Help Me Figure Out the Dream?

[HadEnough]

Hi,

I am going to open up here. I don't like to reveal a lot online but I need some help selecting an RV.

I currently full time in an older Dodge Ram 2500 and Arctic Fox single slide truck camper. I also full time in a couple sailboats. One an incredible, 50ft world cruising catamaran which is incomplete and I can't continue building personally due to epoxy sensitivity so extreme it knocks me out for days. The other an older but very seaworthy 50' monohull cutter rig.

I'm looking for life advice as well as practical advice.

I'm trying to do some world traveling.

None of my toys here are 100% ready or ideal for global travel at this moment.

The catamaran would be by far the best option. It's one of the fastest and best boats in the world if complete but there are thousands of hours of work left with toxic chemicals my body can't take anymore to get it ready. I'd also like to spend those thousands of hours traveling not dying from chemicals.

The monohull is just about ready to go, capable of world travel but monohulls are terribly uncomfortable. Outside helm, rocking and rolling at anchor, living all tilted (heeled) over for extended periods while traveling. Not ideal.

That leaves an RV. A good RV. But I can't seem to find the dream RV that has the space of these boats yet is practical for my uses which include urban as well as rural stays.

I want to set it up to be completely off grid in every way other than getting fuel. My current truck camper is like this now but I'd like to add even more capability.

I need room. Plenty of room. A girlfriend and a cat are with me. But I also need it to be compact for visiting urban areas in addition to rural ones. I often stick my truck camper in the heart of huge north American cities in paid parking and enjoy it like an apartment in that city for a while.

I've been looking at the triple slide truck campers. The main problem with the Arctic Fox I have now is there is no couch. The dinette of a truck camper is horribly uncomfortable and that leaves a bed. Not healthy to lie in bed all day. (I run my busineses remotely so I work while traveling)

So I'm looking for an elusive dream. Something with a couch or 2 (dinette not even needed), a bed and an awesome kitchen with oven and a refrigerator at least the size of my full size Norcold. It should fit in a single parking spot and be able to be put on a RoRo to ship to Europe. It should be reasonable to drive in Europe. Or.. if a truck camper, maybe I can leave the camper behind and drive the truck in Europe to get into small places. Then I'd like to ship it to Southeast Asia and travel there. It should fit into a parking space but still he huge inside. Triple slide??

Any thoughts?

[HadEnough]

SoundGuy wrote:

HadEnough wrote:
So I'm looking for an elusive dream. Something with a couch or 2 (dinette not even needed), a bed and an awesome kitchen with oven and a refrigerator at least the size of my full size Norcold. It should fit in a single parking spot and be able to be put on a RoRo to ship to Europe. It should be reasonable to drive in Europe. Or.. if a truck camper, maybe I can leave the camper behind and drive the truck in Europe to get into small places. Then I'd like to ship it to Southeast Asia and travel there. It should fit into a parking space but still he huge inside. Triple slide??

Any thoughts?

Never have been convinced it's worth the cost of shipping to get a N American built RV to somewhere else in the world where it likely wouldn't meet local standards without significant modifications at potentially great cost.

And you're right.

I looked into all of this over the past few days.

It's significant money.. closing in on $10k to send your small RV to Europe for 180 days which is the max allowable time. Most people like my girlfriend can only stay in the Schengen area for 90 days. Then you have to bounce out if it. Or start out of it and get into it for those 90 days.

Then by day 180 your RV has to leave or be modified to be up to EU code.

The other option is to rent. It's around $1000/WK. The shipping money can get you an RV for about as long as your 90 day tourist visa. So that's decent.

However, air BNB and renting cars or taking trains is more reasonable than anything else.

So you're right. It doesn't make sense to send a North American RV over.

We're going to set up the RV stuff here in North America, see Europe and Southeast Asia by Airbnb, and keep one of the boats for North American cruising and possibly world cruising later.

[Big_Katuna]

I can’t see one RV filling all those needs. But two might.

I’ll take exception to the ugly ten year old coach statement. Late 90s Prevost, Newell and Foretravels are still good looking and many say, better than a new POS.

Look at motorhomesoftexas.com. Maybe a no slide Newell or Foretravel with lots of solar and tow a diesel Mercedes conversion. Leave the big RV on BLM or Fed land and take smaller sojourns in the little van. You could even add a towable Jeep or SUV into the mix and tow it behind either one, depending on where and what you were doing.

The Mercedes would work in Europe too as it’s supported pretty much worldwide.

Can’t help with the boats but it seems you do one or the other. I’d sell the boats.

[DrewE]

HadEnough wrote:

DrewE wrote:
What about something like an (ex-) CruiseAmerica 19G? They aren't the easiest to find--when they come up for sale from CruiseAmerica they tend to get snatched up pretty quickly--but they have a good balance of small size and completeness, in my opinion.

I'm seeing some of these with slides down the entire side and some with just a small slide for the bed.

I don't think the 19G has any slides. It is a little 19' class C, not a truck camper.

[HadEnough]

DrewE wrote:
What about something like an (ex-) CruiseAmerica 19G? They aren't the easiest to find--when they come up for sale from CruiseAmerica they tend to get snatched up pretty quickly--but they have a good balance of small size and completeness, in my opinion.

I'm seeing some of these with slides down the entire side and some with just a small slide for the bed.

[pnichols]

Well ... it's sounds as if you may be willing to "trust using" American gas RV's in diesel-centric countries.

Given that, here's my ultimate choice for smallness combined with complete self-sufficiency - can be had in rugged four wheel drive, too: http://www.tigervehicles.com/

[HadEnough]

ppine wrote:
If you need plenty of room, then living aboard boats and traveling the world in an RV are odd choices of how to do it.

Maybe you need to figure out how to live in a cramped space or find another mode of travel.

Sorry. I probably wasn't clear. The truck camper is fairly cramped. The catamaran is 1250 square feet.

My definition of a lot of space comes from having already been living in these things for decades.

The boats are huge compared to truck campers and class A busses.

[HadEnough]

covered wagon wrote:
I would try owning less things that need so much work. To simplify is the answer. Sometimes making a commitment to something large and expensive can make a regretful situation.

I would set back for awhile, take a break, maybe do some traveling and see if my perspective changes, then look for answers. Travel always helps a lot.

This is the answer for sure.

Still reading and will respond but I'm getting rid of things definitely.

[DrewE]

What about something like an (ex-) CruiseAmerica 19G? They aren't the easiest to find--when they come up for sale from CruiseAmerica they tend to get snatched up pretty quickly--but they have a good balance of small size and completeness, in my opinion.

[camperdave]

Without knowing your age or financial situation, based on what you've typed here, I'd sell both boats and rehab your current RV into as close to what you want as you can get.

Short of dropping a boatload (pun intended) of cash into a massively depreciating asset (new truck and camper) it seems like your best option.

Despite the Cat being an awesome rig with a ton of potential, it just doesn't sound like that's how you want to travel right now.

Your list is unique, you will most likely not find something setup like you want anyway, so no matter what direction you take you will be modifying and changing things. May as well start with something you already own.

If money was unlimited, I'd head over to the forums at expeditionportal.com and check out build threads for some custom built overland rigs. Folks there are doing what you are wanting to do.

[ppine]

If you need plenty of room, then living aboard boats and traveling the world in an RV are odd choices of how to do it.

Maybe you need to figure out how to live in a cramped space or find another mode of travel.

[covered_wagon]

I would try owning less things that need so much work. To simplify is the answer. Sometimes making a commitment to something large and expensive can make a regretful situation.

I would set back for awhile, take a break, maybe do some traveling and see if my perspective changes, then look for answers. Travel always helps a lot.

[Dave_in_TN]

HadEnough wrote:


That's what gets me with RVs. They depreciate so quickly compared to boats. They look dated in 10 years and people don't want them.

Does that concern anyone too or is it just me?

Yes, but I think quality will overcome "dated". The problem with RV's is that the vast majority of them are not just dated in 10 years, but are junk. That limits their resale more than anything. If you own a high quality and well maintained unit, there will be someone who wants to buy it, even if it looks dated. A high quality RV may be worth cosmetically updating, and many people do just that. Now, finding the high quality ones is the challenge.

[p220sigman]

Not knowing your current camper layout, would it be possible to reconfigure what you have to do away with the dinette and add a couch since you said you don't need a dinette? Sounds like you are pretty handy, so you could probably do the work yourself in pretty short order. Also, while a triple slide willl give you more room, it seems like a triple slide would have difficulty fitting completely in a standard parking space.

As far as the boats are concerned, the Cat seems to be your favorite. Could you sell the monohull and pay someone to finish the Cat or at least do all of the epoxy work?

[SoundGuy]

HadEnough wrote:
Issue is I want to travel. In something comfortable. And see places. And have a home that goes everywhere. But it's time to go international.

Many of us do but for a small issue called sufficient $$$$$$$. 😉 Sounds to me as though this is a very long term plan, spending not just months but perhaps years in any given country or area. If I could afford it I'd buy a rig in Australia and travel the country, ship it to to New Zealand, but eventually sell it when I moved on. Buy one in Europe and use it there then dispose of it and move on to Asia, and so on. Adapters or not I believe you will still run into gas and electrical standards issues if you expect to take a N American built RV all over the world. JMO, but good luck! 🙂

[HadEnough]

donn0128 wrote:
450/4500 or 550/5500 and a Host Mamoth camper. Host offers some really unique floor plans. Definitely not cheap, but if a camper is what you want.........

Yes. Been looking at these a lot. They seem to be the gold standard.

I could trade all my items in and get one. I just worry about depreciation.

That's what gets me with RVs. They depreciate so quickly compared to boats. They look dated in 10 years and people don't want them.

Does that concern anyone too or is it just me?