Motorhome vs travel trailer for cross country with pets??

[Tortiemctortiep]

Hello!
I have been trying to research the pros and cons of each and am finding myself getting more confused!

I am planning on relocating from VA to WA next summer, and also taking the summer to explore along the way (I work in schools so have my summers free). I will be moving with my pets (two medium dogs, a cat, 4 small birds, a bunny, a tortoise, and a snake).

Safety is my biggest concern, both for my pets (needing to have climate controlled places for them to be) and myself (as a woman traveling alone), but I don’t know which option would be the safest option...

A motorhome would be climate controlled, but I can probably only afford an older one (I have seen some mid-1990s to early 2000s listed that could possibly be in my price range), and I worry about how reliable they would be going over mountain passes, and if they did break down the ease of getting them repaired (finding parts, etc.). Also if it broke down and I had no ac, how to keep the pets cool in the meantime... unless I kept my current vehicle (Nissan Rogue) to tow behind and loaded them in there.

I have read that a travel trailer could possibly be rigged up with a generator in the bed of the towing truck to be climate controlled while driving, but I would have to buy a truck capable of towing a travel trailer. With a crew cab at least some of the pets could ride with me in the tow vehicle and be transferred to the trailer at night. A newer truck would be a big stretch on my finances, but might possibly be more reliable and easier to have fixed if broken down? I was initially considering an SUV with a travel trailer, but I have been told that the transmission wouldn’t be able to handle that much towing and that a full size truck would be best.

I would appreciate any and all suggestions from experienced travelers!!

[riltri]

Don't purchase anything. RENT >>>

Crusie America

Much better financially in the long run!

[JAC1982]

Gdetrailer wrote:

Tortiemctortiepants wrote:

Pet situation... I know that the practical and probably much more sensible option would be to rehome at least some of the pets, but they are my family and my responsibility and I just have a hard time with that. The bunny may be able to go back to his original home, as I’m just looking after him as a favor. Otherwise, though, I’m pretty committed. I moved from WA to VA with 2 dogs, 4 birds, and a snake in a Subaru Outback Sport 😄 One of the dogs, 2 of the birds, and the snake are still with me. The others have passed away of old age in the meantime. The birds are actually awesome travelers... they just hang out in their travel cage and enjoy listening to music with the windows rolled down and the wind blowing through their feathers... 🙂

Animals are animals, not friends or family, they are a "hobby" sort of like RVing, they are a commitment that takes considerable time and effort for you to maintain. They don't take care of you, they don't fix your meals, they don't take you to the movies, to the mall, to dinner out.

Re-homing will allow you more time and energy to make your trip, get settled into your new place and get the lay of the land.

You will be surprised at just how much work and stress can be involved with driving and setting up a RV even without all the extra animals.

I am not against animals, just a bit more practical.. Grew up with Sisters that got fish, then got ponies, then that turned into horses, rabbits, chickens, cats, dogs, mice and much, much more.. They can't go anywhere without having to find folks willing to take on those chores or dragging a few around with them.

Make your trip easy and more memorable with less luggage to take with you.

One could argue the same thing about human children. But nobody tells someone to get rid of those when they are trying to decide which tow vehicle to buy.

[mowermech]

Some more things to consider:
When we were full-timing, we found several RV parks that would only allow two pets. We had two cats and a dog. Even though the cats stayed in the trailer all the time, there were occasions we were not allowed entry into an RV park. Of course, being as we were on wheels, it was not an insurmountable problem, we just went on down the road.
There are also RV parks that have age limits on the RVs they will allow on the premises. Ten years of age is an oft quoted number. Any unit older is not allowed. We never encountered one of them, but apparently they exist.
We even found an RV park near Everett, WA that did not want patrons to have weapons in their "rolling home". At the time, I didn't have any with me, but I did not give them any of my money anyway. In all of our travels in MT, ID, WY, CA, WA, OR, and NV that is the only park we found that had such a rule.
As stated, one of the benefits of being on wheels is that if you don't like the rules you can get on down the road.
Oh, and when you get to your destination, please be aware that many rental homes and apartments have pet restrictions.
Good luck.

[okhmbldr]

First, sell the Nissan Rogue, towing capacity is only 1100#.
Use the money and purchase a larger SUV. My wife has a 2014 GMC Acadia, towing capacity is 5100# (Has the tow option). Several SUV's meet similar towing capacities.
Then purchase a small 18-24 ft. travel trailer, weighing about 4000# dry. Smaller the better.
Travel with the (two medium dogs, a cat, 4 small birds, a bunny, a tortoise, and a snake) in the SUV, seats fold down so all should fit. Most of your luggage can be stored in your Travel Trailer.
With this arrangement you don't need to find a way to get your Nissan to Washington. You will have a pretty good Travel Trailer for future adventures without spending a lot of money.
Look for the new tow vehicle first, then find a suitable trailer for towing.
When you find what you want, check back on this forum and these fine folks will let you know if your selections make good sense.
Also, when you check into a campground you don't need to tell the camp host about all the animals, dog and cats are sufficient. I doubt that you will be taking the snake, tortoise and birds for a walk! Good luck on your adventure.

[Mickeyfan0805]

The pet thing is hard. I would take some time to consider some examples of campgrounds in which you'd be interested and then explore their pet policies. Make sure you'd actually be able to do what you want to do.

As for an older RV - that's a tough one. Reliability is about far more than just the chassis. A 25 year old class C could be great, or not - and the mileage is only part of the story. Water damage...appliance issues...water system... all of these things can be problematic. Some would actually need to be addressed right away, others you could limp along with. Frankly, it can often be easier and faster to get the chassis issued addressed on the road than the house issues. You may find a great unit. You may not - and breakdowns for any class C, much less one of that age, are a risk.

One related concern that has not been addressed in this is the question of what you will do if you do break down and need extensive repair. No hotel is going to take in all of those animals. If your house needs to go into the shop for a few days, where do you plan to stay? From this angle, a towable could be beneficial as you'd have the option of staying in the RV while the truck was repaired, leaving you less likely to be caught without a back-up plan.

[valhalla360]

Tortiemctortiepants wrote:

spoon059 wrote:
FYI, a motorhome going down the road won't be "conditioned space". You can run the AC unit in the drivers cabin area, but that AC won't be cooling down the rest of the motorhome... especially in the summer. You would have to run a generator while you are going down the road and turn on the overhead AC unit to keep it cooler, the same as you would a travel trailer.

I did not know that!! In that case, perhaps everyone traveling in a van might be best...

If you go the van route, make sure it has rear air/con.

There's a joke in my family. One van Dad got only had front air/con. Once he was cool, he would turn it down because he was comfortable. Us kids would shortly complain about being roasted.

If you get a used cargo van, good chance it doesn't have the rear air/con.

[pitch]

Gdetrailer wrote:

Tortiemctortiepants wrote:

Pet situation... I know that the practical and probably much more sensible option would be to rehome at least some of the pets, but they are my family and my responsibility and I just have a hard time with that. The bunny may be able to go back to his original home, as I’m just looking after him as a favor. Otherwise, though, I’m pretty committed. I moved from WA to VA with 2 dogs, 4 birds, and a snake in a Subaru Outback Sport 😄 One of the dogs, 2 of the birds, and the snake are still with me. The others have passed away of old age in the meantime. The birds are actually awesome travelers... they just hang out in their travel cage and enjoy listening to music with the windows rolled down and the wind blowing through their feathers... 🙂

Animals are animals, not friends or family, they are a "hobby" sort of like RVing, they are a commitment that takes considerable time and effort for you to maintain. They don't take care of you, they don't fix your meals, they don't take you to the movies, to the mall, to dinner out.

Re-homing will allow you more time and energy to make your trip, get settled into your new place and get the lay of the land.

You will be surprised at just how much work and stress can be involved with driving and setting up a RV even without all the extra animals.

I am not against animals, just a bit more practical.. Grew up with Sisters that got fish, then got ponies, then that turned into horses, rabbits, chickens, cats, dogs, mice and much, much more.. They can't go anywhere without having to find folks willing to take on those chores or dragging a few around with them.

Make your trip easy and more memorable with less luggage to take with you.

Well you are something,and practical is not the word I am thinking.
Obviously you have never had pets. or if you did, you did not deserve them.
When a person brings an animal into their home, they become responsible for that life forever.
Animals are not inanimate objects to be bandied about like dirty linen.
While maybe not practical,(the definition having a non food animal), a home with pets is a much friendlier trustworthy place.
I also agree with the van and trailer. Used Sprintes are quite reasonable.

[Gdetrailer]

Tortiemctortiepants wrote:

Pet situation... I know that the practical and probably much more sensible option would be to rehome at least some of the pets, but they are my family and my responsibility and I just have a hard time with that. The bunny may be able to go back to his original home, as I’m just looking after him as a favor. Otherwise, though, I’m pretty committed. I moved from WA to VA with 2 dogs, 4 birds, and a snake in a Subaru Outback Sport 😄 One of the dogs, 2 of the birds, and the snake are still with me. The others have passed away of old age in the meantime. The birds are actually awesome travelers... they just hang out in their travel cage and enjoy listening to music with the windows rolled down and the wind blowing through their feathers... 🙂

Animals are animals, not friends or family, they are a "hobby" sort of like RVing, they are a commitment that takes considerable time and effort for you to maintain. They don't take care of you, they don't fix your meals, they don't take you to the movies, to the mall, to dinner out.

Re-homing will allow you more time and energy to make your trip, get settled into your new place and get the lay of the land.

You will be surprised at just how much work and stress can be involved with driving and setting up a RV even without all the extra animals.

I am not against animals, just a bit more practical.. Grew up with Sisters that got fish, then got ponies, then that turned into horses, rabbits, chickens, cats, dogs, mice and much, much more.. They can't go anywhere without having to find folks willing to take on those chores or dragging a few around with them.

Make your trip easy and more memorable with less luggage to take with you.

[DrewE]

spoon059 wrote:
FYI, a motorhome going down the road won't be "conditioned space". You can run the AC unit in the drivers cabin area, but that AC won't be cooling down the rest of the motorhome... especially in the summer. You would have to run a generator while you are going down the road and turn on the overhead AC unit to keep it cooler, the same as you would a travel trailer.

This isn't universally true. The dash air conditioning is quite powerful, really--more powerful a ceiling RV air conditioner--so it's more a matter of distributing the cool air through the motorhome. I find opening the rearmost ceiling vent a little (I have vent covers, so they can readily be open while driving) helps to suck the air through and usually does a reasonable job of keeping the temperatures under control. Naturally, it does depend a lot on what the weather conditions are where you're going; a 110 degree day is different from an 80 degree one!

[dedmiston]

I love the image of your birds groovin' along with the windows down and the music cranked. Makes me kind of want to be a fly on the wall, but you don't need another animal.

[Tortiemctortiep]

spoon059 wrote:
FYI, a motorhome going down the road won't be "conditioned space". You can run the AC unit in the drivers cabin area, but that AC won't be cooling down the rest of the motorhome... especially in the summer. You would have to run a generator while you are going down the road and turn on the overhead AC unit to keep it cooler, the same as you would a travel trailer.

I did not know that!! In that case, perhaps everyone traveling in a van might be best...

[Tortiemctortiep]

CFerguson wrote:
I forget the name of the group but there is a female only RV club (or few?) out there. you may want to look into them re the safety aspect.

Cool! I’ll look into that!

[Tortiemctortiep]

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful and super informative responses!! You’ve given me a lot to think on. I will try to answer all the questions that came up...

Frequency of use... I am planning on hopefully traveling regularly during the summers so I would definitely prefer to buy something that I’ll be able to use for years to come. I am originally from WA, but I have been living in VA for about 9 years now. Since I have family and friends in both states, I’m hoping I’ll be able to visit back and forth with whatever set up I end up with.

Pet situation... I know that the practical and probably much more sensible option would be to rehome at least some of the pets, but they are my family and my responsibility and I just have a hard time with that. The bunny may be able to go back to his original home, as I’m just looking after him as a favor. Otherwise, though, I’m pretty committed. I moved from WA to VA with 2 dogs, 4 birds, and a snake in a Subaru Outback Sport 😄 One of the dogs, 2 of the birds, and the snake are still with me. The others have passed away of old age in the meantime. The birds are actually awesome travelers... they just hang out in their travel cage and enjoy listening to music with the windows rolled down and the wind blowing through their feathers... 🙂

Vans were not even on my radar as a tow vehicle, so I will definitely be looking into that! And that is good to know that having pets in the travel trailer while moving is definitely not a workable option.

The Rogue not being towable kind of throws a wrench in the class c while bringing along my car idea, unless I decide to just have the motorhome without another vehicle. Although I am attracted to the idea of just driving a motorhome though because that seems less overwhelming to me in comparison to towing.

There is a 96 Minnie Winnie with 50k miles on it for sale near me for $6500, and I’m considering looking at it but I’m just worried about its reliability as an older vehicle... Do the low miles negate its age a bit?

Thanks again!!

[spoon059]

FYI, a motorhome going down the road won't be "conditioned space". You can run the AC unit in the drivers cabin area, but that AC won't be cooling down the rest of the motorhome... especially in the summer. You would have to run a generator while you are going down the road and turn on the overhead AC unit to keep it cooler, the same as you would a travel trailer.

[time2roll]

Mickeyfan0805 wrote:

time2roll wrote:
Rent a MH for the summer. Probably a class C.

I may be mistaken, but it's hard for me to imagine that a rental contract would allow for all of those animals.

Yes and campgrounds have pet restrictions too.

Might be better to get the pets where they need to be settled in. Save the adventure part for later.