California State Parks and beaches might have just become a little bit more clean.  The interesting thing about that statement is that it is not necessarily the traditional trash that you will see disappearing from California State Parks while you are out retirement RVing, it might just be discarded cigarette butts.  On March 22, 2010, the California lawmakers voted to ban smoking at California’s 278 state parks and beaches.  It is one of the nation’s most far-reaching regulations of tobacco use.

Proponents say that it is a great vote for the environment, fire protection, and public health protection from second-hand smoke.  Those that oppose the State Park smoking ban say that it is government meddling in places where government should not meddle.

The measure still has to be signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and he has given no indication whether he will sign the bill or not.

What do you think?  Is the new California State Parks and beaches smoking ban too intrusive or are you in favor of the ban?  Will this new law influence where you take your new RV this upcoming summer if it is signed into law?  Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Photo by Fovea Centralis

First in December 2009, came the news that the U.S. Forest Service was looking to end the half-off discount program for seniors over the age of 62-years-old that started in the 1960’s.  Seniors were granted the “Golden Age” passport and the disabled were granted the “Golden Access” passport, both offered 50% off of the price of federal campgrounds run by private concessionaires…for life.

Now, however, it seems that the U.S. Forest Service is having second thoughts about that lifetime guarantee.  The jury is currently out on the decision to do away with the 50% off discount and instead change the discount to 10% off for these same groups.  For retired RVer’s who often use federal campgrounds for RV vacations, this could be a significant price increase and a large burden on those living on Social Security that hasn’t increased in years.  To be fair, Jim Bedwell, director of recreation for the Forest Service points out there’s still free admission, still a discount at sites managed directly by the government, and more benefits to come, including discounts on rentals of “day-use” facilities such as picnic grounds.

The second blow that seems to be going against retirement RV owners is the fact that many state parks might be closed because of State budget cuts.  Some State officials think that closing State Parks will help solve their budget woes that they are currently facing.  Whether closing State Parks will actually help budget problems is yet to be seen,  but there are some naysayers and RV travel supporters out there that suggest that closing State Parks will not have the implications that State’s hope.  Reasons listed include the fact that:
1.  State Park attendance continued to be strong in 2009, even during a recession

2.  Building and maintaining State Parks helps to create jobs

3.  State Parks help to promote tourism, and more.

What do you think?  Have the recent developments in the closures of parks and increase in park fees tainted the dream of retirement RVing that you had when you first went out to buy an RV and charted out your dream retirement?  Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment.

If you are researching information to see if retirement RVing is right for you and/or if you have already made the decision to full-time RV and you wonder what’s next, some retirement rving resources might be good to have:

Finding a Retirement Motorhome to buy
To find that perfect retirement RV, look no further than RV sales.  This website features a RV Finder that will show you what travel trailers, toy haulers, fifth wheels, motorhomes, and campers fit your criteria.

Knowing if you can tow your RV
A common question that many RV owners have is “Can I safely tow my RV with the vehicle that I currently have?”  A great resource to answer this question is the RV Buyer’s Guide, Tow Rating Search.  Just put in the year, manufacturer, and make of your vehicle and the tow rating guide will tell you which towable RV’s that you can pull safely.

Learning about RVing
Reading the major RV forums like the forums on RV.net and others is an excellent place to start learning about full-time or part-time RVing.  You can even learn a lot, even if you are just taking a few RV vacations each year.

Another great resource is RV Lifestyle Experts.  Jaimie Hall Bruzenak and Alice Zyetz both have years of full-time RV experience and have authored numerous books about RVing.  Through their website, blog, RV Lifestyle Ezine, and seminars…the RV Lifestyle experts will teach you a lot about full-time rving.

Lastly, another valuable RVing resource just might be NuRvers.com.  This website features non-retired full-time RVers and issues that retirement RVer’s face who still need a job to support their RV lifestyle.

There are many retirement RV resources out there at your disposal.  The above are just a few to get you started on the road to RV retirement.

In continuing our discussion from last post, in this post we cover more jobs that you can do while you fulltime RV.  Some  careers can be done remotely and over the computer, perfect for retirement RVers or non-retired fulltime RV owners.  Computer support jobs, online index database jobs, computer programming jobs, freelance writing, and website design jobs are all examples of professions that can go very well with retirement or early retirement to a motorhome.  Especially now that laptop computers and wireless Internet are becoming readily available to the RVing public, these jobs have become more and more practical.

Schooling

Almost all of the above mentioned careers require some sort of specialized degree or training.  Try to plan ahead if possible, if you are not already trained in these fields.  A few years before you want to retirement RV, find a college or technical school in your current area that offers the training you need and enroll in classes.

Experience

See if you can get some experience on your resume in these fields.  This can even be done by offering your services for free to a local non-profit group or club.  Offering your services will allow you to build your resume (making you more appealing to businesses who would consider hiring you and let you work remotely) and provide a nice service to a worthy group of your choice.

Networking

Begin looking for different online work opportunities in the field of your choice.  Try searching job search engines like Monster, Careerbuilder, and/or Indeed.com for jobs that will let you work remotely or telecommute.  You can also tap into the resources and contacts that you have made from years of working, by spreading the word that you are looking for a flexible work situation.  See if any of your existing network needs your help or knows of someone who does.  Posting a profile on a website like LinkedIn can be a good start.  Starting this search early will allow you to have a better idea of where to look for employment when you finally take the plunge in a full time retirement RV lifestyle.

So remember, no matter whether you are planning to retire to a Class A Motorhome, travel trailer, or fifth wheel…if you need a job to help support your full-time retirement RV living, make sure to observe some of the tips above for a successful venture.

Back in August, we wrote about jobs and hobbies to do while you full-time RV or snowbird. Now we will go into a little more detail about what these jobs and hobbies are and how to obtain these positions.

The first job that we covered was Workamping (or work camping). Workamping is growing rapidly, especially as retirement RVing and fulltime RVing both increase in popularity. Workkampers traditionally live in their motorhome and serve as camp hosts, do maintenance, or serve in other skilled jobs and receive free campsite fees and sometimes a small salary in return. A workamper could actually be a couple, single person, or family. Workampers also can be retired or non-retired fulltime RVers.

The nice thing about workamping is that you can choose different locations around the country based upon your desired location and/or the part of the country you want to see. Want a Grand Canyon RV vacation on a limited budget? Secure a workamping post close to the Grand Canyon. Always wanted to go on a Yellowstone National Park RV vacation? See about workamping opportunities in Wyoming or Montana.

If you would like to try to be a workamper, here are some resources for you:
1. Work-camping.com – Recreation Resource Management’s website showing you work camping opportunities in the United States and how to apply for a workamping position with Recreation Resource Management.

2. RV Park Store- Work camping jobs and camp host positions throughout the country.

3. Workamper.com – Helps great people find great jobs in great places. Many workamping resources to find the perfect work camping job for you.

In addition to work camping in the traditional sense, others also find seasonal work at Amazon and other companies. Check out this neat article about Amazon and work for RVers and check back at our next retirement RV’s post for more details about jobs and hobbies for full-time RVers.

1.  Staying Warm- Become a snowbird or fulltime RVer and travel south for the winter.  No more shoveling snow, slipping on ice, or bundling up tight.  You choose when it is time to head to a warmer climate and then you bring all of the comforts of home with you in your retirement RV.  Choose a retirement RV community to spend the winter in or reserve a spot in a RV resort from year to year.

2.  Seeing the Country – Retirement RVs offer unprecedented ability to travel and see the country.  From Yellowstone National Park to the fall colors in Maine to the redwoods of California to the beaches of Florida, having an RV makes it so easy to see all of the beautiful areas that the United States and even Canada have to offer.  No more just going on a short RV Vacation, these beautiful areas can be your living room every day.

3.  Downsizing -  Buying a RV for retirement forces you to pare down all of the “things” that you have accumulated through years of living in a “sticks and bricks” house.  Because your motorhome has much less square footage, cabinets, and closet space, retirees must choose which items are most important to them and keep only those items.

4.  Living on a budget – Especially if you already own your RV, retirement RVing can offer a very economical way to live.  If you are on a fixed budget, this can be music to your ears.  Choose to boondock most of the time, workcamp in exchange for your site fees, or stay in campsites for an extended period of time to save on gas.  RVing in retirement can be very economical compared to living in a fixed location.  You save on having multiple vehicles, having to maintain outside areas, decorations, and heating & cooling a large space.

5.  Change of scenery – We already mentioned all of the State Parks, National Parks, and scenic byways that are extremely easy to capture out the window of your RV, but don’t forget another obvious benefit of retirement RVing, the change of scenery.  If you get bored of being in a certain place, just move the RV.  If you have noisy (or nosey) neighbors, just move the RV.  You get the idea.  Find RV Sales and change your scenery.

There are so many reasons to retire in a RV. So, how do you choose just a few for a short list?  The Top 5 reasons are shown in this post and the next Top 5 will be shown in the next post here on Retirement RVs.  Here are Retirement RVs top 10 reason’s to choose retirement RVing, in no particular order:

10.  Learning -  Not only are there interesting new things to learn about your Retirement RV, there are countless new places to learn about around the United States.  Not only can you visit our National Parks, there are countless historic homes, museums, and historic sites to learn about all of the historical moments that you didn’t quite grasp from the school history books.  If you would like to learn more about living the frugal life through RVing, check out this free RV Lifestyle webinar.

9.  Meeting new friends – RVer’s have the reputation of being some of the friendliest folks around, so it is fairly easy to meet new people, who eventually become new friends.  Some retirement RVer’s meet on the RV Forum’s through common interest topics and decide to meet up if their paths cross in the same State or at the same RV Show or rally.  Some RVer’s meet nice RV neighbors at the RV campground and become life long friends. You never know who you will meet when you Go RVing.

8.  Reconnecting with family -  Some non-RVer’s (and sometimes some RVer’s) wonder how your marriage can survive fulltime RVing.  Other RVer’s wonder how your marriage can survive WITHOUT fulltime RVing.  No matter if you are a fulltime retirement RVer or you RV for short vacations, RVing is an excellent way to reconnect with your family.  You have many hours on the road to just talk to each other, you have many hours around the campfire to tell stories, you have the boundless beauty of nature (without the TV blaring in the background) to really listen to each other.  Take your grandkids with you to really get to know them or allow your adult children to visit for mini vacations and learn what’s happened with them in the past couple of years.  The chances to reconnect with family are endless when you RV.

7.  A new challenge -  You have put in your years of work, you have raised your children, you have been involved in your community…now what?  Is it time for a new challenge?  Retirement RVing can be the perfect choice for a new challenge.  Research which motorhome is the best choice for your needs through a RV Finder and reading RV Forum posts.  Learn how to drive the RV, pack the RV, set up the RV, run the RV generator, and book reservations.  RVing 101 type articles can help.  There is never a shortage of new challenges and exciting adventures when you retirement RV.

6.  Mobility -  Need to get to a family members wedding?  Going to a out-of-State family reunion?  Want to visit your family who lives across the country?  Needing to help someone move? When you have a retirement RV, it is so easy to go anywhere at the drop of a hat.  You have all of the comforts of home and it is so easy to be mobile.

Next post, Reasons for Retirement RVing, numbers 1-5.

Are you looking at RV retirement in the State of Alabama and want to know which RV retirement parks are the highest rated? Here is a good place to start to select the right Alabama RV retirement community for you. It is good to know what other RV fulltimers, snowbirds, and retirement RV users say about a RV park before you book your stay. Find which RV parks rate the highest to maximize your chances of having a wonderful stay. Are you just starting to look at fulltiming in a RV and need to upgrade your travel trailer, fifth wheel, or motorhome? This RV Sales site is a good place to start.

Tiffin Allegro Bay interior

No Reservations, No Plans, No Worries….that’s the motto of Dale and Mary Lynn on the blog Dale and Mary Lynn’s Travels. Dale and Mary Lynn received a surprise offer of early retirement effective in June 2007 and since then have been traveling the country…and boy have they traveled in their retirement! On their 2009 retirement RV vacation, from which they just returned home to Maryland in August 2009, Dale and Mary Lynn were gone 226 days and 8 hours! They traveled to 21 States (including Alaska), two Canadian Provinces, and one Canadian territory. Follow Dale and Mary Lynn as they travel the country in their 2008 37 foot Tiffin Allegro Bay by going to Dale and Mary Lynn’s Travels.

If you would like to check out a Tiffin Allegro Bay for yourself, go to this RV Sales website.

Are you thinking of buying a retirement RV and becoming fulltimers, but do not know where to start? Then you might want to check out two books about full-time RVing, An Alternative Lifestyle–Living and Traveling Full-time in a Recreational Vehicle and Movin’ On – Living and Traveling Full-time in a Recreational Vehicle.

Both books were written by Ron and Barb Hofmeister who bought a retirement RV and have been full-time RVers since 1989. They set out to write a book about the full-timing RV lifestyle and how to get ready for it so that others would not be afraid to venture out. When the Hofmeisters wrote the first book, there were few books on the subject, and none gave insight to the economic or social aspects of full-timing.

An Alternative Lifestyle–Living and Traveling Full-time in a Recreational Vehicle, was first released in May of 1992 and after two revisions and many printings has sold over 16,000 copies. Each time the book printed, the Hofmeister’s updated the book so that it was always current. The last printing date was August of 1997. The book which one reviewer described as “a how-to book that reads like an adventure story” is out of print, but the book Movin’ On – Living and Traveling Full-time in a Recreational Vehicle has taken it’s place.

To read more about Ron and Barb Hofmeister and where you can buy their books, check out Movinon.net.