Age when buying an RV for the 1st time

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Jan C Wright

Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2017
Posts
10
HI

While reading through these posts, I notice a lot of people who are RVing started when they were younger and have been doing it for years.

My wife and I will be getting into this for the for the first time when we retire - in our mid-60's.  Granted, we had a pop-up trailer for years when our kids were growing up, but now we'll be getting a 30 foot travel trailer and a larger pickup tow vehicle - both of which will be new to us.

My question is - how many of you got into RVing for the first time when you hit retirement age?  After making the transition, did you wish you had done anything differently?  Did you do a LOT of homework before jumping in (we are), or did you just jump?  Any other lessons learned for the late bloomers?
 
We are each 49 this year, and just purchased our first MH.  We've been researching for a few years now, and originally intended to wait until a few years closer to retirement.  Then we figured we may as well enjoy it now, and perhaps look to upgrade in the future.  We're very happy we made the decision to go for it now.

I don't recommend just jumping in without at least some research.  Also, get in as many units as you can - we learned a LOT about what we did and didn't want by doing that.
 
We were in our late 40's when started fulltiming in a 37' 5th wheel up until then we had tent camped. We jumped in a bit blind but it worked out okay. After I retired from the AF (we were already living in the RV for a year by then) I went to work foe a gas pipeline inspection company for 6 months. Then we moved to Gainesville, Fl where I attended UF. All that time we lived in the RV. Took a couple trips from East Coast to West Cost. Very enjoyable. Now, after doing 12 years with the DoD and retired again we have purchased a small TT to camp on the weekends and sometimes 3-4 days during the week. I am now 66 and the wife is 65.
 
I'm retired and bought my first ever MH almost exactly one year ago.

I did a fair amount of research and therefore made some decisions early on which helped funnel my searches.
For example I knew I wanted to go South during the Winters and knew I would be towing a trailer and knew there were mountains
between me and the South - So a Diesel was the only engine I would accept - that saved me from looking at any gas units.  I'm not against
gas units at all - they just didn't fit my needs.  Then another thing that I was looking for was to NOT have the main TV up over the drivers seat,
which is were it seems 90% of them reside.  A side radiator was something that I also thought would be of a benefit too.  There were other
things too but that set me on my way in looking for a coach that fit those requirements.

I knew I couldn't afford a new unit so those where out too.  Dealers defiantly need to make a profit and have a lot of expenses to cover so
in almost every case a dealer will be more then a private party purchase. 

One other major thing I learned before making a purchase was that many many people bought a unit that was too small either because
they didn't think they would need anything bigger or were afraid to drive anything bigger and then later discovered that they DID need
something bigger and therefore ended up upgrading (sometimes multiple times) to get a better unit.  That was something I wanted
to avoid so I only looked at larger units.

Once I bought a MH that is when I JUMPED into RV'ing as I then had to learn about the systems on it which I knew almost nothing at all about.
But thanks to people on this forum I learn little by little and now have a good understand of how my coach works.  I'm also glad that I didn't
buy anything to small as I don't believe that I will have to upgrade for a long time (if ever) because I started out with a good size unit.  :)


You wanted to know if there were any other lessons we could give you.
Some things will depend on how you plan to use a TT.  Are you going to just do weekend trips OR are you planning to full-time in it?
Even though a 3-4 month stay might not technically be considered full time - I think it's about as close to that as you can get.  My point is -
How did you arrive at the 30ft number of a TT to buy?  That does seem small for more more than weekend trips - IMO.
 
how many of you got into RVing for the first time when you hit retirement age?

We almost meet that. We had a class C for a couple of years in the early '70s, but we were mid 60s (retired for several years) when we bought a Trailmanor travel trailer. We learned a lot, traveling mostly around Colorado (with one trip to Palo Duro Canyon and one to Branson), and then, after about 4 years, bought a gasser motorhome (Bounder) and started venturing further afield than mostly just around Colorado, including two weeks with the forum folks to the Texas Hill Country, our first Quartzsite, etc. That's when we discovered that the better handling (especially in strong crosswinds), better ride and additional amenities of a Diesel were very desirable, so we've been diesel now for several years.
 
;D We jumped in with both feet in our 60's and never regretted it. Sure, there were some tests and tense moments but it opened up a world we would have never seen from the freeways and Super 8's. We also met many great people, something that seldom happens in a motel lobby.
 
Hi - I'll throw a few more bits of information that were asked for.

- how did we arrive at the 30 foot requirement?  When looking at many trailers, the floor plan we liked best (rear living with a big back window and a couple of nice chairs) - these all seemed to be in the 30 foot range so that was the determiner.

- what are our camping intentions?  We've lived through a lifetime of Minnesota winters and have no problem with missing out on the Minnesota months of January and February so we'd like to go south for those two months.  During the warmer months we'd likely camp in the upper midwest for long weekends or a full week here or there.

As far as tow vehicles, it looks like that for the weight we'd pull, we'd be looking at a Ford F250 or something similar.  I'm dealing with sticker shock since I've never bought a pickup before, so I'm virtually certain I won't be able to afford more than a good used tow vehicle.  If you have anything to share along the lines of experience with good used tow vehicles, please pass those along also.

Please pass along any other questions as you think of them.
 
I was 30 when my wife and 4 kids (6 thru 11) went x-cnty and camping/traveling in a VW Camper... trade-up from a tent then a pop-up. Can you call that a motor-home??? The kids grew to be teenagers and no longer wanted to camp with Dad and Mom - so another VW Camper. DW died so went back to tenting/backpacking.  Bought my 1st. real motor-home when 46 - traveled all over- just me and the dog. Now in a new class B - me and the dog and oh yes a ferret. So I'm just repeating history....

dcb in VT
 
We are both 62 today (wife's birthday is today). I retired Dec. 2016 and she is ready to retire. This will be our first RV.
 
I?m 62 now, and when we first got our camper I did no research and didn?t know diddly. The folks we bought the trailer from (fifth wheel toy hauler) were very nice and explained how stuff worked, but It was a little overwhelming information-wise, and honestly I didn?t know the right questions to ask. So in retrospect, the more research you can do by reading these forums etc, the more comfortable you will be when you start shopping. When looking at tow vehicles, don?t do what I did. When she first brought it up, I had a 2012 Chevy 2500 gas 2500. I had three diesel trucks prior to that, 2 Dodges and 1 Ford. After seeing the size of trailer she wanted (35 ft, 13500# dry weight) I knew the Chevy gasser wasn?t going to cut it. So I bought a beautiful 2015 F-350 crew cab short bed with the 6.7 Powerstroke. I really loved that truck. It pulled the camper great, but I just wasn?t comfortable with the single rear wheels with all that weight, although plenty of people do it. So I traded it for a 2016 Chevy 3500 dually with the Duramax, overall has been my favorite truck I?ve owned. Not pushing brands though, I like all of the Big 3 trucks. Anyway, I took a big hit money-wise for sure, so make sure you get plenty of truck the first time, even maybe a tad more than you think you need. Then you can find a camper that suits your needs and personal preferences from a much larger selection without having to restrict your choices because of your tow vehicle. I just say this from my personal experiences. Good luck and happy camping!!
 
I was 24 when I got my first RV, but I was also way dumber then than you are now. Just keep asking lots of questions and look at it not as a task but an adventure and you?ll be fine. Welcome to the forum.
 
I am 61 and just bought my first MH.  I have always liked camping out and travel.  I could never afford a MH.  I did trailer a 26' sailboat for several years and did many nights of "camping" aboard.

My wife is 65 and we plan to travel when I finally get to retire.

"CX"
 
I was 16 when i bought my first tent trailer i tiny
Ittle pop up but it kept us dry when were dirtbiking, no fridge or stove nothing just a tent on wheels lol
 
Even though I am in the group that started way before retirement, the one comment I heard at the beginning of our RVing experience, and still here to this day when talking to folks that are starting to RV later in life is " I WISH WE HAD NOT HAVE WAITED SO LONG TO START DOING THIS!". 

A pretty common sentiment.  But that's OK. Whenever you start, just get out there and RV!
 
After tent camping and sleeping in a truck with a camper shell for several years we bought our first trailer at about 30.  I think it was a 19 foot Wilderness..
 
I acquired a hand me down when I was about 20 years ago when I was just under 30 years old, it was on an Ford E150, and was under powered, and did not handle well, but was still much better than tent camping.  I kept it for a couple of years, then upgraded to another camper van, this one on a GMC 2500 van chassis.  It handled much better than the Ford and was better built too, I ended up selling it about 10-12 years ago, it had developed mechanical problems, and at the time I was working too many hours to get much use out of it anyway.  I then toyed with the idea of getting a travel trailer of some type as by then I had a F250 pickup, but never did due to a variety of reasons, some health / injury issues, etc..  I am now semi-retired and in my late 40's so last year I decided it was time to get a motorhome, partly to make travel easier for my wife, she has some medical issues where she needs to avoid over exertion and getting overheated, and traveling by motorhome may help with that.  Ideally something more camper van like may have worked better, but we ended up with a small Class A instead.  In my first year of ownership I have spent about 50 nights in it, and traveled around 7,000 miles.
 
We just got started last year,at ages 52 and 60.  I've been fascinated with RVs since I was 10 years old.  We used to tent camp when I was little.  I think the idea of being able to take comforts of home along intrigued me.
 
SargeW said:
Even though I am in the group that started way before retirement, the one comment I heard at the beginning of our RVing experience, and still here to this day when talking to folks that are starting to RV later in life is " I WISH WE HAD NOT HAVE WAITED SO LONG TO START DOING THIS!". 

A pretty common sentiment.  But that's OK. Whenever you start, just get out there and RV!

Well said.  We heard that a number of times as well, and were really starting to lean toward starting now.  I think what pushed us over the edge was the untimely loss of a few family members and friends.  We said to each other "We could be gone tomorrow - what's the point of waiting??"
 
Got you all beat!  Wife and I bought our first RV three years ago when we were only 75.  Reason - Didn't want to sit around the house for the rest of our lives, wanted to see more of the country, but wanted to take our dog (100 pounds of love) with us, and most motels/hotels that allow pets this size are not worth staying in.  Except for some of the mechanical problems we've incurred and still are, haven't regretted it a bit!  Thank goodness I know how to use what's in the tool box!
 
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