I am going to respond to each of your comments on this reply. We again appreciate all of the feedback. I love this site so far as it is very active with a lot of diversity in the comments, thoughts, etc. We also totally appreciate all the straightforwardness as well.
**Donn0128---You are absolutely right that we would never want to leave the tt unattended. Thanks for letting us know about how trailers are best left parked for a few days and motor homes best left moved every couple of days. Also, we appreciate knowing trailers are overall less expensive. Thanks.
**Azdryheat---This is very good to know about the wind. We actually are now starting to watch trucks on the road while pulling tts or 5th wheels to see if we can note any swaying. We passed a truck hauling a 5th wheel today and were paying close attention to that. Thanks for the info.
**Profdant139---very good points in tts versus 5th wheels. We didn’t think about traveling in back country off pavement, verus roads…great things to consider. Thanks.
**Jim1521----Thanks for your thoughts and it makes a lot of sense. I guess technically if somebody wanted in our house bad enough, they will get in, just like you said about the trailers. Thanks for the input.
**jbrowland---That is great to know about how you find that driving with the 23 foot TT is easier to drive. We can’t wait to check this out this spring when we will rent one that we have already picked out ahead of time to rent. Thanks for the input.
**MitchF150---Yes, my husband corrected me about Walmart and stated we would only be staying there if we were not able to find a RV park while traveling. So hopefully, that will be few and far between during our travels. We are definitely exploring this and have been exploring for 3 years. We will rent a tt this spring and take it on vacation for a week and test it out. We then plan on renting a 5th wheel also. We will not be purchasing anything for at least 18 months. Youtube is a great research option as well. Thanks for the info.
**Owenssailor----This is great information and we definitely appreciate the diversity of comments on this subject. We can’t wait to test this out ourself when we rent a TT this spring. Thanks for the input!!
**Isaac-1---This is great information and we definitely want to make sure we have the proper vehicle to tow the TT as we don’t want this to be a source of problems for us. This makes a lot of sense. Thanks!!
**valhalla360---You are absolutely right and as I posted earlier, I found this site and as a very excitable woman, I wanted to post on this site right away. And although, I have very broad questions, the 5 pages of responses on here have already been immensely helpful to my husband and I. Thanks for the reminder that TT’s are cheaper than fifth wheels…just knowing that information is very helpful. Thanks for the reminder about Walmarts, campgrounds, etc. We only would do a Walmart if there is not a campground available during our travels or if we are absolutely too tired to travel any more. Great insight. Thanks.
**westend---Thanks so much. We have many friends who do rving and have recommended to us to rent first before we buy so we like that idea. Thanks for the insight about leaving the trailer at a campgrounds and yes, it would be stupid to leave in any area outside a campground if there were no secure locking mechanisms in place there like campgrounds have. We are looking forward to having the experimentation of driving the rented unit this spring so we can have that learning curve. Thanks.
**mgirardo---This is great information and love knowing you use the coupler lock. We also love knowing your TT stays at the campground. This also helps us to know about keeping it off the ground with the cinder blocks. My hubby may know that already, but I didn’t. Thanks so much for the info.
**bailer6334----great points. Thanks so much. Yes we thought about the height difference in a tt versus a 5th and figured that would have to be an advantage. I know we will definitely need the practice in backing the TT and another poster had the idea on here about renting a u-haul to practice backing which we think is a great idea. Thanks so much for your input.
**Soundguy---We very much appreciate the comments but why do we want to buy a popup? We plan on renting and trying out TT’s before we actually buy one. I know people with popups who have had many issues. We will try the TT’s out before buying and who knows, maybe after trying it out, we may hate it. But, we are not jumping into this quickly at all as we have been exploring for 3 years and will not even buy for about 18 months. Just curious, do most people buy pop-ups before advancing to other RV types?
**Nickthe hunter---Yes, thank you. We would never stay at Wal-mart and only want to use them in case we can’t find a campgrounds or are too tired to drive any further. Nick, you make so much sense and we think the same thing. A TT is so much cheaper than a Class A RV and I could see being a whole lot more careful paying 200K for something versus 15k for something. We also do plan on buying a used TT when we get to that point in 18 months. Thanks for your common sense thinking.
**Fireballsocal---Wow, this is awesome. Never, ever thought of this before, but this makes total sense. What a great secondary use of the TT’s like you said in case of a natural disaster. Yes, I agree and as a TT is much less expensive than a Class A RV, if we do make mistakes, they are not as costly as jumping in deep and buying a Class A as we know some people that have done and paid $200k and ended up not using or like it. The TT’s we are looking at are about 15k, much different than 200k. Thanks for the feedback.
**kerrlakeroo---Great points. We plan on traveling to each state in the U.S. eventually (not all at once of course) and of course seeing all the parks (Yellowstone, Glacier, etc.). We will not be living in it but plan on using it probably a good 2-3 months out of the year. Thanks for your input.
**Speakeasy----Too funny. I love your comments. You are right this is not brain surgery and I don’t think anybody will die if we make the wrong decision unless of course we wreck the thing. But as one poster suggested, we should practice backing with a u-haul which is an excellent idea and we will do that. Oh, even though some comments were extreme, everybody’s comments have been very helpful. And yes, we definitely know we don’t want a popup trailer as we want to have hard walls on all sides. Thank you so much.
**bobndot---Yes, great points. We definitely are going to rent and the only thing we have really thought out is we eventually want to explore all states and go to the national parks, etc. as well as much other sightseeing in our beautiful USA. That is awesome hearing of all your experience with rving. Not sure which place or campground we will like the best until we do it. If we hate the noise and busyness of some, we may choose the more remote. We want the flexibility of trying them all out to see what we like. Thanks for passing on your experience.
**Downtheavenue---Very great advice. Yes, every year, we attend the huge RV show up here, and we did that yesterday. We end up going thru so many RV’s our heads are spinning at the end of the day. But after yesterday, we are pretty sure we want the TT or fifth wheel. We have too much sightseeing to do is why we want to have the truck we can then use to do the actual sightseeing after the trailer is safely parked and secured at the campgrounds. Yes, I am proud that we did not buy one of those RV’s on the spot yesterday, it was very tempting….lol.
**subcamper---Never thought about some of the points you are making, but they make a lot of sense. Trying to find someone who is experienced with the hook up might be challenging, but it is a great idea. Great points and we are definitely wanting to rent a TT this spring and have tentatively picked out one on RVshare. We also figured starting out rving, most TT’s are much less expensive than other RV’s, so if we do buy one down the road, it is not like spending $200k on a class A RV. Thanks for the RV wisdom.
**NMDriver---Yes, valhalla360 had great points and we are definitely appreciative.
**Soundguy---So do you believe buying a popup rather than renting the tt would be the best option? We are definitely not jumping into this quickly as we are renting the vehicles first and trying them out. It will be a good 18 months before we purchase anything and renting at least a few times first. Thanks.
**Bobbo—Great points and I know my husband definitely appreciates the information on the engines, as I know my husband will definitely appreciate having less engines to maintain. Great points, that I myself may not think of but I know my husband would. You are right about anybody who wants it getting it, but like I guess if someone wanted to break into my home, nothing would stop them. Thanks and great points.
**Kerrlakeroo---Thanks for the info. I found a TT for 75.00 per day in Ohio on RVshare. We are planning on just going to pick it up and will actually be traveling to another state this spring to get a feel for driving it, hauling it and staying in it. We absolutely love your idea about trying out uhauls first and practicing backing them. What awesome ideas that we will absolutely do. Thanks.
**Bobbo---Thank you!! I personally am a daredevil (even as a woman) and have never been afraid to jump in and try something new. Being a military brat and moving constantly and attending 14 schools growing up, I am eager for change. My husband has gotten more used to jumping in living with me for so long…lol. But, we are testing the waters first by renting the TT this spring to see how it will go and plan on having it a week to really test the driving and staying in it.
**Lynnmor—Very great points about the highway system and not seeing anything. We have already planned out some of our road trips and the many, many places we want to see in those states. We pretty much want to go to every state and hit up many things that each state has that represents those states well. We definitely need to think about the hills, mountains, curves as we will certainly need to gain gradual experience with those factors. Thanks for the reminder. Yes, we know now the 1500 truck may not be great and we may need to think differently about the truck. We only want one popup in our TT as hubby says too many popups in the TT present possible problems. Thanks for the great tips.
**donn0128---We definitely appreciate the input about the trucks. We certainly need to keep that in mind as that is extremely important. Thanks!!
**drsteve—Thanks for the information as we would not have known this. We appreciate it. These are things we didn’t know much about.
**TenOC—Thanks for this great information on storage, etc. Something we wouldn’t have really known. Hmm….the hitch information is great to know. Thanks so much.
**Thom02099—Thanks so much for the input. We are definitely going to do the uhaul option of practicing backing with that first. Never would have thought of that. Also, yes, we now know we have to look at the truck size and think about that very carefully in relationship to the tt we will be purchasing. Thanks again.
**drsteve---This is one thing we have not quite figured out. Our sons are grown but they and their girlfriends still travel with us a lot and we are happy for that. We are struggling to figure this piece out…lol……We have thought that if we start off with a smaller TT, less expensive, and we know the family still would like to go on trips, we could move up to a bigger TT eventually. You bring up great points on having more options on site selection. Again, this would not have been anything we would have automatically thought about. And yes, we definitely need to do more exploring regarding the truck option. We don’t have a truck now but since this is all not happening for 18 months or so, we have time to explore the truck option and the TT. Thanks for all your input. Yes, we will love the option of staying warm and dry. Years of camping with boyscouts brought many very soggy, wet, and muddy moments for us. So, having a tt is like a luxury item even if at the campgrounds compared to camping with boyscouts…lol.
**Vintage465—This is excellent information. Thanks so much!! I don’t think we would have any clue on the ball under the coupler information. All of what you have said is greatly appreciated and sounds like you have great experience. Thanks!!
**Toedtoes—Yes, we are definitely looking at used units and will most certainly buy used in 18 months or so after trying out some first. It sounds like you had the right idea and we may even consider doing this as we see a lot of used very inexpensive TT’s that we might also look at. Sounds like you are very wise. We know we don’t want a popup as we did too much camping with the scouts that we want hard walls surrounding us and we plan on hitting many areas with bears, etc. and would rather have the hard walls than not. Thanks so much for your feedback and we definitely are reexploring what we will need in regard to a truck.
**Vvvv101---Storage is a great thing to think about and something we hadn’t really thought about until the comments on here. Thanks for the input.
****It took me awhile to type out all these responses and I know I have had further comments on my thread. I will definitely take time to respond to all of those as well. Thanks everybody. I love this site.