Full time living

[watson]

Hello All
I have sat at the back for a while reading your message and chat .
I do have a question that I hope to get nuggets of information.

Am not a spring chicken nor is my husband. The idea was to move full time when we retired in 2 years (early retirement)
What would be the draw backs and pros
Thanks

 

[barryd]

Hi and welcome.

Lots of discussions on this over the years. Probably best answered by someone who is doing it or done it but I think the general consensus is have a plan B fall back option. This usually means a house you can move back into. Most people rent them out I think for some extra income. Most important I think if you are getting on a bit.

I would be tempted to do a couple of long trips. Maybe 3 to 6 months which is pretty much what we do most years. See how you get on. Maybe try one over winter as well.

 

[mariesnowgoose]

What Barry says

Depends on your circumstances of course. Not everybody owns their own house.

The full timers are the best ones to answer your question.

Personally I would want to have a "pied a terre" home to fall back on, no matter how small it might be.

If you own a house that's bigger than you really need you could consider selling and downsizing (this could give you a chunk of extra money too).

 

[barryd]

I was obsessed with doing this in my 40s about ten to fifteen years ago. I badgered Michelle for yonks about it but she never wanted to fully cut the ties and definitely never wanted to rent out our house. I am glad she won that one. I wouldnt want to do it now and we pretty much had the best of both worlds for years. Touring for five or six months sometimes up to eight each year and just going home in between. Its an expensive way of doing it but I have no regrets now.

 

[andyjanet]

We’ve nearly done 7 years, something we struggle with is a breakdown situation , it’s fine getting the vehicle repaired but where do you go, we’ve hired a cottage for a week as this was cheaper than hotel or premier inn, although still adds a few hundred to the vehicle repair bill

 

[Drover]

What they said...
How you go about it depends on your circumstances. We were living in ours before covid. Then we ended up with nowhere to go (sort of) stayed a year on stepdaughters drive with the front end over the pavement...neighbours kept asking when we were leaving.
We then built a small house with the view to income but did not realise we had to have it for 2 years or pay back the vat we claimed...(it's up soon)
It helps of you have a family friend for post/doctors/voting registration/licence.
It is a lot cheaper to stay in Europe than the UK..
You can do it cheaply or a very expensive route or anything in between .it's hard to give a view on it.
Right now in Strazburg @ 34°c

 

[barryd]

Yep Europe always was a bit cheaper but unless you have EU citizenship rights you only have 90 days in 180 since ******.

 

[DaveH]

We have full timed for nearly a year and currently we have a pitch whilst working as part time wardens on a small camp site. We sold up and hit the road. In my view it is about mindset. Be positive and see every challenge as learning. Don’t think it through too much. All the practice stuff like mail and GPs is easy to sort and loads of advice available. If we were stuck then we can stay with family until sorted either the van or us broken down. We have a frugal lifestyle with the freedom to roam and no real bills to pay apart from gas and the van running:maintenance. We have seen loads of people young and old embracing this lifestyle. Some in self builds others in an A class. A few on motorcycles and tent and someone in a caravan. Just go for it and what is the worst can happen? I am 60 and my wife 54. The community is so helpful . One life just live it Dave n Jo

 

[Herbenny]

I dreamt of it for a long time but came to realisation I needed a base and also leaving my grandson would be too much of a wrench. We come up with the plan that in 18 months we are well and truly downsizing the cheaper the better and where I live it will the size of a postage stamp however it will free up so much capital for us to travel and hubby can dip his toes in and work in between maybe winter months.
I love my home but I want memories more than bricks
Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[n brown]

being practical ,there's more to van living than people realise - a host of new problems and chores to be overcome and learned . unless you're loaded of course .
bit like when people have a couple of spanish holidays then sell up and move there , the weather can be brutal ,the locals unfriendly [whether its clacton or torremelinos ! ] and the language tricky . suddenly ,most people are in a tin box with no room to move after being in comparativele large house ,that'll test your friendship !

 

[alcam]

Yep Europe always was a bit cheaper but unless you have EU citizenship rights you only have 90 days in 180 since ******.

****** what be that Barry ?

 

[barryd]

****** what be that Barry ?

I can't believe the B word is censored! Probably just as well. Its something long term travellers should be aware of though. However you can get a French and I think a Spanish Visa now. Not easy but doable and if you wangle it right I think you can get six months in France but also your additional 90 days in the rest of Schengen. There are a few people doing it who have tested it now.

 

[alcam]

I can't believe the B word is censored! Probably just as well. Its something long term travellers should be aware of though. However you can get a French and I think a Spanish Visa now. Not easy but doable and if you wangle it right I think you can get six months in France but also your additional 90 days in the rest of Schengen. There are a few people doing it who have tested it now.

Maybe possible in Italy ? My son did have a quick look , may still happen .

 

[r4dent]

The allure is the freedom, but you need to do broad brush planning before committing.
Nothing detailed just a broad plan and an exit strategy.

I met a couple (before the 90 day rule) with a simple outline plan.
Nov - Jan parked at family homes in UK (three different parts of family for month each so people didn't get fed up with them) / Feb touring UK/ Mar - Aug touring EU/ Sept - Oct touring UK.

The money from selling their house was in a savings Account which they never touched, so they could use it when they gave up full timing.

 

[barryd]

Maybe possible in Italy ? My son did have a quick look , may still happen .

Not sure about Italy. Most seem to have gone for the French Visa which is the one I would choose as we would be more likely to spend most of the time there. I always think France is the best place to spend the entire summer as it has so many aires or wild spots away from the madding crowds if you need to get away, its so diverse in its geography and the weather generally is not too extreme.

 

[1 Cup]

If your in your in . Make it fun and laughter is a good go to place.

 

[rugbyken]

i do find france very expensive now cost of living fuel etc used to be so much cheaper than here we used to get to france on fumes to fill up now it’s the opposite even spain & portugal have got dearer this is since covid and ukraine , to be honest ****** has insulated us a bit from that , when we bought our first house here it was about £10k 5 years later we went to france and a lovely fishing village had a brand new bungalow on large corner plot for the equivalent price and a terraced fisherman’s cottage £2.500 wish i’d had the spare change house prices have almost caught up with the uk, in portugalm10 years ago you could have a rural old building bit of land less than couple of grand now that same plot is 10-12

 

[alcam]

Not sure about Italy. Most seem to have gone for the French Visa which is the one I would choose as we would be more likely to spend most of the time there. I always think France is the best place to spend the entire summer as it has so many aires or wild spots away from the madding crowds if you need to get away, its so diverse in its geography and the weather generally is not too extreme.

If you have a French or Italian, Spanish etc visa does that not allow you unlimited time within the EU ?

 

[barryd]

If you have a French or Italian, Spanish etc visa does that not allow you unlimited time within the EU ?

No I don't think so. There is a group on FB dedicated to this and I got the impression the visa is for six months (mainly they seem to be going for the French one) but a couple of people stated that you still get your 90 days that can be used outside of France so in theory you could do six months in France and then do 90 days in the rest of Schengen. I think thats how it was stated. I cant remember which group it was now. This seems to be the only one I am still a member of but I was sure it was dedicated to motorhomers.

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[Boris7]

I love the idea of full timing, but then reality hits home.

Realistically I hate home, it’s just not for me, but I ain’t 20 anymore I’d love to spend the rest of my days travelling.