Any RV Owners?

My wife and I recently went on a cruise, had to drive a few hundred miles to the departure port. We saw a lot of large RV's on the road and that raised a question in my mind: why do people buy these things?

It seems to me that if you have the money to own and operate an RV you also have the money to instead buy a really nice comfortable car to drive on long trips and can afford to stay in nice hotel rooms at night. You would then also not have to contend with maneuvering one of those huge RV's in and out of gas stations, rest stops etc. And it's not as if you can actually stop and sleep overnight anywhere you want in an RV, you still have to find and pay for an RV park and hookup to sewer, power etc.

Am I missing something, what is the advantage?

I don't get it either, for what they get on gas you would think you'd save that on a good car and a cheap hotel... Not my cup of tea

What you say makes sense F4U. I've also had the impression that those RV's require a lot of upkeep.

Just stay away from Motel 6 and Econo Lodge and you'll be ok.

My mother's cousin, Bill, uses a RV, he and his wife have been retired for a number years. He bought and sold cabin cruisers as a side line while he worked for an oil company, then about 10 years ago he sold his last cruiser and made a handsome profit on it. He took that profit and put it into a mobile home/RV which had a garage in the back of it that could hold a smallish motorbike. They toured Europe with it and used it as a base and went on excursions with the motorbike.

Then Annette, his wife had a stroke, with a bit of rehabilitation she regained most of her normal functions and she also gained the desire to learn how to ride the motorbike Bill helped her through the tests and she got herself a 250cc scooter/bike/thing but the RV was now too small so they sold it and got a bigger one that could take his n hers bikes ... and so the touring continued... then that motorhome proved to be on the small side as they had both now bought Harleys. They now have a RV that is smaller than the last one but is better at towing and they put the Harleys in a trailer for their tours. I've not seen them in a couple of years but for a retired couple in their later 70s they still tour and ride all over Europe, they have my admiration.

My younger brother always had a crush on Annette and asked her "If I grow up fast enough will you marry me instead of Bill?" my brother was about 8years old when he asked that

RV's and Trailers have their advantages.

My grandparents had a 30 foot trailer which they towed behind their mid 90's Chevy Caprice Classic V8. Worked very well for them.

We toured all of North America in that thing.

RV's/Trailers are better than motels because you can set up anywhere you want. You don't need to search for a sleazy or dirty motel somewhere along your route. You drive til you find a campground, or you just park in the wilderness and go to sleep any time you like.

Many of them have generators so you can have electricity any time, or if you can find a place to plug in at a campground, that's fine too.

Some of my fondest memories are of camping out with the trailer.

One summer we found a spacious campground near a river and lake. It was really beautiful. My cousin and I cut some branches from a shrub and made little whistles out of them using pocket knives. My cousin made a girlfriend down by the lake. I managed to see a very rare pair of "sister" F1 tornadoes and took some photos of the minor havoc they wreaked on the forest across the river from us.

Another summer we went to a campground and I made a chipmunk friend, he came right up into my shirt pocket and ate peanuts on my shoulder and arm. He stayed with me a whole week before we left.

Sitting under the folding awning while a gentle thunderstorm passed by was a beautiful thing. The drops of water make a very relaxing sound on the awning and you stay perfectly dry unless the wind is blowing hard - we'd just fold up the awning if it got too rainy and shove the coolers and chairs under the trailer until the worst passed.

You can't put a price on that kind of memory. I do recommend a trailer over an RV. I think an Airstream (The old silver ones) is a fantastic choice.

I think that a full length trailer is better than the kind that hooks into the bed of a pickup truck. The space above the hitch is very narrow and basically becomes useless for anything other than sleeping or storage. With a full length trailer there is usually a fold out sofa in that space.

We had one of these at 30 feet.


Hotels have nothing on that kind of experience.

Is that true in 2017?

How many places in the US can you just pull over and set up your camper whenever/wherever you please? I know this was true ~50 years ago, but I don't think it is now.

That is one of my biggest issues with RV's, if you truly could find a place to park and set up your RV with ease in the US that would be a big plus. I just think that in 2017 finding a good camping place is just as hard, and close to as expensive, as finding a good hotel.

That's when you go find the nearby Walmart and park there overnight.



The majority of RV parking spots are reserved ahead of time like modern camping grounds these days to cut down on the population.

I was introduced to caravanning while still in nappies my mother and father used to tour all over the UK in the caravan, while our caravans are not as large as the ones you find in the US ours was quite big for touring in the UK, it was a Thomson Glen Eagle at 16'6" x 7'6" tho the first one I remember was an Eccles as in this picture:

At Queen Victoria's view point on the Struie road just south of Bonar Bridge and Ardguy over looking the Dornoch Firth in 1962 or so.


With us growing and mum expecting a 3rd child dad decided to get a bigger caravan the GlenEagle by Thomson

This an advert from a few years after as we got ours in 1964


Alas mum lost what would have been another younger brother

We travelled far in the little caravan, from Whitley Bay in the south to John o' Groats in the north, but back then roads were mainly single track with passing places once you were away from the central belt.


A typical wash day on holiday:


Interior of the front end of the caravan & feeding time at the zoo... Left to right Dad, Derek my little brother, myself and mum, pic taken by my dad's brother Jim in 1964.




Later dad would tow the caravan and mum would tow our boat with her car when we went on holiday

Edit: we finally sold that caravan in 1992 and the following year mum said "I regret selling it would love to go off on holiday in it again.."

As God is my witness, I thought when reading the title it was going to be about the pre-cut, pre-punched assembly aircraft from Rans:

I thought of that after I posted

FYI recently the Ten Thousandth Van's RV made its first flight!!

The van sized class B motorhomes are a lot more practical for day-to-day use, however they're not really meant for living in long term.

I think two weeks at a stretch would be about my recreational limit in a class B.

Its the call of the open road.
Have always dreamt of traveling across europe and even the states in one.
But there very expensive unless your prepared to buy a old second hand one with high milage
Don't know about the USA or even mainland europe but in Ireland and the UK there's a lot of restrictions where you can park up for the night
All the major tourist attractions in the UK/ Eire have pretty hefty fines if your caught.
So your limited to camper/caravan parks that will cost you nearly as much as a cheap hotel room then there's the cost of storage insurance road tax.
Unless you are retired with a lot of time on your hands and will get to enjoy the vehicle i really dont think its worth it.
Towing a caravan is the better and cheaper option for someone in my circumstance.

I wonder what life would be like living out of an airstream trailer or smaller RV ......staying a few months at this RV park then moving on to the next. Not having to pay taxes on a home or having to spend money on the many ways that people spend to "improve" or repair their homes.

Living in a home all your life with your own yard and privacy and then trying to live out of a trailer or RV is different ballgame regardless of the nice and interesting places you'll see along the way.

What would such an existence cost on a yearly basis when compared to living in a house with property and school taxes to pay ?

Follow this young couple do just what your talking about, I watch them all the time.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2IENUorXc6kRtIiAGPRKZA

Have any of you guys ever looked to house boat caravan swapping.
Watched a program about it.
A retired german couple Swapped their home and car for a couple of months with a retired english couple.
And both said it was a very inexpensive way to see the world. still have your home comforts and actually get enjoy the city you're visiting having the time to really explore same.
I would have concerns myself but i suppose some type of checks would have to be made and you could always store any valuables.
Seemingly its getting more and more popular.

thanks JimK that look's interesting

I've considered it, it'd be great as long as you had a suitable place to park and plug it in when needed.

There are lots of people in my city who live in RVs, many of them make deals with homeowners where they pay a modest monthly fee so that they can park on or in front of their property hooked up to an extension cord.

Living "off grid" year round round in an RV would suck unless you either weren't worried about money and could run a generator all the time. Some of the poorer off grid RVers appear to use wood burning stovesinside their vehicles, but that would be problematic in a lot of ways.

I bought an older 26 foot RV motor coach last year, use it to take the kids camping. And it's kind of a "kids clubhouse" in the summer when parked.

Mine's so old i wouldn't take it on a super long trip but for camping in the state it's pretty fun.

I bought a 1985 23' class C Chevy Jamboree this past summer and took it out a couple of times to camp in a state park near me. It's a perfect size for just the wife and me, and it's a great little get away for a weekend while we're both very busy and can't really do exotic vacations every year. It's nice to have a change of scenery and wake up to nature...and it's just a nice change of pace. The state park I went to twice only charges $15 a night for a site with an electric hook up. I also have a few friends who have RVs or travel trailers and we meet up at the park so we can enjoy beers around the fire in the evening. Like Clyde, I probably won't drive mine anywhere over around 100 miles or so, but I probably could.

As far as the open road, there are many places you can pull over for a night while traveling. A lot of Walmart super centers allow it in the far back parking lots, Cracker Barrel restaurants, Cabella's, Camping World stores, Flying J truck stops, some casinos, some rest areas on highways, etc. There are also a ton of public lands that allow for free or cheap "Boondocking" which means self contained with no hook ups. A quick google for "free Camping" will show a ton of free places to stop.

Another idea (when retired) is to you use your RV or camper to live in while your working part time inside of a state or national park on a seasonal basis

Another alternative, for those of us who live on the coasts, is to live on a yacht, either a sailboat or a powerboat.

The major downside is the amount of upkeep required even compared to a motorhome, especially if you're dealimg with salt water.

Still, there's a lot to be said for living on the water.