Susan the Travel Bug here. I LOVE to travel. Even though I work full time, I go on vacation every chance I get (even if it's not paid).
My husband, Bob, took a six-month trip around the U.S. in a Chevy van in the '70s with his then wife and three-year-old son. They worked along the way and stayed with relatives or in campgrounds. It's one of the reasons I married him, 'cuz he loves to travel (and loves cats ).
Our current plan is to take a trial RV trip in 2013 as a vacation. We want to rent an RV or 5er. (Can you rent a 5er?) And, of course, we have debts to pay off and money to save before we can FT...yadda, yadda, yadda.
I am so excited to have found this website and read all the posts. My favorite one so far was someone whose cat was so freaked out in their pickup it clawed its way upside down across the top of the interior of their truck! What a visual that created for me.
So, I'm happy to be here and can't wait to meet some people on the site, then a few years "down the road" maybe at an RV-Dreams retreat. The classes sound so interesting.
In the meantime, we are enjoying Hawaii and seeing as much as we can here. Bob runs marathons, so we travel to neighbor islands for those. He runs, I sightsee. Works for me.
Write and tell me your favorite stories. This Travel Bug can't get enough. I want to know your favorite places and your funny stories (or horror stories, even).
Looking forward to getting to know you.
Travel Bug said
11:17 PM Jan 4, 2011
What does the little tag mean on the subject line "Introduce Yourself"?
I see a lot of people looked at my post, but no one has written. Did I do something wrong?
53 Merc said
06:35 AM Jan 5, 2011
Well, no-one has commented because of jealousy. Anyone with the effontry to post about living in Hawaii in a travel forum! Well!!! You know we can't get our RVs over there, the bridge ain't built yet.
Welcome to the forum, (I guess). Once we get over the envy bug, we will welcome the travelbug.
Jim01 said
07:06 AM Jan 5, 2011
Welcome to the forum, Susan.
Don't know much about renting a 5th wheel, but I know you can rent Motor Homes. I'm sure someone here will have some answers for you.
As far as RV stories, you may want to check out some of the Blogs that the folks here write. You can find them by going to the Forum Members RVing Blogs section in the main menu of this forum. Some write every day and some just once in awhile or when they're traveling.
Hope your plans to vacation here work out. There's so much to see and do.
Take care,
Jim
Penny and Paul said
08:02 AM Jan 5, 2011
Welcome Susan! I know I'm jealous....I'm writing from Northern Illinois, where we're expecting a high of 33 degrees today. BRRRRR! I've never been to any of the Islands. Are there campgrounds?
I'm glad you found this site. Although I don't post much, I've been lurking for years and always learn something new about the FT lifestyle. My husband and I were hoping we could make it happen in 2011, but now it looks like it will be out a bit further. In the mean time, I'll just keep working on getting rid of all the stuff that won't fit into the house of wheels! Penny
Terry and Jo said
09:06 AM Jan 5, 2011
You know, I can relate to that cat clawing his way across the roof. I've known a couple of drivers that elicited the desire for the same response from me.
However, welcome to the RV Dreams forums. There are a lot of knowing folks that are helpful and friendly here. We welcome any questions and comments, because we all learn from each other.
As for renting fifth wheels, you'll just have to do your research. I used a search engine with "renting a fifth wheel" as a search term and came up with several links, one of which is this one:
Also, I suggest reading back through Howard and Linda's journal. It will give you insights not only as to where to go, but also things to look out for. Howard is very honest and straight-forward with things, even when those involve him making a mistake. His philosophy is that his errors will help others avoid the same error.
I also recommend the reading of the blogs of RV'ers. You may have to "read between the lines" but doing so will give you insights as to what issues people in motorhomes have in comparison to folks in fifth wheels or travel trailers. While my blog won't give you much information yet on RV'ing (I just started it on Jan 1), future postings will kind of document our search for an RV and why whe chose what we have.
I don't know if there are any RV shows in Hawaii, but if so, take in everyone that you can so that you can get a feel for the room in the various types of RV's. Good luck with all the research and looking. Have fun along the way.
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Wednesday 5th of January 2011 09:12:07 AM
janni said
10:03 AM Jan 5, 2011
Hello and Welcome!
Luvglass said
06:30 PM Jan 5, 2011
Hi Susan,
We have seen many companies and RV dealers that rent class C RV's, but have never come across one that offered fifth wheels.
Good luck,
Fred
Travel Bug said
10:58 PM Jan 5, 2011
Actually there are some campgrounds in Hawaii. People mostly do tent camping here. I know of one campground on Oahu that has little cabins you can rent...it's on the north shore.
Most of the camping we've done was in tents and it was years ago when the kids were growing up. Not so fond of tent camping now, much prefer a cushier way to travel and camp.
While the weather here is nice, there are only so many times you can drive around an island, and you're usually home within a few hours. I like long drives with a wide variety of scenery.
As for traveling as much as I can now...this year my sister and I took my 80-year-old mom on a three week driving trip to see the sites in NV/UT/AZ/CO. We hiked 65 miles in three weeks. Started in las Vegas where we did our longest hikes walking up and down the strip and in and out of casinos. We wore ourselves out there. Went to Hoover Dam, Lake Mead Nat'l Rec area, Zion, Bryce, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Park, Lower Calf Creek Falls, Kodachrome Basin State Park, Goblin Valley State Park, Canyonlands, Arches, Mesa Verde, Moki Dugway, Natural Bridges National Monument, South Rim Grand Canyon, Rainbow Bridge National Park via Lake Powell boat tour and Pipe Organ National Monument. Quite a trip.
Believe it or not that's what my mom wanted to do for her 80th birthday. I want to grow up to be like her.
Travel Bug said
11:00 PM Jan 5, 2011
BTW, I grew up in California, Oregon and Washington, have only lived in Hawaii four years.
Susan the Travel Bug here. I LOVE to travel. Even though I work full time, I go on vacation every chance I get (even if it's not paid).
).
My husband, Bob, took a six-month trip around the U.S. in a Chevy van in the '70s with his then wife and three-year-old son. They worked along the way and stayed with relatives or in campgrounds. It's one of the reasons I married him, 'cuz he loves to travel (and loves cats
Our current plan is to take a trial RV trip in 2013 as a vacation. We want to rent an RV or 5er. (Can you rent a 5er?) And, of course, we have debts to pay off and money to save before we can FT...yadda, yadda, yadda.
I am so excited to have found this website and read all the posts. My favorite one so far was someone whose cat was so freaked out in their pickup it clawed its way upside down across the top of the interior of their truck! What a visual that created for me.
So, I'm happy to be here and can't wait to meet some people on the site, then a few years "down the road" maybe at an RV-Dreams retreat. The classes sound so interesting.
In the meantime, we are enjoying Hawaii and seeing as much as we can here. Bob runs marathons, so we travel to neighbor islands for those. He runs, I sightsee. Works for me.
Write and tell me your favorite stories. This Travel Bug can't get enough. I want to know your favorite places and your funny stories (or horror stories, even).
Looking forward to getting to know you.
I see a lot of people looked at my post, but no one has written. Did I do something wrong?
Welcome to the forum, (I guess). Once we get over the envy bug, we will welcome the travelbug.
Don't know much about renting a 5th wheel, but I know you can rent Motor Homes. I'm sure someone here will have some answers for you.
As far as RV stories, you may want to check out some of the Blogs that the folks here write. You can find them by going to the Forum Members RVing Blogs section in the main menu of this forum. Some write every day and some just once in awhile or when they're traveling.
Hope your plans to vacation here work out. There's so much to see and do.
Take care,
Jim
I'm glad you found this site. Although I don't post much, I've been lurking for years and always learn something new about the FT lifestyle. My husband and I were hoping we could make it happen in 2011, but now it looks like it will be out a bit further. In the mean time, I'll just keep working on getting rid of all the stuff that won't fit into the house of wheels! Penny
However, welcome to the RV Dreams forums. There are a lot of knowing folks that are helpful and friendly here. We welcome any questions and comments, because we all learn from each other.
As for renting fifth wheels, you'll just have to do your research. I used a search engine with "renting a fifth wheel" as a search term and came up with several links, one of which is this one:
http://howtorentanrv.com/rv-rental-information/rv-rental-company-drectory.html
Also, I suggest reading back through Howard and Linda's journal. It will give you insights not only as to where to go, but also things to look out for. Howard is very honest and straight-forward with things, even when those involve him making a mistake. His philosophy is that his errors will help others avoid the same error.
I also recommend the reading of the blogs of RV'ers. You may have to "read between the lines" but doing so will give you insights as to what issues people in motorhomes have in comparison to folks in fifth wheels or travel trailers. While my blog won't give you much information yet on RV'ing (I just started it on Jan 1), future postings will kind of document our search for an RV and why whe chose what we have.
I don't know if there are any RV shows in Hawaii, but if so, take in everyone that you can so that you can get a feel for the room in the various types of RV's. Good luck with all the research and looking. Have fun along the way.
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Wednesday 5th of January 2011 09:12:07 AM
Most of the camping we've done was in tents and it was years ago when the kids were growing up. Not so fond of tent camping now, much prefer a cushier way to travel and camp.
While the weather here is nice, there are only so many times you can drive around an island, and you're usually home within a few hours. I like long drives with a wide variety of scenery.
As for traveling as much as I can now...this year my sister and I took my 80-year-old mom on a three week driving trip to see the sites in NV/UT/AZ/CO. We hiked 65 miles in three weeks. Started in las Vegas where we did our longest hikes walking up and down the strip and in and out of casinos. We wore ourselves out there. Went to Hoover Dam, Lake Mead Nat'l Rec area, Zion, Bryce, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Park, Lower Calf Creek Falls, Kodachrome Basin State Park, Goblin Valley State Park, Canyonlands, Arches, Mesa Verde, Moki Dugway, Natural Bridges National Monument, South Rim Grand Canyon, Rainbow Bridge National Park via Lake Powell boat tour and Pipe Organ National Monument. Quite a trip.
Believe it or not that's what my mom wanted to do for her 80th birthday. I want to grow up to be like her.