Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
We want to thank all of our members for their participation and input over the years, and we want to especially thank those that have acted as Moderators for us during our amazing journey living and traveling in our RV and growing the RV-Dreams Family. We will be forever proud to have been founders of this Forum and to have been supported by such a wonderful community. Thank you all!!
My name is Gabrielle. My fiance Presley and I (lesbian couple of 3 yrs), have been looking into RVs, wanting to hit the road and live an adventure! We are wanting to sell everything in our house, maybe even my little jetta (not sure yet if we want to tow it or not), and travel/live in an RV full time. We both do modeling and travel all over the US as it is, so we figured why not buy an RV and drive all over for shoots, and bring our home with us?! We are already hardly ever home, so this RV life makes perfect sense to me.
We are going to be traveling with our great dane, 2 chihuahuas and hairless cat. They are all used to going on road trips so im not worried about them. I have a fish tank as well...doubt i will be able to travel full time with a ten gallon tank...maybe an acrylic tank with top seal? I dont know. I love having fish, but will find a home for them if need be.
My only issue is not knowing SQUAT about RVs, where to park, how to keep water and electricity at all times, cable on the road etc. I am not wanting a HUGE RV. We are very low maintenance so we have been looking into the 27 foot tioga type RV (sorry if thats not the propper grammar) but we arent sure if there might be something better for around the same price range!
Any advice or reccomendations are greatly appreciated!
Welcome to RV-Dreams! Just hang around here and read what shows up. You will surely learn, as I have about life on the road. It's an amazing world out there, as you will learn. Take care and keep in touch.
Ralphie
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"I'm a slow learner, but to make up for it, I forget real fast."
I would suggest that you find a local RV rental location and take one or two (or 4) out for some weekend/week long runs. The dealer will show you the basics and you will pick up the rest quickly especially with the help of those once you arrive at your destination. We rented 3 RV's of different sizes and types before we decided what we wanted to buy and it also allowed us to be sure that what we thought might be fun really was. Welcome to the group and feel free to jump in.
Gabrielle,
I would suggest you look into an Rv show in your area. We were looking into RV's for about 2 years before we bought our rig. We had a travel trailer for about 10 years before we bout a 35 Motorhome. I think the RV shows are a great place to look at RV's and ask thousands of questions and see the different options available. This is also a great place to find out what the life style is all about.
Good luck on you travels
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HAPPY TRAVELS
YONNIE and TINA
2011 TIFFIN OPEN ROAD 35 QBA
Class of 2015 ( or 2014 if I can convince my wife)
thanks for your responses guys! yeah we have been checking out some local RV places, thinking about renting one for the week but the prices are outrageous it seems. $90 a day? id rather just buy the RV, go have some fun, and see what there is to see! haha after reading what you guys have been posting on here, im pretty sure we are going to love the life style. We are just wondering about where to stay when we stop, how all the budgeting is going to work out, the technology on the road, but it seems to be a case by case thing depending on the people traveling, the size of the RV, and all that jazz. We are going to an RV show in reno next month for sure though.
There are campgrounds all over the country. If you are on the west coast they areopen all year round. Just google a state for campground info. The particulars of an Rv might determine where you need to stay. Words like FAMILY CAMPGROUNDS indicate children. RESORT indicates pool, game room, golf, boating, etc. QUIET and NATURAL can mean no electric, water, dump site. Need to read but no matter where you end up camping, folks are friendly and will help if you need anything.
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HAPPY TRAVELS
YONNIE and TINA
2011 TIFFIN OPEN ROAD 35 QBA
Class of 2015 ( or 2014 if I can convince my wife)
If you buy an RV and find it's not right for you, you are going to lose a lot more money than the $90/day it would cost you to do a rental or two. You will also learn about the RV systems and whether the 2 of you are prepared for the repairs and fixes along with the normal maintenance items. The RV show is a great idea as well to get a feel for the various sizes and prices but be sure to look at the used RV market as you can get a huge bang for your buck in the current economy.
I know that we are newbies ourselves but just wanted to let you know that we just Went for it. Last spring my hubbie and I decided that we were tired of being tied to a house . His job in the golf business has been rather shaky so we wanted to prepare ourselves for being mobile. This forum has been so beneficial to us. We started out by looking at travel trailers at a local dealer and quickly decided that if we were going to live fulltime in it, it needed to be a 5th wheel. Reading everything on this forum helped and then I started looking at Craigslist and all the local rv dealers online to see what they had to offer.
Like you we just could not see laying out the kind of money they want to lease an rv so we just decided to go for it. We did our research while we had our house listed and right before it sold we found a really good deal on a new 2011 Heartland Big Country. We are very happy with our decision. We have not hit the road yet but are living fulltime in an rv park close to hubby's work. We're hoping to hid the road in a few month.
I say just do your research and then follow your heart. As far as what kind of rv or what size that is totally a personal choice that you and Presley will have to decide..
Read, read, read... There are alot of great sites and blogs about living and working out of your RV. I would read the RV Dreams blog that Howard and Linda write, then start on all the blogs that are listed in the forum here. Welcome to the forum..
First Newbies tend to look at smaller RVs because they feel intimidated by the size of the bigger RVs. The problem is the small RVs seem to get smaller the more time you spend together in them. Imagine what it would be like to live in just one of your bedrooms 24/7, that's what you get with a small RV. Or lets say you get stuck in bad weather and have to stay cooped up inside the RV for a week or two....cabin fever.
You'll find that even with the largest RV, after just a few trips, it won't be a problem to travel in. Plus when you are living in it fulltime you tend to travel less and park more. Most fulltime RVers travel about 200 miles and then put down roots for 2 weeks to a month and then move on.
I've known many RVers that started out in 25 to 28 foot RVs and within a couple of years moved up to larger units. Based upon what I read on the RV forums the majority of fulltimers have a 32 to 40 foot RV.
You will be wise to rent an RV first before buying....you need to live the life for at least 2 weeks to get the true feel of an RV.
Second Unless you are good with vehicle/home repair and maintenace and are able to work on your RV, it can be costly to properly repair and maintain. For example our refrigerator went out and the RV dealer charged $1200 to fix it. So be sure to take into consideration the cost to maintain a used RV vs. a new one with a warranty.
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"Small House, Big Yard "
"May the FOREST be with you" Alfa See-Ya 5'er and 2007 Kodiak C4500 Monroe
