Hitting the Road--Need Motor Home Advice

[glennmac]

I'm seriously thinking of hitting the road. Vamoosing. Getting out of Dodge. In other words, screwing it..........But I don't yet know where I would settle down, if anywhere, and I wouldn't have much money available.......One idea that seems reasonable is to get a motor home and do a vagabond thing for a while. All I really need are three of my canoes and kayaks, a dish tv sytem, web connectivity, minor kitchen and bath facilities, and a bed and chair.......Any ideas on the merits of the self-contained motor homes versus the tow kind? The tow kind obviously lets you detach the tow vehicle, so I guess I'm more asking what are the benefits of the self-contained variety..........Is it fairly easy to find campgrounds and trailer parks as you drive around the country? All my life experience has been with tent campgrounds and I always avoided the ones with trailers............Importantly, can motor homing be a good lifestyle?

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Glenn,
Don't have a clue, but bet Bird will. If you wonder thru Western Washington drop by, I'll feed you. You can't drive my tractor though I have too much mud to take a chance on you./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
Al

 

[Egon]

Glen:

Has the swamp finally got to you?

Can't help any on the questions you asked but am envious of the capability of stricking out on such a venture.

Egon

 

[Egon]

Oh, forgot to add that if you come up this way we'll find a place for you to park that's quite secluded and you won't even have to unload the canoe.

Egon

 

[RobS]

Glenn, you better hit up Bird for some serious advice on this. He was a fulltimer for a while. We pull a fifth wheel for vacationing. Wouldn't want to live in the thing though we did consider it if we needed a couple of weeks between houses. The advantage of a towable is you have your tow vehicle for sight-seeing and such. If we had a motorhome, we'd likely pull a second vehicle behind us as many do.

Lots of issues to consider, I'll just throw out one... Get a slideout. We have one and it makes all the difference in the world. We call it our "condo on wheels" and it really does seem like a small apartment instead of a "camper". Also, resale lately will be a ton better with a slide as so many have them now. Other than that I'll leave you to the rest. Good luck with your new lifestyle/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

... one more thing... Have you considered one of those "Sport Utillity Trailers" with the garage portion? That way you could take your tractor with you/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Bird]

Glennmac, too broad a topic./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif We've had slide-in pickup camper, two motorhomes, two conventional travel trailers, and one fifth-wheel trailer; lived full time in an RV wandering the country for almost 6 years. First step; join the Good Sam Club so you get their monthly magazine and from them you can buy what I consider to be the best campground directory for North America (although there are others that some like better). You'd probably be amazed at the number of places you can stay.

Advantages of a trailer over the motorhome are price (you can buy a darned nice truck and trailer for less than comparable living space in a motorhome), can change engines (tow vehicles) without changing the home, will have fewer problems from inactivity (leaving it parked for extended periods of time in one spot), if the tow car should have to go into the shop for engine, tranmission, or other repairs, home isn't there also. A fifth-wheel trailer is more stable than a motorhome, but the motorhome is usually more stable than a conventional pull trailer. Only one engine to maintain (you'll definitely want to tow a car or pickup if you spend much time in a motorhome).

Advantages of the motorhome . . ., well, I like to start early and the wife likes to sleep late (by the time I got her out of the trailer into the truck, we'd both be in a bad mood/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif), in the motorhome I could take off while she was still in bed. You sit up high with great visibility, usually more room and comfort than a pickup. The co-pilot can go make another pot of coffee (or pour another cup) while you're going down the road (set the coffee maker in the sink). Or of course, get a glass of water, soda from the refrigerator, go to the bathroom, etc. More passenger space if you want to take someone else with you. Easier to back up (when you don't have the towed car on behind) because it's one vehicle instead of backing a trailer.

Most motorhomes have a generator, while most trailers do not, although you can get trailers with generators (our fifth-wheel had one). Many of the motorhomes are "basement" models; more storage space than most trailers. If it happens to be raining when you stop, you don't have to go outside to go to bed.

Oh well, lots of other things, but that's a start. I like the motorhome best myself, but I think a truck and fifth-wheel is the safest, most practical way to go.

 

[ByuBill]

glennmac,,
Full time RVing is great. I did it for a couple of years. Not as long as Bird. I'm just a poor old country boy. I also worked while I was RVing around the country at some of the camp grounds that I stayed at. Check out Workamper News here,,,<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.newrver.com/workamper.html>http://www.newrver.com/workamper.html</A> If you choose where you stay carefully you can get a free site plus a small wage. You won't get rich but you can get by. Lots of places you have to work 40 hrs just for your site.
If you like camping and just want to get away for awhile, you will love it.

 

[HalseyGreen]

Did the full timer thing back in 77-78 did 48 states, 48k miles, in 12 months, including southern Canada and northern Mexico, took a year off, ended right back where we started, had a job in less than a week. We were looking for a better place to live. This was of course before Kids. Had a 77 Jeep Cherokee, with the wide wheel package, and purchased a 23' Airstream. Still have the Airstream. If we had to do it over again, would go the motorhome route and pull a small 4x4 for exploring. The reason is that we did have some tow vehicle problems, like blown water pump in the middle of North Dakato, and spider gears in the rear in in New Orleans. With a tow behind, you can scout ahead for parts and get around in the big cities easier. I would agree that with a tow vehicle and trailer, you have less invested. Depending upon the comfort level, I would look at smaller trailers, we found a lot of the free or low price state and local campgrounds weren't made for the big units, but this was 25 years ago. One thing to plan, is how to get mail forwarded, and bills paid. With ATM's getting money is no longer an issue. Wish you luck.

 

[AndyR]

I'll second Bird on the advantages of the truck 'n trailer vs. motorhome - cheaper. We just started looking this year and it quickly became obvious that a 5th wheel was a much more affordable way to go. There's a reason that motorhomes are treated as second homes - they cost as much! We will end up with a new truck and trailer for about half (or less the that) of what it would have cost for a comparable motor home. That said, I've seen a few motorhomes for sale locally for under $10K though I haven't driven them.

Sounds like a fine adventure you are taking on - stop by if you are in New Hamsphire.

 

[Bird]

Bill, we also subscribed to Workamper News and worked one summer in an RV resort (site plus salary) that we learned about through it, and I worked two years doing gas leakage surveys as a result of the job being advertised in Workamper News.