Forum Discussion
JimK-NY
Jun 08, 2018Explorer II
My wife and I along with 2 cats, travelled full time for a couple of years so perhaps our experience will help.
First you have two major handicaps we did not have to deal with. Bikes are a major nuisance and you really have to want them to deal with the nuisance. They are not going to fit conveniently in the backseat area. You will need to find a rear or forward carrier that works and fits your needs. Second, a dog is a major handicap, way more so than the bikes. A dog can greatly limit your travels. They are not allowed on trails in most national parks and it is often against regulations to leave a dog unattended in an RV. Even when allowed it rarely works out. With a medium or large dog, you are going to need floor space and perhaps even slides, which I absolutely hate for lots of reasons.
Bikes and dogs aside, I do have some additional comments and recommendations.
We have a Northstar Igloo. I recommend taking a hard look at Northstar. Their campers are well designed and built. For full time and remote camping you will need to add a couple of AGM batteries, solar and a generator. I have 300 AH of battery and 2 135 watt panels plus the Honda 2000. Next, I highly recommend a wet bath. We typically take Navy type showers to conserve water so the splatter is minimal. We use 30 seconds to squeegee 2 walls and the floor and the shower then dries pretty quickly. A wet bath will give you more storage and/or a smaller camper. Next I highly recommend a cassette toilet!! Do a search on this forum and you will quickly see that almost everyone who has one loves them. Dumping any toilet is no fun but a cassette tank can be dumped into an outhouse or flush toilet. With a black tank you need a dump. Those can be hard to find and it is rare that a national forest or BLM campground has one. Even many national park campgrounds do not have them.
First you have two major handicaps we did not have to deal with. Bikes are a major nuisance and you really have to want them to deal with the nuisance. They are not going to fit conveniently in the backseat area. You will need to find a rear or forward carrier that works and fits your needs. Second, a dog is a major handicap, way more so than the bikes. A dog can greatly limit your travels. They are not allowed on trails in most national parks and it is often against regulations to leave a dog unattended in an RV. Even when allowed it rarely works out. With a medium or large dog, you are going to need floor space and perhaps even slides, which I absolutely hate for lots of reasons.
Bikes and dogs aside, I do have some additional comments and recommendations.
We have a Northstar Igloo. I recommend taking a hard look at Northstar. Their campers are well designed and built. For full time and remote camping you will need to add a couple of AGM batteries, solar and a generator. I have 300 AH of battery and 2 135 watt panels plus the Honda 2000. Next, I highly recommend a wet bath. We typically take Navy type showers to conserve water so the splatter is minimal. We use 30 seconds to squeegee 2 walls and the floor and the shower then dries pretty quickly. A wet bath will give you more storage and/or a smaller camper. Next I highly recommend a cassette toilet!! Do a search on this forum and you will quickly see that almost everyone who has one loves them. Dumping any toilet is no fun but a cassette tank can be dumped into an outhouse or flush toilet. With a black tank you need a dump. Those can be hard to find and it is rare that a national forest or BLM campground has one. Even many national park campgrounds do not have them.
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