Noob who has lotsa questions

[Steven L]

Welcome to the forum from another minnesotan. Your on one of the friendliest rv forums with plenty of veterans who know their stuff right here. ... Anyways, whatever you do, don’t buy your rv from camping world. All they care about is sales. Getting warranty work completed is a joke. There are plenty of posts on this form about this.
are you planning on a towable rv or drivable rv?

No fan of Timid Timmy here as it seems (to my eyes at least) he's trying to run this state into the ground ASAHP.

The plan is to find a medium-sized towable coach that my current F-150 can pull as a starting trailer, and once we've dipped our toes in for a season of experimenting, trading up to a 5th-wheel as well as a heavier duty pickup to pull it.

Should we find out that we truly will want to morph to 100% full-time nomads, the final dream would be a 5th-wheel toyhauler with the size and heft to trailer a sub-compact hatchback within it. That way our towing vehicle can remain solely used to tow, and we will have a more economical means of getting around when we choose to linger in any one area of the country.

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

Sounds like a good plan.

 

[Larry N.]

towable coach

You might note that the term "coach," in RV speak, generally means a motorhome.

Sounds as if you have a viable general plan- it'll be interesting to see how it works out for you.

 

[Steven L]

You might note that the term "coach," in RV speak, generally means a motorhome.

My thanks for the tip.

I've seen it used for both in articles and other online content which I found odd, as I've always thought of Class As or bus conversions as motorcoaches.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I expect most RVers think "motorhome" or "motorcoach" when they see/hear the term "coach", but technically the term includes towed as well as self-propelled units. Consider "stage coach" and "railroad coach" as examples that are not self-propelled.

 

[Larry N.]

Consider "stage coach" and "railroad coach" as examples that are not self-propelled.

Good point, Gary.

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

Or, how about football, baseball, or hockey..all sports included coach, lol!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Aren't hockey coaches self-propelled?

 

[Sprucegum]

As a machinist one of your most difficult tasks will be downsizing the take-along toolbox

 

[garyb1st]

Don't blame you for wanting to leave Minnesota. Did that more than 40 years ago and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Get as large a trailer as your truck can pull. Just determine how big that is before buying a trailer. The last thing you want is the tail pulling the dog.

It would be nice if you could determine exactly what you want by traveling in an RV for a month or so. We've been doing it for 15 years and are still fine tuning the RV. We're on our third and will likely buy a 4th. At least if I don't expire before. Take your time. It's almost impossible to do it right the first time. It's a learning curve and it can be rather steep at the beginning.