Hi Tom & Lynette

We are not full timers and I am sure there are full timers on the forum who may be able to give you better advice.  However, if I was in that position, I think this is what I would do:

Church.  If you are going to stay somewhere for a long period, you could go introduce yourselves to the minister of a church of your choice and tell him you would like to get involved.  You never know, this may open a new channel for you with opportunities to continue with your good work.

Post. Maybe have a family member of very good friend, who is willing to let you use their address.  This person can then inform you as post arrives, mail it to you or post it to you.  It will have to be someone you can trust with your post and the contents thereof.

Good luck with all you preparations for full time camping.

Regards, Freda

Hi Tom & Lynette,

We have been touring around for 13 years and do as Freda advised. We let our house to our Attorney, who collects our mail and sends it to us once a month via courier.   Very little important mail actually gets posted these days in any event. Banks, Insurance Companies and municipalities will all E-Mail documents to you.

Hook up your van and start living life. 

....wonder if Post Restante still works in our wonderful land ?

Counter to counter worked well while we toured for the year. Cheaper than Postnet and just as fast. Son would empty the postbox occasionally, sort and send a parcel counter to counter if there was anything of importance. 

This song just came to mind. "I can see clearly now" by Johnny Nash.

Sorry for the steal Tom. Could not help it.

Ons is nie "full timers" nie maar kamp of is weg van die huis so 6 maande van die jaar. Ons het vir ons 'n swart boekie aangeskaf en besoek waar ons is die kerke daar naby en skryf dan op gemeente, predikant se naam en skriflesing vers. Ek probeer as ek onthou ook foto neem van preekstoel. 

Baie mense hou ek ook statistiek van al hul kampplekke en kostes. Dink dit gaan ook lekker wees om oor so 10 jaar te sien hoeveel kerke jy besoek het. 

Relaxed Camper wrote:

Glo dit kan moeilike besluit wees as julle gewoond is om as aktiewe lidmate van n Gemeente op te tree. Mens kan dit nie sommer doen om tydelik gemeentes te besoek nie. Die belangrikste op die ou einde is dat jy nie van die Here vergeet nie...dat julle nie net gaan kamp en kerkloos word nie. Of jy nou werk of rus...doen dit saam met jou Skepper. Sterkte!

Mooi gesê. Geert.  Baie waar.

I'm not a "full-timer" yet but travel extensively outside RSA, I am still a member of our church and may attend a maximum of 8 services in a year - the pastor emails us a copy of the sermons each week as well as the church program - it gives us a feeling of belonging to a church and not just visitors. I would follow Freda's suggestions about visiting local churches as a visitor. All bills, accounts, payments and correspondence is via email - user friendly and environmentally friendlier - I travel with a big external hard drive on which I keep all important documents for tax purposes etc. - no paper copies. All banks offer full services on internet including monthly statements. SARS is filed electronically and works very well - actually I would say one of the best worldwide. We get very little snail mail - you can't rely on the SA Postal services anymore.
Post Net may offer you a forwarding service - but using a family member's postal address is an option. The only areas I have experienced problems with are renewing vehicle licenses and getting the bank to forward credit and debit cards as they are address sensitive for FICA (proof of residence)and other reasons - they don't like the idea that you may have multiple international or local addresses or no fixed address at all - so much for globalization!!!
I use iPad, cell and laptop to communicate daily with my family - programs and apps such as Face Time, Messages, Skype and Whatsup work well and have become very cheap. When we go caravanning we take a router with a mobile 4G stick.

Bring jou tiende na die skatkis dat daar spys in my huis kan wees , raak n probleem waar gooi jy in

Proof of address does pose a problem.  If you have any fixed property, use you rates & taxes account. Most Municipalities have it available online.  If not, a letter from your children or a friend will do.

You also need an address for your TV license and this can then also be used as proof of residence and is valid for one year.

What about insurance?

I stand corrected but insurance companies require a fixed address to determine your risk profile. And if you are away from this addres for longer than I think 3 months without notifying them they can invalidate a theft claim.

How do you guys work around this problem Flip?

You are quite correct.  Notify you insurer that you are touring. Some will increase your excesses and others will increase your premium.  Shop around and get the best deal you can find with a reputable Company.