OK--I am in an unusual situation. I am 58 and have an excellent job that I do exclusively online. Thus, I have the freedom to indulge my propensity to travel, well, everywhere. I live and travel alone (though I may wish to install a cat), and my evaluation is that I don't like any place all the time but there are times of the year when I really want to be in certain areas:
1. Late fall through winter: southern CA coast if financially feasible; otherwise, AZ
2. Early spring: Utah/AZ desert parks, weather permitting
3. Late spring: Yosemite, northern CA coast, Lake Tahoe
4. Summer: the Rockies and/or the Cascades
5. Late summer/early fall: Oregon coast
Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Until I croak.
Now, I currently have a Mazda with 408,000 miles that I call "Uncle Pete." I've been driving him all around, camping when feasible, staying in hotels otherwise, staying connected to my work with a Verizon hotspot. I actually love doing this. But Uncle Pete is going to die soon (I assume!), and I'd like to transition to a full-time RV lifestyle. I really don't need much room, and would prefer a smaller, more maneuverable RV to a Bloat Coach Industries Behemoth powered by a repurposed aircraft carrier power plant. My choices, as I see them, are:
1. A 21-23 foot Class C or Class A. No towed vehicle (I think the smaller RVs would be total slugs and get about 0.7 mpg when towing anything heavier than a helium balloon).
2. A larger C or A, possibly with a towed vehicle. Not ridiculous combined length, hopefully.
3. A really small Class C, like a Toyota (cheap), or a Class B (expensive, to me, ridiculously so for what you get)
4. A pickup truck like a Ford Mastodon or a Chevy Manhood, happily towing a fifth wheel until the day when a 60 mph crosswind hits and I die in a tangle of wreckage by the side of the interstate.
5. Smaller towing vehicle, like a RAV4, and a teardrop-style minimalist trailer (not nearly as cheap as I think they ought to be).
My budget is about 30K to spend, and I make about 4K a month. My existence tax (medical and other insurance, baksheesh to the gummint) is about 1K a month, so I could afford some version of all of the above options. I just can't decide on which is best.
Since I'm going to be spending a lot of time in national parks, and since I'll be moving often, small seems better. A major issue is mobility after I do park somewhere. There, my objectives seem to conflict. Even the lightest, smallest towed vehicle, together with an RV big enough to tow it, would make my combined length 35+ feet, and prohibit backing up--at all. If the rig is standalone and small enough, I can just drive it around, But I think that would get old fast.
I am happy boondocking/dry camping/WalMarting for extended periods of time, know how to take Navy showers, and am happy living on apples and beef jerky for days at a time. Frankly, ANY RV setup seems like a step up from setting up a tent in the rain or sleeping in Uncle Pete.
I would appreciate any and all insights, suggestions, snarky comments from irascible old farts, etc. It seems to me that there is not one single clear choice here. Thanks all!
