Howefamily

Just trying to get a feel of how many travel 2 days or more drive away with a camper trailer to have a vacation. I see tons of camper trailers and motorhomes on the highways but I am wondering how far they are actually going with them.
Does anyone here vacation in this way?
I rather like the idea of driving with one and setting up for a couple of days at a time in different spots but wondering how nice that actually is.....

BristolUK

Watch out for Satanists

Howefamily

Oh I so remember that movie! The end with them all on the road being surrounded.....

BristolUK

Judging by IMDB, Peter Fonda is still going well strong.

scilly

do you mean a tent trailer or an actual camper??

My daughter has just bought a tent trailer after her OH developed back problems that meant he could no longer get up from sleeping on the floor in a tent.

They are currently going away most weekend for 1 to 3 nights, within a couple of hours from where they live.

The tent trailer thay have is equipped with heater, and "all mod cons" except a loo ....... so they have to hook up to services at the camp site.

They're loving it ......... pack a bag with clothes, a box and cooler with food, hook up the trailer. Get to the site, unhook, raise the tent part, beds are there, put food in the fridge, and they are set within 30 minutes

They recently spent 3 nights over near Annapolis Royale, and loved it!

It's like tent camping, but much easier to set up!


If you mean the camper (caravan in English terms) or motor home ...... I have no idea. We used to camp a lot, and always met people who actually lived in their motor homes. I'm not sure what the current rule in the US is, but it used to be that you could only sell one house without getting hit by capital gains tax. So people would retire, sell their house, buy a motor home, and just move north to Alaska in the summer and south to Mexico in the winter. They would visit children in the US, rent an apartment fr a month, and then off again.

These things have everything you would want in a home, from 40" or 60" TVs, showers, toilets, on down to tables and chairs.. They also cost anything from $120,000 up to $500,000

Siouxie

My sister (and most of her kids) have them - they drive all over Ontario for weekends/weeks away... they are seasoned campers, lol, having started quite literally in the cradle.

I also have a friend who has a campervan/trailer who goes 'up north' for a couple of weeks at a time, plus various other trips away.

They travel between 3 and 6 hours to the first campsite, normally, then move on from there to the next.

My sister tells me that a camping trailer can be quite a pain to set up / take down, particularly if it's raining - she's moved up to a 5th wheel / touring trailer now.

Almost Canadian

We look at getting one of these when we first came over.

We were looking to get a lightweight travel trailer that could be pulled by something like a Suburban.

They cost a fair amount. IRRC the one we were looking at was $30,000 ish. They need a large vehicle to pull them, which means spending lots on petrol. Then there are campsite fees which, around here, are fairly expensive.

We decided that the costs involved would pay for some very nice hotels for a long time so we ditched the idea.

It seems that, as with most things in life, their is the issue of keeping up with the Joneses. First buy tent trailer, then but travel trailer, then buy fifth wheel, they buy bigger fifth wheel, then buy an RV

Lots of our friends have them and swear by them. Some go to the same site, week in/week out, some go all over Canada and the US. Each to their own.

Siouxie

They don't have to cost an arm and a leg, you can buy them quite reasonably 2nd hand.

Buy or Sell Campers & Travel Trailers in Nova Scotia | Used Cars & Vehicles | Kijiji Classifieds
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The only reason my sister has bought a travel trailer is that she is 73 and couldn't manage to put up the tent trailer on her own in the rain any longer!



Edited to add, my sister has a tourer model and tows it with a jeep.

caretaker

Nearly 50 years ago when dad rented the tent trailer from a co-worker it worked well; he planned our itinerary a bit so we wouldn't be travel-weary and he wouldn't have to drive too far at once. 300 - 400 miles per day, leave early and get to the next campground in mid-afternoon, set up and explore, see the sights. Places I just drive past or fuel up at now... He used the auto club guide when we went through the US, and to a degree in Canada. Jasper is freezing even in summer (we weren't from the mountains :-)). It wasn't an automatic one, we had to set it up like a tent with a bit of skill. All good memories, so I say go for it.

Dorothy

When we still lived in Canada my little family had one that we used a lot. We lived in southern Ontario and used to travel all over with it. One of my favourite trips was to PEI, with a stop for a new transmission in Quebec

R I C H

We owned one for several years, and it was mostly used for long weekends away, so drive times were generally under 4 hours.

One issue we found with it was the same as Almost Canadian - serviced campgrounds aren't exactly cheap, particularly if you choose to have electric hook up. The cost of towing was substantial in terms of fuel. BC is a hilly province and gas consumption with a 1/2 tonne truck with a large brick hanging off it's rear end was sobering. In BC, getting a booking at a popular provincial campground can be like winning the lottery - friends of ours would drive to the campground and wait in line for hours at the beginning of the season to secure a site for later in the summer.

We found provincial campgrounds too noisy - great if you've got kids wanting to run off steam with other kids. Not so good if you want some peace and quiet. Camping off-grid and in more secluded spots meant more investment in order to maintain electrically powered creature comforts (generator/solar panels).

It is a bit of a time consuming process to hitch up, drive to location unhitch, level, set up etc. If you're in one place for several days you go through the process again to empty grey water and re-fill freshwater which is frankly a pain in the ass - just when you're all comfortable and settled.

It's a pretty substantial investment and maybe a cost effective getaway for a family, but I think less of a cost saving exercise for a couple. We found we got more enjoyment out of boating, and the trailer got used less and less, so was sold. What clouded the experience somewhat was every time we used it, it poured with rain, and I've not got much patience being cooped up in a relatively small space.

If you're going to buy one, find a dealer with a model he's had in stock for a while and buy it out of season with a big discount. Most dealer lots are full of stock purchased at US$ prices, so the timing of exchange rates can make a big difference to what you can haggle off too. Ours cost around $25k (listed at $30k) and we sold it for $22k, so if you buy carefully and look after it the depreciation need not be too bad if it's not a long term keeper.

Piff Poff

We have tried the RV thing, not with a caravan or a trailer tent, but a motor home, around these parts it's really hard to just pack up on a Friday, drive and find a site and camp as everything is booked, some places 2 or even three years in advance. So we gave up. We have a tent if the urge takes us but motels are the way for us.

dbd33

Oh yes, when we used to camp (with a tent), the Provincial Park camp booking website would open sometime early in the year, February maybe, and, on that day, we'd go at it as if booking concert tickets. Everyone in the office would start clicking when it opened and we'd try to book a site for each weekend through the summer. The sites had to be paid for but were refundable if the reservation was cancelled. Each Monday we'd decide if we would go the next weekend and, if not, cancel the reservation.

In the end gaming the system just seemed too much bother compared to booking a motel on the weekends when we did want to go. I'd only bother now for places where camping is essential to the experience; primarily National Parks such as the Grand Canyon.

Tirytory

Our friends from Alberta said they bought one as there had been one to many fatal attacks of grizzlies pulling kids from tents. They moved to Ontario and are thinking of selling it now.. it's probably quite an expensive purchase unless camping is always going to be your main holiday.

magnumpi

We have seen ontario plated RVs and trailers as Far East as PEI and Halifax NS. this week