Driver's license with no permanent home.

[Uplander]

I started wondering about how full timers manage to maintain a valid driver's license when reading the recent posts about living in 3 states. That post ended up discussing taxes and how to avoid them....no one asked about how to maintain a driver's license with no place to call home.
I may never go so far as to go full time but even now that I am retired our RV trips for extended time require some planning when it comes to paying bills, managing mail and then there is that 10 acres of grass that never stops growing!

So how do you do it?....and....another question about your charge cards.
We have a Chase Bank charge card and they insist we notify them when we will be traveling about the country and where we might be. The security folks at Chase monitor charges by location in an attempt to stop credit card fraud.
There service did "nip-in-the-bud" a run on our credit card in New York City when we were in Vermont....seems our account information had been stolen at a resturant when we traveled to the southern states. Because we travel a lot Chase wants us to keep them informed as to where we are. They also have taught us a lot about how to avoid account theft situations (restaurants and what is known as "Palm Scanners" are often the source of account theft).

High tech world means high-tech crime...they don't need a gun and a mask anymore!

[Almost There]

Even though one is full-timing it is necessary to keep a 'permanent address' since everyone from the feds to the insurance company etc. etc. insist that no one can do a 'no fixed address'...sigh!

There are services in several states - Florida, Texas, South Dakota come to mind instantly where you establish residency in the state and declare your permanent address to be their address.

You tag your vehicles, use it for tax purposes and have all your banking and insurance established with their address. They all have mail forwarding services for those items that absolutely can not be dealt with on line.

I used a service in Green Cove Springs FL for mine while I travelled full-time. Some people join Escapees for nothing more than their mail/address service in Texas.

As to charge cards, yes, notify your bank/credit card company. I just give them a state(s) and month(s). Most have online notification services available. Always carry two cards from two different companies just in case one gets caught in the security net!

I have no bills that can not be paid online.

The grass can be mowed by someone else you know!

Go travel!!

[honda03842]

Bill paying is the easiest. All our bills appear in the bill pay section of our bank. Statements for the bills can be seen there. We look at the bills around the middle of the month and define when they should be paid and in what amount. Bills that are regular payments like a car loan are automatic pay. As well the bank notifies us by email when ever a bill is received.

As well every credit card charge above appears in a visible file daily with amount and purchase. On-line payment makes the whole bill pay process easy, no checks, no stamps, no mail.

When a fraudulent credit card charge is detected by the bank, they contact us by phone virtually immediately and in the two cases removed the charge from our account immediately. Telling them where you're going helps them and you. Once when in FL and making a number of significant purchase in a few hours, they locked our card fearing it was stolen. It was not but we did not mind, a series of significant purchases is unusual and they recognized it.

Mail is also easy. We typically have it forwarded for 6 months to Escapee mail. We get very little mail, bills are a thing of the past and we try to eliminate all mail, virtually everything can be seen on line plus no personal records to destroy.

This month's Escapees Magazine has a short article on driver's license for full timers.

One year we were gone for 11 months and hired some one to cut the grass. It was cut less often than we cut it but it looked good enough. Does one really need to cut all 10 acres? Let the golfers play out of the rough.

One thing we have done is add an Iris wireless monitor to our home. I can see what's happening all the time any where i can get on a wireless network, seeing it all on my smart phone. There are all kinds of sensors available temperature, camera, door, window,......

A lot of fulltimers still return to their home state to visit friends and family. This can allow you to renew licence and registration....

[Raz]

I would think vehicle inspection would require a personal visit. In regard to the grass, anyone in the neighborhood raising sheep? Raz

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by P. Raz

I would think vehicle inspection would require a personal visit. In regard to the grass, anyone in the neighborhood raising sheep? Raz

What vehicle inspection?
Many states don't have such a thing.

We travel about 4 months. Bill paying is not a problem. We set up automatic bill pay and on-line pay years ago while still working. All our traveling expenses are paid via credit card. Yes, it's a good idea to tell the credit card company where you're going to be, that doesn't mean an exact itinerary, just states is good enough. example,, If we're going to New Orleans, we tell them we'll be traveling in CA, NV,AZ, NM, TX, OK and LA for Jan through Apr. Cash is obtainable at any bank and tons of ATMs.

Mail is always a problem, at least for us. I'm still working on the best way to handle it. Right now we doing a "temporary forwarding" to my daughter. She collects it, then sends it to a post office close to us when tell her to, general delivery works pretty good. The only problem is the postal workers sorting and notifying some folks that we've moved. USPS treats temporary and permanent forwarding the same.

We used to have almost 2 acres of grass that needed to be mowed. The solution was to sell that place and get a smaller lot in town. Several advantages to living in a neighborhood rather than in the country. Lots neighbors that we've gotten to know and we tell them when we're leaving so they can keep a watchful eye out.
Along those same lines we have an ADT alarm system, part of which is full time fire. If the smoke or heat detector goes off the fire department is sent.

Lock the doors and windows and have a great time.

[Byron Kinnaman]

My post was more response to others than the OP. As for the OP I would suggest that google is our friend and do some searching, including reading all this category here.

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

What vehicle inspection?
Many states don't have such a thing.

No inspections?? . I'd be in fear for my life every time I drove down the road. It's a wonder you've survived.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by P. Raz

No inspections?? . I'd be in fear for my life every time I drove down the road. It's a wonder you've survived.

Sorry Raz, vehicle inspections is just another form of taxation. No real value except to government and service stations.

[honda03842]

Inspections in the Northeast started way back in the last century as emissions inspections. Now the percentage of cars that fail emissions is nearly zero and has been for some time. Of course the testing stations don't want to give it up. Emissions are still done by reading the OBD port, though virtually everyone passes emissions. The government added a full car inspection, dramatically increasing the price from $15 to $50.

People in the know go to the inspection mechanic where virtually everyone passes, pays their fee and is on their way. I've seen too many cases where the mechanic takes advantage of the old or unknowing with the $50 quickly becoming $500.

[Raz]

Yup and yup.

[Uplander]

As always lots of good information....don't think full time RV life would work for me. I'll stick with one, two or 3 week trips with the maximum being a full month. Different strokes for different folks.

Norm and Ginny seem to have it down to a science!

Happy Camping!

[honda03842]

Partick.

We are not really true fulltime Rvers. We've averaged 7.5 months a year traveling, we have had a home base. For me it's a break to work on the trailer and dream of our next trip. For Ginny it's seeing family.

We started without knowing what it's really about. Like most tasks, you don't know what's involved until you do it. We bought our RV, camped once a month for 5 months, and hit the road on Sept. 11, 2001. Truly we were as inexperienced as one could be.

During the 15 years of our RV life we have spent whole years traveling, I loved them.

Our reasons for traveling for longer than a month is that there are so many places you can't go for a month, absolutely wonderful, mind bending places. Another reason is we're slow travelers, we can spend a month crossing Texas.

Traveling for only three weeks can be costly on a daily basis. Take a trip like Newfoundland as an example. The ferry is $500, getting there and back takes a week if you're moving fast, the back and forth gas costs as much as the miles you may drive there. For us Newfoundland is a minimum of a 2 month trip spreading out the fixed costs of the trip, ferry, get their gas over a longer. Another downer to quick trips, the more tense, heavy duty driving is a more significant percentage of your time.

Now were not simply going camping. In general our travel is more than extended weekend camping, not saying that represents you. Our goal is understanding and learning about the different.

We had friends heading to NL for their 2nd trip this weekend. They asked me about our travels there. We tend to stop along the road and chat with people, trying to learn what we don't know, trying to understand their lives.

For us our travels are a growing opportunity. My biggest message is that short travels have too much overhead, in both cost and time.

I know everyone is different, but that's my thought.

[Kardon]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Sorry Raz, vehicle inspections is just another form of taxation. No real value except to government and service stations.

No real value? Maine's inspections used to be pretty much an auto-pass. If you failed, just go somewhere else. Then a woman died when her brakes failed right after they had passed inspection, so they've cracked down on the laws. I don't think the price has gone up and I feel better knowing the other cars on the road are safe.

[Darwin Maring]

If you have license plates on your vehicles then it is most adventagious that your drivers license and insurance all match. That said, you had an address at that time and you will need to renew everything periodically.

Best bet is to get an address in a state with no income tax and no inspection requirements.

[Glenn Baglo]

Wouldn't want to pay taxes.
They might use it to build highways.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Inspections in the Northeast started way back in the last century as emissions inspections. Now the percentage of cars that fail emissions is nearly zero and has been for some time. Of course the testing stations don't want to give it up. .

They gave up emissions inspections here a couple of years back as it was not cost effective to be running the stations with so few emissions failures.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Wouldn't want to pay taxes.
They might use it to build highways.

Or maintain a state park - Wouldn't want that now would we

Be thinks Glenn that you and I are so use to paying high taxes on everything the concept of thinking you can live without paying any is some what foreign.

[Glenn Baglo]

Or buy fuel for the jets flying over Deception Pass all day and night.

[mbbear]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Sorry Raz, vehicle inspections is just another form of taxation. No real value except to government and service stations.

I can't agree with you here. I have lived in CA and VA, and VA requires a once a year inspection on the car and pollution equipment, CA only the pollution equipment. To paraphrase a fellow who did odd jobs for me around the CA home, 'why heck I couldn't drive my car half the time'. What I've found is that if you keep your car in good repair the inspection is no bother. But for the folks that either don't care or can't afford safety repairs I'm happy to pay my $15 to keep them off the road or find a way to make the repair. It's far better than being hurt or killed. I learned a lesson recently myself. I purchased Michelin tires six years ago and the sidewalks and tread looked great. I was driving all over the place 60 to 70 mph. I stopped at Costco to ask them to check my tire pressure before traveling. The tech informed me that my tires were dry rotted. There were cracks between the adequate treads and it never occurred to me to look there. I've been driving 50 years and never knew that the rot could be there, i thought it only occurred on the side wall. I also found out that the tires that I bought in '09 were two years old when I purchased them - at that time checking the manufacture date was not so much on the radar screen. The older dog keeps learning and I love it!

[Raz]

After you pay $50 (not $15) to have a sticker put on a brand new car or fail because it's too cold for the tpms system to work or have to pay $200 to have the tpms sensor inside the tire replaced (because the battery died) so you can then get your $50 sticker, you start to think Byron has a point. On the positive side because my trailer is small, I no longer have to pay someone $50 a year to tell me my lights work. Progress! Raz