5th wheeling, any regrets????

Thank you all for your great advice. I will definitely check into renting a 5th wheel rig. Any suggestions on places in Michigan that rent them for the week or two weeks?
Also in answer to one of the questions posted, we have been members of Lighthouse Village for 32 years now. Started with a Coleman Pop-up, then a 29' Vega, then a 35' Aljo Ally. We now have a nice park home for the summer months. So that said, we are pretty comfortable being around each other in small spaces.
I feel that if we don't do this it will be something we will both regret for the rest of our lives. I will be 66 in March and will be retiring in January. We travel well together and both enjoy traveling to places with no particular destination in mind.
Thanks again for your feedback everyone!!!:)

We are exploring our options when I retire in January. One of them, the one I am most geeked about is purchasing a fifth wheel rig. We have a park home that we can summer in in Homer Michigan. What we are thinking about doing is selling our main house and purchasing a fifth wheel rig and spend our winters traveling.
This has probably been posted before, but what I would like to know is what are the pluses and minuses about this lifestyle?
I understand that if we don't like it we will have to probably take a big hit on selling the rig.
Is there any places that will lease a rig for a year?

Thanks in advance for any help in this matter.

You might enjoy these webpages. LoveYourRV and Escapees

We bought a couple of small 5ers (21 foot then 26 ft) and now are up to a 34 foot 5er. The small ones helped us to decide if we liked 1) RVing for more than a few weeks and 2) whether we could handle the steps. I have a left knee that is almost totally eaten up with arthritis. I don't run in and out of the 5er a lot, I'm careful with how I step down and climb the stairs. We sold our home last fall and are now full-timing and can't imagine going back to a stick built house in time in the near future!!!!

I say buy a used one.....mainly because you have no idea until you live in a couple of rigs what floor plan you may find good for YOU. Buy cheaply but wisely (have it checked out first) and give it a spin. We sold the 1st 21 footer for more than we bought it for......and plan on doing that with the 2nd. (course, at $3000. purchase price, we weren't in for a big loss either).

Happy travels!

I would buy new if possible. I love having a warranty and knowledge of the trailers history. Consider a motor home if you plan to travel travel travel. If you intend to sit in one place all winter then a park model may be preferable. The point is, just buying a fifth wheel is only the beginning and an expensive one if you don't have a plan. There are advantages/disadvantages to all forms of RV's.

Just economically speaking-Are you planning on selling your house and using the proceeds to buy an RV? If so, you will be selling an asset to buy a depreciating item. Not a good idea.
You should also consider having a plan B. In case of illness, accident, or dislike for the lifestyle.

First of all, I agree with filrupmark- buy used to avoid the huge depreciation hit. Secondly, yes, every style of RV has its advantages and disadvantages. What suits you the best is totally governed by how you will be using your rig and your lifestyle. TTs have few steps and are lower to the ground but often have less storage. Motorhomes can be spendy and you will probably have to outfit a vehicle to tow behind- but are probably the most comfortable for long distance driving. 5th wheels tow nicely and have lots of storage (usually) but have plenty of steps to navigate. Everything has its good points. As far as the lifestyle goes I see no downsides as long as everyone is healthy. If health becomes and issue then everything changes but you only have to cross that bridge if it becomes necessary. For us the 5th wheel works perfectly and we love the lifestyle of being able to go where we wish and follow great weather. Make smart choices and have a ball!

sunblade50 wrote:
...and spend our winters traveling...

I think this was the biggest shock when we first started to snowbird was the small area we had to explore. Unless you head into Mexico, your travel area will be very limited due to cold temps. You'll have California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida to explore, pretty much anything under I10 will be warm in the middle of winter.

For your other questions, the statement of buying good used was a good one. We love snowbirding/exploring just like Al, but I agree it's not for everyone. A one week rental might be a good thing to see if both like it enough to spend months at a time.

Now for the story :E :W. Bellied up to a bar a few years ago for happy hour when another couple sat down next to us. They asked us what we were doing and we said we were RV snowbirds. Turns out they were leaving the next day to California for a month, they were in Texas for a month already. Their story was they were FT's then RV snowbirds, and now using the internet rent monthly in various states during the winter. They move from state to state and explore that area. Kinda made a lot of sense the more I thought about it.

We have a 40' TT (we are not liking 5ers, steps and upstairs BR). That said ,we live in our TT 6 to7 months a year and welcome our home when we return.The space inside ANY trailer is very limited compared to a house, 270 sq ft to 2600 sq ft. If you are not cozy with the DW and are not used to spending almost every moment with her you'll have problems. Just saying.

Buy a good used rig . If you don't like it you wont take a BIG HIT. Just a small hit or none.

One thing that you haven't mentioned is if you have spent time in an RV before. If you haven't it may be wise to rent an RV (doesn't matter what type) and spend a week or two in it to see if it suits your lifestyle. It's a good way to try it out without buying and taking a financial hit on a sale if you don't like it.

We winter in the south in our 5th wheel and love it, but we've had a 5th wheel for about 30 years.