Class B RV Newbie

[gineen59]

I am researching Class B Vans. Really love the 2016 Pleasure-Way Promastor Lexor. I imagine just taking this van everywhere I want to go with my 2 dogs and living out of it for weeks at a time. I think I may have the wrong idea about the RV lifestyle. I thought I could just park a smaller type RV anywhere and live out of it and use it for my main transportation while traveling also. Am I barking up the wrong tree? Am I not thinking properly about what RV life is all about? Can someone please educate me on this lifestyle and what it would be like owning the aformentioned class b van. I am a single woman in my late 50's that would be dealing with this by myself.

[NCWriter]

(You may want to ask the moderator to move your post to the Class B section rather than Class C.)

We had a Class B van until recently and often met mature solo women travelers in Class B vans visiting faraway places around the US and Canada. While the concept is great (and the reality often is, too), there are challenges and it's not as simple (or low-cost) a travel option as it might seem.

You'll need full working knowledge of all the "house" systems to live in it - for fresh water storage, battery power & electrical systems, propane use, refrigeration, heat & cooling, disposal of gray & black water, generator maintenance, solar systems perhaps, and so on. It will help greatly if you are handy enough to deal with repairs, blown fuses, etc., and if you have an understanding of the engine, brakes, and other automotive elements. For any RV, old or new, it's not a question of "if" but "when" things will go wrong, and some repairs and parts are costly.

There are many places you can park free to spend the night, but that's not true everywhere. Some municipalities or businesses have laws or rules about sleeping in vehicles. You'll still need to find places to dump your tanks and take on fresh water and propane fairly often, since Class B tanks are small. You may decide to pull into campgrounds sometimes where you'll find those needed facilities and electrical shore power, and will need to budget for that cost.

You've come to a good place to ask questions, but you'll learn a lot by doing. If you can find a unit to rent for a week, it will help fill in the blanks.

[Tiger4x4RV]

This post belongs in the Class B forum.

that said...As a long-time solo RV'er, I often meet folks with RV fantasies. For those such as you, I sometimes recommend that they make a cardboard mockup of the unit they are considering (set it up in your living room?) and "live" in that for a week or two with your dogs. You can go outside, as you might with a real RV. You can go to the store. But you must really live in that confined space and see what it feels like. More expensive alternative is to rent a similar RV for a while.

Or maybe set up the smallest bathroom in your home to be your mock RV and stay in there for a few days. Will all of your daily stuff fit in there? What if you need item X? Where do you keep that? Where will the dogs' food bowls be? Where will you all sleep?

The RV lifestyle can be whatever you want - resorts or remote deserts or in between. You cannot realistically park it anywhere you want and live there. Some places are legal and free, but have time limits. Some places allow no camping at all. There is a whole underground world of "stealth camping" folks, which you can sometimes tap into on the internet. A shiny new expensive RV is not particularly stealthy.

Those are just a few thoughts to help you along your way. Fine tune that dream and then do it!