Where it may sit
Who says where you can park it, and for how long?
Before you sign
0 of 12 checked.
Parks, land and public land
Private parks make their own rules
A private park can turn a rig away. Some refuse rigs more than ten years old, or ask for photos first and then decide. The reasons parks give: an old rig that breaks down can be left behind on a site, old wiring and leaks are a risk, and resorts want the place to look kept (RV.com, May 2025; CamperFAQs, December 2025).
Owners answer that age is not condition, and that a loan can run longer than ten years. Both are true. So ask each park you would really use, before you buy a used rig: how old, how long, and may I send photos. Public campgrounds do not use the rule.
A monthly rate often leaves electricity out. Two examples, read on October 13, 2026: from $875 a month plus metered electricity (Asheville West KOA, North Carolina) and $899 a month plus electricity (Fredericksburg KOA, Texas).
Public land is cheap and has a clock
On land run by the Bureau of Land Management you can usually camp free for 14 days in any 28. Then you must move, often 25 to 30 miles. The agency’s own words: camping this way is “for short-term recreation, not long-term living” (BLM). Limits differ from office to office.
A few desert areas in Arizona and California allow a whole winter. The permit is $180 for the season, September 15 to April 15, or $40 for 14 days. One of them, La Posa, lists shared water taps, toilets and a dump station, and no hookups at the sites (BLM, La Posa Long Term Visitor Area, read October 13, 2026).
Your own land is a county question
Owning the ground does not settle it. Each county or city decides whether a rig may be lived in there. One example: Deschutes County, Oregon, allows 30 days in any 60 with no permit, or six months a year with one, and says an RV is not for permanent living there (Deschutes County). Ask the planning office for the place you have in mind, and ask for the rule in writing.
The street is the city’s call
In June 2024 the Supreme Court ruled, six to three, that a city may enforce its ordinary rules against camping on public land. The rules in that case counted sleeping in a vehicle as camping (City of Grants Pass v. Johnson). The ruling made no new bans. It left each city free to write and enforce its own, so the answer changes from town to town.
To find a town’s rule, search its name with the words “municipal code” and “camping” or “vehicle”. Or call the city clerk and ask where sleeping in a vehicle is allowed, and for how long.
The warranty
A brochure may call a trailer ready for full-time living. The warranty is the page that counts. One large maker’s 2027 warranty guide says its trailers are “not intended for full-time residence”. Its warranties leave out “any RV not used solely for recreational travel and camping”, and any rig titled in the name of a business, such as an LLC (Jayco, 2027 towable warranty guide).
Others word it differently. Ask for the warranty before you buy and look for three words: residence, full-time, commercial.
Also look the model up for open safety cases. One example: the federal safety agency has had an investigation open since October 2024 into frame flex on some Grand Design fifth wheels, and it was still open on October 13, 2026 (NHTSA, PE24029). An open investigation is a question, not a finding.
Get it in writing
Two numbers matter a great deal here: what insurance costs when the rig is your home, and what buyers really pay for one. We looked for both and found no published figure we would trust. So the only good number is the one you are given in writing, for your rig, before you sign.
| Ask | For, in writing |
|---|---|
| The insurer | A quote that covers the rig as your home, lived in all year. What it pays if the rig is destroyed: what you paid, or what it was worth that day. Whether your things inside, and an injury at your site, are covered. |
| The lender | Whether the loan allows living in the rig. The rate, the length, the total interest over the whole loan, and any fee for paying it off early. |
| The dealer or seller | The out-the-door price with every fee listed, before any talk of a monthly payment. The title in the seller’s name, and the service records. A yes to your own inspector looking at it first. |
| The maker | The warranty itself, not the brochure, and what it says about living in the rig. |
| The park | The monthly rate, how electricity is charged, the rules on a rig’s age, length and condition, and how much notice either side must give. |
| The truck’s door label, or a scale | The payload, read off the label, or a scale ticket for the truck as you will drive it. |
Put the written numbers into a month on wheels in place of our guesses.
Your papers
A home state
A person with no fixed house still needs one state for a driver’s license, a vote, taxes and insurance. Some travelers use a mail-forwarding service as their address. Check what that address can and cannot do.
South Dakota is the plainest example. Since January 1, 2026, a person who registers to vote there with only a mail-forwarding address may be registered only as a federal voter. That means president and Congress, not state or local races (South Dakota Secretary of State).
The same state charges a 4% tax on the price when you register a vehicle, and its law counts trailers as vehicles (Codified Law 32-5B-1).
Health coverage that travels
Many plans only pay for care inside their own network. The government’s own guide says an HMO generally will not cover care outside its network except in an emergency, and an EPO covers only its own network except in an emergency. A PPO lets you go outside, for more money (HealthCare.gov). Before you leave, ask your plan one thing: what happens if I need a doctor three states away?
A plan bought on HealthCare.gov belongs to one state. Move your home to another and you must apply again there (HealthCare.gov, when you move). For 2027 plans, sign-up runs from November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027. Sign up by December 15 for coverage that starts on January 1 (dates).
At 65 and over: with Original Medicare you can use any doctor or hospital that takes Medicare, anywhere in the country. A Medicare Advantage plan may hold you to its own network and area (Medicare.gov). If you rely on Medicaid, ask your state’s office what happens when you travel or move, before you go.
Getting online, and what clubs cost
Prices we read on each seller’s own page on October 13, 2026. They sell these things, so read their limits too.
| What | Price | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Starlink Roam, internet by satellite | $55 a month for 100 GB, $80 for 300 GB, $175 for no limit. The small dish was on offer at $149. | Speeds are not promised and slow down when the network is busy. |
| Thousand Trails, a camping pass | $775 a year for one of five regions. $535 for the first year if bought by October 26, 2026. | Stay limits apply. The offer leaves out people who live in Minnesota, Mississippi and South Dakota. |
| Passport America, half-price nights | $49 a year | Ask each park about its own limits before you count on it. |
| National parks pass | $80 a year. Age 62 or over: $20 a year or $80 for life. | It covers entry. Camping fees are separate. |
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