New retiree getting ready to roll

[jthibault15]

Hi all. I'm a 64 year-old woman from Georgia and I just retired a couple months ago. I lost my husband a few years ago so I will be traveling alone. I'm hoping to buy a travel trailer. I drive a Kia Telluride with a towing limit of 5000 lbs. I know exactly what I want as far as size and layout. I have a lot of joint problems (replaced knee and arthritic hips and shoulders). My biggest concern is being able to connect the hitch without a helper. I do have backup cams on my SUV. I'm also worried about backing it up alone. I'm planning to rent a trailer for a few days so I can try it out. I'll be traveling with a dog and maybe a cat. I want to visit the northwest for a few months and eventually I want to move to Arizona. I'm curious to hear how other single, "mature" women do on their own.

 

[Henry J Fate]

Just a thought or 2.......

Maybe consider buying a motorhome and towing the car? That could offer some relief and make things easier for you.

As far as towing a trailer with the Kia, you may not have as much difficulty as you project. Once you get your trailer and the car fitted for it, practice a little bit at home before heading out. Hitching and unhitching. Also, if you have never towed a trailer and not any experience backing up with a trailer, I would suggest to do some of that in an open parking lot with someone experienced that can help you with the process.

In addition to all of that, the systems in a RV require a learning curve as well. You will certainly get lots of help here from some great members but you may want to camp at home for a short time to get things rolling.

Good luck. I am sorry to hear about your husband and no, I am not a single mature woman

 

[CharlesinGA]

Take short one and two week trips in the South East to get a feel for what works and what doesn't. I'd suggest spending this year doing that. Get home, re arrange, toss stuff out, get different stuff, try things. Traveling with dogs is not difficult but be aware of where you cannot take them (many national parks), but I feel a cat needs to be started young on a harness and leash.

If you have not, take a drive to a Federal facility where you can buy a Senior America the Beautiful pass ($80), as it is good for free entry to National Parks and in many cases gets you a 50% discount on camping site fees.

In Georgia, Corp of Engineer campgrounds such as at Eufaula, West Point, Alatoona, Ft Pulaski, The King Center, several National Forest district offices, Lake Lanier...........

All sites in the US where Interagency Passes are issued

Or for an additional $10 ($90 total) you can have the pass mailed to you.

USGS Store online

Charles

 

[edjunior]

The Telluride may be an okay tow vehicle, as long as you keep the trailer size down. A pop-up or a hard sided "pop-up" like the TrailManor or A-liner. But I think the idea of a smaller Class A or C and tow the Telluride is a good one. Once you get everything set up initially, it's probably as easy as anything after that. So let us know more about what you are thinking for your camper, and we can help guide you a bit more.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

 

[donn]

Well to answer your questions without getting into the ability of your Kias towing ability.
My Acura MDX has a back up camera and I use it all the time when I plan to hitch my utility trailer up. Works like a charm once you get accustom to reading it.
Backing up, I assume into a camp site it not difficult. Buy a back up camera for your trailer and learn to use/read your mirrors. I'm assuming the factory mirrors can not extend so plan on buying a pair of mirror extensions that will fit your existing mirror heads, and you should be good to go. This is not rocket science, thank goodness, the key is practice. Once you get your setup, dial a friend and find a big empty lot. Practice backing, maneuvering using your spotter as a marker. Learn to back next to them without hitting them or making them move.
As for hitching once your under the ball. Trailers can be equipped with electric tongue jacks. As for the equalizer bars, I learned that once the trailer is connected, using the tongue jack raise the trailer tongue a bit. Makes snapping the bars in place much easier. Just don't forget to raise the jack back to travel position.

 

[IBTripping]

To hitch up my trailer, I use these. https://www.amazon.com/Performance-...locphy=1023191&hvtargid=pla-491882857342&th=1
They work much better than getting gf to try and guide me.

 

[roninX]

Welcome and enjoy the community!

 

[Ex-Calif]

Something like this would be doable.

Trailer Advert

Note that under the little cover near the tongue I presume is an electric jack for the foreleg. You jack the tongue up, align you ball using a back up camera and or devices like IBTripping posted and then lower the tongue onto the ball.

Hope you push through with it and get to hit the road.

 

[Oldgator73]

Hitching is easy once you practice and get it figured out. Our van did not have a backup camera so i would open the rear door and line the van’s gate latch with the TT hitch. Our truck had a backup camera so it was easy peasy. I hope you have an electric hitch. As for backing up…practice, practice, practice. A big empty parking lot works best for this. When we bought our 5th wheel we lived on base at Lackland AFB TX and there was a a church next door. I practiced backing the RV between the parking spot lines for days on end. I do much better without a spotter. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Travelor]

My Honda Passport has three different backup views - one "normal" one; one "wide angle" one; and one that looks almost straight down to help with connecting to the trailer. Works wonderfully.

You might check your car and see if that is available on your factory dash backup camera.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I think you will find that the Telluride's 5000 lb tow limit is going to restrict your trailer choice severely, but that's a subject for another discussion. When you look around for a trailer that meets your wants & needs, just remember that the trailer GVWR (max gross weight) is what has to be under 5000 lbs.

 

[lydia miller]

Welcome and enjoy the community! If you are about to start a trailer trip, it is highly recommended that you buy a reversing camera, you will find it can help you a lot, whether it is normal driving, or reversing into camp. In general I would recommend Furrion and Haloview as I have used both and they are of good quality and work fine. Enjoy travel!