Interested but have zero experience...
Hello all... The concept of traveling around to many different places in this great country of ours is very tempting. I'm not comfortable with the idea of towing a big, tall & long trailer. I would wa...
Forum Discussion
Much will depend on what can manage as an intial outlay. You might see 16-20 MPG in a van conversion of a Mercedes Sprinter, for an intitial expense up to $100,000. 12-16 MPG on a Ford or Chevy van for 50-80% of that cost up front. 8-12 MPG for a modestly sized trailer at.$12,000 to $15,000 that can be pulled by a minivan or medium size SUV.
There are folding trailers that might do slightly better with a minivan/SUV tow vehicle, but I am not sure their toilet-shower package will meet your expectations, asvthey are not usually 'self contained,' a standard with specific meaning in the RV commmunity.
What it costs to stop for the noght depends on what services you expect, what services you require. The more you are self contained, the fewer services you need to buy. You can park many places at no cost, but you will not be running air conditioning, unless you bring your own electrical power supply, which will have a fuel cost. If you need electrical power, I've found that I can usually get a parking space with that connection for $5 to $12 a day in the middle of the country, rural or small town. As I go metropolitan, I might be paying $30-50 for the same parking and hookup, approaching budget motel rates for the same area.
If your equipment and lifestyle does not require hookups, and your mode of travel is sufficiently stealthy, you need not pay anything, you just park and sleep.If your lifestyle requires a house with utilities, you could be paying substantial rents for parking and utililites, $20-30 a night in the rural midwest, a whole lot more in populated areas .
Clubs, memberships, discount programs are not scams. They provide good value if the program meets your needs and fits your lifestyle. You have to look at the terms and figure that out. Nothing other than the 10-15% AAA/AARP/GoodSams discount works for me, because I usually use less expensive government facilites. But park memberships, 50% discount programs, work well for the people who use them.
I've used the Woodalls and Trailer Life directories to find places to stay, and tentatively plan, but mostly I playnit as I go. If I see a likely place to stop, whenI am thinking about stopping, I stop.
I am in a C motorhome, so there is no "stealth campimg," when I stop it is pretty obvious what I am doing. The same for any large motorhome, or towable RV of any size, A van conversion, not necessarily a commercial B motrhome, offers more free parking opportunities, but not if you "need" hookups to provide home omforts.
Economics overall, a lot depends on how far you intend to travel. My RV costs $0.50'a mile to move, $8 to $30 for an overnight stay (well outside metropolitan areas). My subcompact car costs $0.10 a mile to move. If I'm moving 400-600'miles a day, I can save $100-200 over RV travel by staying in $30 to $80 motel rooms. But if I'm moving 100-200 miles every week or two, and staying in campgrounds for a couple weeks each stop at $10 a night, RV travel is a whole lot less expensive.
You have to figure out just what it is that you want to do. RV might be your travel anwer, or it might not. Cheapest way to travel might be a sleeping bag on the floor of a gutted minivan, checking into a cheap motel when you have a compelling need for a shower, Imknow people who have done it this way, have cosidered joining the lifestyle. But if your minimum requirements are your own toilet and shower, you are well past that, looking at 8-20 mpg for movements, $5-20 a night (or much more in urban areas) for parking fees and utility hookups.
Think about just what it is you want to do, how much you think you can spend, and adjust your plan and expectations.
There are folding trailers that might do slightly better with a minivan/SUV tow vehicle, but I am not sure their toilet-shower package will meet your expectations, asvthey are not usually 'self contained,' a standard with specific meaning in the RV commmunity.
What it costs to stop for the noght depends on what services you expect, what services you require. The more you are self contained, the fewer services you need to buy. You can park many places at no cost, but you will not be running air conditioning, unless you bring your own electrical power supply, which will have a fuel cost. If you need electrical power, I've found that I can usually get a parking space with that connection for $5 to $12 a day in the middle of the country, rural or small town. As I go metropolitan, I might be paying $30-50 for the same parking and hookup, approaching budget motel rates for the same area.
If your equipment and lifestyle does not require hookups, and your mode of travel is sufficiently stealthy, you need not pay anything, you just park and sleep.If your lifestyle requires a house with utilities, you could be paying substantial rents for parking and utililites, $20-30 a night in the rural midwest, a whole lot more in populated areas .
Clubs, memberships, discount programs are not scams. They provide good value if the program meets your needs and fits your lifestyle. You have to look at the terms and figure that out. Nothing other than the 10-15% AAA/AARP/GoodSams discount works for me, because I usually use less expensive government facilites. But park memberships, 50% discount programs, work well for the people who use them.
I've used the Woodalls and Trailer Life directories to find places to stay, and tentatively plan, but mostly I playnit as I go. If I see a likely place to stop, whenI am thinking about stopping, I stop.
I am in a C motorhome, so there is no "stealth campimg," when I stop it is pretty obvious what I am doing. The same for any large motorhome, or towable RV of any size, A van conversion, not necessarily a commercial B motrhome, offers more free parking opportunities, but not if you "need" hookups to provide home omforts.
Economics overall, a lot depends on how far you intend to travel. My RV costs $0.50'a mile to move, $8 to $30 for an overnight stay (well outside metropolitan areas). My subcompact car costs $0.10 a mile to move. If I'm moving 400-600'miles a day, I can save $100-200 over RV travel by staying in $30 to $80 motel rooms. But if I'm moving 100-200 miles every week or two, and staying in campgrounds for a couple weeks each stop at $10 a night, RV travel is a whole lot less expensive.
You have to figure out just what it is that you want to do. RV might be your travel anwer, or it might not. Cheapest way to travel might be a sleeping bag on the floor of a gutted minivan, checking into a cheap motel when you have a compelling need for a shower, Imknow people who have done it this way, have cosidered joining the lifestyle. But if your minimum requirements are your own toilet and shower, you are well past that, looking at 8-20 mpg for movements, $5-20 a night (or much more in urban areas) for parking fees and utility hookups.
Think about just what it is you want to do, how much you think you can spend, and adjust your plan and expectations.
