One Year Try

[StukInTexas]

I'm debating on doing this for a year or so, but have not yet made a final decision. I could just go traveling for 3 months and stay in motels (would not have as much freedom, plus I want to travel for a full year).

Still cannot decide on MotorHome vs. 5th Wheel vs. Travel Trailer. I've read all the articles, I first started considering this about 6 months ago. I would be doing this solo, and I am a male approaching 40.

Basically, if I were to do this, I plan to buy something used, then resell it after I use it for one year. ere.

Few things I would like others input on:

1) A used MotorHome would seem to make the most sense because I already own a vehicle I can tow, but there is no way I want to spend $50,000 on a used one, because it seems like too much risk even though I would resell it. The risk I see in the MotorHome is if something catastrophic occurs to the structure, water damage, or whatever that the insurance will not pay. Then I am basically out the $35,000 to $50,000 all at once.

2) Now because of the "RISK" factor, a travel trailer makes more sense. The reason not a 5th wheel is because I can get a used Durango or something similar a lot cheaper than I can get a heavy duty truck.

3) Now the fifth wheel would be easier to drive, and safer to drive. The problem is the money to buy the truck.

4) I plan to stay in 8-10 places primarily, and I have already been all over the United States, so I am familiar with the roads.

Any thoughts?

Where should I start as far as buying and how much do I really need to spend to be comfortable?

I don't care about luxury, but I also don't want to live in a dump for a year. What I really want is something clean that does not leak, that is my primary concern.

Another nice thing would be LOW ASBESTOS, the ASBESTOS stuff does scare me about trailers.

How much is this really going to set me back?

[StukInTexas]

beemerphile1 wrote:
I am absolutely clueless how someone thinks they can live without water.

Always smart-o's, I've been in the backwoods quite a bit. How do you live without water, well first there are water purification kits, and secondly there are rivers, there is snow you can boil, and finally if you have to, you buy 20 jugs of water at a local walmart and haul it down to your spot.

There are these plastic bottles you can buy, they even have this clear liquid in them that I heard it might be safe to drink. Also, sometimes there is thing that falls out of the sky as melted ice crystals. Quite fascinating.

I do not have all the answers, but this thread has some pretty silly responses in it. I am more interested in how the people in Cave Dwellings in Utah/AZ/NM lived without water. I guess if you are used to "pampered camping" in RV's, I can understand how someone could say "how can you live without water". I will give a pass to the 50+'s, but I'm not even 40 yet.

And finally, I do NOT plan to live on the land permanently in an RV, I said I wanted the land to store it and prep it for traveling.

You can just use an outdoor shower anyhow.

I don't know how I can live without running water, but maybe ALL the other times I've done it while camping is a good clue. Also, it's quite obvious that if I bought a plot of land, I would buy a small shed with an air-tight storage cabinet, and guess what, I can even store large gallons of water there, wow go figure!

[Roy_Lynne]

Its just one of those toss up questions. I have a cousin who is doing it in a large cab-over truck camper and he's been from Alaska to Florida and loving it. Did I also mention he's like 6-8. Better mileage, he can go anywhere and stop anywhere at any time.

[mchero]

You should be able to find a good used diesel pusher for 20 to 30K. Mine is a 1993 with no slides. 250HP Cummins with Allison. It's a cross country machine! I have driven it coast to coast two different times w/o a single issue. I towed my 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee the last coast to coast trip and avaraged about 10MPG. Get tired, Id pull into a rest area and get 4 - 5 hrs of sleep and then continue on.

Start from the bottom up on THIS link

[beemerphile1]

2gypsies wrote:
Honestly, the OP seems to have his questions answered - by himself. He seems to know how to do things and cuts down our opinions so why did he even bother asking for help? Strange person.

Agreed, the OP seems to think they have all the answers, no point in responding further. I am absolutely clueless how someone thinks they can live without water.

[StukInTexas]

Not true, there was some good input, but it turned into a silly thread. This is an RV forum not a mobile home forum, if I wanted mobile home I would have went somewhere else.

I am not going in circles, I went from buying 5th vs TT, then pretty much sticking with 5th, then I decided to buy a plot of land (it was a new idea).

Plot of land is for prepping before I leave and storing it after I'm done, what you failed to see is the part where I keep the 5th and don't do this constantly for one year (that plan changed), but instead just keep it over the long-run and keep my place (maybe do it for 3 months, then come back). Storing it will also reduce miles driven (bringing it back to Texas every trip would be expensive). Misunderstandings abound...

[2gypsies1]

Honestly, the OP seems to have his questions answered - by himself. He seems to know how to do things and cuts down our opinions so why did he even bother asking for help? Strange person.

[wbwood]

You are going around in circles. Yes a 5th wheel moves. But you said about putting it on a plot of land. That is not is not moving it.

[StukInTexas]

wbwood wrote:

StukInTexas wrote:

Why not by the plot of land and put a mobile home on it? You can seriously get one larger than any fifth wheel for a lot less. I know there is a place that sells them down the road and they have brand new single wides for less than $30,000 and they appear to be at least 60' long.

I would just buy a small fixer-upper house before I do that. Most of those $30,000 deals are rigged with frivolous financing plans and are tied into special proprietary agreements of mobile home park fees, or they add a transport delivery fee that ends up being ridiculous. A decent manufactured home actually costs quite a bit. Most "mobile homes" really are not good deals, but neither is a 5th wheel, it's just that used 5th wheels are cheaper so you don't lose as much. Do they even make mobile homes anymore, heard they only make "manufactured homes".

You can get a used 5th wheel plenty cheap and it MOVES, the key is it MOVES. A mobile home is not mobile, the cost of moving those things is pretty insane.

Some of these posts in here are funny, so presumptuous, especially with the one that my list was frivolous about what I wanted to do.

The point is to be frivolous, that's the fun in it. Yes, I am well aware of the needs of sewage, water, and electricity. I think anyone that doesn't live as a CAVE man knows those needs, you'd be surprised what you can do without however. All I really need is ELECTRIC, as far as water and sewage --- that isn't a biggie (have been camping weeks without running water or sewage). A restaurant, hotel, or some fast food place is usually semi-nearby no matter how far into nowhere-land you go for the most part. Unless you are going very deep into the backwoods, but as ONE person alone I would not take my RV very far out of cell range. Driving 20 miles to find a place to dump your trash or use the restroom is part of the fun in it.

Just eat beef jerky all day and you won't need to go # 2 for at least 2 weeks, the nearest tree is fine for the other.

[StukInTexas]

I can even name the top scenic drives in the Western US (well in my preference).

For Arizona

Payson, AZ to Globe to Salt River Canyon (beats the Grand Canyon scenery). Then drive from Globe to Tucson (take the back way in the evening), perhaps the most incredible drive in the desert part of the US is from Salt River Canyon down to Tucson. Second best drive is either between Sedona and Flagstaff or on the mountain roads SW of Prescott (I think SW of Prescott is my preference).

For NM
NW of the Silver City NM area towards Arizona is probably the best drive in NM, though the Red River Valley is ok in Fall.

For Colorado
This is really impossible, I would just say starting from near Gunnison to Telluride and Purgatory and then finally to Durango in the FALL if I had to pick one drive in the entire state.

For California
Another tough one, but my favorite drive was most likely on the border of the Oregon and California coast when the elevation starts going back up well over the coastal line (right near the border where they ask if you have any plants that are not allowed in the state). Another awesome drive is from Redding, CA to Medford, OR. Redding, CA is one of my favorite places in the US.

For Oregon
The best drive is probably to Bend, OR from Portland, but you have to go far south first to hit the biggest mountains. After that maybe around Crater Lake (though views are mostly blocked by trees here).

For Washington State
The best drive is in the northern part of the state (HWY 2 and HWY 20, heading east across the mountains), as well as Olympic Park, and also Mt. Rainier (though if I were in an RV, the Olympic Park drive is the easier one)

For Montana
Kalispell to Glacier Park area, Butte is also cool.


Hah, I forgot Texas, my home state...
There really aren't that many "scenic drives" in Texas, there are a few...

For Mountains there are only two really good drives, one being near Guadalupe Peak towards Carlsbad, NM. The other is from Fort Davis to the Observatory, then head north another 20 miles to Sawtooth mountain (the only place in Texas that really has a significant Pine Forest in the mountains).

El Paso is ok, but too dry for my tastes (interesting I suppose).

The coast is nothing special in TX IMO, but Padre island is ok, as well as around Rockport.

[StukInTexas]

2gypsies wrote:
Sounds like you're hooked on New Mexico. I would suggest that you spend some time there in summer and in winter before committing. If it's a cool temp place in summer it will be bitter cold in winter. New Mexico is a 4-season state and temps go all over the place.

There isn't too many cities in the Western US I haven't been too already, no matter how small the town, so I've already toured the US many times, just not in an RV. I would estimate I've driven around 35,000 miles across the western US in my lifetime (but no idea exactly).

From the coast of California, to Oregon, Washington, Whistler - Canada, to Spokane, to Cour d'Alene - ID, to Helena - MT, to Glacier Park, West Yellowstone, Salt Lake City, to Grand junction, CO to Denver to Aspen to Vail to Durango to Farmington to Raton to Angel Fire to Silver City to Tucson - AZ, to Phoenix to Prescott (where the fires were) to Sedona to Flagstaff...

i could go on forever, have driven at least 2000 miles in every state from Colorado west, in NM I have probably driven the entire state in circles 10x or more. in Arizona and California, about 4000-5000 miles of driving. You get the point, I'll stop...

I was in a snowstorm in Flagstaff last February where it snowed 6-12 inches every day for 6 days in a row and temps reached -15, very easy to deal with in motel room, not so much in an RV.

Got stuck in the MUD in the mountains near Gunnison, CO in summer (way up around 13,000 feet) without 4wd and had to be towed, been there, done that (not fun waiting hours and hours being stuck).

I've also had a car wreck and had to be rescued by park rangers in a blizzard near Crater Lake, OR in 5 feet of snow.

So yah, I've been there done that.

In the lower elevations it gets hot in summer, but it's comfortable in the mornings and evenings in most places, it's not nearly as hot as South Texas (though it can get that hot for very short periods of time).

[SkiMore]

Yamaki wrote:
You are suffering "paralysis by analysis"...let go of all the numbers for a minute and think about what you really want to do.

X2

I like that phrase "paralysis by analysis" and need to remember it the next time I start over thinking things.

[beemerphile1]

StukInTexas wrote:

Some things I want to do:
Adding solar panels
Re-decorating
Installing a home theater
Re-enforcing the seals of walls and adding general mods
Improving water resistance and freeze resistance

Your list is mostly frivolous. You have some issues that you need to deal with if you are going to semi-permanently park somewhere.

You need to be concerned with water supply, sewage disposal, and power supply.

[Yamaki]

You are suffering "paralysis by analysis"...let go of all the numbers for a minute and think about what you really want to do.

Do you want to travel? Take a train, take a plane, take an automobile or embrace the RV lifestyle. Not having owned one or lived in one will tend to color your perception of what that really means.

RV'ing is a lifestyle regardless of whether it is a full-time endeavor, a part time pass time or the weekend warrior warrior approach. It has it's own ups and downs. No one does it to save money or limit depreciation. They do it to have fun and enjoy the experience.

Do you want to live in NM? Then buy some cheap land and build.

You can't avoid depreciation and, if you buy smart on the used market, then you avoid a significant amount of the depreciation you keep throwing into your equations.

The outdoors is right there outside the doors of your RV. Living in a 300 sq ft fifth wheel for one person is solitude in a cozy environment.

But stop with the analysis and make a decision. Regardless of which unit type you buy, and I think you'd be amazed at how well a pickup that can handle a good sized 5'vr drives, if you are going to do this, then do it.

[PAThwacker]

You are never going to go through with this plan.
I just read the post regarding adding solar, reinforcing the seals, ladalala forget about it.

[wbwood]

Lol. Stupid auto correct.