May need to relocate to Miami area in our RV

[tcpip95]

Yeah, it is a long commute.

No consequences to being late (unless missing a specific meeting; I will control my own schedule).

I've been working from home for the last 23 years; going into an office nearly every day will be a change. I know when I used to commute (Reading, PA to NYC) I enjoyed the train time, as it allowed me to get things done on the way in, and wind down on the way back home. The only part that I'm not looking forward to is the windshield time. I won't be putting in full days, every day. Arrive at 9, leave at 3 kind of thing.

Getting a room really isn't an option as I have the wife and hound with me. I'm about 2-3 years away from retirement, and am "working to live" rather than the other way around. I want to be comfortable on my time off, give the wife a nice place to stay.

[Bmup]

I want to be comfortable on my time off, give the wife a nice place to stay.

No possibility of being comfortable on your time off & giving your wife a nice place to work?

[tector]

It think you may want to do a test run of your plans before committing to them. And not on a weekend.

I don't mean to be critical, but going back to the start of this thread I see quite a bit of naivete. I mean from the outset an RV never would have struck me as a plausible option for working in the core of a dense metro area--not L.A., Chicago, etc. And this commute from Juno idea strikes me as crazy, as someone who lives in the middle--but some people have tolerances that I don't have. More power to them.

I worked in downtown Miami for over a dozen years, late 80s through December 1999. Back then commuting sucked, but options near downtown were not great. Now the commute is even worse, but downtown Miami is far, far more livable. If I worked downtown now, I would live very nearby.

Don't mean to be harsh. You can reject most of this post, but I would do that test run for sure.

[tcpip95]

It think you may want to do a test run of your plans before committing to them. And not on a weekend.

I don't mean to be critical, but going back to the start of this thread I see quite a bit of naivete. I mean from the outset an RV never would have struck me as a plausible option for working in the core of a dense metro area--not L.A., Chicago, etc. And this commute from Juno idea strikes me as crazy, as someone who lives in the middle--but some people have tolerances that I don't have. More power to them.

I worked in downtown Miami for over a dozen years, late 80s through December 1999. Back then commuting sucked, but options near downtown were not great. Now the commute is even worse, but downtown Miami is far, far more livable. If I worked downtown now, I would live very nearby.

Don't mean to be harsh. You can reject most of this post, but I would do that test run for sure.

Not at all. Over the years I've appreciated your posts. Here's the story:

In June, we sold our condo in Ft. Myers and decided we were going to go full time living in an RV. I've worked from home (telecommute) since 1996 in various companies. Our plan is to retire in two years, the real estate market is white hot, so now was the time. We have a beautiful lot that we lease up in N. GA for the summer, and were planning on staying in Port St. Joe, FL over this winter, then try another place in FL next winter, etc. Eventually, in about 5 years when all the Baby Boomers die off or move into assisted living, we are going to buy back into the glut of real estate that will exist in FL (there were 76 million baby boomers born; the next generation - Gen X - only had 52 million, so they don't have the headcount to buy up the offset between the two. In the meantime, we'll travel around and enjoy life. As long as I have a cell phone connection, an Internet connection, and an airport nearby I can work from wherever.

Last week, my company (tech giant in Silicon Valley) did a large Work Force Reduction, and at the age of 64, I got caught up in it. I got two weeks notice. My choice was to take a lousy package, or take a job within the company, over in Miami. I had two weeks to decide. In November, try and find some place to live in S. Florida. Every snowbird in the country has everything booked. To make matters worse, I have to commute to an office for the first time in 23 years. Talk about bad timing. So if I have to commute, and it's going to be on a train, whether it's 60 minutes or 90 minutes, I might as well do it in a nice place. That's what I'm trying to figure out now.

Anyways, I've got the job so now I've got to find a place to live. The condo is gone, but we have this beautiful 44' 2020 fifth wheel. There are places that I can get into - but nothing very close over the high season. And if I have to commute, I don't want to do it in an F350 DRW. I don't mind doing it on a train - especially if it's got wifi. I can stand on my head on a tack for the next two years if I have to.

I was just officially transferred into the job this morning. I'm on a flight out of Tallahassee today at 7:27 pm to come down for meetings Thursday and Friday. I'll have some downtime between Thanksgiving and New Years, and we've got some friends that live in the general area. I'll come down and do a couple of test runs, but it's really out of my hands now.

[tector]

Fair enough man, I hope it works out. I know you are solid citizen, and I may be projecting my own commuting phobias. They are piling apartments everywhere around here, same old roads as always. And the high rises going up in downtown FTL are crazy. Count the tower cranes when you come over.

[Joecruiser]

I agree totally with tector. Miami is hot. If I were to buy my home today...I wouldn't be able to afford it!
I bought in 94 and my American dream is paid for, thank God and my inheritance from my deceased parents.

Tcpip, seems like you have a great plan. My sister/law recently sold her home in Tampa. They are full timing in huge 5th wheel currently in Gainsville area. She and her new liberal husband are both RNs. They work in a hospital close by.

Up there and else where in FL you can RV and commute....not Miami.
Here...you need a class b style stealth van conversion. Then it'll work BUT short time. 5th, not so much.

But don't give up....look into Homestead...lots of RV long term parks if as you mentioned the damn snowbirds didn't reserve them already...keep looking.

If I were in your shoes and committed to the Miami job,
Get the largest size **Comercial work van*** Sprinter type van, rigged with shower, solar, house batteries...you know, class b style.

Here's the plan. You wake up in a safe location, previously scouted out, just a short hop to the job.
Your wife, after making you coffee and breakfast drops you off at work, then she drives off to Oleta River state park, look it up. Pay the $5ish bucks to get in and she'll be in paradise...Rover too.
Bike, hike, kayak, swim, bbq, or just relax. They have showers too. Hit every state park, like Bill Baggs in Key Biscayne.

Sorry for rant but I've daydreamed about such a life style.

Good luck and keep us posted...wherever you end up, there's always a FSNer close by.

[tcpip95]

Sorry Joe, but we just dropped > $100k on the fifth wheel and > $50k on the F350 DRW. No intentions to sell them. I’ll change jobs before I do that. We’re WAY too comfortable in our new fifth wheel.

Here’s what we have:

[tector]

Sweet!

[GunsandHoses]

Very nice living quarters! That's my "someday" retirement dream too!

[Joecruiser]

That's a nice rig no doubt, it just won't work in a big city but I could totally rock that!
SIL has a similar setup.
Safe travels on your journies TC!