All RV’s are compromises between comfort and amenities and access to places you may want to go. And different types are best suited to how one wants to travel. MH’s are nice for primarily traveling on pavement with short stops as opposed to “camping” somewhere for extended periods, especially off pavement. Think big bucks, they’re not cheap to operate. And it’s very likely you’ll want to pull a toad. A big rig of any kind can be a PITA to sightsee in busy or tight quarters and you won’t like breaking camp to run to the local store. Not a good choice for true remote campgrounds.
FW’s tend to be big and they tow well. But the pin weight is very heavy and it takes at least a ¾ ton TV to pull one and possibly more depending on the size. Height can be an issue and they don’t work well for forest camping for that reason. You also lose the use of the PU bed, but they have a lot of storage space. They’re used by a lot of full timers but again not the best choice for remote camping.
TT’s would do the job overall pretty well, depending on the size. You don’t have the storage of a FW but you still have the PU bed free. The longer it is the more restrictions you’ll have getting in more remote areas. If I were forced to draw a line somewhere for remote camping, I’d say stay below 25’. I go as far back in as I can and I use a 16’ TT and I might still manage up to about 19’. After that too many restrictions for my taste. But one doesn’t have to go all the way back in. The smaller ones you can pull with a ½ ton, the bigger ones think ¾ ton.
You didn’t mention TC’s and that’s another option for one person and a dog. It would work well for traveling and with 4wd you could also get it in some very remote places. Except for some heavily treed areas, again because of the height. You wouldn’t have the space of the other types of RV’s and you’d have the same issue of breaking camp to sightsee or run to the store of a MH.
I’m not fond of untralights, I tend to associate weight with build quality, which is important if you go off pavement. Northwood is one of my favorites, they’re designed for that and I hear good things about Lance. I’m sure there are some others out there I’m not familiar with, too.
I’d look for a pristine rig a few years old, you won’t take the major depreciation hit if find your original criteria is not what you really want in a unit and you want to change it out. You mention the 30’ area and I’m not sure that’s not overkill for one person and a dog, I think you could go much smaller and still be comfortable and with less access problems. Good luck in your decision, once you clarify how you want to travel and where you want to go, your style, it will be much easier to narrow down the field.
