Young family thinking about a travel trailer...

Hi there,
Long time guest reader, first time poster.

Intro:
My wife and I both grew up camping in one shape or form. Her family had the travel trailer, my family tented a lot. We both are from small town MN, and love the outdoors. We have two young kids. We love boating, and that is usually our preferred summer past time. We also love to picnic at the lake and be with friends and family. We are starting to look at options for family camping, and trying to determine if the camping life is for us. I have several questions for the forum on how, when, and why camping might be or might not be for us right now.

Here is a rough outline on how our "home life" is setup, and I am curious if a travel trailer/camper would really fit into our lifestyle right now.

1. We both work 8-5 Mon-Fri and accrue a fair amount of vacation time annually.

2. We live on 7 acres, and do a lot of gardening and outside work in the summer. We can, and store most of our own vegetables etc. This work might limit us to one or two extended getaway (one week long) trips a year since the garden can require a bit of attention during the summer months.

3. We are 20-30 miles from nearby, southern MN lakes, where we pull our boat to on the weekends. Not the nicest water in the state, but they satisfy the itch to get on the lake.

4. In the fall my wife and I both deer hunt quite a bit, and plan to get the little ones into the sport in another 3-4 years. Come September we spend a lot of time harvesting the garden and getting in the deer stand for early bow season. We usually wrap up our deer hunting and garden work by late September.

With that, I am looking for opinions from other families as to whether a camper would make sense for my family.

Like most folks, the bank account has limitations, and I prefer not to invest in something we may not use enough....not surprising.

Questions:
1. Realistically we plan on maybe 2-3 "family camping" trips to the lakes in North MN in a summer. These trips would most likely be 4-7 day trips to make the commute worth while. In this situation does renting a small cabin or hotel make more sense than owning a camper?

We really wouldn't have a lot of opportunity for the "quick weekend getaway". We have plenty of isolation from other folks living in the country and packing up for a two day camping trip on the weekend just doesn't appeal to my wife and I.

2. How many camping trips a year really justifies the payoff of a travel trailer? Keeping in mind, we are a young family who eventually may have summer sporting activities, school, and other activities scheduled. If we only plan on 2-3 vacations a year, are we better off renting the cabin and taking on less work? Like I said, we love boating, so pulling the boat is a guarantee.

I guess, I am looking for some feedback and "wisdom" from other families that have made the jump. What was your reasoning, and did it make sense for you? Any thoughts or opinions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Shawn

21 Replies

Jebby14
Explorer
Jul 21, 2016
prior to my tt (wife wanted easy setup with little ones) I loved the pop ups. will go back to one next. a large popup can be easily towed by a 1/2 ton truck or midsized suv and folds out to give tons of room. we used to take a 10' box popup that could easily sleep 6 with our 14' aluminum boat upside down on it and the motor in the truck. this is my preference and I would switch back to that setup if the wife let me in a heart beat. an older popup that just needs some love can be had for a few thousand all day long. take care of it and you wont have wasted your money
sprintstream
Explorer
Jul 21, 2016
Let me throw my 2 cents in here. We've been where you're at. Started with a tent to popup to TT to RV. Without a doubt the family enjoyed the popup the most. We now have a Sprinter Gulfstream and primarily use it for the convenience of travel (stop anywhere, one sleeps other drive, etc) not too much camping. Grandkids want to go camping with us and we are seriously considering get another popup.
Opie431
Explorer
Jul 10, 2016
We had to give up camping with children in summer sports. We found when the children were gone and we returned to camping we had to give up the garden. We tried a small garden this year and husband came home to water and found that all of the broccoli had been eaten.
You have to decide which way you want to go.
MargaretB
Explorer
Jul 08, 2016
It sounds as though you were talking yourself out of a TT. Your time limitations and desire to pull a boat would discourage me from taking on a TT, if I were you. How would you pull both the TT and the boat?

Maybe a utility trailer with a closed box on it would be a good alternative for you. You could pile all your tenting gear into it. We have friends who built theirs like a chuckwagon, with a pull-out kitchen and lots of storage. Or a teardrop, used to haul stuff, with a little kitchen at the rear. Cheaper than a TT.

But maybe renting a cabin would be easier than packing, schlepping, and wrestling with camping gear, and in the long run, less expensive than a TT. And if you're concerned about who has slept in the bunks, bring your sleeping bags - that's what we do.

Although the idea of a pop-up is a great one. Plenty of room, lightweight, not a lot of work, and you can carry a shower/outhouse tent for the Luggable Loo.

I agree that whatever you do, your kids will benefit by being outdoors.
Grit_dog
Navigator II
Jun 20, 2016
In the same boat as you, lol, except as much as I'd like to do more things, the garden is 3' grass n weeds with some good blueberries and grapes on one end, greenhouse overgrown looks like a jungle inside, lucky if I get 3 days a year hunting, my 10 year old boat hasn't quite broke 200hrs, Sno machines get an average of maybe 250 mi/yr (being generous there), camper collects dust 350days/yr avg. only toy that gets a lot of use is the 4 wheeler because it mascerades as the lawn mower dragging a 60" deck around weekly!
5ac on the wet side of WA means mowing and upkeep from Mar into Nov, house, shop or outbuildings always need some work and you're spot on when the kids get older (2 boys 10&13 this year) they need drug around to sports practice 3-5 nights a week and prolly 30 plus weekends a year are a game, games or tournament.
Oh yeah got a job too that is 50-60+ hrs a week, not to mention other unique challenges that take up time.
In the last 5 years, my priorities have had to change so much it ain't funny. About twice a year I lose it and say eff it, I'm selling everything and we can simplify down to a little house on a city lot and have all kinds of time and forget the toys! What makes it worse is I'm ocd about keeping our "things" nice and there ain't enough time in the day to do it all.
My thoughts on the camper are, if you have a good place to store it under shelter and are good with buying something used/older that won't cost you big depreciation sitting unused 50 weeks a year and can buy it with expendable income then go for it. It's a ton of fun when you get to go, kids love it and sounds like you will too.
If it becomes a financial burden, or you can't stomach watching it sit in the rain/snow all while losing significant value each year, then pass.
MNGeeks61
Explorer
Jun 20, 2016
For me it was easy. Dad was military and we traveled a lot. Enjoyed seeing the country and had to try to see it again from an adult's perspective, thus the campers my wife and I owned.

I brought my kids to Disneyworld in an Astro, which made sense financially at the time but really made me wish I had a popup. The next year I bought a cheap 8' box popup from a rental place, they were buying new ones. $1800 for that. Quickly determined we needed a bit more space with the two girls. $3500 for a Coleman Utah with the kitchen slide out. The kids had a blast, even though we only camped 2-3 times a year for the 4 years we had it. It was in good shape and we sold it 4 years later for almost what we paid for it originally.

We took the kids out to Niagara Falls one year. They won't forget that, they still tell me how cool that was, even the negative parts with my truck broken down in Wisconsin in very high heat. We used 12v fans to keep cool.

So was it worth it? Absolutely. It brought our family closer together.

We settled down in a seasonal campground 7 years ago and my grandson (he's 8 now) loves coming down to see us. We had squirtgun fights and he swam in the pool, "drove" our golf cart, had smores over a campfire and got to ride in the ATV. All in 2 days.

For grins, maybe consider renting a small popup for a weekend and taking it on a trip. Nothing special, but it could help you decide.
splinter84
Explorer
Jun 12, 2016
Thanks for the multiple perspectives. The feedback has given me plenty to consider. It is easy to get caught up in the big price tag of camping when it doesn't have to be that way. Some good points in getting my feet wet with less money.
rexlion
Explorer
Jun 11, 2016
Yep... vacationing, in and of itself, is not cost-effective. But we do it, because we want to!
kalynzoo
Explorer
Jun 11, 2016
Some 40 plus years ago we purchased our first RV. I owned a store so vacations were few and far between, but we took extended weekends, and since we were active in both Girl Scouts and Boys Scouts we used the RV to join scouting weekends and act as a base...this gave us the ability to camp comfortably and bring the younger children. Even though we never used any of our RVs to the extent I would have liked, I never regret the investment and the RV vacation lifestyle. We traveled with our children, we visited the western USA, we had fun. RVing is not cost effective, not by a longshot. You have the initial cost, the upkeep, and camping fees, which seem to be ever increasing. But how else can you vacation with the kids, the dog, and maybe a few friends (yours and the kids). We have a lifetime of great memories and I trust many more to come.
Happy Trails.
mobilefleet
Explorer
Jun 11, 2016
leseeee........2-3 trips of 4-7 days......average rental at least 120 a night and likely more......500-1000 bucks each time......2 to 3 grand each summer......I just bought a bunkhouse slideout 2015 trailer for 3 grand from an insurance auction with a bent tongue, broken awning arm, and a couple dented pieces of siding.... just under 1k for the repairs.....repaired and invested total under 4 grand.....no brainer. Never bought new and never will, if you're handy save huge like me