Justifying the cost of a Travel Trailer

rollindowntheroad wrote:
I have been thinking about getting a small travel trailer, less than 20 foot. It is just myself, don't need anything big and I can tow up to 3,500 lbs.

I don't know if buying one would justify the cost. I live in upstate NY so only have about 6 months to use it. Would use it weekends, maybe every other and possibly for a weeks vacation. I am still working so can't use it much more than that during those 6 months.

I have looked online and found a few used ones. Price ranges from $8,000 to $15,000. Found some new ones (2018) that run $15,000 and up, seems they are discounted a lot this time of year. Probably would not buy new though. Right now online dealers in my area don't have a great deal to choose from but I'm not in any hurry to get one if I do.

I would pay cash for it. Then there is insurance and also storage fees when not using it. I realize that there are also campground fees, propane, etc. I live in an apartment community and they don't allow RV's to be parked in the lot. The going rate for storage in my area seems to be about $50 a month.

Would I be foolish to buy one only to get to use it 12 times a year or so?

I couldn't justify the cost of my 29' Jayco Jay Flight travel trailer so I traded in for a top of the line 14' box premier pop up with a large slide that has the same interior space as my previous 29' Jay Flight 26BH.

If I camped all the time at cheaper campgrounds, I'd likely kept it but it was a money pit and neither the wife or I could see paying out all that money for it to sit in the yard.

With the Pop Up, I actually can't believe how much cheaper it is just for insurance and plates. I already saved about $350 a year just there with the new 2019 compared to the 2012 Jay Flight.

The caulking on the travel trailer alone is a major expense every year with it opening up here and there, and even causing water leaks that I had to have fixed. A lot less caulked areas is what I was wanting to achieve to cut maintenance costs.

I really don't care to sleep in dirty hotel/motel beds and hear all the noise of others so I still enjoy having a camper especially for my daughter but I didn't want a money pit either. So that's why I got rid of the travel trailer and went back to a Pop Up.

I won't being throwing money at the new camper when it's just sitting in the yard waiting for it's handful of trip per year like I was with the travel trailer (or the previous travel trailer before it).

When I had the Pop Ups before, they needed very little maintenance compared to the Travel Trailers and their insurance and plates were dirt cheap next to the travel trailers as well.

BUT if you intend to use your travel trailer a lot and the expense of campgrounds today doesn't discourage that, then they are very nice to have and really enjoyable, and can justify their cost.

Good luck with your decision