Pop ups

Hi! Hubby and I are newly retired and newly entering the camping community. We are EXCITED!! I have camped once in my life, lol! Therefore, we wanted the most affordable option for our first camper. We shopped new at dealerships, used at dealerships and used online. We didn’t rule any type of camper out. As you may have guessed, the pop up was the least expensive camper we found. We purchased a 2005 Jayco Jay Series model 1206. It is in amazingly good condition! We saw some that were not and we’re priced much higher ( this crazy market right now)! We didn’t want to have to buy a new tow vehicle so we were limited by the dry weight of our camper choices. Let the learning begin, lol!! We’ve watched LOTS of YouTube videos! Some of them more than once, lol!! We wanted to be certain we were most conscious of safety issues. Expense #1 was to have a nice tow package and hitch with a stabilizer bar installed on our truck. We did opt to spend the $245 extra for the CURT “smart system”. Next, hubby installed new bearings inside and out and new dust covers. We elected to have the same repair shop that installed the tow package replace the electric brakes & inspect the tires for any wear or other safety issues. Then we drove the closed camper around and practiced parking for a week, lol!! Took her home and set it up in the driveway. Got started learning how to even do that- back to You Tube, lol!! I know we got nutty and bought things for the pop up that we may not need but we had to buy a lot of things we definitely need too!! Our first trip is a scheduled for mid April to Dauphin Island Alabama. I have subscribed to RVing magazine, rv.net, PopUpcampers.com & a couple of daily or weekly newsletters to further our education. I am sure there are other pop up campers that would love to get involved and share here. My personal experience with this site is that it is THE most difficult to navigate!! Perhaps, they weren’t as persistent as I am and simply gave up! Subscribe to a forum in order to get any info? That took a minute to figure out! Then you must choose how old you want the content you view is to be. I did also finally figure out how to ask for help and 2 members were kind enough to offer help. I merely wanted to thank them . Again, took forever to figure out how to do. If I don’t select that I want to be notified by email for each new post. I do not get it. I think the site might be the issue vs. lack of interested new campers. I love Marcus Lamonis and I do intend to share my not too positive experiences on this site with him. Perhaps all new members should get a mini course in how to get the most out of the sites membership? Sorry to ramble but I love reading the things others are doing and even the issues they encounter whether it’s specific to pop ups or not. This IS my first rodeo!!

From what I see, in campgrounds and on line, people in Popups are more likely to be camping, enjoying the outdoors, compared to others. Park the unit in a site, and if they are in the site, more likely to be inside.
Set up and take down every day can be a PITA for traveling, and I would never feel comfortable in rest area or suburban boondocking. OTHH, my pickup gets close to same MPG towing the PUP as it did on daily commute. (Yes, highway w/o trailer would be better) When I have towed a full height trailer gas mileage took a big hit.
First summer after I retired I tried Campground Host. The others said "Are you going to spend a month in that little thing?" Pointed out that I would spend week or to at a time camping in a 5X8 sleeper. To stay for a week or more it might take a couple of hours to set up my kitchen, dining room, and living room, but for a couple of nights don't need to do it all.

People who own pop ups have ditched this forum years ago. Pop Up Explorer and Pop Up portal are popular. I personally go to the Forest River Pop Up forum.

As a former full timer in TT I am no longer interested in full time topics or big rig BS. Before I bought my TT in 2003 I was a tent camper and still do some truck camping. In 2001 I saw a popup in very gusty winds almost tear away the extended sleeping areas at coastal Texas SP and it was really wipping sideways in the gust so I decided to buy a full enclosed TT. I am still interested in pop ups and camping information and tired of the big rig BS travel forums. Cheers to all the pop up campers out there.

They are on Facebook

Brandon the Traveler wrote:
The only manufacturer still offering popups is Forest River under the Rockwood and Flagstaff brands. They're overpriced flimsy pieces of junk..

Yep.

The only manufacturer still offering popups is Forest River under the Rockwood and Flagstaff brands. They're overpriced flimsy pieces of junk..

Sjm9911 wrote:
The pop up people are abundant on a diffrent site. Some have accounts here also.

I was just about to point that out. I think for many popup owners, this forum is a bit too heavy on the fulltiming aspects than other forums dedicated to popups. And with popups, a lot of the practical issues are different. For example, a popup owner may be looking for ways to store clothes other than "use the built in closet or drawers". And many popup owners are campers rather than travelers, and this forum caters more to travelers.