Welcome Roy!!!!!

lots of good people here to help you on your way!!!!

Roy,

One vet to another, thank you for your service and welcome to the forum.  I'm glad I found it, too.

Vance

Greetings Roy, and welcome!

That is a reasonable budget - more that I have planned to commit.
The questions you need to consider are:
Are you planning on traveling alone, or with a significant other? Any pets? What style of full-time use do you envision? How often do you plan on moving? Will you be snowbirding or are you looking for a 4-season rig? Do you plan on boondocking, using RV parks, other campgrounds? How long will you go without hook-ups? What's your comfort level as far as roughing it vs having all the amenities? Do you plan on taking your toys (motorcycles, ATVs, boat, a toad, etc.) with you? How much carrying capacity will you need? What will your monthly budget look like? How will you be filling your days? How do you recreate (hunting, fishing, golf, hiking, trail riding, etc.)? Do you plan of volunteering or work-camping? And finally, what does your exit strategy look like?

These are the kinds of questions we have been asking ourselves and resolved, more or less as much as possible.

Another Army vet here. My heartfelt gratitude to all who served with us.

"This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

From Shakespeare's Henry V

Chip

Allie & JIm, Vance and Chip thank you for the warm welcome and to the Vets thank you for your service as well. Chip to answer your question yes to all haha.

Here are some bullet points to let you know a little more about my plan.

1) I am currently going after a masters in history and My GF and I will be living in the RV here in Washington for the 1st two years after purchase (with my 110lb dog as well of course). So a four season rig is a must.

2) Then the plan is to look for a part time teaching gig anywhere they will take me in a Community College and move there in the RV of course. Once there I may stay a semster or a year or two who knows. I am always going to keep looking for another gig as I go.A traveling History proof if you wll.

3) During this entire time I want to be able to take regular vacations like to national parks etc and I want my RV to be ready for anything so fully self contained and be able to go 3-5 days boondocking I think you called it. I have no toys at present.

This rig needs to last me about 7-10 years before we need to trade it in on another one. Enough time to save up a good down payment at least as well as be well established again in the workforce.

My biggest question is BRAND. Who can I trust brand wise. One off the wall Idea I had was to buy an older unit IE... 2006-2009 for around 10-15 k and then dump what I wanted and needed to into it, to update it. I have Brother-in-law who is a very very good contractor who said he would help with an update/restore project.

Thoughts?

You will get much more for your money if you do as you suggest and update/modify an older unit, plus you will have exactly what you want, not some other guy's idea of a full-timing fiver. Many high end custom fivers will certainly challenge your budget, even used, so IMHO it's not about what's best but a reasonable quality that you can afford. Unfortunately, build quality is often synonymous with weight, necessitating a bigger TV. Many suggest selecting if not buying your fiver first, so you are sure to buy a big enough TV for your needs.

I chose a different route - to consciously limit my travel trailer size by purchasing a smaller TV first (a 3/4 ton diesel pick-up). This prevents me from going hog wild and getting a huge trailer that might be ideal for living in a fixed location, but is impractical to tow long distances, wont fit in smaller spaces or tight difficult to get to boondocking locations, and returns poor fuel mileage because it must be pulled by a huge TV (which will reduce my mobility for budgetary reasons.) I plan on getting in the 10-12 mpg range towing my under 10,000 lb trailer at leisurely speeds, compared to those with trailers twice the weight who report getting in the 7-8 mpg range towing with a MD or HDT - something that I could not afford to purchase or use on my limited budget. If I were planning on towing a mid-size fiver, I think a 1 ton dually diesel would be the minimum TV to consider, but only after I carefully crunched the numbers. This size TV is most definitely unsuitable for a larger trailer, but due to your budget considerations probably puts out of reach for all but a pretty old rig (which if limiting your travel, you might decide best fits your needs). Whatever you decide, consider the TV and trailer as a matched pair and purchase accordingly. Don't forget to consider one with a large enough CCC (most suggest at least 3,000 lbs for a couple) for your needs.

I'll let others here recommend specific brands based upon their considerable experience.

Chip