DennisinMaine said:
I am continuing to research before I buy my first RV. Like another recent poster, my wife and I recently retired and we are planning to see the country.
I got to thinking about something recently that I am sure is discussed in many places here but I couldn't find a specific location for a discussion of this topic.
I know denizens of this forum will answer yes to the question of "Is it worth 'it'?" My question is why and I am sure there will be a number of different answers.
I was thinking about it when I reserved a motel room in Tennessee for $59. I had just looked at an RV resort in Colorado that was nothing special for $79. Now I know prices vary all over the place and sometimes you can't find a motel for a low price. And I know being able to cook at home means you don't have to eat out every meal, and you can boondock when you wish. But fuel economy is so different, insurance is more, and you have to buy natural gas for the heat and gasoline for the generator. And you have just invested thousands in a capital asset which is depreciating every day. As others have said in different contexts, saving money is not a good reason to switch to an RV lifestyle. It would probably be less expensive, perhaps significantly less expensive, to drive and ordinary car motel to motel.
Since it is not the money, why do you choose to live in an RV? Why do you find it better to travel in your home than in your car?
I am looking forward to some interesting answers. Thank you.
I hear hesitation in your post about taking the plunge.
My idea was to start old and used so I could test the waters without a great investment. If fulltiming doesn't suit you, then you don't have much invested and it's easier to get out from under an old used rig than a newer one. I chose to go debt free and start off economically.
My lifestyle is such, that I didn't need or want pricey resort parks, though I did occasionally end up in some.
My little old motorhome was already 15 years old when I bought it. I have no desire to keep up with the Jone's... I kept my little rig tidy and clean. I was never turned away from a camp except once (and then they turned me away by phone without even seeing me or my rig!) I decided I didn't want to stay in such a snooty place anyhow, if they were that hysterical over the phone that my rig wasn't heavily financed and newer. On a funny note... many rigs are financed for 15-20 years, I paid cash and bought a 15 year old rig. You could say I love that "paid for" smell.
I spent the next 8 years 24/7 trying to decide if I liked the lifestyle or not. Tee hee hee! I didn't maintain a home elsewhere, no storage payments either. I downsized so that my entire life fit in the old motorhome with room to spare. This is rare. Many folks need to maintain a pile of stuff somewhere and I was lucky I did not.
Since I started old, my depreciation went a lot slower. By buying old and used, I was able over the years to customize things that were important to me. I was careful about the quality of my customizations because I knew eventually I would sell or trade. I kept everything in working order so I could enjoy it for all it was worth. I did tons of reading and studying so I could do some of the maintenance and upgrades myself.
On a side note... 8 years later (January 2018) when I decided to take a break from traveling, I bought an old fifth wheel to park long term and cool my heels in for awhile. I worked hard to clean all traces of 8 years of fulltiming... then sold my 23 old motorhome on Craigslist in 48 hours for more than I paid for it 8 years ago. Utterly amazing! The new owner drove it away with everything in working order. There was a tear in my eye...
Ironically I rarely boondocked and didn't spend the night at parking lots except in emergencies. I preferred camps out in nature, not noisy parking lots. My old rig wasn't set up very well for boondocking (small house battery and I didn't care to give up precious room for more battery). I did have a wonderful generator and I did boondock some (mostly on friends' land) in remote beautiful areas when the weather was fair and I didn't really need a generator for heat or cooling. However the generator was awesome for power outages, or comforts on the road.
About motels and hotels...
I need a special mattress for comfort and those hard as a rock motel beds are dreadful (for me).
With a motorhome, there was no need to pack and unpack luggage. It all went with me. Since I love the outdoors and it kept me from feeling cramped, I traveled with outdoor patio accoutrements I could set up at camp (chairs, table, awning,hammock etc). Affordable hotels generally give one a view of the parking lot and rarely a patio or balcony that is furnished for comfort with a great views or walking distance to a lovely vista. I love water so I typically camped on or near rivers, streams, lakes, ponds and oceans.
For gas economy... I didn't drive every day. Matter of fact, I mostly spent 1-2 weeks at each stop so I could soak up the area. Places I loved, I spent longer if possible or made reservations to return in the future. Many times I was in beautiful remote places owned by state or federal or local government which typically had a 2 week max. It's the same amount of fuel to "get there" whether one is spending one night or fourteen.
Traveling with pet(s). I love having my doggy with me everywhere. He also gets me out walking and hiking and exploring nature. I saw my world, one step at a time with my little buddy by my side. Motels surcharge something awful for traveling with a pet and there typically isn't beautiful walking areas (for dog and I) around motels.
For me, I wasn't doing the typical tourist things. Matter of fact, I took up bicycle riding at age 55 and since my doggy was under 7 pounds, he rides in a basket on the bicycle and loves his adventures. I had a bike lock, so I could stop, lock the bike and take him on hikes or walks. I am NOT an athletic type, but walking and biking certainly has its health benefits. In some areas, I could go biking without the dog and do my shopping, loading up my bike baskets with RV parts, supplies and food.
Amazon chased me down in many campgrounds, bringing me RV supplies and sometimes food too. At the beach in a beautiful gorgeous area, on day two, my RV toilet broke and needed replacement. The office got miles of giggles when I went inside to claim the recently delivered package which was shipped in the original box with RV TOILET written in big letters.
At first (8 years ago) I thought I would see 49 states... but I was in love with the south and the eastern seaboard, so I never made it to the 49 states (yet). I need to count it up, but I think I only saw about 17 states in 8 years of lazily puttering around in gorgeous areas.
Yes, I did 99% of my eating in the RV. It's far cheaper and I don't care for franchised restaurants with uncertain ingredients.
Everyone has different ideas of what they want to see when they travel... in my case, I just wanted beautiful nature.
I didn't do many miles on travel days. I wanted to have a relaxing trip where I had time to make frequent stops if the desire took and also I wanted to arrive at my next camp during daylight with leftover energy to set up camp and explore. I often did back roads and byways that were slower traffic with lots of eye candy along the way. Sure I did some interstate driving, but my preference was scenic highways to my next camp.
Most of my traveling was all alone with just the doggy, but I did have a few single traveling friends that would hop aboard for a spell and it was loads of fun to have some company for a change.
For me, I loved RVing and fulltiming. Settling down recently for a spell is a bit rough on me, but I found a beautiful RV lot in a rural area where I can spread out and enjoy some other pursuits such as container gardening. My body is old and beat up, I just needed to give it a rest. It's unclear whether I will go back to fulltiming on the road, but for now, I prefer living in this recently acquired fifth wheel rather than a house or apartment or condo. I guess RVing is still in my blood. If I go back to fulltiming, it won't be with this fifth wheel, as I chose a 5th wheel that is more suited to "destination" camping rather than frequent traveling. Sure it is built for traveling, but i am enjoying just using it as a home in Florida for now while I rest up a spell.
Ironically, I (and my dog and bicycle) were invited by a friend to go camping with them in the Florida Keys for a few weeks, so I hopped aboard their little rig for the trip. It was hilarious trying to "pack" for the trip in someone else's rig. I finally settled on a small backpack and small toiletry bag. If it didn't fit in one or the other, it wasn't going. Seems the dog had more stuff than me... but my friend made room for my bicycle so that was awesome.
During the 8 years, I kept a log book and took tons of pics for the memories including a picture of every spot my camper spent one or more nights plus loads of pics of what the dog and I saw out walking or biking. I also took a lot of pics of the inside of the motorhome over the years, just fun stuff to remember a slice of a life I thoroughly enjoyed as I made upgrades or maintenance repairs.
So my technique may not fit the norm, but YES full timing was FUN for me. I loved it!