sid nv

On Christmas Day out on my food delivery job, I not unexpectedly received an order from a regular customer who lives in an RV Park. I will call him "K.S." to preserve his anonymity. I think I mentioned Kaleb Silverman earlier in some obscure Canadian thread; the front of his van is full of discarded takeaway food containers. K.S. appears to be deliberately eating himself to death, and I feel complicit in this endeavour - as usual, he ordered two full meals for himself (unless he has someone secreted in the back of the van, unlikely I think). So it got me pondering on life in an RV Park in general, and also what this individual's story is.
I don't quite know what to do with my remaining years. I have failed to get a regular job. The idea of RV'ing all over the US gets the travel juices flowing again. But will I end up like K.S.?
Anyone else headed into the RV Sunset?

civilservant

It is my wifes and I's plan when we retire to spend $100k on an RB and travel North America as much as possible.

I think she'll still want to cook as much as she can though

chawkins99

We moved into our RV in June when we sold our house in anticipation of getting laid off (which happened in October).

It was only intended to be short term but I'm actually enjoying it. It's cheap living. We're currently paying $750/month including all utilities.

I got another job on, basically, the same pay and conditions but 100 miles from where we were. Just pack up and move. Simple.

I have another 10 years to retirement, but if we continue this way, I could probably save $200,000+. Then we will go touring the US and when we're done with that, buy a house (who knows where) and enjoy life.

Steerpike

How appropriate for 'the trailer park'

I love driving the long open roads of the US, and there are hundreds of places I'd love to see (mostly National Parks), but something about RVing doesn't quite sit right so I think I'll be constrained to traveling by car and staying in motels. One practicality that I've learned is that you really do need to tow a car along, because once you get to your destination and 'settle in', you don't want to have to pack up the RV just to pop to the local grocery store for supplies; or if you decide to pop out to a local eatery for dinner. Also, I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be just stopping for the night in some roadside spot. But I guess if I got some practice with the concept, I'd feel better about it.

What are the financial realities of the lifestyle - how much to spend a night at a decent place with 'hookups'? Can one always get a 'spot' near popular destinations such as the Grand Canyon or Zion National Park?

The $750/mo - that's presumably a payment to the 'RV park' owner, and includes the space and all the hookups. Would a similar rate apply for 'one night stands' in popular spots near National Parks?

Does the RV itself need a lot of maintenance, or is it just like any vehicle? I guess in your case, currently, you aren't using it to travel extensively; the numbers would change when you start traveling every few days perhaps. In order to have an RV comfortable enough to live in permanently, is $100,000 enough?

ddsrph

Steerpike

With such a large vehicle (whether 5th wheel or not), I would live in fear of getting 'stuck' somewhere, unable to go forward, or turn around, or reverse. I'm sure that with practice one would learn how to deal with such situations, but currently I have no experience.

Rete

We were considering a fifth wheel. You can set it up and detach and tool about in your truck. We also like the hard shell popups. However, we never thought to make it a permanent lifestyle and now is not even a possibility has husband is losing the ability to drive due to age.

Rete

Sounds like you are thinking of taking the RV off-road. That is not what they are made for. Commercial RV sites and even the national park sites are setup to make the parking and removal of your trailer easy.

You can always rent one for a week and try it out for fun.

Steerpike

Off-Road - not at all! I'm just worried about things like driving into a cul-de-sac with no obvious turn-around, or a mini-strip mall without enough space to maneuver, etc. I'm sure I'd get the hang of it, but I really don't like inconveniencing other drivers and I can imagine getting stuck and blocking a ton of drivers!

For 20+ years, I lived on a steep, private road with hairpin turns and with no turn-around at the end. if I left my car on my driveway, that eliminated all possibility of any turnaround for any visiting vehicle and I watched many inexperienced drivers try to reverse back down the steep, curvy road. It was just about do-able for cars, impossible for anything bigger.

sid nv

I had to look up fifth-wheel trailer, and am now immersed in RV vehicle choice: class A, class B, class C, towables, travel trailers, pop-ups, it's a whole new world.
I have some previous form for living in vans. I had a Bedford Dormobile one time - the type with gearstick mounted on the steering column - complete with surfboard, spent six months trying and failing to stay upright atop the swell. Then another time picked up a left-hand drive VW van from the NL, fitted it out with bed, kitchen etc, and then spent some time on the beach at Agadir eating oranges and watching the sun set.
K.S. has a Roadtrek. Nice choice, but not cheap.

ddsrph

Bob

One of the missus uncles is doing this. When his wife passed away last year, he sold up the house and everything. They already had a RV for summer camping, so he just went on the road. Set up a mail forwarding service that sends mail to post office in whatever town he is staying in. All registered in Florida, I think, so it's cheap to tax/insure and all that.

In the end, he ended up staying a few weeks to a couple of months at national parks and volunteers as a ranger so that he gets the RV parking for free and even gets a stipend. He was a Maine woodsman though, so he does know the outdoors.

Steerpike

Are you talking about Airstream? eg -
https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailers/flying-cloud/

ddsrph

Steerpike

Ahhh - this one! Yes, seen these! Rather a far cry from the typical 'RV' experience.
https://www.curbed.com/2018/4/16/172...-for-sale-bean