One of the first things I thought about when we started talking about an RV, was the big ol’ honkin’ motorhomes you see cruising down the road. I’m talking those big, 40+ foot beasts that have the 12 foot tall windshields and captain’s chairs that I’ve always associated with famous bands on tour.
When we first started looking at RV’s, we almost immediately ruled those out because they are generally so expensive and went straight for the 5th-wheelers. And let me tell you what, those things are freaking sweet. However, they are a behemoth that requires a huge beast of a truck to pull. We’re talking something like a Dodge Ram 3500 dually that can handle the 16,000+ pounds of trailer you’re about to be hauling around. While they offer some of the biggest living areas of all of the RVs we’ve seen, we would be looking at well over a $100,000 investment to get the RV and to trade in my truck. While that’s something we could afford, given that we would no longer be paying our current rent and utilities, that’s a pretty tough pill to swallow when you’re just starting out. One of our biggest goals with this new lifestyle is to get out of debt, not saddle ourselves with more. We are also trying not to just transfer our current lives into a smaller living space. We want to get outside and experience the country, not just watch the travel channel while we’re camping at Yosemite.
So the next viable options were toy-haulers and travel trailers. We were able to quickly eliminate the toy-haulers because we aren’t going to be hauling around ATVs or dirt bikes and won’t need the garage space that they offer, so we started looking at the travel trailers. So far, it seems like this is going to be our most viable option as it is right in the sweet spot of affordability, size, comfort, and towability. We’ll still need to trade my truck up to get something that can tow this class, but it will be a much more drivable vehicle. Granted, things will be a little tighter in the living space with the travel trailer as opposed to the 5th wheel. But, that will also force us to really utilize the outside space, which again, is one of our big goals.
We don’t want to get ourselves upside down in a situation where we are way in over our heads. We’re going into this with an open mind, but also the realism that this might not be exactly what we expected. And we want to make sure we have the capabilities to get out of this experience, without being stuck with a bill of over $100,000, if this turns out to be the absolute worst thing in the world. We don’t believe it will be, but hey, we have to be realistic here.
So, as it stands right this second, we’re looking at a Ford Expedition pulling a Keystone Bullet 330BHS travel trailer. But being the good Pisces that we are, our plans are very fluid and this has every possibility of changing before we sign on the dotted line. Especially since it’s changed even since the first draft of this post!
You guys are taking the same approach I did with my RV. I bought what I call “Starter RV” to see if it made sense – could I drive this thing? Could I deal with the never ending list of maintenance items? What about the water/sewer part? I bought a smaller used RV from a friend (who I could ask a bunch of questions as I got started) when he upgraded. Cheap enough that I could get out of it if I wanted. Of course, now, I’m already looking at upgrading!
You’ll love the RV Life!
Thanks for reaching out! We are extremely excited to get going on the road and starting our adventure. We had talked about doing an RV kind of like what you have, but ultimately since we are going to be in it full time with 7 animals and 3 people, we needed a bit more room to accommodate everyone.
We’ve already talked about doing this for awhile and if after a couple of years on the road we truly do love it, we will likely upgrade to a class A and continue on down the road.