I guess that one man's heaven can be another man's hell. My idea of fun is not driving something close to the size of a semi without getting paid for it. The big RVs (whether a trailer or a class A) involve using huge quantities of fuel, finding a place to park for the night with hookups and where you are six feet on either side from other folks doing the same thing, having to go shopping in a monster vehicle or worse, having to tow another vehicle behind the ark. I have met lots of people who think that this is just wonderful, but if someone gave me the most beautiful Airstream travel trailer that exists with the condition that I had to keep it, I would put it down back and call it my man-cave.
Not sure about the huge quantities of fuel you speak of. I get 13.5 -14 mpg pulling a 40 ft trailer. That is better than some trucks empty. Do your homework and don't camp on top of others. I have a few years left and then we will be pulling an house behind us during the winters. We may end up in a condo eventually but not at first. Good luck with your plans and do what is right for you. Enjoy the time.
It is not quite this bad. We had a 32' Class A gas (496 GM BB w/Allison Trans) motorhome and usually averaged around 10mpg. We never pulled a car. If we needed a car, we rented one from Enterprise. They would deliver it to the campground and pick it up when we were leaving. Travelling in the MH was nice. Didn't need to stop for food if we didn't want to, and I didn't need to stop for bathroom breaks for the wife. And I could pull over anywhere for a bathroom break for me. And we didn't need hookups to camp. We had a built-in 4000w generator with 4 6v deep cell batteries & 2000w inverter, 60 gal. fresh water tank 40 gal. gray & black water tanks and a huge propane tank (I forgot the size). We have camped without hookups for five days without a problem. And the only time we were six feet from our neighbors was when we stopped at a rest area or truck stop. Its not for everyone but we did enjoy it while we had it.
Talk to Mike Phillips. He literally just posted a lot of his time away from home traveling the southwest over the winter in his RV. I think it was like 70 days on the road. Check him out on FarceBook if you do it. While I never expected to live this long, I managed to save enough early that compound interest worked for me. That and surviving two market crashes while buying on the dips didn't hurt at all. I've convinced my daughter that it might be a struggle, but saving now is better than struggling later without any savings. Since I involuntarily retired at 57 in March of 2020, I've not been able to travel like I wanted due to COVID but now that things are opening back up, I'm ready to do some moving about. We've previously visited all 50 states and about 30 different countries. We like taking Viking river cruises and an RV adds nothing to that. They are offering US river cruises now though. A former boss's wife passed away suddenly in her late 60s. Do NOT wait to enjoy life. Life don't care if you get a long or short stay and there's no do-overs! Some friends have had an RV and most recently two different trailers. It looks nice and comfy but that looks like a lot of money sitting in one place not doing anything. My wife complains about my Buicks. We've toyed with the idea of getting a small one, just a one bedroom, bathroom and kitchen so we could camp out anywhere but that would only work for the US, Mexico and Canada. The good news is you can rent an RV. It costs more than a payment on one but then they stop when you turn it back in and you don't have to worry about maintenance. Try it out, see if the RV life is for you. If not, you have a new experience but not the continuing payments.
And remember, the older you get the less likely you may want to deal with the drive, set-up/take down, ect of an RV. You may feel like its no problem now, but will you in 15 years? Father time sucks..... I "plan" on snowbirding as long as the budget works. A lot of things need to fall in place for that to happen though
I had amusingly toyed with the idea of traveling the country and staying at a different Walmart every night. I see campers and big rigs in the far reaches of our local Wally world parking lot everyday. They say the store allows it due to the drivers shopping there for supplies.
The campgrounds can be really busy too. They are a bustling place most of the time. Hard to find a quiet site.
My RV experience was good and bad. It's convenient to not have to shelp everything into a hotel whenever you stop. You can bring more stuff. If it's set up nice (ie the way you like it) it's fun. And I traveled with 3 small kids and 2 to 5 dogs. The bad was constant maintenance, repairs, gas and propane and more repairs. Again, more repairs. Repairs at home are OK, but on the road they can be hell. You can't call a tow truck, you get the one's they use for big rigs. Being on the side of a busy highway trying to fix X,Y or Z is no fun. Remember the chassis was designed for a truck with open spaces. you drop a big box on a truck chassis and everything gets hot, and heat kills. It's a house too, so you have weatherproofing, roof leaks, doors and steps. Also, everything is expensive. Tires, hydroboost, refrigerator, AC, generators, etc. If you can afford a new on every 5 years, sign me up. Otherwise a hotel is it!
Many also now don't allow RV's over 10 years old and it's not cheap. I believe Beech Bend is $40/night. My hotel wasn't much more - It had a microwave/fridge & I brought all my own food. That said, I do have a small truck camper & hope to bring it to the Nationals towing a car trailer w/my car.
Yep, owning an RV isn’t necessarily the cheapest route. It’s more practical to travel by bus, plane or car and rent a hotel when you need to. On the other hand the same can be said about our car hobby as well. It would be much cheaper and more practical to own a Honda Civic and instead of going out to eat, sit on the front porch and eat crackers and drink water. You’ll save all kinds of money!!
A bit of an old thread but the ramp truck thread got me thinking about my first couple of years of retirement. I've been pretty interested in a "super C" motorhome with our May Kentucky trip coming up thought I'd browse the local classifieds. Almost exactly what I'm after is available. (or at least what I think I'm after) Any advice on the below? I like the idea of towing a trailer with the Skylark or a Jeep on it for months at a time. (I'm not a big fan of "4 down" but I know some folks are) That's an older RV (almost 20 now....wth?). I'm SURE I'd want to start with the roof and the wheel wells for damage. How are the powertrains in these dawgs? Would my wife be comfortable driving this? (not likely, but how do they drive?) Any snags to watch out for other than "RV" type issues? 2005 Jayco Seneca Super C Diesel 34ft 2 Slides https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/70809523
Looks like a pretty nice unit by the pic and description. 50k miles and that Duramax isn't even broken in yet and hopefully they kept the oil and fuel filter(s) changed . Just understand being a "super" turns it into "truck" parts and "truck" tires. O'Reilly might have some of those parts but changing a tire in the side of the road isn't something I'd want to be doing. And like a pusher this gets into the part when paying someone to work on it is a necessity unless you happen to be a diesel mechanic. GM chassis so parts should be available. But who knows. $50k would seem to be reasonable as it surely was double or more when new. Or at least would be that if you were to look into a new one with comparable specs.
This was written by a friend of mine who, after her dad passed away, realized she and her husband needed to see more of N. America. Start with their 2018 blog, from the start. There's a LOT of reading. They have a lot of info on their first rig. Then they changed things up later with a different setup after learning what it was they needed from a long-term road trip vehicle. They also bought a bus that they modified and went out in last year. One thing they were doing recently is finding people where they could stay at their house while the people were away, and they would take care of the household pets. https://thevugs180.com/
Some of those chassis have inherent vibration issues. Some are wheel/tire related (I can fix them) and some are cooked in and can be minimized but possibly not eliminated. Idk which particular chassis models/years.
Due to bad decisions in my 30's and 40's and poor planning, I will never retire. If they eliminate Walmart greeters I am screwed.
My sister has a 5th wheel they pull from place to place. She's joined up with some program called " Boondockers" She host ppl for free to stay in her yard and use a provided hook up for water and power and in return she gets to use other peoples places for free. https://www.boondockerswelcome.com/...74V9ofK6WPNT_3HUvANAz0yy_9zq8eKRoCoC8QAvD_BwE
One more piece of advice - join the Good Sam club! Tons of info and help, campsites discounts, etc. Also, there is a NADA "Blue Book" for RV's! Good source for info when buying used.
Die broke as a convict working to barely to get by,...that's my plan,...I'll have a shop full **** for someone else to deal with I guess
I suspect there's plenty of people among this group, myself included. I'm still working part time, although it's a job I enjoy doing. Began saving in earnest in my mid to late 40's so it's not all bad. Have kept my expenses as low as possible by judiciously managing them once the saving bug hit me.
