Fulltime Liveaboards

[telemark3232]

Anybody out there "full timing" on a 17 footer or smaller? No home or apartment or condo to go back to. You are living full time in your camper. Those are my intentions, so I'd like to hook up with someone who's doing it. Located in Florida.

[MTWaggin]

Go read about rvsueandcrew.net - she is in a 17' Casita with her two dogs fulltiming and mostly boondocking. She had lots of good information about how she got started and selling her place to do it! There are also a number of great blog links here Fiberglass Travel Trailers

Sherry in MT

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by telemark3232

Anybody out there "full timing" on a 17 footer or smaller? No home or apartment or condo to go back to. You are living full time in your camper. Those are my intentions, so I'd like to hook up with someone who's doing it. Located in Florida.

Hi: Telemark... There was a member over on FGRV name Alan "Ace" Brown, that full timed in an Escape 17'er. He had ETI do custom mods to his spec's. so he called his trailer a 17"C". He sold it not long ago. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[telemark3232]

Sherry,
I've visited her site and the Casita and Scamp forums. I was interested in finding Escape owners who had done this to discuss further. I have lived aboard small sailboats in the past for several years, so tight quarters is not an issue. I want to find someone with an Escape that can discuss modifications they have made.

[KarenH]

This would be your best bet: Jon's Journeys

You can find all his modifications on this site, too.

[telemark3232]

Thanks for all the replies!

[HABBERDABBER]

I'd met up with "Ace" Brown down in central Florida 4 or so Winters ago when we were staying in a State Forest near Inverness. He'd been living in his 17' and moving across the country with the seasons, heading West & North in Summer. He sold it last year and bought some property out West.
He was Ok with his rig, but it's small and he had a pretty good sized Golden Retriever companion.
These small rigs have everything, showers, hot water, refrigeration, AC......everything but room.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by HABBERDABBER

I'd met up with "Ace" Brown down in central Florida 4 or so Winters ago when we were staying in a State Forest near Inverness. He'd been living in his 17' and moving across the country with the seasons, heading West & North in Summer. He sold it last year and bought some property out West.
He was Ok with his rig, but it's small and he had a pretty good sized Golden Retriever companion.
These small rigs have everything, showers, hot water, refrigeration, AC......everything but room.

Yeah, but you have all of nature for your room.

[Jrn56]

The area under the awning is considered our living room. I don't think I could spend too much time in any of these small trailers. Outdoors is our favorite place. That being said, I would love to try full timing for a year or so to see the country.

[Vermilye]

I'm the Jon of Jon's Journeys. While I am not a full timer, as of today I've been on the road for 279 days. I still have a small house in Oswego, NY. It is on the shores of Lake Ontario & would be hard to give up. The blog at Jon's Journeys is a short version of my travels - I have a web page with the same text but usually many more photos for this trip at 2014 Trip Across the US & Canada.. There is also a page dedicated to fiberglass trailers & their owners at Fiberglass Trailers, and many more RV, Travel & photos pages at the site. What started out as a replacement for a paper log of my travels has gotten completely out of hand!

As to modifications, I have made a few, and plans for more when I get back to NY. I have a web page describing them here.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

I'm the Jon of Jon's Journeys. While I am not a full timer, as of today I've been on the road for 279 days. I still have a small house in Oswego, NY. It is on the shores of Lake Ontario & would be hard to give up. The blog at Jon's Journeys is a short version of my travels - I have a web page with the same text but usually many more photos for this trip at 2014 Trip Across the US & Canada.. There is also a page dedicated to fiberglass trailers & their owners at Fiberglass Trailers, and many more RV, Travel & photos pages at the site. What started out as a replacement for a paper log of my travels has gotten completely out of hand!

As to modifications, I have made a few, and plans for more when I get back to NY. I have a web page describing them here.

Modest Jon. That must be a new use of the word "few" I'm unfamiliar with...

[Brian B-P]

In a similar discussion not specific to Escape, I recall someone asking how two people could live full-time in a 13-foot trailer. The best answer was to live out of the trailer, using it as a place to sleep, cook, whatever... but spending most of the time out doing things. That made sense to me.

Since Escape Trailer Industries started with the 17-foot model, and has built relatively few of the smaller models (13' and 15') but an ever-increasing range of larger models, I expect that it will be hard to find anyone living full-time in the little ones.

We have only used larger RVs for extended living; our 17' trailer has only been for trips of a week or so. That doesn't mean it isn't practical, just that I can't add any report of personal experience in that size.

[telemark3232]

Thanks for all of the great info! Much appreciated. I agree totally with living "out of the box". You do the same living aboard a small boat. Cruising folks anchor or dock the boat; then go ashore and explore the towns. More appropriate names might be "rest aboard" or "sleep aboard". You only truly liveaboard when you are underway or anchor and decide not to go ashore.