[Brucester]

Is this your dream? Been there done that? Practical hacks? This is all you need to know? What's your take on this topic?

[treeswarper]

I lived, by necessity, in a travel trailer for two years. It was not pleasant. I guess had I towed it south in the winter, things would have been different, but I worked in the winter. Woke up to frost on the walls and had to use a hair dryer on the door to get it open on cold days. I had electric space heaters going but it would be freezing at floor level and hot at head level. I had heat taped the plumbing so that didn't freeze. Full timing? Nope. I pull my 17 foot fiberglass trailer around and have an easier time finding places to park it. To full time, I'd want a bigger one and that means that finding spots to camp would be harder. I also enjoy going home after camping, to my small house. My house seems huge after camping trips. My kitchen is about the same size as the trailer. Newer RVs have a lot of troubles. That means looking for a dependable repair person in strange to you places. I find it kind of cruel that Youtube tries to make living in a van, or a car full time look so pleasant. It isn't in my mind. Today I'll be working on my trailer. I've got the "bedroom" torn apart to get to the fresh water plumbing. It was leaking. Maintenance. Working on that would be difficult without having a house to yard bedding and mattresses into.

[half fast]

When I retired the first time, I bought a 25 ft Class C RV and was Camp Hosting for WA state parks and the ONP. After spending a winter at a campground south of Forks in the rain, I decided that type of RV was too small for full timing. I traded it in on a 27 ft Class A and loved it. I towed my jeep so I had a vehicle when I was set up and camp hosting, it was small enough to get into any camp site and having the higher ceiling going the whole length of the RV felt like a mansion in comparison. When I stopped camp hosting, I ended up selling it and have been a bit sorry that I did. I have been thinking about finding another under 30 ft. Class A motorhome, getting a trailer for my motorcycle, bicycle and some storage and just touring the country. I have not found the RV I want yet (I did find the trailer that I want). It is a different lifestyle, kind of nomad-ish and I can see myself traveling southward in the winter and back north in the spring through fall.

[Schroder]

What would you do with it? Go on the road and travel? Stay in one spot for a long period of time? Park it on a piece of land?

[cdestroyer]

Bought a 35ft Aljo Alliance travel trailer for $1500 when I lived in north florida years ago. It had furnace that kept it warm when the temps dropped to 16f. Roof air kept it comfortable in summer. All the other conveniences. Hot water heater, fridge,tv,and outside awning for shade. Being retired and single It was ideal for my needs...

[Randito]

My wife and I full timed for 8 months in a smaller (28 foot) vintage (1992) Class A motorhome. It was a great experience. Talking with other full timers while out there and based on my experience -- your experience will be better if you are good at DIY repairs for the "house" systems and it won't hurt to have a basic knowledge of automechanics. Stuff breaks or stops working for random reasons. Often a fix is fairly simple if you are good at such things -- but if you need to go to an RV repair facility -- be prepared to wait a long time and pay a lot. The RV industry is essentially a massive poor service / rip off industry. We spent a couple months in Baja -- which was wonderful. The funky old appearance of our motorhome limited us to only having to pay one small bribe to "Municipal Policia" officer to not get shaken down going through the military check points. Other RVs with new / late model rigs had to pay more bribes. In the states the higher end "RV resorts" typically require your motorhome to be less than 10 years old. But those sorts of places weren't of interest to me. I found the iOverlander app to to very useful.

[Schroder]

As with the crowding on the trails during covid, RVing has gotten just as bad if not worse. In 2019-2022 the manufacturers couldn't keep up with the orders. As a consequence it's become very difficult to get on the road without reservations for that night. Places like Walmart allowed overnight parking but in the past year they've prohibited it at most of their stores. Rest areas along the freeways fill up early in the day & last winter we couldn't even pull off at any in the middle of the Sacramento Valley on I-5 because trucks were parked all the way out to the shoulder of the highway. If you're fine with paying $80-100 a night at private campgrounds, there's usually not a problem finding a spot unless you're in Southern California or Arizona in the middle of winter. I use half a dozen apps to help me find campsites. One I used to pay a membership to was Harvesthosts (who also bought Boondockers Welcome) but every place I wanted to use it at was either full or closed on the days I tried. Here's our rig. Just fine for a month or so of travel. We've got a lot of solar capability and lithium batteries so we can be off-grid for several days at a time, depending on our water use. The trailer is one-piece fiberglass so there are no seams to leak. My priorities were that it had to be tall enough inside to not bump my head (at 6'4") and it had to have a full-queen bed with N-S orientation so my wife & I were not climbing over each other during the night to get up. This one also has a full size refrigerator.

[treeswarper]

If I were to get a new trailer, it would be an Escape. I believe they are built better than the Casitas and Scamps and it's also closer to the factory from here. Most fiberglass trailers have no dealers, they are purchased from the factory. I love their fifth wheel designs but wouldn't want to pull that with my current pickup. Another 17 footer would do. The Covid rush is over, so the waiting time for an escape is about 4 months. I looked into it earlier in the winter. Also, if you have slide outs on your rig, you must research camping spots to make sure a tree isn't in the way. It looks like sometimes, in some crowded camp spots, the slide outs are almost touching each other. I only stay in that kind of place overnight, while trying to get somewhere else. The Omak Walmart still allows overnighting. It should start being busy soon as the Canadians migrate back north. My data card with my camping pictures erased itself.

[Schroder]

[treeswarper]

Schroder, I'm forcing myself to do the sensible thing, and keep on using my Casita. It pulls so nicely, but it does have some problems, which I'm trying to get fixed. Things wear out. In fact, I just remembered that one of the running lights is not working so will need to add that to the list for the trip to the RV place. The light is not simple for my simple mind. It may be the most complex part of the trailer. I slobber over the pictures of the Escapes though. I think the layout of the fifth wheel is great. Oh, and for those considering a fiberglass trailer, most of us do a yearly waxing. That's another time when having a small trailer is good.

[Brucester]

Schroder, your camper is the coolest! Huge fan of these! Responses made me smile for some reason, thanks. I've been looking at the '34+ 5th wheels and travel trailers. Used. Supposedly couches fit through doors but only if you remove the rv door. That concerns me, the "what if's" of reinstalling it. Ballard Consignments will buy it back which maybe the case. "80 long, "33 wide, "25 high couch. Luckily the legs and cushions remove. Black pleather kind of spices up a mild remodel, so many trailers are stuck in the 80's and 90's country theme which I'm not a fan of. If I go through with the move I'll need a T-mobie Hotspot and booster. I need my NWhikers and occasional Zoom meetings. Get back into reading and looking at maps. Lace up the boots and do after work walks again!

[treeswarper]

If money is not a problem and a behemoth is not needed, these are supposed to be the best and of good quality. They get rave reviews for not having problems right off the bat. https://www.bing.com/alink/link?url=https%3a%2f%2folivertraveltrailers.com%2f&source=serp-local&h=FH5e6gLOtHIAD224VbVsamlF%2fqn%2fOT3mEJItTEBOJ%2fM%3d&p=lw_gb&ig=4EBC8B3565EC4D059B23DC8B74031DE9&ypid=YN873x9007907982933113615

[sarbar]

We bought an Axis in 2019 because my MIL paid in quite a bit, so she would have an Air BnB here if she needed it. It is a petite Class A.

We've talked about going out in the winter. But getting a 5th wheel now instead, so we can drive our truck as needed, and not have to tow a car. Husband has worked remote for 14 years. Kids are homeschooled. Mostly it's figuring out how have our homestead looked over and the chickens fed.

[Brucester]

For all traveling with 5th wheels heed caution if you carry firewood while towing. Friends of mine, full timers Brian and Diane from Fox Island, had to switch from the 5th wheel to a motorhome because a fire forced them to abandoned their dream camping set up and scramble to an alternate, the motorhome. Static electricity was the cause of ignition.

[Schroder]