More than 1 million Americans have pulled up stakes, sold homes and hit the road in RVs to travel, see family and even work part-time. It's easier than ever in an age of cell phones and satellites, but is it the lifestyle for you? 

Dave and Glenda Brooks had enough money from their pensions and Social Security to live modestly in their Portland area home when they retired six years ago. But there wasn't much room for extras, such as the travel that the couple loved.

"With the expenses of maintaining a house," Dave said, "we couldn't afford to do anything except take two or three weeks of vacation each year."

They could have downsized to a smaller home or moved to a cheaper area. Instead, they ditched the house altogether -- selling it to buy a recreational vehicle.

The Brooks are two of the 1 million to 1.5 million Americans that the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association estimates live at least part of the year in their RVs. Although some also maintain homes and apartments, many eschew landlocked domiciles altogether -- and a few, like the Swanns, plan to remain "homeless" until they die.

"I wouldn't buy a stick house again for anything," Dave said. "If your grass gets too long, you move. If your neighbor's dog barks, you move."

But far from feeling isolated, many of the RVers I interviewed said they have more and closer friendships than they did when they were housebound. RVers tend to be social animals, quick to welcome newcomers and share strategies for successful living on the road.

Glenda, who is active in a group for full timers called the Escapees RV Club, says she knows she has a potential friend in the making whenever she sees a sticker with the club's logo on the back of an RV.

"What's interesting is that nobody cares what you did in your past life, It doesn't matter what you did. It matters where you've been, what you've seen."

Cell phones and satellite Internet connections make staying in touch with family easier than in the past, RVers say. Some RVers say being mobile allows them to easily keep up with peripatetic children and grandchildren, since they can cheaply visit wherever the children roam.

"Our children moved out of our home in Northeast Ohio, one to (Orlando), another to the Navy," said Fred Moore, a former software engineer who motors with his wife, a traveling nurse. "Full-timing has allowed us to remain much closer to them."

When it's time to hang up the keys

Still, there comes a day for everyone when they tire of being nomads, or get too old to drive. Those who sold their homes and put their money into an RV -- a depreciating asset -- might find themselves without resources to buy a comfortable home.

Glenda says she's not worried. She and her husband have decided to end their days at a special RV park in Livingston, Texas that offers adult day care along with its hookups.

Called CARE, for Continued Assistance for Retired Escapees, the nonprofit park allows RVers who are ill or disabled to live in their rigs and get daily help for $700 a month. Escapees Club members have used CARE to recover from surgeries, get respite care for spouses with Alzheimer's and receive hospice care when terminally ill.

"When the time comes to hang up the keys that's where we'll go."

Intrigued? Here are the issues RVers say you should consider before hitting the road:

• If you're part of a couple, make sure both partners are on board with the plan. If your spouse has to give up a workshop, roomy closets and a book collection to squeeze into a motor home, he or she had better be excited about the tradeoff. Otherwise, resentments will fester.
• If you're not sure, ease in. Buy a used RV rather than a new one. Rent out your home instead of selling it. Put your belongings in storage rather than holding the mother of all yard sales.
• Get in touch with like-minded souls. The Escapees Club caters to full-timers with Web site articles, message boards and twice-yearly conventions called Escapades. Other sites include Full-Time RVing Forum and RVbasics.com. For those interested in working on the road, workamper.com and Workers on Wheels sites offer referrals.