Newbie questions - RV-Dreams Community Forum

rosweed · RV-Dreams Community Member

Newbie questions

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

What do you want to do? You have to figure that out first. Read some of the blogs of people who post to see all of the different ways people RV.

Barb

rosweed · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks. I'm not sure what you by the different ways people RV. Do you mean which locations we'd like to visit? Or do you mean dirt roads versus freeway driving? I think we'd probably do most of our driving on paved roads and highways.

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

What do you want to see. What are your likes or dislikes. Full-time, part-time, family trips, snowbirding, working while living in your RV, retiring, looking to visit every state Capitol, visit every major league ball park, visit wineries in every state (that's us), the lust goes on and on. Until you have some idea of the things you want to do, it is hard to suggest rigs, etc. to you. Also how many people travel together, animals or children, ages, etc.

Barb

rosweed · RV-Dreams Community Member

Okay, thanks. Well, as I said, we're pretty new at this, so we'd probably stick to the interstates and whatever those lead us to. There's just two of us and our dog,

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

Are you going to fulltime? What do you like to do now? Are you retiring? You just need to give us more information. If fulltiming, my first thought is you want as large as you can afford and safely drive because everything goes with you. If you are going to keep a house, then you won't have to take as much, so you can look at something smaller.

Barb

RVKevi · RV-Dreams Family Member

How long would you stay in one place? How far would you travel each time you move? What kind of parks do you want to visit? Will you usually have full-hookups or do you want to boondock (park without hookups) a lot? Those are just some of the questions that are a part of how you RV. Are you planning to full-time (live) in your RV or are you planning to just take vacations in it, or something in between? There are a lot of things to consider in deciding what you want.

For example, Kev and I are full-timers. Everything we own is in our fifth wheel, truck and car. Yes, we have both a truck and a car. We like to stay in one place for a few months. We're workampers, however, and have currently taken a job that we'll probably stay at for about a year. Since, at the most, we'd only be moving a few times a year, we'd rather drive separately for the trips and have the car for a daily rider wherever we're at. And we feel that the fifth wheel works better for us.

But we know people who move every few days. They usually prefer a class A. It tends to be a bit easier to set up and get ready for moving. They also usually tow a car, referred to as a toad.

If you're full-timing, you may want something larger than if you are vacationing. Have to remember that into every life some rain must fall! :D Inevitably there will be times when you have rain for a few days, and if your "home" is too small, you may get some serious cabin-fever!

People can and do full-time in anything from a truck camper to the largest RVs out there, but if you are going very small, you need to really like being in close proximity to each other 24/7.

So before you can decide what you need, you need to answer a few questions.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

There are multiple RV-Dreamers in Born Free motorhomes, which are similar to the Unity. I think they are all singles and don't post much here. These kind of RVs work best if you are always on the move, since you can end up setting up and tearing down camp every day just to buy groceries or do some sightseeing. If you want to go into a large city, it might still seem huge. Four of went into Vancouver BC on Wednesday with a car that is towed behind a motorhome. The drivers, bicycle riders and pedestrians were crazy. It was nice to be in a car instead of something larger.

A trailer or a larger motorhome towing a car allows you to set up camp for however long you want, weeks or months if you want, and have a vehicle to drive where you want.

People here are asking questions because everyone RVs differently. RVers seem to all be individuals, not following the "normal rules", whatever those are.

rosweed · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you all for your your very informative answers.

So, I have a couple of other questions. How hard is it to drive one of these? I think we'd be okay ( a little nervous) driving a smaller Class C 19-23 feet, but I'd have no idea how to maneuver a truck and a trailer or fifth wheel. How did you learn?

Have any of you had a reticent spouse who wasn't as sold on the idea? I know I could jump right in and just do it. My wife, however, isn't as enthusiastic. In particular, she's concerned about tieing up so much money and then not knowing what to expect when and if we decided to sell. She's also not sure about spending extended lengths of time on the road.

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

If both of you aren't completely sure you want to fulltime, don't do it. Renting is the ideal way to get a small taste of the lifestyle. Try it for a week and then see whether it is something you want to pursue or not.

Driving a Class C isn't very difficult. In fact, most of the RV rentals are Class Cs. We had a 29' Class C before we went fulltiming - great little rig to learn on, very forgiving and we had a wonderful time, but not enough space for fulltiming.

Barb

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

On the reticent spouse...

I would think that you have to get her on board before you consider going any further with this. It's not for everybody, and if your wife is having issues with various parts of this, and you push it through she may come to resent it. You both have to be in agreement about a plan of attack. Like anything, there will be compromises you'll both have to make to have a workable plan. I would soft sell it with both of you adressing her concerns, one at a time. Let her participate in the research... that way she has a stake in it. If you present all the data to her and say "look, it works" she'll be suspicious because she doesn't know where you got your numbers... she has to see it, for herself. Finances... work out a budget together. Resale, research together, to determine a overall cost to buy then final selling price after you're done and then you'll know the cost of your adventure vis a vis the basic rig cost. Most people will say this is the cost of your adventure more or less. There are lot of other variables to consider.. Barb touched on several and you'll have to give careful thought to each of them as you do your research. You'll still have to eat, buy clothes, gas, etc etc and so these will more or less trade off with costs associated with living in a regular house. Time on the road... that's going to be more tricky to resolve. You could try renting a rig for a week to get an initial feel for it. Then try 2 weeks. After each trip sit down and compare notes on the plus and minuses that you both encountered. What kind of living space are you currently living in. Remember an RV may well feel closed in compared to 2500sq ft of house.

Finally, you both have to really and truly like each, tolerate the idiosyncrasies of the other and so on. Studies have shown that as space to get apart decreases so tension increases. Even best friends argue occasionally, knowing when the other is being pushed too far on something is the best way to find a different route to the promised land. smile

I think I have only scratched the surface here, but you get the idea... include your partner in all your thinking, value her concerns and find ways to accomodate them. After all, it will be her adventure too... if that's ultimately what she wants, but first needs to resolve those pesky issues. To repeat Barb's point on uncertainty, she has to be onboard, truly onboard, or it won't work and you should not try to make it work... recipe for disaster.

FWIW, Brian

-- Edited by biggaRView on Sunday 10th of August 2014 03:14:10 PM

Lonney Wade · RV-Dreams Family Member

Good words Brian, only a man married for a long time can say things like that.

My hats off to you !!!!

Lonney

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

Not as long as you... take a bow also. smile

Brian

Lonney Wade · RV-Dreams Family Member

As I said, my hats off to you.
I only take a bow once, after that you're on your own !!!!

Lonney

Talensnana · RV-Dreams Family Member

Rving had never been a thought for us until we decided we wanted to make a couple of trips to Florida and would be gone for over a month at a time. We had 3 parrots at that time, so we did not want to stay in a hotel. We looked into renting an RV, but after we ran the numbers we decided to purchase a older used one. We figured we would use it for these few trips and maybe a few weekend trips and that would be it. So we found a older one which had been lovingly maintained. During our first trip we both loved rving, something we never thought would happen. We kept the older Class A for about 3 years during which we decided we wanted to work towards full-timing, we looked for a RV that we could feel comfortable living in. We sold our older RV for $1000 less than what we paid. To us that was a good deal for 3 years of use. I will tell you before we bought one we looked at all types of RV's at RV shows, classified ads, and borrowed ones from friends to test drive. Originally we were looking at a class C, but after we researched we decided on a Class A diesel. Do some research, go and walk through some, and get hands on. The decision will get easier.

As far as time on the road. I never thought I would like it, but I love it. My biggest concern was missing our daughters and grand babies. We skype and FaceTime so it's not so bad. I have health conditions which actually improve when we are on the road (less stress), and we love sight seeing. The fear of the unknown is a scary thing. So my advice is rent one, borrow one, find a way to try one out. It still won't be the same as if it was yours, but it will give you an idea if you like it.

Good luck....

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

Shawn, you are on a good track, but slow down a bit and take one step at a time. <grin>

Jo Ann and I have been married for more than 30 years now, and it wasn't until 4-5 years ago that the idea of full-timing even came up, although both of us had thought about it.

If neither of you has ever used an RV, go rent one for a week and see how you like it. Don't go on a long, extended vacation, go to someplace within a day's drive. You probably won't be able to have a toad, so you will either have to take the coach wherever you go or you will have to stay in the park. Either way, though, you will begin to get a feel for what the life can be like. Keep notes about what you like, don't like, and would change. While you are at the park, talk to other people, especially the full-timers, about how they made the decision and why they chose the CLASS (not specific coach) of RV they did. In other words, why did you choose a 5'er, why did you choose a MH?

After you get back home, talk about your experience. What did each of you like, what did each of you not like. If your spouse says "NEVER AGAIN!!!" the issue is settled. If there is some hope there, go to some RV shows and dealers. Don't go with the idea of buying something, but talk to people and look at coaches.

Start looking at a mission plan. Are you going to be full-timers, will you have a home base, will you be on the road for a couple of months, then return home, vacations only, weekends only, etc.? Will you be spending only a night or two in each spot, or will you spend a month (or longer) at each place? Will you be working any? All of these questions will need to be discussed at home, and no two couples will have the same set of answers. You may well spend a year on this part of your research.

During that time you can start looking at various coaches. Don't lock yourself into any one class of RV - yet. Even more important, DON'T BUY ANYTHING. We thought we would get a 5'er for our full-time coach, and we "knew" that a MH used a huge amount of fuel. We eventually figured out that, yes, a MH does use quite a bit of fuel, but only when it is moving. It can tow a small, fuel-efficient vehicle behind it for all of the running around. As you figure out your mission profile, figure out how many miles you will drive with the RV and how many without. Plug in some fuel use numbers for each and see what your total fuel cost will be for a year. Obviously, you will have to make some assumptions, but if you use the same ones for each class you will at least be comparing apples to apples.

The most important thing, though, is that you and your spouse honestly communicate about what you want to do and what fears you each have. There is an answer for every question, but you need to ask the questions before you get the answers. BTW, every time you ask a question, and get an answer, you will find at least two more questions to be asked and answered.

Enjoy the research! That's the cheapest part of it all.

Bob and Lindy · RV-Dreams Family Member

We second everything that has been mentioned above. We retired in April and sold our house in May. Before that we started camping in tents, popups, truck campers, travel trailers and now fifth wheels. After we got into a 5er in 2002 we started seeing that we may like permanent living in an RV. The 1-2 week vacations seemed so unsatisfying on the way home from them. I don't know when it will end but we are enjoying it now, while we can.

Do your visits to dealers and shows and campgrounds. It will be fun, dreaming.

ItsmeBoo96 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Hi there all,

I am looking at a 1999 King of The Road 5th wheel. Any thoughts on this unit? The dealer came down from $14,900 to $9,500 today. I am not ready to hit the road, my thought is and please excuse the long winded story, but here goes.

My husband has Alzheimer's, I want to sell the big house and just live in this trailer at my brothers. He has twenty areas, so I could be private, yet suck up his electric, water and cable. I am scared and need advise. Any thoughts?

Thank you for listening. Maybe, one day I will see you around a camp ground. Chris

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

Chris, I wish you were near us. It sounds like you really need someone to talk to. Please feel free to PM or email me.

We purchased our coach from a couple who is also dealing with Alzheimer's. They used to go out for weeks to months at a time, but with their increasing age (they're in the 80's) and his Alzheimer's they decided it was time to let the coach go.

King of the Road is no longer made, but was a top-of-the-line coach, so if it has been properly maintained it ought to be a decent coach. I wonder, though, about a 36% cut in price. Some dealers inflate the price initially, then drop it to a more reasonable level after a certain amount of time. That makes unwary buyers think they are getting a deal. It might also be that the dealer needs cash and needs to move some inventory. It may also be that the coach has been on the lot too long and he just wants it gone. A final possibility is that it is a consignment, and the dealer has finally talked some sense into the seller. I'd suggest that you find out more of the story.

It sounds like you are going to have the coach delivered to your brother's place and then just keep it there. If that's the case you don't have to worry about whether your truck can handle the weight of the coach. Be sure that any zoning in the area allows what you want to do.