📬 Mail, Domicile & Legal Stuff
Every form ever invented asks for your 'permanent address.' Full-time travelers solve this with domicile — a legal home state — plus a mail forwarding service.
Pick a domicile state. The vanlife classics are South Dakota, Texas, and Florida: no state income tax, RV-friendly registration, and established mail-forwarding services. South Dakota is famous for needing only one overnight stay to establish residency.
Mail forwarding services give you a real street address (not a P.O. box — banks and DMVs prefer street addresses), receive your mail, scan envelopes, and forward packages to wherever you are. Popular ones run $10–$30/month.
The alternatives: a trusted friend or family member's address works fine if someone reliable can handle your mail. Just know that insurance and voter registration will tie to that address.
Registration & insurance: register your vehicle in your domicile state and tell your insurer you live in it full-time — standard auto policies can deny claims if they find out the vehicle is your residence. Full-timer policies exist and cost more but actually cover you.
Checklist: choose state → get mail-forwarding address → update license/registration/voter registration → switch insurance → update banks. Do it before you leave; doing it from the road is twice as hard.
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