License plates etc

General Discussion
1

Hello,

I am a US citizen currently residing overseas and getting ready to relocate back to the US after 20 years out of the country. I plan on purchasing an RV or van conversion to travel around the US for a year before settling down. As I do not currently have a US address, does anyone know if it is possible to purchase a vehicle from a dealer and sort permanent plates, insurance etc without a permanent address?
I would be very grateful for any advice.
Kind Regards,
Bob

2

Where will you get all your mail ?
That’s the mailing address that will be…’‘your address’’… even as a traveler.
Many traveling retirees use a mail box system like the UPS store or Mail Boxes Etc. to receive mail when they don’t have a street address.

Or pick a family member or friend to be your mailing address.
We’ve done that for a couple people over the years. We know their ever changing location and easily get them their mail without the massive headache of multiple address changes to the usps.

  • When my son first moved out on his own he had too many different locations, towns and appartments so we were his mailing address for many years.
  • When my wife’s co-worker had a divorce and her living situation was highly variable ( she started by living in our ‘spare’ room vacated by our older kids ) , again we were her mailing address for a couple years at least ( we still get her junk mail ).
3

Mail drop, yes. On request they will pack and send your mail to General Delivery at a post office of your choice. For registering your vehicle pick a state and locale with a good combination of insurance, license and tax totals and with no yearly vehicle or emission inspection if you want to avoid those. Motorhome or Trailer Life magazines might be able to help with advice.

We knew people from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin who were happy with that locale as a base although they originally had a house there. No vehicle inspection there, no emission inspection, low insurance cost in WI, no yearly vehicle property tax except for the yearly license fee. The license fee is a fixed number in a weight class for everyone and is not based on the value of the vehicle. You might have to pay a little supplemental sales tax if you paid less sales tax in another state when you bought the vehicle.