Retirees Must Plan Ahead Before Hitting The Road

Q. In October I will be retiring after 30 years of hard work. My wife and I plan to go “on the road” until we get tired of it, if that ever happens. We need information to help us decide whether to simply pay a monthly fee at a given campground, or to join one or more camping clubs and use the campgrounds and facilities available to members.

Also, we plan to sell everything before beginning our nomadic trip. I am sure we have to have some kind of “permanent” address for tax and mail purposes. What is the best plan there?

Until my Social Security kicks in in 1997, I will be drawing $1,700 a month on company retirement. Is it realistic to believe that we can survive “out there” if everything we own is paid for? - R.T., Carlisle, Pa.

A. “I wish someone had told me some of the pitfalls” of life on the road in a camping rig. Barc Bowman of Fort Lauderdale, who with his wife Helen has been a traveling camper since 1988, had that reaction when I asked him to help answer reader R.T.’s questions.

“He’s got a lot to learn,” he added. “Nothing serious, just things to avoid.”

Since Bowman retired and he and his wife went “on the road” in a self-contained motor home, they have taken off annually in May to spend about five months touring, and have now visited every state but Hawaii. They spent most of one summer in Alaska and, for the past few years, have stayed mostly in New England, often parked at a relative’s home in Vermont.

His first advice is to try out RV living for up to a year before selling your home or apartment. Not everyone likes the camping life, he says. They don’t like maneuvering a big rig, or find it hard to cope with repairs and breakdowns, or find that there is a bit too much togetherness in the limited space. “After five months in close quarters, we’re always glad to get back to our big house,” Bowman said.

He advises renting or borrowing a rig to try out before paying big bucks for one that might not suit you. The Bowmans bought a 31-foot, self-contained motor home for $60,000, and trail a car behind it to use when they stay in one place for a while.

“There wasn’t a single thing in that motor home that didn’t have something wrong with it when we bought it new,” he said. “It’s six years old now and in better condition than when it was new” after a lot of work - some he did, some he hired out. “If you can do your own repairs, you save a lot of money,” he said.

If he had it to do again, he’d buy a fifth-wheeler. This is a trailerlike camper that fits over the bed of a pickup truck. “You don’t need to trail a car for local transportation; it takes only a few minutes to jack it up and drive away in the truck,” Bowman explained.

“The fifth wheeler is easier to maneuver and offers a lot better selection for a much better price. You can get a nice one for around $20,000.”

Some other campers prefer a travel trailer or a self-contained motor home. There are a number of RV shows staged around the country to show off the new models, and dealers are glad to show off their RVs. But “the best way to find out about rigs is by talking to other campers. Most of them are retired like us, aren’t in any hurry, and everyone at campgrounds likes to tell you all about their problems and compare rigs like people compare their cars,” Bowman said.

I’ve also encountered plenty of people who did sell everything and go on the road full time, often spending summers in the North and winters in the South. And I have talked with RVers who work as volunteers in national parks for a season, in return for free campground space. I’ve met some who nixed the fifth-wheeler rigs because they prefer to cover the truck bed with a shell and use it for storage or a spare bedroom. The pros and cons of all these camping styles are favorite topics of discussion at campgrounds.

Bowman’s next cautionary advice is to hold off on buying into a campground club. He paid $4,500 to join a campers’ organization called Coast to Coast, plus annual dues of $320. In return, members get space in a string of campgrounds.

“This is a good deal if you are on the road most of the time,” he said. “Now that we park for long periods at a relative’s home, it’s too expensive.” And there are areas where there are no properties that accept club members’ rigs. Most clubs have a limit on consecutive nights spent at one campground, usually one week.

The Good Sams are among other good camping clubs, most of which have magazines and offer various other services such as towing services, insurance and group trips.

As for expense, Bowman said that once you have a rig and get it into good shape, living “is much cheaper than in a house. There are no taxes or utilities, little upkeep, no lawn work - you pay only for campground space, and occasionally for electricity if you are running a furnace or air conditioning. Our motor home has most of the comforts of home: a TV, VCR, oven, microwave, refrigerator, heat and air conditioning.” He thinks that R.T. and his wife can make it on their current income.

The Bowmans still have their home as a permanent address, and their sons pick up and forward their mail. They arranged most bills to be paid through their bank, and they phone their charge card company every month to get their balance. Close relatives or friends could agree to provide a “permanent address” - also, there are several services that receive and forward mail for a fee.

Contact campgrounds, RV dealers and rental companies in your area for clubs, magazines and other information on the RV lifestyle.