Home Base For Full Timers

[ispjs]

I assume most full timers have a "home base" where they return each year for doctors appointments and/or to visit family.  Where is it?  How long do you stay?  Do you use the same CG in that area each time?

Since selling our SW Florida home we have been at Upriver RV in North Ft. Myers.  We basically came here because they had super pull thru sites plus it is within 7 miles or so of our doctors, our mailing address, and several of our resident friends.  We planned on checking out other CG's in the 20 or 25 miles radius but probably not now.

Over the years we have stayed in numerous CGs for a week or longer.  We have never experienced one as friendly as this one.  Last night they had their first progressive wine tasting event.  Most of the campers in the super sites participated.  As a group going from site to site all evening, meeting everyone, and making new friends.  Some folks are here for the first time (like us) and some have been wintering here for 12 to 15 years.  My DW and I were just amazed at how welcome we felt by everyone!  We may have found our future "home base" for each winter after all.

[tbutler]

I just posted in your other query on annual fees.  We found our friendly place January 2002, the first year we were full time.  We have wintered at Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg, TX every winter since then.  Until 2010 we were on an RV lot.  In 2010 we put a mobile home on a larger lot and that is now our official residence.  Prior to that we had a mailbox and an official residence at My Home Address in Emery, SD.  Like Texas and Florida, South Dakota has no state income tax. 

For years our doctors were in St. Louis,  MO, where we were employed before retiring.  Our health insurance was linked to our employer and we had family in the area so we usually made that our first stop when we headed north each spring (late spring, end of April or early May). 

When my daughter and family built a new home in a rural area west of St. Louis I paid them to put in an RV pad for us with water, sewer and 50A electric, and we spend a month (or so) with them visiting family.  We give them a generous contribution each year to pay for our electric and also helped with babysitting when their children were younger. 

We also have a daughter in California.  They have a gravel spot next to their house and we've been parking with them for about a month each year, usually in September and early October before returning to Texas.  They put a 50A outlet on their garage wall that we can use.  Water and sewer are available but I have to use the macerator to access their sewer clean out.  We have the same arrangement there, babysitting (until their girls are a little older) and a payment for our electric. 

For several years, 2003 through 2008 we spent a month at my mother's house near St. Louis with facilities much like those in California.  That worked well as it made it convenient to do odd jobs and fix things around the house for her.  We had some very nice visits, quite valuable in her final years.

When we set up housekeeping in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, we moved our medical connections to the RGV as well.  I will visit my doctor for my annual check-up next week, about six miles from our park.

[tbutler]

Here is an extensive answer to your question about a home base, related to choosing a place, location, state, for establishing a domicile.  Even if you have chosen the state, I think there are important issues discussed on this website.

[ispjs]

15 hours ago, TBUTLER said:

Here is an extensive answer to your question about a home base, related to choosing a place, location, state, for establishing a domicile.  Even if you have chosen the state, I think there are important issues discussed on this website.

Thanks!