Empty Nesters

We decided when we are empty nest that we will buy a small casita, simple to tow, and tour the entire country for months at a time. We are already cozy in our small RV. The class A Bounder we have more room in of course, but it's not majorly important to us. Ease and comfort of travel (and simplicity in travel) can be nice too. A's & C's are nice for us with children. We can even bring a toad. But I think we are going to go with a tiny TT later, or perhaps even a cabover. This way we can tour the country, both city & countryside.

We started our empty nesting with a VW Vanagon Camper. It was great for log trips and very economical. However it was not so good in cooler weather and staying longer than a night or two became cramped quickly. We moved up to a Toyota Sunrader Class C. This was an excellent travelling Camper as well more room had all the amenities but again staying longer than a week in one spot especially in bad weather tasked the civility of our relationship. In addition we sleep in the cab bunk and the climbing up and down to go for a pee at night was not a cordial affair. My wife's knees were starting to go with arthritis so we moved in to a 5th wheel. Lots of room great layout easy towing. But like any trailer, hooking up and unhooking was a chore. levelling etc.. and after a long day of driving was not the easiest chore. As well the trailer was cold when stopping and took 10-15 minutes to get to a habital temperature. We fell across a great deal on a Class A, Coachmen Aroura 3380MBS. The layout was what we preferred and with a mid bath no one had to disturb anyone on the way to the bathroom if we had family with us. It's the first RV that after looking at it, my wife said " we're buying this arn't we ! " We did.. We've enjoyed it and is our preferred way of travelling short or long halls south for the winter. We still have the 5th wheel and use it as a guest house on the farm when the kids come to visit. The apartment on wheels was our final way to go. So as new empty nesters find what you like not what you think the kids prefer. The only constant is change. Kids stay, they move away, they come back, they move further away, have grandchildren etc..
Enjoy your quiet time, it goes by quickly in your golden years.

B.

We moved from a TT to a class C but only did it last September so I can't comment on long term. We are also empty nesters but have 3 grandkids close by and like to have them enjoy the RV as well as us. Our reason for the change was dictated by some major health issues I have and I couldn't manage the maintenance, setup and teardown of the TT any longer. It took us 2 years of looking but we finally found the perfect class C for us at 27'. The smaller size of our class C is much easier to keep up and setup is a breeze. We have no regrets so far.

vjstangelo wrote:
My question is this. Have any on the forum moved from TT + family to Empty Nesters with Class C and kept the C long term (say 5-10 yrs)?

We have and it's great. We can toss the food into the mh and take off. No backing and hitching or sway bars to adjust.

As empty nesters who are on the road a month or two at a time, we thought about our purchase for a year and settled on a 28' class c. It's just the right amount of storage and comfort. Bought it used. A longer unit would be too much for part-timers like ourselves. When we run this one into the ground, we'll get a Phoenix Cruiser that's shorter but has more interior clothing space. We like the 2400 and the 2551. Both are under 27' in length and they have that durable fiberglass top.
http://www.phoenixusarv.com/

Why not keep what you have (can't beat the price) and hire a carpenter to take out the bunks and put in a computer table or whatever.

After several years of research and many RV shows, we decided on a 27 foot mid-bath unit. It's a perfect size for the two of us, and handles our two adult children when they travel with us (often). We purchased with the idea that we would have it for at least 10 years, and perhaps more. This factor alone pushed us to a new, high-end unit. Two plus years into this adventure, 28000 miles, two cross-country trips, and some snow-birding, we don't regret our decision. Best wishes on your search. Bob

I bought too much motorhome at 30 feet, carries as many as nine, sleeps 6-9 depending on how many are how big. We seldom had that many, kids and grandkids too busy, a lot of space for two, big and lonely for one. You neec to figure out just how you wil really use it, how many people most of the time.

Just depending on use, space preferences, because most of those 45-foot motorhomes are occupied by no more than two persons.

I moved up from a pop up this past fall and haven't been out but once. My last two found work up north of me and both like to camp. I decided to hang on to the pop up just for that reason. I have had a lot of fun updating and maintaining my rig and we plan on a four day Thanksgiving camp at Hocking Hills State Park here in S/E Ohio I mainly got it to travel up their way from time to time and not impose on them we're fairly close and there's a ton of places up there to camp.Most of the time it will be me and my dog P.J. hanging out at a lake or Park at least till I get the road trip bug.

Well I'm kind of an empty nester in a way, things change and sometimes you have no choice.

Having lost my wife to the Big C very abruptly and the the kids not really interested in doing the things we had done for so many years together,they went their own ways. I sold the toys and the RV.

I returned to the RV life after several years because now my Kids have their own RVs and they want Grampa to go with them. It is nice to know that I handed this down to them and the Grand Kids are enjoying it too.

I looked for a long time for the right RV for me.

Check out the thread that is my signature about buying a EX Rental, that may be of help to you. I have had mine for a few years now and put many trouble free miles on it.

Good Luck in your next adventure and quest for your next RV.

Bought ours in 09--empty nest, before retirement. Now we are retired and still enjoying the small RV. We did tent camping before and found we were just not getting out as much as we wanted to. So the RV makes camping and hiking so comfortable, we can hardly call it camping! More like vacationing in lovely spots I guess. We intend to keep ours long term and maybe fit in our first snowbird type trip this winter. We are small but still have plenty of room to have the 2 young grandkids along and their parents sometimes. The parents still go out and sleep in a tent but they have the amenities of a warm cup of coffee and bathroom nearby. I can't think of a better recreational purchase we could have made. We have thoroughly enjoyed our RV.