Anyone snowbird from in their RV?

[DaveundSharon]

Originally Posted by BC1

Hi all,

With each year the winters get harder for me as I have some medical issues that are much worse in cold weather. Even though I'm not near retirement age yet, I have been starting to think about getting a place down South and working there from at least Dec to Feb. I have been working from home since March due to Covid so I think it may be do-able work-wise to start doing this next year and not wait until retirement.

I just don't know how it will work logistically for a few non-work reasons so I started thinking about driving the RV down south and staying somewhere nice instead of investing in buying a small home or condo.

Wondering if anyone else here does that?

Take care,
Beth

Yes, we have “snowbirded” several years between Rochester NY & Bradenton FL! Last December (2019), we sold our house and now live in our Motorhome 10 months & rent an apartment in the Finger Lakes for two. Since we spend at least 6 months in Florida , we are officially residents.

[DaveundSharon]

Yes, we have “snowbirded” several years between Rochester NY & Bradenton FL! Last December (2019), we sold our house and now live in our Motorhome 10 months & rent an apartment in the Finger Lakes for two. Since we spend at least 6 months in Florida , we are officially residents.

[jgwmjw2]

We spent 3 winters in our motorhome in "age 55+" RV parks in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. Half the price of Florida and a much friendlier atmosphere. Local residents and businesses actually welcome and appreciate us "Winter Texans." Last winter we purchased a used "park model," sold the motorhome and purchased a much smaller used travel trailer for traveling from the north down to Texas. Park models are much more "home-like," easier to heat and cool and more comfortable than RVs. You can decorate and landscape your lot, add a storage shed and put down some roots. Local cable companies can provide fast internet and TV, with seasonal rates.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by jgwmjw2

We spent 3 winters in our motorhome in "age 55+" RV parks in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. Half the price of Florida and a much friendlier atmosphere. Local residents and businesses actually welcome and appreciate us "Winter Texans." Last winter we purchased a used "park model," sold the motorhome and purchased a much smaller used travel trailer for traveling from the north down to Texas. Park models are much more "home-like," easier to heat and cool and more comfortable than RVs. You can decorate and landscape your lot, add a storage shed and put down some roots. Local cable companies can provide fast internet and TV, with seasonal rates.

Be advised that area has the highest positivity rate for CV-19 in the state at the present time, just over 16%.

[JoeyAllen]

I snowbird every year down south but I full time anyway. Rockies in summer. Arizona or Florida in winter. Going on 5 years. I go where I can comfortably play golf.

[jgwmjw2]

We spent 3 winters in our motorhome in "age 55+" RV parks in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. Half the price of Florida and a much friendlier atmosphere. Local residents and businesses actually welcome and appreciate us "Winter Texans." Last winter we purchased a used "park model," sold the motorhome and purchased a much smaller used travel trailer for traveling from the north down to Texas. Park models are much more "home-like," easier to heat and cool and more comfortable than RVs. You can decorate and landscape your lot, add a storage shed and put down some roots. Local cable companies can provide fast internet and TV, with seasonal rates.

[jgwmjw2]

I'm fully aware of the Covid rate in that area, and the reasons why it's high. We practice all the safety measures in our gated community and, for the time being, only venture out when necessary. BTW, El Paso has the highest rate in Texas, not Mcallen.

[sage]

We snowbirded in a motor home for about 7 years. We started off in a 1995 32 foot Tiffin Allegro Bus with no slides and finished in a 1998 36 foot Allegro with a single living room slide.

As a warm weather winter home both coaches worked well, although when we switched to the 1998 Allegro the extra length and the slide made a huge difference. The Tiffin quality also made a big difference. We were very comfortable in both coaches, had a reasonable amount of basement storage and interior cabinets and the creature comforts that made spending four to five months in what is really a small confined space comfortable.

We spent three years in the Ft. Myers area, one winter in Benson, AZ and another in Harlingen, TX. We ended up in Sebring, central Florida. We liked the area so well that we bought a park model and spent 10 winters there. We sold the motor home when we bought the park model, but after 10 years we got itchy feet and decided to buy a small Class C, purely for the purpose of traveling.

We first bought a 23 foot Tioga, but it didn’t have a real bed and that didn’t work for us. I ran across a Vegas and we ended up buying our 2016 24.2, which has proved to be a great traveling rig. It’s small enough to that we haven’t had issues getting in and out of anywhere but large enough that we are comfortable with a small dog and a cat as well as the two of us.

[Cpd]

We summer on our land in Vermont and winter on south padre island in texas. We love it!

[Bob Denman]

When I retire: I'm tying a showshovel to the grille of our rig, and pointing it South.
When someone asks me what the funny-looking shovel is for: that's where I'll drop the levelers!

[dmb5179]

Hi all first time respondent & love all of the advice and good natured banter!


YES, my wife and I have have been snow birds in our camper the past 3 winters, albeit for 3 months - Jan-March - in Florida in the shadow of the Mouse in Clermont Florida. Folks where we stayed think/thought we were "krazy" as we have a 22E Fourwinds and we do not tow a vehicle. We walk a lot, bring our bikes and ride them just about anywhere we need/wan to go. LOTS to do in the place we stay, a private "campground" with all owner occupied spots, so not a problem figuring out what to do. Exceptionally clean and convenient bath house which we use almost exclusively as our shower is used as auxiliary storage. The last 2 winters we pulled up stakes first part of February and headed to West Palm Beach, John Prince Campground, and watched spring training with our favorite ball team the Nationals along with a number of other teams in the West Palm area. Made for a nice interlude from the routine in Clermont. We did/have rented vehicles from Enterprise so we could leave the motorhome at the park with the ac on for our dog. Since neither of our vechiles are able to be pulled it was cheaper than purchasing a new vehicle that we really didn't need.


Sorry to be so long but in a nut shell - YES, by all means try snowbirdong in your camper, get out meet the folks around you and IF you fond you don't enjoy it there are some interesting "homes" in the Central Florida area that you may find affordable.