So here is the question

Hi everyone! new to the forum here and thanks for the warm welcome.  We have finally decided to pull the trigger and go full time on a camper. We have camped before but never owned a camper. A little bit about our story. Being active duty, and recently given a promotion, we have decided that our next move to my next duty station we are gonna full time it. Throughout all of these years, we have invested in real estate while moving from duty station to duty station, but we are now tired of dealing with houses and are ready for a new adventure, one that includes being able to move to where we want to within our location, when we want to. So, we are in the process of selling a couple of properties, keeping just one of them as a back up for our retirement, an we are going to move to the Washington state area, oak harbor or Mt Vernon with our new camper. We have read all about buying used vs new and all the great points you guys make about the issue. The dear wife has her heart set on a trailer and I really like it as well, so we have decided that we are gonna roll the dice on a new one. That would be a 2018 Jayco Bungalow 40LOFT. we love the floor plan and the space it provides with the loft upstairs for when the kids or grand babies come visit, (yes we are old) lol. We have also read all about full timing during the winter months, but we have lived in the north west before and know that the winters are nothing compared to the north east, weather being a little bit easier to deal with although it will get a little expensive during those months, the best part is that we can make that up by not using A/C at all throughout the rest of the year. Now that we have picked the one we like, we are on the market for a Truck, and that's what we are having a little bit of a problem with. We would like to know what your recommendations are. any other advise is also highly appreciated and don't worry, we have come to this forums with an open mind to listen to any and all suggestions, and that includes the trailer. thanks in advance!

I have an RV that I use all year long, it's a 35' travel trailer. In the summer through hunting season, I park it on a beautiful 10 acre property with a creek running through it. In the winter, I park it at the bottom of the hill at a local ski resort and we stay in it on weekends. It has the "polar package" meaning extra insulation and a sealed bottom. Let me tell you, I could never recommend someone living full time in an RV in any area that gets snow. We use space heaters because we get free electric, only using the furnace when it drops below 10* to get it started and then using space heaters. The heat and staying warm is not the issue. The construction of the RV is the bigger issue. The ice melting and freezing and icicles do a number on the rig. Water leaks into areas that is fine during the summer, but once that freezes and expands, it pulls everything apart. So screws start popping out and things shift and if we were looking at resale value, being used in the winter, no matter how careful you are, will plummet. I do it because that's what we bought it for and don't plan on ever selling it and I just deal with it as it comes, but it's not something I could, in good conscience, recommend to anyone else. It doesn't mater what the salesmen say, these are NOT built for snowy climates. Again, temperature isn't the issue, these just aren't weather proof permanent homes built for 4 seasons.

Thanks for the advice Momma! yes, we realized that they are not built for extreme weather or for 4 seasons living. We will not be in any heavy snow conditions, and the temperatures are rarely under freezing point in the area where we will start our full timing adventure.  Also, great point about the resale, but the plan is to keep it no matter what, it will take us through retirement, which will happen within the next 10 years, and then we will decide whether we wanna travel even more with it, or just park it somewhere south as a vacation spot. We might even ship it down to Puerto Rico since we are from there, and use it down there as a retirement vacation spot as well. Many things could happen between now and then, so yes keeping up with it is a must for us, but we do plan on keeping it long term.

Oh and we haven't talked to any salesman yet  saving that one for after all the research is done and we know as much as we can about the trailer!

How are you going to dump the waste water? Where will you get water?.

You can do it but it is a harder life. What will you do if deployed. Can your wife take care of those items by herself?''

darsben said:

How are you going to dump the waste water? Where will you get water?.

You can do it but it is a harder life. What will you do if deployed. Can your wife take care of those items by herself?''

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Great points darsben! I forgot to mention that we are going to start in the RV park on base for a few weeks, then move on to other parks, all with full hook ups! The wife and I are both learning all of this together, and she is smarter than me, so she will be fine when I do deployed, because you are right, I will deploy, there is no way around it. Good thing she got going for her, she already deals with the houses when im gone, so, she is pretty handy herself!

We started full timing in a 37? 5th wheel a year before I retired from the AF. We bought new. After retirement we stayed in places like Daytona Beach, FL, Atlanta, GA, Ellsworth AFB, SD (in the winter), Tennessee, The Umpqua National Forest, OR, Gainesville, FL and Kings Bay Navy Sub Base, GA.  We never had a problem with either heat or cold. Heat at over 100 and cold way south of 0. We had an enclosed, heated basement and if connected to shore power always used space heaters.

NAVYCWO said:

we are going to start in the RV park on base

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You probably already know this, but if you're in an area with multiple bases, check them all out first. In my experience for example, the Army base "camping" vs the AF areas are worlds apart. (Of course that is also true of hotels, chow halls, PX/BX etc etc lol) my best example is Fort Dix/McGuire joint base. I stayed on the Dix side (Army) against better judgment and it was literally a dirt lot with next to the prison with a few electric posts. The "bathroom" didn't have electric, was so dirty I didn't let my kids wash their hands with the brown stuff they called water coming out of the faucets. It was nasty.

Oldgator73 said:

We started full timing in a 37? 5th wheel a year before I retired from the AF. We bought new. After retirement we stayed in places like Daytona Beach, FL, Atlanta, GA, Ellsworth AFB, SD (in the winter), Tennessee, The Umpqua National Forest, OR, Gainesville, FL and Kings Bay Navy Sub Base, GA.  We never had a problem with either heat or cold. Heat at over 100 and cold way south of 0. We had an enclosed, heated basement and if connected to shore power always used space heaters.

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Thanks Oldgator! That sounds like a lot of fun. we obviously can't do that much traveling yet, but we are planning on traveling the west coast a bit while we are there, you know, without getting too far away, the jobs is pretty much 24/7 lol

RVMommaTo6 said:

You probably already know this, but if you're in an area with multiple bases, check them all out first. In my experience for example, the Army base "camping" vs the AF areas are worlds apart. (Of course that is also true of hotels, chow halls, PX/BX etc etc lol) my best example is Fort Dix/McGuire joint base. I stayed on the Dix side (Army) against better judgment and it was literally a dirt lot with next to the prison with a few electric posts. The "bathroom" didn't have electric, was so dirty I didn't let my kids wash their hands with the brown stuff they called water coming out of the faucets. It was nasty.

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Point taken Momma, I will look around some more, there are a few bases around, but most are too far away that would make it a long commute to work, but something to think about. it sounds like you got it all down between the branches of the armed forces, and you are pretty much on point lol

Lol yeah, I always seemed to travel where they had both Army and AF and AF was always, 100% of the time, so much nicer. The Army "hotel" would look like a creepy, dumpy motel that closed 25 years ago while the AF base hotel down the road would be a beautiful 2 bedroom suite with full kitchen and laundry and living room all for the same price lol. 

RVMommaTo6 said:

You probably already know this, but if you're in an area with multiple bases, check them all out first. In my experience for example, the Army base "camping" vs the AF areas are worlds apart. (Of course that is also true of hotels, chow halls, PX/BX etc etc lol) my best example is Fort Dix/McGuire joint base. I stayed on the Dix side (Army) against better judgment and it was literally a dirt lot with next to the prison with a few electric posts. The "bathroom" didn't have electric, was so dirty I didn't let my kids wash their hands with the brown stuff they called water coming out of the faucets. It was nasty.

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We stayed on the AF side and it wasn?t any better. Ft Meade, MD was really nice. Concrete pads and great bathrooms. A bit on the pricey side st $50 night. Dover AFB has a pretty nice famcamp. New showers and bathrooms. 

RVMommaTo6 said:

Lol yeah, I always seemed to travel where they had both Army and AF and AF was always, 100% of the time, so much nicer. The Army "hotel" would look like a creepy, dumpy motel that closed 25 years ago while the AF base hotel down the road would be a beautiful 2 bedroom suite with full kitchen and laundry and living room all for the same price lol.

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LOL yup, you are right about that, although the Navy does have some nice installations in some areas, the Air Force always seems to have the most money for that kind of stuff!

Oldgator73 said:

We stayed on the AF side and it wasn?t any better. Ft Meade, MD was really nice. Concrete pads and great bathrooms. A bit on the pricey side st $50 night. Dover AFB has a pretty nice famcamp. New showers and bathrooms.

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It should be the same anywhere, whether they're nice or trashy, based on your rank as far as I know.

Make sure the places you think about provide water all year. SOme may be open but not have water at each site because they winterize the pipes.
Some will have one central location when winterized with a frost proof hydrant for all to fill from. This may mean moving your trailer to get water. (PIA) Others will have no water meaning you have to carry it in.
I have used my travel trailer when I had one all winter long in the weekends just north of Fort Drum. It was workable for a change of pace but I would not want to do it full time in the cold


Soy puertorrique?o de Penuelas

I won't quote specs or the calculations for what you need, but that is one long tall trailer. I would really not want to try that with less and a DRW 1 ton diesel. I've not towed an RV with both but have had both a 1 ton and a 3/4 ton now, the 1 ton was very stable when towing heavy, and they are/were both dodge 24 valve, 2001, same color, same quad cab, both 4wd, even same int. (didnt plan it that way, it was just the only good 3/4 ton I found)

RVMommaTo6 said:

It should be the same anywhere, whether they're nice or trashy, based on your rank as far as I know.

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Each famcamp sets their own price. It doesn?t go by rank. Military lodging prices are set by rank but the room rates are different at each installation.  Do you remember what you paid at Dix? Probably about $15-$20 a day (probably wasn?t worth that). I think we paid about that amount at McGuire. I have to agree with you that AF lodging is much superior to the Army. Although the Army does manage the Hale Koa resort in Hawaii and the recreation area at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Both are have excellent facilities.

rbTN said:

I won't quote specs or the calculations for what you need, but that is one long tall trailer. I would really not want to try that with less and a DRW 1 ton diesel. I've not towed an RV with both but have had both a 1 ton and a 3/4 ton now, the 1 ton was very stable when towing heavy, and they are/were both dodge 24 valve, 2001, same color, same quad cab, both 4wd, even same int. (didnt plan it that way, it was just the only good 3/4 ton I found)

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Thanks rbTN! I understand, would it be about the same if it was a 35-37 footer trailer around the same weight?

One campground I stay at summers water is only found in about 3 or 4 places year round. One of my friends parks within 100 feet of the water supply and has a LONG hose or collection of hoses.

Been known to do that myself in one spot that has a single spigot and 20 slots.. But not often.