I would consider a lot somewhere in the Mts, but I'd be sure I could get there in one day flat! Then again, it's really a nice freedom to try new areas.

As far as snow-birding in your RV in the south, it's very expensive and you can get locked into a park you don't like for a season. With the price of houses here, it seems a smart choice to instead buy a nice fixer upper and stay in the Barth while improving the property for later use or sale.

If you decide to buy land, be sure you can park your RV on it within regulations. Also consider sewage, water and electrical needs.

Forget buying with HOAs (Home Owner Associations). They can change the rules anytime the majority wants, don't chance it even if they allow the RV. This is not applicable to RV communities of course.

I would consider living a season in an area to feel it out first, that makes sense even if it costs a pretty penny.

I've stated before I'm a big fan of the Florida west coast, but there are many valid opinions on where to go.

We have a beautiful location, low low overhead, turn key house that we can pack up and leave indefinitely in about 1-2 hours.

And yes, I now have a master water shutoff just beyond the sprinkler system to insure no future plumbing disasters.

One more thing I just thought of, it helps to live in an area where you can get the basic services covered when you're away. Lawn care, pool care, & bug spraying are basic needs where I am. Finally, buy in an area that has good neighbors and a secure feel. When you're away, you don't want to be worrying about the safety of your vacant home too much. It could ruin the experience.

...Been thinking just like you for last couple years!...We haven't made the switch yet, but hitting 66 today means the government has decided I'm now too old for the workforce, so I better start finalizing plans

For us, we'll move away from the city and buy/build a smaller home in the country. Requirements are: short drive time to kids/grandkids (my bride's only requirement), a home as maintenance-free as possible, and room for a Barth-Barn/mancave.

Originally we planned to move up a bigger DP for extended living, but I'm now so emotionally attached to my little 24 footer that we plan to just keep it (will it to the kids, bury me in it, etc.)

We figure 30 days at a stretch in it is probably the tipping point between pure enjoyment
and wanting to kill each other. So we'll commit to one month's travel per quarter, giving us two months at home, followed by one month on the road.
That puts us "somewhere" south in February & November and "somewhere" in the Northeast & midwest in May & August. The months at home will include short weekend trips w/family.

Poking along at 200 miles/day, a week's travel puts over half the U.S. within range, followed by a couple week's at one or more sites, and a week headed home....two months to decompress at home, and then back out again.....

A rough itinery like this seems to give us the right balance between family ties and freedom on the road.....'Course, everyone has differing priorities, so obviously there's no "right" way.

Lookin' forward to more postings from others

Happy Birthday LEE !!!!!

Happy Birthday Lee, you can always retire and build one wheel trailers. All who wander are not lost.

We also are looking forward to the comments on this one.

We have decided this will be the last winter we spend here in the frozen tundra.

Along with all the points Corey mentioned about owning distant property we also considered the high property taxes here. We could stay in a nice "Resort" for the amount we pay for the privilage of owning some frozen dirt here.

Our plan is to downsize and head to Florida. We've taken the advice of Barthmobilers and will be checking out the west coast early next year to find a good starting point.

Our initial thoughts were that we will eventually need to upgrade our 28' gasser to a larger DP. Based on the housing information we are getting we might end up buying property instead as a base.

We are looking foward to the adventure and are keeping an open mind.

I also can say that one thing that makes me feel pretty comfortable in this part of Florida is that I'm basically surrounded by northerners. We have neighbors from Upstate NY, Long Island, Wisconsin, lots from Canada, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. We have two families in the surrounding area from Puerto Rico and one from Mexico. There is diversity, but with a touch of home.

I believe there are more overt Red Sox and Patriots fans in this part of Florida than back in New England.

The bottom line is I like a little diversity, but I would not want to be the only Yankee/Gringo in a neighborhood. Most northerners have plenty in common to make the time pass.

Dusty: As someone has probably said here and probably elsewhere --- there is no right answer for all. We all have to explore the options to find our best "alternate reality".
For us, we tried renting condos for a month or so and traveling for another month or so for a couple of years. Thought about buying, but what we find is that we like moving around. So instead of buying another house, we bought another Barth (we have a small one in Yukon). A 36ft Breakaway, kept in Phoenix area-- and then, we can trundle around from there. We have found that there are very nice state, regional, and city parks as well as staying at places like Quartszite and with these types of camping comes, space, that just is not provided when staying at most (all?) private campgrounds-- so we stay in those the least.
So the plan is (loosely)-- go to Phoenix-- stay if you want, if too warm go elsewhere (it was 100 F when we got there in Oct), when it gets too cool, windy etc. elsewhere, explore or re-explore areas back towards where it is warmer/calmer. This is the third year of this and we still enjoy it and so far have not had too much of anywhere we re-visist.
For us we need to have our house looked after, for all intents and purposes you would probably say we live in "the bush"-- no close neighbours-- closest 1/2 mile (through the bush) and three times that by road. So our house is either looked at regularly or house sat-- (the better option) as we have hot water heat (normally heated by wood) and there is NO way to winterize the house and leave it.
As we normally go for two stints in the south-- Oct/Nov & again in Feb/Mar. We find that flying to Az, although a substantial trip, is much less of an ordeal than driving the distance, as we have a long way to go (even if we only went once per year (which we did for a couple of years)).
So from a another point of view one could say we have the worst of it all-- pay all the taxes, insurance and heating here, and have to travel elsewhere for the some "summer in the winter", BUT we can return to here (Yukon) for what we northerners have to accept as summer and what we also really enjoy.
Lots of Luck and we should remember -- "it's all good"!
Bud

quote:

I'm basically surrounded by northerners.

Yall....That would plum scare me to death.....


Ha! Ha!


K&E


"Please pass the okra and the grits...."

One friend of mine had a line to an upstairs toilet break while they were gone. Did $140,000 worth of damage to the house and took over 3 months to repair. Another friend had the line to the ice maker in a spare fridge in his office/garage break, did $40,000 worth of damage.

We call 'em "Florida Yankees" in our neck of the woods But that aside we took a year off in 1995 to travel in our 28' SOB and found a renter for our house. We started begin of January in Tampa FL (where we bought the MH), stayed along the Gulf Coast/I10 during the winter, reached Las Vegas in April, got a foot of snow in Yellowstone May 1st and then drove up to Fairbanks Alaska for the summer. Also on board was a 100 pound dog. We towed a pickup truck, that helps with storage (bikes, grill etc).
Now we drive a semi truck and the quarters are a lot smaller than a RV. We also met a couple fulltiming in a Westfalia, with a weekly layover at the motel. It all depends on you. Toilets can leak btw, but a shut off valve outside solved that for us (yes it happened to us too). Just matters if you are "attached" to your family or like to roam. I like Bud's version the best.
I would try the smaller RV first, I had a few storage wars after downsizing from converted bus (with luggage bays for 40 people) to a 25' Barth, now we love the small versatile little Baby Barth.

Thanks for the responses
We do have (2) 22' Barths so leaving 1 down south would not be a problem. For now I still want to keep the home in Colorado.

If you decide to "shop" Florida, note that it's a large state, with different locales with varying weather conditions and communities.

In the rural area where I live, a "Northerner" is someone from Baker County. My lot is, for this county, modest-sized at just over 6 A. If it were across the river in the next county, real-estate taxes would be more than double. It's been as cold as 15°F and on a few occasions, over 100°F, far more variation than down Corey's way.

Convenience to resources is also a consideration. I'm 20 minutes from Gainesville (Home of the University of FL and Santa Fe College). There is world-class medical (and veterinary) care available.

I'm 40 minutes from Ginnie Springs and 35 from several renowned state parks. Traffic is minimal up here, stark contrast to some of the metro areas. In fact, years ago I sold out to my partner and bought a biz up here; in 3 years both my wife's and my commuting time had doubled (Pinellas County).

When my sister visited me a few years ago, flying in to Jax, she was floored by the uncluttered nature of north FL on the 1½ hour ride to my house. So the bottom line is: Look around.

You bring up a great point Rusty. Most people don't realize just how big Florida is, and diverse in terrain, population and weather.

If you drove from Key west across to San Diego, you would spend just as much time getting out of Florida as you would getting across Texas (over 800 miles!).

Likewise, if you drove north from Key West, it would take as many miles to leave Florida as it takes to make it from Florida all the way to Virginia.

Florida has 160 State Parks to explore and 3 of the country's 58 National Parks. Some people think Disney is another National Park

Many of the "retired" pass times abound here fishing, golfing, boating, car shows, equestrian shows, gambling, cruises, beaches, and much more.

Mostly people come here for the weather, like today it's Christmas eve and it was 80 degrees and sunny.

None of this makes it the only or best place to live, but it's right up there is you have the time and inclination to enjoy it.