RV or Motel?

My sis and bro in law have one of those giant rv’s. The money they’ve put into it, the cost to fill it up with gas (or diesel),the insurance, etc etc etc. they love it, spend 6months a year living in it. my husband and I would kill each other in it much less my husband driving it (he’s a terrible driver on a good day). Each to their own.
 

This joke is not really a joke.

I like it.

Some relatives give us joy when they visit while others give us joy when they leave.
 
If you are staying in a hotel or motel any length of time, you have to eat most of your meals in restaurants. According to where you are it could get to be quite expensive. Personally I'm not a "motel" kind of girl.We stay at studio or one bedroom suites with kitchenettes cheaper than even the motels due to our timeshare affiliations. I think traveling via RV would be so cool. but of course there's maintenance to consider. There are SO many choices out there as far as RVs are concerned...price, styles, sizes etc. Several years ago I discovered a website by a couple Howard and Linda, who sold their home and RV full time. Their site has so much helpful information such as "Is it for you", annual budgets (including their own), how to find work on the road, great campsites, etc. They have journaled and have photos of their travels. Even if you don't intend to do it full time, you might find some helpful info. Here is their site http://www.rv-dreams.com/
 

My ex and I bought a custom-built RV on a Divco truck base, a very nice deluxe build. We went out several times, but I didn't enjoy myself. He expected to play in the great outdoors or sit and relax while I did everything I did at home. That included cleaning (the carpeting in that thing was a nightmare when we went to beaches), cooking the kinds of meals he demanded (no sandwiches for his majesty), making beds and schlepping laundry to some pretty nasty laundry facilities, grocery shopping. You get the idea, I'm sure. I finally refused to go out in it again.

I love to tent camp and always enjoyed backpacking so it wasn't about being outdoors. It was being outdoors while we pretended we were at home that got to me. Why bother?

Later, after he was long gone, I rented RVs and had a great time in them but I always lived as simply as possible. One of the RVs I rented had a washer/dryer, which was pure luxury. I could easily live in an RV if it had some conveniences. I worked on a census team some years ago and was surprised how many people on my list lived in small RV parks. Some of them had trades that required them to move around to where they were needed and some were part of teams that followed storms and did repairs, that kind of thing. None of them had huge RVs, but they were all big enough to live in and be comfortable, and most of them had been refurbished to suit the owners.

I have those silk sheet cocoons/travel sheets, so I don't mind motel rooms as long as there are good restaurants nearby. I always bring my own pillows and a supply of sanitizer because I don't trust that most surfaces are very clean.

http://www.travelfashiongirl.com/travel-sheets/
 
Lara said:
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Oh, if only that were true...... They always seem to find us and want to camp out on the sleeper couch.
 
I have loved camping and road trips since I was a teenager, and have owned truck campers, trailers, and fifth wheels, but never a motor home. Several years ago I bought a brand new truck camper. When I was showing it off to a friend and he asked what I paid for it, his comment was "I could stay in a lot of motels for what you paid for that thing!". My reply was "probably, but motels don't get me where I want to go, and I can't take my dogs". Motels are okay if you are on a time limited trip and just need an overnight stay with maybe one pet, but for lengthier adventures with a larger pet family nothing beats an RV in my opinion.
 
And by the way OldBiker, my 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 with its Cummins diesel motor is a super dependable workhorse! I love my truck!
 
I'm still on the fence on my decision. Thank you for your response. Is a Travel Trailer a better choice over a 5th wheel or vice versa? I noticed that Truck Campers are smaller and more expensive. I'm leaning on the TT or Fifth Wheel and wifey wants a Motor Home. Class "C" because of the cost of a Class "A". I don't care for the Chevy or GMC. I want a Ram and wifey wants a Ford. I have heard that Rams have a front end problem. Can you tow a CanAm Spider with the Camper on it with that Cummings?
 
OldBiker said:
I'm still on the fence on my decision. Thank you for your response. Is a Travel Trailer a better choice over a 5th wheel or vice versa? I noticed that Truck Campers are smaller and more expensive. I'm leaning on the TT or Fifth Wheel and wifey wants a Motor Home. Class "C" because of the cost of a Class "A". I don't care for the Chevy or GMC. I want a Ram and wifey wants a Ford. I have heard that Rams have a front end problem. Can you tow a CanAm Spider with the Camper on it with that Cummings?
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I would choose a 5th wheel over a regular trailer any day. They are easier to back up and much more stable to tow in my opinion, because the pivot point is over the axle, not behind the truck. I haven't had any problems with the front end on my Dodge, but maybe that's something that shows up with lots more mileage than mine has....it only has 98,000 miles on it. I haven't had the need to tow my Spyder but I used to tow a 1000 pound boat with the camper on the truck, and it did well. Do you have a Spyder?????
 
Thank you for the fifth wheel advantage points. I don't have a Spider but I'm considering on getting one or a Honda Goldwing Trike because of my age. My 800 lbs Victory 2-wheeler got too heavy for me to back up and parking lot riding so I sold it recently and miss the wind on my face. I got hooked on 2-wheelers in 1960 when I got a motor scooter to commute to Base while in the Marine Corps. I saw on your profile that you have a Can-Am and I noticed Can-Am on your t-shirt. Anything motorcycle catches my eye. I think the front end issue is with the newer Ram models. The older ones are made to last. All the newer cars are not made like the older ones that were metal and not plastic.
 
OldBiker said:
Thank you for the fifth wheel advantage points. I don't have a Spider but I'm considering on getting one or a Honda Goldwing Trike because of my age. My 800 lbs Victory 2-wheeler got too heavy for me to back up and parking lot riding so I sold it recently and miss the wind on my face. I got hooked on 2-wheelers in 1960 when I got a motor scooter to commute to Base while in the Marine Corps. I saw on your profile that you have a Can-Am and I noticed Can-Am on your t-shirt. Anything motorcycle catches my eye. I think the front end issue is with the newer Ram models. The older ones are made to last. All the newer cars are not made like the older ones that were metal and not plastic.
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I'd love to have a Goldwing Trike. Talk about comfort and stability......
 
OldBiker said:
I'm still on the fence on my decision. Thank you for your response. Is a Travel Trailer a better choice over a 5th wheel or vice versa? I noticed that Truck Campers are smaller and more expensive. I'm leaning on the TT or Fifth Wheel and wifey wants a Motor Home. Class "C" because of the cost of a Class "A". I don't care for the Chevy or GMC. I want a Ram and wifey wants a Ford. I have heard that Rams have a front end problem. Can you tow a CanAm Spider with the Camper on it with that Cummings?
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I don't know the towing capacities for Dodge diesel trucks, but here's a page with some numbers. https://www.ramtrucks.com/en/towing_guide/
 
jujube said:
I'd love to have a Goldwing Trike. Talk about comfort and stability......
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I used to have a Goldwing when I was younger. Always rode with wifey and our dog. The dog got more excited when he knew he was going on the bike than when he went along in the car. He was a Biker.
 
I have seen a number of people that chose a motorhome because they "didn't want to tow" and they subsequently wound up towing a car or dealing with taking the whole rig just to go to the store.

If it has a motor, it is a motorhome. If it trails behind, it is a trailer. They are all recreational vehicles.

An axiom: the bigger the rig the less time the owners spend outside. They could stay home if all they want to do is to watch TV.
 
OldBiker said:
I used to have a Goldwing when I was younger. Always rode with wifey and our dog. The dog got more excited when he knew he was going on the bike than when he went along in the car. He was a Biker.
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I just have to laugh when I see dogs on motorcycles or in sidecars. They always look like they are having the best time. Biketoberfest is going on in Daytona and there are dogs galore. There was a big ol' mutt sitting in a sidecar wearing a muffler and goggles and he was "grinning" at everybody who came by. He obviously thought he was hot stuff!
 
Manatee said:
I have seen a number of people that chose a motorhome because they "didn't want to tow" and they subsequently wound up towing a car or dealing with taking the whole rig just to go to the store.

If it has a motor, it is a motorhome. If it trails behind, it is a trailer. They are all recreational vehicles.

An axiom: the bigger the rig the less time the owners spend outside. They could stay home if all they want to do is to watch TV.
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Yes, we do spend a lot of time indoors because the temperature is either too hot or too cold. A high humidity day is no fun either.
 
Manatee said:
I have seen a number of people that chose a motorhome because they "didn't want to tow" and they subsequently wound up towing a car or dealing with taking the whole rig just to go to the store.

If it has a motor, it is a motorhome. If it trails behind, it is a trailer. They are all recreational vehicles.

An axiom: the bigger the rig the less time the owners spend outside. They could stay home if all they want to do is to watch TV.
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It is true that the more comfortable your rig is inside, the more likely you'll spend more time in there than people who are tenting or camping in a small trailer. But, I feel like I've paid my dues with the years and years of sleeping on a leaky air mattress in a leaky tent and now I'm enjoying some comfort, air conditioning and some wide-screen TV watching when I get home from a long day of sightseeing, climbing, swimming, and rock scrambling. The older I get, the less I enjoy sitting by a smoky fire swatting skeeters.
 
My wife and I have towed a travel trailer over 70,000 miles and have visited every state in the union with it except for Alaska and Hawaii. Our first trailer was a 26' towed by a half-ton GMC; our current rig is a 31' trailer being towed by a Ford F250 (three-quarter ton). We are RV park people and have never stayed outside a park. RV'ing is all about choices. We've paid $10 a night and $70 a night. Visiting cities is an expensive pain but visiting national parks is a joy. We got started because we wanted to see the US and we had a dog we wanted to take along.

Towing a rig is easy enough to learn and there has been some good advice on this thread. One thing has kept us out of motorhomes in general and that is the engine. I use my pickup every week to do something, a motorhome might sit for weeks or even months without use. That can't be good for the engine & transmission. Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
don89048 said:
My wife and I have towed a travel trailer over 70,000 miles and have visited every state in the union with it except for Alaska and Hawaii. Our first trailer was a 26' towed by a half-ton GMC; our current rig is a 31' trailer being towed by a Ford F250 (three-quarter ton). We are RV park people and have never stayed outside a park. RV'ing is all about choices. We've paid $10 a night and $70 a night. Visiting cities is an expensive pain but visiting national parks is a joy. We got started because we wanted to see the US and we had a dog we wanted to take along.

Towing a rig is easy enough to learn and there has been some good advice on this thread. One thing has kept us out of motorhomes in general and that is the engine. I use my pickup every week to do something, a motorhome might sit for weeks or even months without use. That can't be good for the engine & transmission. Good luck with whatever you decide.
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Thanks and point well taken. I agree about the engine not being cranked up regularly nor tires moved.
 
I know several people who own, or have owned, big RV's or large campers. Most of them share one thing in common....the vehicle sits in the driveway 90% of the time...and gets used only a few days/weeks a year. When you factor in the initial cost, plus the awful fuel mileage, etc., you can stay in a lot of nice hotels/motels, for less. It would make sense to buy one if a person decided to tour the country for an extended period of time, then sell it when they have seen everything they wanted.
 
Don M. said:
I know several people who own, or have owned, big RV's or large campers. Most of them share one thing in common....the vehicle sits in the driveway 90% of the time...and gets used only a few days/weeks a year. When you factor in the initial cost, plus the awful fuel mileage, etc., you can stay in a lot of nice hotels/motels, for less. It would make sense to buy one if a person decided to tour the country for an extended period of time, then sell it when they have seen everything they wanted.
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Thanks for your comment.

That's how my wife feels and she's not thrilled about the sewer system.
 
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