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Letter Re: Garage/Shelter for RVs as a Retreat Option?

Jim-
A few days back a contributor asked about hardening up her mobile home. That reminded me of a plan I have been considering over the last couple of years. This might work for those who can't relocate now to their retreat.
I was motivated to write because I just saw a news report of a family offering a considerable reward for the recovery of their ATVs which had been stolen from their vacation cabin.[My idea is to] develop a retreat location with:
1. A water supply and septic tank and [leach] field (all disguised, to discourage squatters.)
2. Underground filled and disguised propane and/or diesel and/or gasoline tanks
3. A triple-wide garage that will house an Recreational Vehicle (RV). The garage can be built to withstand armed attack as you laid out for the mobile home. And of course it should be constructed as to be invulnerable to squatters (no windows or doors, but framed for easy cutout after you arrive). It should be plumbed and wired for easy hookup.
4. You can store durable supplies and equipment, and basic but otherwise bulky furniture in the garage.
You can build chiffarobe-type cabinets and fit them with industry-size lockable casters. A few of these can be used to define living spaces in the garage. But the garage should be sealed--except for ventilation, of course, until you get there for the last time [to activate your retreat.]
This way, since you have to travel to your retreat anyway, you can get there in your RV, open your garage and drive in bringing with you the appliances, sleeping quarters etc. ready-to-go in your RV. Then you can use the rest of the garage as living quarters.
Of course, you can also vacation in your RV at your site, not only to make unobtrusive improvements but to check on conditions-- Again, without opening the garage, unless you are staying permanently.
Bob B.

JWR Replies: That approach has its merits, particularly for folks that are retired, and presently traveling with a Fifth Wheel or RV in "snow bird" mode. The drawbacks are numerous, but not insurmountable. First and foremost among the drawbacks is that unless you are willing to leave unattended supplies vulnerable to burglary in your absence, you would be painfully short of logistics if all that you had was what you could cache there at the property and what was on-board your fifth wheel or RV. One way around that is with either extensive underground caching, or better yet an under-slab shelter with a concealed entrance. (Naturally, this only an option areas that do no have a high water table.) A less expensive alternative would be to rent a "mini-storage" unit in the nearest town. The other major drawback is common to all retreats that you don't occupy year-round: In the event if a sudden onset disaster, you might be stranded and hence be unable to reach your retreat. This risk is compounded when operating a bulky, unmaneuverable fifth wheel or RV. (Smaller, off-road capable 4WD vehicles are more apropos for "Get out of Dodge" situations." So if planning to use a big RV you will have to depend on good fortune and passable roads. (You might consider carrying bicycles, folding mo-peds (available from Safecastle) or off-road motorcycles on board, just in case you have to abandon your RV, en route.) Do you feel lucky? One option to obviate part of this risk, albeit expensive, is to have two such retreats--almost identically equipped--in separate regions--so that you would have a fallback plan/fallback location. If I were wealthy and a "snowbirder" (although I'm neither!), then this is exactly what I would do.

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