Hi everybody,

Geez.  Day One of preparing my condo for sale, I had a friend come over to help. We opened the closet, the ceiling was on the floor and the floor was covered in water. Roof leak. Not a disaster. minimal damage to the contents, but it's a round of repairs and insurance claims and inspections that won't help the process. Here I am reading up on RV's and getting scared of water damage, and it's happening right next to me.

So I've been researching a lot, trying to reconcile dreams with reality.  What it comes down to is: I like a lot of places but I don't want to live in any of them year-round, so mobile living is my only choice.

Basic stats: Currently living in south Florida, over 60, single, semi-retired.  "Semi-retired" in my case means that my income and vehicle budget are limited, but I still need a fairly big work space; a dual monitor setup plus 3-4 feet of counter space. I've been studying floorplans (and what's under them) looking for something that can be easily modified to suit. I'll wait until my condo sells before buying, which will be messy but it's the safe course.

I got started thinking about this when I realized that I could, in theory, pull a Scamp behind my 2012 Subaru Forester (2400# capacity).  Obviously not a good idea, right at capacity, and the Forester transmission is useless under stress.  I know what the mountains out west are like. In fact, that's why I'm doing this in the first place.

So I considered trading for an Xterra (5000#), and figured that 3000# dry weight was about the limit, maybe 22' length to the hitch. Ehhh... it could work, but not very comfortable. But I really want to stay with an SUV that can be a daily driver and can park in cities, I expect to do most of my driving unhitched.  So for me, it looks like a used 4Runner/Pathfinder rated for 7000# is my best bet. I know a longer wheelbase would be preferable, but I'd really like to avoid it unless it's absolutely necessary.

So with a 7000# SUV, I'm guessing/speculating/hoping/praying that it can pull a trailer 4000-4500# dry, 5000-6000# loaded, 25'-26' to the hitch.  Do those sound like reasonably safe parameters to work with? Assume the driver is inexperienced but careful and not stupid; I'll double-check the hitch weight and GCVW and axle loading, test the brakes, check the pressure in the footballs and all that.

I went through all the big-company trailer models, I liked some floorplans but not much else.  I finally found the premium lines ORV and Nash,  rugged build and real insulation. The Nash 22H fits my specs, so that seems to be the choice at the moment. The trick will be buying one from Florida; I want to keep my residency and storage here.

I have a zillion more specific questions, but I'll wait to ask them in the specific sections. 

FWIW, Class C's don't appeal to me; I looked into Class A's but with my budget I'd be looking at a minimum 7-10 years old.  Seems too risky, I'm not knowledgeable enough to buy wisely, can't afford expensive mistakes.

Travel-wise, I figure to start with an extended trip in the west, some desert, some mountains, some cities, and see where I feel like going from there.  Lifelong friends and family are all on the east coast, but I love the west, so eventually I need to balance them without going back and forth constantly.

I want to be able to live without hookups for a bit, but traveling alone I'll probably stick to established campgrounds and parks more than isolated BLM lands. For whatever reason, I have a fondness for being near railroad tracks, so I've already bookmarked a few parks along mainlines in the western states, and I have some other favorite places from when I lived and traveled in the west. 

I found this site through the Technomadia folks, I learned a lot from their content, and this seems like a nice civilized community to get started with.

Bob

http://bobk.com