I will be moving to MA from SC early to mid December. Even though I'm lusting after a Winnebego Minnie, I have a 16' 2013 Starcraft AR-one and am pulling it with a Chevy Silverado. I'm not very experienced in driving in the snow (being from southern CA and all) and will be travelling with two young kiddos and two cats.I'd like to save money and live out of the camper on the way up there. Driving more slowly is a given for safety but beyond that I'm here to mine your collective wisdom on tips, tricks and advice on staying safe and keeping us more comfortable on the trip.

Umm.. you are planning to move to MA AND LIVE in a travel trailer?I would call that suicidal at the minimum..You might wish to rethink your plan.Have you ever been that far north in the winter?I have.I have been in southern VT in Jan, gets mighty cold in the mountains up there.. I knew better than to take my travel trailer that far north in the winter.. Had morning temps at -35 F at a motel on the side of a mountain.. and afternoon temps hitting a balmy -15 F..Not saying MA will be that cold but I was only about 30 minutes NORTH of MA border at that time.PLEASE, FIND AN APARTMENT!!!Yes, I realize housing is expensive in that region but, you need to consider that even if you found free camping it WILL BE COLD, you WILL BE USING A LOT OF PROPANE and that will be just keeping 50F IF you are lucky. The propane costs will eat all of your "savings"..You truly do not understand cold until you have to live in it..Additionally, unlike SC, MANY of the campgrounds in the north CLOSE for the winter. Finding one that stays open will be a challenge and finding one with running water and sewage during winter may be impossible.As far as traveling goes, conditions can change, RAPIDLY from one turn to another.. You may go from clear roads to snow covered roads to black ice in the blink of the eye.. You will need to monitor the conditions, I would suggest at least having a NOAA weather band radio and using it if there is major weather conditions expected during your drive.

Nooooooo I wouldn't torture us by actually LIVING in it up there. The kids and I are moving to MA for me to go to school once I retire from the military. That's why I can't pick a more sane time of year to make the trip.

I live in MA, and let me first say or ask WHY do you want to move up here? (Half heartedly kidding) everyone up here is trying to move down there! The travel trailer season is very short up here. If I am reading this right, you are just going to be in the trailer while you are traveling up here, correct? You can drive from Maryland to MA in about 8 hours so you shouldn't have to spend anytime in the cold if you plan it right. We can get snow anytime after middle of October but more likely it doesn't come until late December and stays until Late March. I picked up my new trailer in May of last year and the first few weeks I was running the heater at night. I wouldn't advise living in that trailer through the winter, although it could be possible with some money invested and the right spot. Most of the campgrounds close up for the season around Middle of October.

TTs are not really a good choice for winter. Yes you can have fun for a weekend in the snow, but it is usually a dry camp.Even in the fall when the temps drop to the twenties, freeze ups can be a problem, single pane glass, thin walls and copious condensation do not help much.I have seen a few TTs set up for winter but it is not easy I cheap.

theheather1 wrote:Nooooooo I wouldn't torture us by actually LIVING in it up there. The kids and I are moving to MA for me to go to school once I retire from the military. That's why I can't pick a more sane time of year to make the trip.Stop at Hotels/motels while traveling..Better yet, find some storage place in SC to store your trailer for the winter then in the spring retrieve it from storage.Depending on the route you take from SC to MA, you are not going to find a lot of places to "camp", you might be able to overnight at Wallyworld but in dead of winter that is going to pretty darn uncomfortable at the least and you will be burning a lot of propane.From Northern SC (Spartanburg) it takes me 11 hrs to PA towingFrom my home in PA it takes me 12 hrs to southern VT (Bennington) towing..Non towing, I can shave about 1 hr off each "leg" of the trip.Keeping in mind that is in the summer time and decent weather, winter with snowy and icy conditions will add considerably to your trip.I really wouldn't recommend towing in winter time up in the north unless you are a well seasoned winter road driver..

Moving from SC to MA in winter with small TT | Good Sam Community

theheather1
Explorer
Aug 17, 2016
Nooooooo I wouldn't torture us by actually LIVING in it up there. The kids and I are moving to MA for me to go to school once I retire from the military. That's why I can't pick a more sane time of year to make the trip.
Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Aug 17, 2016
Umm.. you are planning to move to MA AND LIVE in a travel trailer?

I would call that suicidal at the minimum..

You might wish to rethink your plan.

Have you ever been that far north in the winter?

I have.

I have been in southern VT in Jan, gets mighty cold in the mountains up there.. I knew better than to take my travel trailer that far north in the winter..

Had morning temps at -35 F at a motel on the side of a mountain.. and afternoon temps hitting a balmy -15 F..

Not saying MA will be that cold but I was only about 30 minutes NORTH of MA border at that time.

PLEASE, FIND AN APARTMENT!!!

Yes, I realize housing is expensive in that region but, you need to consider that even if you found free camping it WILL BE COLD, you WILL BE USING A LOT OF PROPANE and that will be just keeping 50F IF you are lucky. The propane costs will eat all of your "savings"..

You truly do not understand cold until you have to live in it..

Additionally, unlike SC, MANY of the campgrounds in the north CLOSE for the winter. Finding one that stays open will be a challenge and finding one with running water and sewage during winter may be impossible.

As far as traveling goes, conditions can change, RAPIDLY from one turn to another.. You may go from clear roads to snow covered roads to black ice in the blink of the eye.. You will need to monitor the conditions, I would suggest at least having a NOAA weather band radio and using it if there is major weather conditions expected during your drive.

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Moving from SC to MA in winter with small TT

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