"Fulltimers" a brief outline
A growing group of people from all walks of life who choose to give up their normal way of life and live in a motorhome as against normal property. Whatever the reasons they all seem to have the same desire to be free of modern day shackles and constraints not forgetting the stress and the feeling of being made to conform , some choose to live in their own home countries touring around, while others tour the world as we intend to do becoming truly "nomadic".
The hardest thing is whether you have to work while living in the motorhome or for the lucky few who have retired and do not have to work. This in itself is the hardest thing, as finding somewhere to call a base where you can have access to electric and water etc while working from your van is becoming increasingly harder due to the ever growing number of people hitting the road like modern day "Romanies" who just want to be left in peace to live their life as they chose.
The following seem to be a few of the questions we are always asked:
What do you do for a mailing address? Use a friend or family is the main choice as you can then have the mail forwarded to you wherever you may be and also this solves the problem of doctors, dentists and the tricky question of insurance, tax and mot ( although strictly not legal but unproven).
Where do you go in winter? anywhere warm as living in the uk in winter can be hard on the motorhomes due to the damp weather even though they are fully winterised and heated, its much better to be in warmer climes, Spain/Portugal and now Morocco seem to be the favourite choices but everyone has a different place to go, personally we'd like to park the motorhome up in storage and head off to the Far East/Australia as it costs about the same as staying in Europe .For anyone thinking of contemplating this way of life try the following web site as it has many "fulltimers" as members and the site is an excellent place for information and to meet like minded Motorhomers - www.motorhomefacts.com.
How long are you going to live in the van? the general answer is we don't know! we just take life as it comes and wherever the road under our wheels takes us. The choice of vans is endless as are the different layouts don't rush this stage as it can prove costly to change van shortly after buying one don't take the sales man's word for it as he's only after a sale and everybody has different idea's on what they want in a van.
Below are some tips on what you may or may not need it all depends on the depth of your wallet or do as we did and only buy things after much research talking to other campers and then deciding if we really needed it.
Fixed end beds or over cab or rear bedroom-garage storage underneath .
End bathroom with separate shower or one along the side with less room.
Large fridge with freezer above is a must for long term halts as the small fridges can't carry enough food.
Refillable gas bottles or tank plus adaptors as the new van's have only gas operated heating/hot water, and you will use 5-10kg of gas when its cold with the heating on all day and every European country has different connectors and they don't exchange/refill each others bottles.
Solar panels or generator or wind turbine-double 2 x 110amp batteries a must - a microwave on batteries uses a lot of power and will flatten 2x 85amp in one go better to use the stove me thinks!!!! and a small hair drier is okay but then camping's all about a compromise if you want 4**** better to stay in a hotel, motorhomes are great when on mains 16amp electric but that electric comes at a price namely you must use sites and there high charges and restricts were you can stay ( they don't put sites in isolated beauty spots but there is usually somewhere you can park up nearby)
Satellite dish , Dvd player, laptop, internet connection , and a good alarm system with microwave detectors not ultra sonic are a must otherwise some lowlife will steal/break in your motorhome, its better to spend £700+ on a good alarm than loose your £40000+ motorhome or have your stuff stolen . It does happen and afterwards they all say what about the alarm!!
Bike rack, scooter rack, air ride suspension, tow behind car [various options available depending on towing capacity ]
As more and more people chose to undertake this way of life one things certain its getting harder to find a base for short periods in the UK, even France is getting busy especially in the high summer months and Spain is starting to clamp down on the people who wild camp in the costa`s in winter. With the new Fiat/Psa van out in 2007 things are looking up for the long term use of motorhomes as a means to live in permenantly, as long as the manufacturers upgrade the other bits life should be a lot easier than in the older vans best suited to 3 season camping.
Anyone with any questions about fulltimimg please feel free to contact us via e-mail at the contact address on the home page, sometimes the answers can take a little time as we are away from the web link in our motorhome as all things in life get as many views and opinions before spending your hard earned cash as mistakes are costly to rectify later, happy motorhoming .