Buying A New Travel Trailer...Yikes!

soupking wrote:
Hi everybody,

First off thanks so much for all of your very candid and honest responses.

This is really not my first choice in quality of living. The idea of black water dumping and 6 gal hot water heaters is not exactly exciting. However, we have moved over a dozen times in the past year and spent an obscene amount of money on rent in places we cannot inhabit due to repeated lying apartment managers and toxic trespass from above and/or below. Also the cost of RV park living cannot possibly compare to paying $2k+ a month in bad paper + $100 hotels (~$6k). So we have to try something else.

I have what could be considered an executive salary so that's helped keep us off the street but we really don't see any alternative other than owning. A Park Model would be great but I don't know where I could put one that's in proximity of my job.

In short, instead of throwing away another $12-24k and fighting management on air quality we'd rather sleep in our car and will start camping at the end of this week. So naturally our next move is to find an RV of some kind. I know that sounds rather bizarre but that's our situation and I've been studying as much as humanly possible about towing, maintenance and security to avoid too many pitfalls.

It sounds like weather is a major concern for RV sustainability.

We have mostly been looking at Winnebago and a few other brands. I will look into Arctic Fox as well.

Again, thanks a bunch for all of your feedback. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

So, instead of "throwing away" money in apartments your going to throw away money at a campground PLUS a DEPRECIATING ASSET like a RV of a MIN of $24K (I don't know what you were looking at for $12K but that had to be a popup)..

You do realize that RVs have paper thin walls which makes for hearing all of your camping neighbors day and night (think about the totally drunk bunch of guys partying past 2 AM and you have to get up at 5AM)

Those paper thin walls also make winter camping a very expensive idea.. You will burn through 30 lbs of propane in a few days.. At say $30 per tank every two to three days that will be easily $300 per month just to keep your trailer at a sweltering 50 degrees..

Then there is the frozen water issues in the winter.. trying to thaw out the black tank at 10 below isn't going to be fun at all.

Many campgrounds in northern sates simply close for the winter.. That might make it hard to find a campground close to your work and you may end up commuting very long distance (eating up more of your savings in transportation costs)..

Some campgrounds that do stay open will often turn off the water so you may find yourself hunting for water..

Some campgrounds that stay open also will METER your electric.. That is due to the fact many campers will try to use electric heaters to stay warm.

I personally doubt you are going to save much if any by the time the dust settles and most likely will spend more and have less.

My neighbor years ago spent a winter in a small travel trailer while their log home was being built.. They were so very happy that their home was completed enough that they could avoid spending another winter in the travel trailer. They told me that had they were ever to build again they would RENT an apartment.