Two years ago we attended our first RV -Dreams rally and the experience changed our life.  Not only did we walk away from the experience with confidence we could actually do this lifestyle, we made an incredible group of people that we are still friends with to this day.  Side Note: We have been lucky to have met many other people in the lifestyle, but to keep things manageable I have just been updating on this original small group.    Although 11 couples it is a small sample of people who become full timers but it is a diverse group of people and I do believe it is a nice cross section of the larger group as a whole.   Since the two year anniversary of when we met is fast approaching I wanted to share some statistics on how the experiences of the group over the last 12 month period.  Each couples experience is unique, but there have been some similarities in experiences which could be helpful for those contemplating the lifestyle.  If nothing else it certainly proves there are lots of way to live this lifestyle and there is no one true way.

Demographics

• The age range of the group is 47 – 70 with the median age being 56 years old. 
• 95% of the group is Caucasian
• 82 % have been married over 10 years
• 55% have been married over 20 years
• 36% have been married over 30 years
• 55% of the couples have only been married once
• 73% of the couples have grown children
• 27% of the couples have grandchildren

Domicile

• 100% of the couples lived full-time in their RV for a portion of the last twelve months.
• 82% of the couples have no sticks and bricks home
• 27% of the couples own a “home base” piece of property or RV lot
• 36% of the couples are currently full-timing in a different rig than they started with
  • Upgrade to newer model for more space/features (18%)
  • Change from a fifth wheel to Class A (9%)
  • Major repair issue necessitated replacement of rig (9%)  

Finances 

• 45% of the couples had one or more partners working professional jobs on the road
• 18% of the couples owned small businesses on the road
• 27% of the couples work kamped during the last twelve months
• 36% of the couples have at least one partner who is retired with social security and/or pension benefits
• 27% of the couples lived primarily off of investments/savings

Travel

• 100% of the couples have spent time visiting with at least one other couple from the group
• 45% of the couples have spent 30 days or more assisting family (holidays, weddings, family illness, parent/child health issue)
• 45% are traveling primarily in the west, 36% are based primarily in the east, and 18% have split their travel time somewhat equally between the two areas.
• 18% of the couples have experienced changes to their travel plans due to major repair issues
• 18% of the couples have experienced changes to their travel plans due to health issues
• 100% of the couples have the capability to boon dock
• 55% of the couples have solar

Pets

• 73% of the couples travel with pets
  • One pet (46%)
  • Two or more pets (27%)
• 55% had dogs only
• 18% had dogs and cats
• 18% lost a pet to illness in the last twelve months
• 27% of the couples had to change their travel plans due to campground pet restrictions (ie: dog breeds; number of dogs) 

So what does this all mean?  Mainly I think it shows (ethnicity aside) that there is diversity in who full timers are and how they live the lifestyle.  It also proves that the lifestyle is sustainable at least for the first couple of years.  One couple will be taking a “reverse snowbird” approach and is in the process of building  a sticks and bricks in Florida.  The other couples have plans to continue full timing for the foreseeable future.   We are excited to see what the next 12 months looks like for us and everyone else.

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