Here's goes nothing - my first rv discussion...
Hi Board,
This lurker just got serious, so here we go :D
My wife and I own a business. We manufacture some specialty products for a special crowd, and it's been doing very well.
Two things (well three)
1.) We show at a lot of expo's. 7 to 10 per year. We fly (which sucks) and we also have to have a palette freighted out and back, plus hotel and food and cabs.
2.) Our business is to the point where great employees (*thanks god*) at home-base give us a lot more freedom than in the beginning.
My wife and I went strictly "roaming laptop / cell phone" a few months back to see if it would work out, and it does. Awesome, no more chains to a desk! Zero negative impact!
3.) I've always wanted to chill out in an RV... I've always wanted to visit and see parts of our great country, and I yearn badly for a little peaceful solitude from time to time.
So here's my angle... Every time we travel to a show, we spend what?? $400 to $800 on air fare.. maybe less, but generally I'm not the type who loves standby, split up seats, and be the last to board the plane right? This is why I work, so that I can enjoy some options. Hotel? Again, we usually go mostly nice.. so low end $90 with priceline luck? but a lot of cases, your hotel choice at site is limited, and we're doing the cab thing to get around, so sometimes it's $150 a night for 3 nights to not be miles away and crossing your fingers a cab shows up (occasionally we rent a car).
Freight on the palette? Easy $400+ each way, and has the added benefit of getting your stuff ruined. Food, yada yada. We reckon it's roughly $2000 to $2500 per show to get in and out comfortably (plus the cost of the booth).
So we are spending money anyways to get around and do our thing, 'the hectic way'.
So I figure, let's try this another way...
Let's get ourselves an RV, drive to each show, camp some on the way, and stop in towns where we can gather a crowd, and sell some too, we have customers all over, I'm sure we can make some dough along the way.
Step better?? Turn it into a very publicized tour, and actually 'work' at making money, customers, and friends along the way. Work on the road, and take some breaks along the route to chill out man.
I have a 'personality attachment' to the Class A Diesel. Not too big (34? 36? 32?) but i need room for my cpap by the bed haha.. I like the idea of the height, towing, and certainly the storage space, cause all show gear has to come along.
I also like the ... 'mystique?' I don't know.. like the impression it might make on customers when you roll up in something nice, not too nice, sort of humble, but nice, particularly if we could wrap that bad boy in some company graphics.
So I've been hunting. I have a 'full timer' friend who filled me on a lot of in's and outs, they travel to a lot of the same shows.
I also like to stay on the safe side. So I've been 'scouting' and it appears that a lot of great 'looking' diesel homes, 2008 and up, are in the sub 90k - 80k - 70k range, with some niiice 2010+'s in the 120k - 140k range.
Ok so here's where I am. Obviously, the 80k range is awesome, cause after a few dollars down, the payment is pretty low in the 650 per month range. (if we do 7 shows a year, at a conservative 2k per travel the old way, I'm spending 1116 per month when broken monthly, for comparison)
So I know we also need gas, water, LP, camp fees, mobile internet, insurance, routine maint. Add all that in, I figure we're close to break even. ( and hitting break even is not the point, I don't mind spending a little more if I have a better life :) But still, one must be reasonable.. the world is a flaky place, and I prefer low pressure to high pressure these days.
What I don't like about the 80k range, is the age of the bus... I don't want to be plagued with repairs or stoppages that eat 20k quickly and I go :S.
What I don't like about the 140k range is the commitment to such a large payment... but I wonder if the loan terms sttttrrreeetch longer with a newer coach.... am I thinking unclear here?
We seem to really like the Tiffin Brand, the Thor Brand, The Fleetwood Brand, and the Forest River brand.. and of course newmar, monaco, winnebago on the radar, and even class c's hanging off the farrrrr edge of the radar screen (very far)...
We've never RV'd. We've never been gone from home for more than 2 weeks, normally just a few days, and so ya know how it is.. the heart wants what the heart thinks it wants.. until it gets it (sometimes)
I camped a LOT as a kid and teenager, my dad was an avid hunter, so we spent a lot of time out.
I'm 40 now, we don't have any kids yet, but want to in a few years, and I don't wanna just sit here any more.
we also have a 2006 range rover paid for, and I know for a fact our trade show stuff fits in it perfect (cause we use it for short trade show hauls) I would love to tow my 'paid for' vehicle, rather than buy something, but it's heeeavvvyy. But the book says it can be flat towed..
open internet browser, tell google RV, PLEASE and :h
advice? encouragement? pitch fork gathering?
This lurker just got serious, so here we go :D
My wife and I own a business. We manufacture some specialty products for a special crowd, and it's been doing very well.
Two things (well three)
1.) We show at a lot of expo's. 7 to 10 per year. We fly (which sucks) and we also have to have a palette freighted out and back, plus hotel and food and cabs.
2.) Our business is to the point where great employees (*thanks god*) at home-base give us a lot more freedom than in the beginning.
My wife and I went strictly "roaming laptop / cell phone" a few months back to see if it would work out, and it does. Awesome, no more chains to a desk! Zero negative impact!
3.) I've always wanted to chill out in an RV... I've always wanted to visit and see parts of our great country, and I yearn badly for a little peaceful solitude from time to time.
So here's my angle... Every time we travel to a show, we spend what?? $400 to $800 on air fare.. maybe less, but generally I'm not the type who loves standby, split up seats, and be the last to board the plane right? This is why I work, so that I can enjoy some options. Hotel? Again, we usually go mostly nice.. so low end $90 with priceline luck? but a lot of cases, your hotel choice at site is limited, and we're doing the cab thing to get around, so sometimes it's $150 a night for 3 nights to not be miles away and crossing your fingers a cab shows up (occasionally we rent a car).
Freight on the palette? Easy $400+ each way, and has the added benefit of getting your stuff ruined. Food, yada yada. We reckon it's roughly $2000 to $2500 per show to get in and out comfortably (plus the cost of the booth).
So we are spending money anyways to get around and do our thing, 'the hectic way'.
So I figure, let's try this another way...
Let's get ourselves an RV, drive to each show, camp some on the way, and stop in towns where we can gather a crowd, and sell some too, we have customers all over, I'm sure we can make some dough along the way.
Step better?? Turn it into a very publicized tour, and actually 'work' at making money, customers, and friends along the way. Work on the road, and take some breaks along the route to chill out man.
I have a 'personality attachment' to the Class A Diesel. Not too big (34? 36? 32?) but i need room for my cpap by the bed haha.. I like the idea of the height, towing, and certainly the storage space, cause all show gear has to come along.
I also like the ... 'mystique?' I don't know.. like the impression it might make on customers when you roll up in something nice, not too nice, sort of humble, but nice, particularly if we could wrap that bad boy in some company graphics.
So I've been hunting. I have a 'full timer' friend who filled me on a lot of in's and outs, they travel to a lot of the same shows.
I also like to stay on the safe side. So I've been 'scouting' and it appears that a lot of great 'looking' diesel homes, 2008 and up, are in the sub 90k - 80k - 70k range, with some niiice 2010+'s in the 120k - 140k range.
Ok so here's where I am. Obviously, the 80k range is awesome, cause after a few dollars down, the payment is pretty low in the 650 per month range. (if we do 7 shows a year, at a conservative 2k per travel the old way, I'm spending 1116 per month when broken monthly, for comparison)
So I know we also need gas, water, LP, camp fees, mobile internet, insurance, routine maint. Add all that in, I figure we're close to break even. ( and hitting break even is not the point, I don't mind spending a little more if I have a better life :) But still, one must be reasonable.. the world is a flaky place, and I prefer low pressure to high pressure these days.
What I don't like about the 80k range, is the age of the bus... I don't want to be plagued with repairs or stoppages that eat 20k quickly and I go :S.
What I don't like about the 140k range is the commitment to such a large payment... but I wonder if the loan terms sttttrrreeetch longer with a newer coach.... am I thinking unclear here?
We seem to really like the Tiffin Brand, the Thor Brand, The Fleetwood Brand, and the Forest River brand.. and of course newmar, monaco, winnebago on the radar, and even class c's hanging off the farrrrr edge of the radar screen (very far)...
We've never RV'd. We've never been gone from home for more than 2 weeks, normally just a few days, and so ya know how it is.. the heart wants what the heart thinks it wants.. until it gets it (sometimes)
I camped a LOT as a kid and teenager, my dad was an avid hunter, so we spent a lot of time out.
I'm 40 now, we don't have any kids yet, but want to in a few years, and I don't wanna just sit here any more.
we also have a 2006 range rover paid for, and I know for a fact our trade show stuff fits in it perfect (cause we use it for short trade show hauls) I would love to tow my 'paid for' vehicle, rather than buy something, but it's heeeavvvyy. But the book says it can be flat towed..
open internet browser, tell google RV, PLEASE and :h
advice? encouragement? pitch fork gathering?
