Questions About The RV Lifestyle

You've just asked many "loaded" questions, lol!

Owning vs. renting- depends on how much $$ you have, and how frequently you'll be traveling. I found a very nice 24' Class C Winnebago with 24000 miles on it for about $25,000 and it was a great purchase that I could re-sell with little or no loss if it didn't work out. But it did work out, and we love it. (Only me and the wife, with the occasional kid and grandkid or two).

Pros & Cons of the "RV Lifestyle".. it's a popular theme in the last few years and there are LOTS of YouTube vids about full-time RVing, "Boondocking", Pros & Cons, etc. Do a few searches and be prepared to watch a lot of vids until you find a YouTuber you like.

My wife is still working for the next couple of years but a few years back we decided to up our travel experience in prep for our expected "free time". We have traveled for many years to every state by motorcycle and cars, with a mix of camping and hotels and found that we preferred motels because all of our trips required a finite depart and return date, usually too close together for where we wanted to go! Camping simply requires too much setup and takedown time unless you spend several days in one place.

With that in mind and the probability of "spur of the moment" travel, the 1st decision was Van, Trailer, Pickup Camper, or RV for transport. Each has their own pros & cons depending on your anticipated "travel lifestyle". Think about your goals for fuel economy, side trips & parking at stores & restaurants, etc.

We first experimented with a pickup camper and it was fine for just the 2 of us, but didn't have a shower (although some do). The other problem we had with it is having to exit the truck and enter the camper and since we often "boondock" (free camping but many times in parking lots en-route) we felt that a Class B or C camper was a bit more secure in case a "bug-out" was needed in the middle of the night! (None have been needed so far). Our 24-25' Minnie Class C is perfect for 2 people, but can sleep 6 if needed. (The 6 or even 2 should be very friendly though, lol).

There are thousands of "Public" campsites, National, State, Municipal- Parks, Forests, Wildlife Mgmt Areas, Corps of Engineers, BLM, and even Utility and small community sites to choose from. National and State Parks however nice they may be, have risen in price now and it's not unusual to pay $40 a night if you want hookups. But, there are also thousands that are free or less than $15 a night too, some with water and electricity.

I'm not sure if we'd sell our house and go full-time as others have, but who knows?

I worked two seasons with the NPS (1998-1999) in Skagway AK with a fellow seasonal park ranger who, with her husband, were fairly long-time Year-round RVers. I remember that she mentioned an organization called the Escapees or something like that who offered info on the lifestyle.

She also has written a few books on full-time RVing and I see the books on Amazon. Look for books by Jaimie Hall or Jaimie Hall Bruzenak. Aha, I see a Twitter and Facebook presence as well...

Yes, the Escapees club is great advice. I forgot about them since the wife & I aren't generally "clubbers". As I recall they even offer work solutions advice for full-timers, or link to it.

Are you still with the NPS, Craig? I'm only asking because my oldest daughter works for them at Harpers Ferry Center.

These days the charge to "camp" at some place or another with full hookups isn't that far off a motel rate.
The one difference is that you know exactly what your accomodations will be.
You can park overnight at most Walmarts but of course there are no no hook ups. Because you are moving basically a huge brick without real good aerodynamics your fuel consumption is higher.

Where I spend my winter people I know are paying almost the same in a trailer park as I do for my house rental.

My former boss who was an avid RV'er used to laugh and say ... I spent an extra $200 on gas today ... BUT I SAVED $50 on the motel room! He loved his RV pastime for its recreational and social aspects and didn't try to fool himself about cost savings.

No, my seasonal NPS days were from 1996 to 2005 as an intermediate between full employment (university & hospitals as an alchemist—yes, in my final five years in Ohio, I transmuted elements but never quite turned lead into gold) and full retirement. I worked full time about 5-6 months a year for the NPS, a bit more with additional volunteering, etc., then had the rest of the year free to experience semiretirement. With Medicare and Social Security, I now am fully retired. I worked the Flagstaff Area Monuments (mostly Sunset Crater Volcano NM) and Klondike Gold Rush NHP as a VIP; Park Guide; VUA; and Park Ranger, Interp. throughout the years. In 2000, I decided to switch it up and was a Train Agent for 5 months with the White Pass & Yukon Route. My 1998-2000 years had me in Skagway for the Gold Rush Centennial complete with a First Day of Issue US postage stamp release at our Visitor Center as well as the centennial of the beginning, midpoint and completion of the WP&YR.

Not an RVer, my commute to and from Alaska from AZ was by car with tent and sleeping bag, plus motels, roadhouses, etc. but I surely did get to meet and talk with the full time RV folks all the way down to the RV rental folks—this added to keep me "on thread."

I know he was being light-hearted, but the truth is that at $2.49 a gallon over a 1,000 mile trip in an RV that gets 9 mpg, he would need to have compared it to a 32 mpg car driving it to the motel to have spent "an extra $200" on fuel.

Other considerations of an RV over vehicle & hotel is pets & food. In our RV with a generator, range & oven, and refrigerator we spend the same (or less) on food for the duration of our trips as we would when at home so food is a wash. Not even our cat is welcome at every hotel/motel/rental so we'd need to board him if not taking him in the RV with us.

Last week on a 2767 mile 7 day trip we spent about $40 total on 2 C.O.E. and municipal RV sites with electric, and the rest of the time $0 at free public camp sites and in the driveway of friends houses.

In a 32 mpg car we would have spent an additional $420 to $840 for marginal motels/hotels instead of the extra RV fuel, so that's a wash as well. Plus extra for dining out.

.. And the cat enjoyed it too.

Yes, he was definitely being lighthearted and teasing himself for his expensive hobby ... but this was a few years ago when gas was over $4 (and motel rooms were cheaper than now). He told me he only got 6 MPG average with his motor home (towing his Honda car). He has since had to give up his love of RV travel because of health problems.

Very cool. Congrats that your back had no issues with tent camping, lol. My youngest daughter went to school in Fairbanks at UAF and is now married and living in Anchorage.

Just to keep my reply on topic as well, in 2005 the wife & I traveled from Maryland on our motorcycles to visit her and in 2016 we took our RV to visit her and made a huge loop of the State. Up the Cassier with a "side trip" to Hyder and on to Anchorage, down to Homer, up to Denali & Fairbanks, through Chicken and a "side trip" to Skagway, then back home via the Alaska Hwy.

Everywhere west of the Mississippi river is prime camping, RVing, and boondocking country, but especially Alaska!

Dang. That's a shame he had to give up his RV. I know I'd likely have to give up mine if fuel goes to $4 again. Well, it's a Chevy 6.0l so maybe I'd look to a diesel engine swap.

On the bright side, I never thought I'd be happy that mine gets 9 mpg average, but after hearing 6 mpg .. lol.

Living in an RV is no exception. We have had one in one form or another for nearly 40 years. We enjoy the aspects of RV travel, but it is not for everyone, nor is it necessarily less expensive.

Many newer RVs are loaded with bling and often come up short on practicality and most suffer from quality control problems and cut corners to keep the costs down.

Among the compromises is deciding on a Class-B, Class-C, Class-A, Travel Trailer, or 5th Wheel. Each has its pros and cons. Some are better for travel, other better for living. Once narrowed down, then it requires some research to find a quality brand, and then a suitable floor plan that fits your likes. For the most part the components such as the fridge, furnace, water heater and air conditioner are off the shelf items that are common to most manufacturers. It's how much attention to detail when they are installed as to how much you will enjoy them.

If someone came to me, I would suggest they think about the type of RV that interests them and then bite the bullet and rent one for a couple of weeks. That experience may save you from a big mistake or give you confidence to go forward. I personally think bigger is not always better.
It is easier to trade up to larger, but often costly to trade down to smaller. Join a local chapter of an RV club such as Good Sams and go out on weekend campouts with them. Not to learn how to play Pinochle, but to learn how to properly do your hookups and dump your tanks. Whether you tow a trailer, or drive a motorhome with a car in tow, you need to be confident in your driving skills and establish a hitch up routine and avoid distractions at all costs when doing it. Some like to put together a checklist.

When it comes time to buy one, walk through the one you like with the slides retracted to simulate what you would be faced with in a rest stop if you wanted to make a sandwich or use your own facilities. Is there this cool skylight in the back that will end up keeping you awake all night because you will park under a street light now and then. Can your SO stand up in the bath and pull her britches up without having to open the door to the world? Are the cabinets in the galley sufficient so you won't have to store the groceries in the closet with your clothes? Will 30 Amp electrical service and 1 A/C unit keep you cool enough in the middle of the summer where you travel, or will you need 2 A/C units and a much heavier 51 Amp power cord?

Elkhart is cranking out new RVs at record pace, but there are hardly any new campgrounds being built. The families displaced by storm damage or temporary construction crews are occupying many campsites that used to be available for overnight stops. Popular destinations have campgrounds that charge $50, 60 or 100/night! But there are many that are under $30. State parks and national forests abound with bargains if you're willing to live off the grid for short periods.

You don't have to be a plumber or electrician or a mechanical engineer to own an RV, but if you are a competent DIY type that understands some of those things, living with an RV can be easier.

Nothing beats experience.

Thanks to all posters on this thread!

dobs108

Thanks for all the comments. I think it is going to take me a while to digest everything.

To answer some of the questions, I will be eligible to retire in the next few years, so a big reason for asking has to do with the "next phase" where I hope to do a bit more travelling.

"Today" it is more about the spur-of-the-moment trips and family vacations. For example, there is a convention coming up that I would like to check out, but the hotels in the area at that time are either already full or have jacked up their prices. If I had an RV, I wouldn't have to worry about the hotels... but I would still need to find a place to park the RV.

As for the research... yes... been doing that. I even managed to find a good deal on a 3-4 day RV rental a couple of years ago. Although I wish the RV we rented had been in better shape, we discovered that we enjoyed RV camping. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find another "affordable" rental.

beagle.fan, in an RV with AC, TV, maybe satellite dish etc. it's not camping, it's GLAMPING !

We went the opposite way most people do! When we were young, we had a 19' Class A Winnebago motorhome... and years later primarily using a Toyota 4Runner 4x4 for many cross country trips to Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota exploring backroads and 4x4 only trails. And when even older trips in a Toyota Prius.

Observations: Driving the motorhome is more tiring, expensive due to fuel costs and finding campgrounds that aren't crowded, noisy parking lots can be challanging. National and State parks are much better so far as more room and generally quieter planes to stay. MPG in the motorhome was 8.7mpg no matter how we drove it. Trip distances were more limited, but stays longer.

In the 4Runner, we did a lot of off road trails in the above areas, stayed in small town, mom & pop owned local motels, and cabin accomodations. Biggest problem with the 4Runner is the somewhat limited range on a tank of fuel, critical for travel in really remote places. 19 mpg & lower on 4x4 trails with an 18.5 gallon tank. That limits safe maximum distances plus contingency to no more than 300miles. With higer gas prices, 19mps is pretty expensive travel for our tastes. Wish I could have bought the international version of the 4Runner sold in the rest of the world with a turbocharged 4 cylinder diesel that averages 30mpg.

In the Prius.. great long distance traveler, with easy 50 mpg and with over 500 mile range on a tank of gas.. Much more flexibility in traveling into remote areas and long distances. For the travel on major roads, given so little money spent on fuel, many times we would stay in higher end motels or B&Bs with very nice accomodations.

I think I get what you are trying to say. At the same time, is the distinction really all that important? For me, the goal of travel is to explore... and to hopefully find new and interesting things along the way. Be it via hotel, RV, cruise ship, or whatever, we need a safe, clean, and at least somewhat comfortable place to stay.

Based on the comments in this thread -- THANK YOU ALL -- I am getting the impression that the answer is a form of "Choose your poison."

Here is another question for you experienced RVers....

I presume that owning an RV is similar to owning a home in the sense that you have to do occasional repairs, like replace the roof, fix leaks, pay the electric/gas bills, etc. But an RV is on wheels. What do you do when your entire home has to go into the shop for a few days to work on the engine, rotate/replace the tires, etc.?

Jump in your tow vehicle and drive to nearest Hotel/Motel.

Hopefully, the repair facility can provide transportation to the nearest hotel. If your RV is going to need multiple days for repairs, You aren't going to be able to use it, anyway.

Tires isn't a major problem. If you repair facility can't replace, or rotate tires in an 8 hour day, you are at the wrong facility.

Barring an engine rebuild or replacement, or transmission rebuild, you should be in and out in one day in most cases. If not, you can stay in the unit in the parking lot until parts arrive.

Sorry about being late to the party. My wife and I have lived fulltime in our motorhome for the past 5 years. It's our only home (i.e. there's no other "homebase").

Earlier this year we had our refrigerator replaced and a few other things done. The shop has W/E/S hookups so we lived in the coach at night and they worked on it during the day. It's not unusual for RV shops to let you sleep in your coach depending on what they're working on.

Two weeks ago a different shop found a bad tensioner bearing during our annual maintenance so had to keep the coach late (ETA was midnight). They were a 24-hour shop and didn't have hookups so we drove our car to a nearby motel.

Bottom line: What you do depends on the shop and what work you're having done.

A friend offered me the use of his RV for a trip to the East Coast. We live about 60 miles west of Toronto, Ontario, so it was a decent trip.

I used Streets & Trips to calculate my fuel costs, and how many days to get there. I found the same thing. Fuel costs, at about 10 mpg, plus a modest per diem cost for overnight camping and good quality motels were cheaper. Additionally many motels offer breakfast as part of the cost.

Admittedly you don't get the RV lifestyle, which is part of the experience. I have a park model trailer at a trailer park and can understand the RV lifestyle.

Americans have some advantages that us Canucks don't have. If we stay in the US more than 180 days it can affect our benefits and we can be subject to US taxation.

Americans can RV in the northern states in summer and southern states in winter and do that 365 days a year with no tax or benefit impact.

We can RV in Canadian comfort in the summer almost anywhere in Canada, but it sure is going to be frosty in the winter everywhere. LOL

Sounds like it was expensive. Was it?

For the past 15 years I've been around the lower 48 by Harley. I've seen over 220K miles of POIs in 48 states. I prefer the lower cost of high mileage vehicles and mid-range motels. The per mile cost of travel has risen from $0.75 in 2000 to $1.00 in 2017. I like to spend the rest of my time at home, in my space. 2-5 week rides and I'm done with travel for a while. I did one 76 day ride with camping half the time. That cured me of a desire to live in the woods. An RV, to me, is smaller than a motel room and a lot more invested than I'd use.

Great discussion and what a life that would be. When seeing someone towing a car, always wondered why not spend a bit more and put the car on a trailer. Is it just me?

There's more than one answer depending on who you ask.

An RV overly simplified is either a motor home or a trailer. In either case, you are most likely towing something. Obviously with a trailer, there's no other option. When it comes to a motor home, most tow a car to provide economical and convenient transportation while staying at a location.

This comes down to 3 choices:

Tow the car flat on all 4 wheels. This requires a car capable of or modified to be be towed that way. Other modifications allow for lights and brake operation. This is usually the easiest way once the mods have been done.

Tow an unmodified front wheel drive car on a 2 wheel dolly. I believe most states require a licence plate for the dolly and it most likely needs a spare tire that is different from those on the motor home and car. It's also and extra piece to deal with. I once observed an older couple arrive at a "cozy" campground that had only back in sites. The couple had to 1st remove their car from the dolly and then disconnect the dolly and muscle this 1000 pound chunk of iron up a small hill behind the site and only then could they back the motor home in.

Tow the car on a flatbed or enclosed car trailer. Again, this requires a license plate and likely a different spare. Unlike the dolly, it can be backed up, provided that the site is long enough to accommodate it. If a pull through site, it needs to be long enough for the motor home, trailer and parked car that you used to tour the area. it also adds about a ton or more to the overall towed weight load. Depending on the design of the trailer, it might require some limber contortions to get in and out of of the car on the trailer.

As you can see, each has its pros and cons. The 4th option is to tour by car and stay at hotels.

A fifth option for those with $$ :

https://laughingsquid.com/volkner-mobil-luxury-motorhome-bui...

There are also models with a drive in garage in the rear.

it was very insightful and helpful.

But that sucker would die on the first NYC pothole it encountered. Also very little ground clearance. It would go turtle on the first Long Island Railroad grade level crossing it saw. I guess if you owned that, the lower New York area would be far off your travel radar...

Do you know anyone who works on RVs?

Pretty much anyone who owns one.

To modify a car to be a toad (as they are called) can cost $2-4K. Tow bar base plate must be installed, then brake/turn-signal wiring, then supplemental brake system, and maybe even mods to the transmission. But it eliminates the issue of handling a trailer or dolly in a campsite. RV forums debate this topic ad nauseum.

Another option... Rent a car as you pull into town for the wkend/week/month and drop it off as you leave. Or "call Enterprise" and they'll deliver it to your campsite. Of course would require a bit of planning to ensure there's a rental agency in the area. And it's probably not cheaper.

alandb,
If your friend got 6mpg, he was surely driving a "Diesel Pusher" motorhome which was probably 40' long, and weighing upwards of 35,000 lbs. This really does not represent most RVs on the road which get 10-12 mpg using gas. Gas RVs tend to be half the weight and usually 32 feet or shorter. If you drive a 26 foot Winnebago View, for example, you can travel with no car attached and not miss much. The smaller gas rigs make RVing very affordable and yes, you do save money. This also assumes that you do not drive all day every day of your trip.

Sleeping in your own bedbug free bed and using your clean bathroom has some value as well.

Just sayin', it not just as simple as gas price or motel + meals price

My motto is "Don't Look at the Pump"

I suggest that you buy used for the first year or two. That way if you don't like it, then you can sell and get back most of your money plus it helps you to figure out what size RV you need. BTW, it tends to be hard to finance an RV when you are houseless. Credit reports are 10 years behind me on "residences". I am not a "typical RVer". I live in a park full of people who go off every day to work a job and then come home at night to homes that are on wheels. Some of those people are RVers and others are folks who bought an RV so they didn't have to live in hotels and apartments. I live full-time in a 1986 self-converted school bus. I tow a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee. All my junk is paid for. I normally hold down a job but recently I quit my job from hell and just babysit the dog while my (adult) daughter works a 40 hour/wk job that she loves (she also used to work at hell too). The dog is hers. I have been in campgrounds, weekend, part-time and full-time, since I met my husband in 1979. Tent, pop-up then RV. I've co-owned 4 houses over the years (the other owner was the bank). This is my second time full-timing (dumped the last house in spring of 2005). I have no interest in living in a house ever again. My daughter lives with me. She has been full-time in an RV since 2008. She prefers an RV. Boondocking (camping with no hook-ups) is expensive to set up for. I don't boondock. My bus was set up to stay up to 3 nights in a parking lot before I need to find a dump station and refill the water tank. I have an LP generator. It will start every time, even after years of sitting but at a cost. I blow thru a 20LB/4.7g LP tank in a short time when I have to run AC and all my electric residential refrigeration (and my heat-taped/insulated water lines for the winter). For me, it is better to stay in a park on full hookups. Monthly stays drop my site rent to below $15/nite. I don't stay in parks that cost over $500/mo. My current "winter" site rent is $400 and includes water, electric, sewer, wifi and cable/sat TV. I don't use the park wifi or the TV. I have an unlimited data hotspot and stream Netflix and Amazon Prime (please don't try to stream movies or games on park wifi). I have all I need onboard so I don't need or use park bathroom or laundry. If you travel a lot, it will cost you. A half price club like Passport America will help to keep site costs down, but monthly stays are your best way to do that. If I were to compare my current living costs to what I would be spending if I were in my last house, I would say it is slightly cheaper. Cost of living in NM is higher than it is in TN. But my site rent is slightly cheaper than the house payments were. I don't drive an hour to Chattanooga once a week. Most things I need are in town or I order it online. I used to live 20 miles from the nearest grocery store in a house. Now it's just down the block. We broke down on our way out of NM and have been stuck here trying to save up $$ again since 2016. I view my bus as a mobile apartment that I never have to pack up in order to move. One day I will be able to leave again. Until then, and after, I prefer to live in my bus. If you have never been stuck in an RV for weeks on end due to the weather outside, then you have no idea as to what it's like to live full time in an RV. It's not for everyone. It is for me.

for the feedback.

I still love the idea of being able to drive somewhere and have a place to stop for the night whenever we feel like it, but I am not convinced that this is the "better" (note the quotes) way to go.

Case in point: We just did a road trip. I didn't make hotel reservations in advance because I didn't know how far we we would drive before calling it a night. When the time came, we had the "hassle" of trying to find a hotel at a reasonably affordable rate. If we had a RV, we would have the "hotel" with us -- but we would still need to find a place to park for the night, so it seems to me like almost a wash.

Nearly all Walmarts allow "overnighting". In fact, I think there is a POI file of Walmarts that says whether or not they allow overnighting. All it costs is letting the manager know you are there. Maybe a quick visit for a grocery item or two makes a nice gesture, also.

With my work I did a lot of driving to other cities. It was always the same and I knew which ones I liked. I came back from SC on a vacation and didn't know how far I would get (like you). There were only a couple motels where I stopped. I took what I thought was the "best". It was a dump motel of a major chain. I was to tired to find another.