jules2go

Thank you both!

Hello expert travelers and route planners,

I've been through this mess of roads before many times and it's never fun, but looking for suggestions on best way to navigate this in your opinion. I was northbound on this route (actually NC to Maine) in November and took 81 to 82 which went through the Poconos. This time I'd rather avoid the Poconos because of potential for bad weather, and thinking to somehow go closer to NYC (but not too close!). I'll be going through there on a Sunday. Towing a small trailer. 

Also do you have a favorite pet-friendly hotel chain or two? I need to do a hotel the first two nights as I'm not winterized, unfortunately. 

Thank you. 

Julia

Thanks again everyone for these most helpful replies. Seeing the country is one reason to full-time, and for me that is somewhat the case, but I'm also trying to take a break from home ownership and hoping to reduce my cost of living. There are a million variables, I know. I'm not needing anything fancy and don't care to be in expensive vacation destinations. Maybe now and then, for a short time, but I prefer to be off the beaten path. 

1 hour ago, GlennWest said:

one in now $450.00 monthly with electric. But have paid $700.00 plus electric. But we have never paid any higher. We happy with mom and pop parks.

Mom and pop is good enough for me, too  

On 1/17/2023 at 1:15 AM, sandsys said:

If you are looking to RV in a specific place to save money on the rent there, you might want to think again. This seldom works because of all the variations in things like insulation and electric/gas fees. Needing to heat or cool an RV can be surprisingly expensive.

Linda

I don't need to remain in one location. I'd go where I could afford to find a spot. Some places require separate utility bill, I do understand that. Thank you for your thoughts on this reply and the earlier one. Much appreciated. 

Kirk, thanks. I forgot to mention that I'm 59. Glad for the reminder that it's 62, not 65.

Thanks for these tips and considerations. I understand there is a lot of variability depending on so many elements, so I should have been more specific. I guess I'm just trying to see how much I might save on a monthly site (with a monthly rate) in comparison to paying 1500.00-2000.00/month plus utilities for rent somewhere for a house or apartment, which seems about the rate these days for a small place. I'm sure I'd do some boondocking too, so it's too hard to estimate. If one is not careful, or doesn't care, it would be easy to spend more than most people do when living in s/b. 

Hi friends,

I'm trying to put together a full-timing budget/plan. Please tell me what you're currently paying, on average, for a monthly site at a campground/RV park. Also curious to know how much of a shortage there is right now for monthly spots. Geographically, I'm in the eastern part of the US but am open to anywhere.  I wonder where all of these costs are headed in the coming years. Based on everything happening in the world, I can only see it getting worse, but maybe I'm being overly pessimistic. There are discussions about this topic on here, but I'm not sure how current the comments were and times have changed over the past few years. Thank you!

Thanks everyone for their tips and tricks! Last year I started this thead and survived it, and came back to tell the tale. It was hard, and I was going super slow in many areas. It was nerve-wracking to say the least, but I'm glad to have conquered it and now I can tell other people about it. I probably wouldn't do it again! Considering it a one and done. 

On 9/22/2022 at 8:16 PM, chiefneon said:

Howdy!

For a fulltime RV travel trailer I would suggest looking a the Bigfoot RV Travel Trailers. They are a well built and a true four season TT. They are built to withstand cool and hot temperatures. I personally will be looking to buy one when we downsize in the near future.

https://bigfootrv.com/rvs/travel-trailers
 

“Happy Trails “

Chiefneon 

They look solidly built. Thanks. 

On 9/24/2022 at 10:01 PM, fpmtngal said:

In the one-person’s-opinion category, I spent some time this summer looking at new Winnebago, Arctic Fox, ORV, Ember and one Lance trailer.  They were all new 2022 models, not older, used ones.

Thank you for this information. Very helpful. 

4 hours ago, TXiceman said:

Our daughter had a Winnebago Minnie Plus and they were very pleased with it compared to the trailer some of their friends had.  It seemed to be reasonably well constructed for the price point.

We have looked at Lance and they seem to be reasonably well constructed. 

Oliver is higher dollar, but seem to be well constructed.

I think that Air Stream is way overpriced and overrated now.  They have a cult-like following.

 

Ken

Thank you Ken

26 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

The Intech "Terra" is not only very expensive but used ones are pretty rare. RV Trader has a few that are a year old starting at $20k+.

The Airstream Bambi line are high quality but lack in storage. A new one that is only 16' long has an MSRP of only $59,300. RV Trader has one of the 16' ones that is 2 years old for $43k.

The Lance travel trailers are back down in the price range that most of us could afford. They have a reasonably good reputation for the quality/price market they are in and a 20' model will weigh about 5k  and RV Trader has one like it in a 2016 model for $15k.

Of the names you listed here Winnebago has in my opinion the gest reputation and record of support. They make a range of price/quality travel trailers but the 20' new Hike model has an MSRP of $38,495 and RV Trader has a 2021 model for $25k.

Hi Kirk, thank you. I need to find a Winnebago dealer and go see a few. I've never been in an Intech or a Lance. Airstream -- I've been in one, not sure if it as a Bambi line. I really appreciate it. 

My last post in the other forum was about Class C's. I've decided that a trailer is what I want, so I'm curious about thoughts on the following brands if you have experience or knowledge about them. This is for full-timing. I'm trying to keep it under 25ft-ish. I want something with good resale value and relative ease to sell eventually. Some of these are pretty costly, but I'm selling my house and this will be it for me. I have to upgrade my truck from a 2018 Tacoma, too. Thank you. 

--Intech "Terra"

--Airstream Bambi line, but they are single axle which I think it's not the best for lots of road miles...?

--Lance, not sure which model.

--Winnebago -- unsure which model. 

--Oliver 

World's Best imho is definitely the best litter I've/we've (cats and I) tried! It's a little more money intially but it lasts a lot longer, as long as you keep it scooped often. 

Thank you everyone for this helpful info. I think I need to stick with a trailer. 

Hello,

Interested in hearing from anyone who might want to share their pros/cons for Class C RVs for full-time. I have two dogs and a skittish cat, and will be working remotely from it several days a week; the rest of the week I want to explore. If you live in a Class C, what made you choose it over a trailer? I have a trailer now and it takes a lot effort to set up camp. I can't see setting up with a C unless you have a toad, otherwise you have to break camp anytime you wanted to leave. But there must be a lot of pros to having a C because there are so many out there. Thanks for the help. 

Those are all really helpful ideas, thank you Kirk. 

Hello all,

I'm considering trying to full-time for a year or so, but I have two cats and two dogs. What issues have come up for you and how did you solve them? I'd be in a travel trailer that's under 30 ft. Maybe I need to be more specific, I don't know. One adult and four pets.... not easy. I'm at a junction in my life and this lifestyle is one of the options. I've considered full-timing in the past, but didn't want to start it until I had less pets. My stick and brick is about to be sold. Thank you!

Julia

I'm going out on a trip for the first time that's of any real distance, with my two dogs. Thank you for these great tips! 

A couple of things I added to my to-do list is update their microchip and get them new dog tags, be sure they're both current on kennel cough in case they had to board for some reason. 

17 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

Fullriver makes a very good AGM battery in various form factors for a reasonable price.  I have used them with good success for many years now.

Thank you, will check them out.

3 hours ago, SWharton said:

We bought ours from Sam's Club and have had them now for 4 years. Still working fine. Charge up fast. They are Duracell.

Thank you. Duracell is available at Batteries Plus. I see what they have. 

Hello --

Looking for recommendations for one of these to replace my current flooded lead acid battery group 24 for my 15ft teardrop with solar panels on the roof. It doesn't have to be group 24 (not sure 100ah comes in group 24). I boondock often. I have limited knowledge of batteries! Applications I need to run when boondocking include a couple of laptops, phone, a couple of interior lights, propane fridge; the electronics for about 8 consecutive hours a few days a week. And I'm on a budget. 

Looking at Universal, Vmax, Interstate maybe, but totally open to recommendations. My local Interstate distributor is offering me a dual purpose group 31 AGM, but I don't need a starting battery and from what I've read, I should not use one of those anyway, just a regular "house" battery.... yes? 

Thanks in advance!

According to Waze today the length of time from Nashville to Little Rock is just under 5 hours, about what it was prior to the bridge being out. Is Waze trustworthy for that application? It's the "live" version I'm looking at. I'm going west from Asheville to Little Rock to OK City area then to NM. Planning to slog through on I-40 because I have a work deadline in NM and only have 5 days to drive 😟

There is an app for this I think, but I don't know which one; maybe Waze? I'm headed through there in 3 weeks so just wondering how much time to add to that leg.