Hi; I'm Dave. I'm a (near) 62 year old single guy whose spent almost 40 years in the high end software development world. It turns out that I have a chance to retire in a bit less than six months; at the end of October. I'm really thinking about a transition to full time RV living. Right now I'm in a research stage. I'm probably not going to be able to take any trips before the end of October. So it would be a full "jump" at the end of October (or whenever my house sells).
I've had a dream for years of not staying in one place; just moving around, slowly. Spend a week or two in one place; then move on. I've been getting more and more comfortable with the idea of full time RV living.
As a data has gotten more real, I've started doing some research.
I was looking first at "smaller" motorhomes; 30 foot or less Class C's; or maybe the "similar" sized small Class A's. My impression though is that weight management is much more difficult with those units. My "intuition" tells me that even for a single person, you'd want a real CCC of at least 3000 pounds. 4000 pounds would be better.
Recently I've been thinking more about fifth wheels. Assuming you don't get ridiculous with carrying "junk" with you, carrying capacity should be fine. There'd be a learning curve to driving a fifth wheel, including backing up. By traveling single, I might not have a "spotter".
What feels "right" to me at the moment are models like the Keystone Montana 3160RL & the Heartland Bighorn 3270RS. Fifth wheels that are at least advertised for the full time community with at least some level of winterization. Both are roughly a 16000 pound max weight. Both (looking at real selling prices) might be had new for the low 60K's or under. (Within budget). A tow vehicle in the range F-350DRW/3500HD DRW might be suitable and have "enough" margin. (And within budget).
I have gone though these models at a local dealer. Both seem reasonable (even luxurious). A 35 foot length seems doable. Thinking about shorter lengths, I don't think I could go "short enough" to make a real difference in finding usable camping sites. I think I'm comfortable about a 350/3500 tow vehicle and a 35 foot fifth wheel.
I'm starting to get a bit impatient for the end of October now; trying to decide when to take the final steps (clearing out the house for sale).
Thanks for listening, and hope to meet some people in the future.
Dave
TRAILERKING said
11:54 PM May 15, 2017
Welcome aboard Dave
LarryW21 said
09:35 AM May 16, 2017
Hi, Dave. Have you done any RVing? Jumping in fulltime from none would be a...great leap of faith IMO. Next have you a favorite style of camping? I like federal, state and county grounds (see my signature lines) most without hookups. These will have length limits in many cases with California state parks leading the "shorty only" list. Three things to think about I guess...do you want to jump into fulltime W/O a tryout period, where will you be camping most of the time, and how big to buy based on the answers to the first two.
mycroft8 said
08:04 PM May 16, 2017
Thanks for the replies.
Growing up; at one point our family had a truck bed mounted camper (and fitted 2 adults and 5 kids into it; my Dad built some bunk beds). That had to be sold for a move. After that for some vacations we rented a Class C once; and a pop-up tent trailer a few times.
As an adult, it's been more "luxury" car camping (a tent you can walk into; sleep on a very good cot, etc.).
I'm at the point now where I need a challenge; need to do something that I haven't been doing for decades.
I still have obligations until the end of October. After that, I have nothing tying me to Oregon other than a house that I don't want to spend the rest of my life in.
So I'm getting mentally ready to do something else. I may find somewhere else that I want to stay. I may want to just wander until I'm too old to continue. Workamping occasionally sounds interesting.
Dave
Rob_Fla said
10:49 PM May 16, 2017
Dave,
Welcome to the forum and the fulltime lifestyle.
I will be 62 this year also and lost my wife of almost 40 years a little over a year ago so I have been traveling alone for a little over a year now.
I travel in a 42 Foot 5th Wheel and have thought about and looked at some smaller Class A Motorhome but after many walkthroughs I am very happy with my current 5th Wheel and have decided to stay with what I currently have.
I looked at a number of brands, floor plans and layouts, I found them to be smaller living spaces, smaller bathrooms and more cramped than my current 5er and just could not bring myself to go smaller and lose the space and openness of my rig.
Robert
RonC said
08:06 AM May 19, 2017
First of all ... welcome! You are going thru the same process that most of us did regarding what type of RV would work best for you. That is not something anyone should try to sway you one way or the other. Each type has strengths and weaknesses and you'll just have to decide which compromises you are willing to make, as they all require some compromise. It's not an emergency decision, so take your time and enjoy the process. Finally, your decision is not forever ... you can change your mind down the road and switch to something else. There are people on this forum who started in 5th wheels and later moved into a class A. There are others who started in a class A and then moved to a 5th wheel. It's hard to find the "perfect" RV, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. If I were you, I'd buy what "feels" right to you and then go have some fun. Best of Luck.
-- Edited by RonC on Friday 19th of May 2017 08:08:24 AM
Hi; I'm Dave. I'm a (near) 62 year old single guy whose spent almost 40 years in the high end software development world. It turns out that I have a chance to retire in a bit less than six months; at the end of October. I'm really thinking about a transition to full time RV living. Right now I'm in a research stage. I'm probably not going to be able to take any trips before the end of October. So it would be a full "jump" at the end of October (or whenever my house sells).
I've had a dream for years of not staying in one place; just moving around, slowly. Spend a week or two in one place; then move on. I've been getting more and more comfortable with the idea of full time RV living.
As a data has gotten more real, I've started doing some research.
I was looking first at "smaller" motorhomes; 30 foot or less Class C's; or maybe the "similar" sized small Class A's. My impression though is that weight management is much more difficult with those units. My "intuition" tells me that even for a single person, you'd want a real CCC of at least 3000 pounds. 4000 pounds would be better.
Recently I've been thinking more about fifth wheels. Assuming you don't get ridiculous with carrying "junk" with you, carrying capacity should be fine. There'd be a learning curve to driving a fifth wheel, including backing up. By traveling single, I might not have a "spotter".
What feels "right" to me at the moment are models like the Keystone Montana 3160RL & the Heartland Bighorn 3270RS. Fifth wheels that are at least advertised for the full time community with at least some level of winterization. Both are roughly a 16000 pound max weight. Both (looking at real selling prices) might be had new for the low 60K's or under. (Within budget). A tow vehicle in the range F-350DRW/3500HD DRW might be suitable and have "enough" margin. (And within budget).
I have gone though these models at a local dealer. Both seem reasonable (even luxurious). A 35 foot length seems doable. Thinking about shorter lengths, I don't think I could go "short enough" to make a real difference in finding usable camping sites. I think I'm comfortable about a 350/3500 tow vehicle and a 35 foot fifth wheel.
I'm starting to get a bit impatient for the end of October now; trying to decide when to take the final steps (clearing out the house for sale).
Thanks for listening, and hope to meet some people in the future.
Dave
Thanks for the replies.
Growing up; at one point our family had a truck bed mounted camper (and fitted 2 adults and 5 kids into it; my Dad built some bunk beds). That had to be sold for a move. After that for some vacations we rented a Class C once; and a pop-up tent trailer a few times.
As an adult, it's been more "luxury" car camping (a tent you can walk into; sleep on a very good cot, etc.).
I'm at the point now where I need a challenge; need to do something that I haven't been doing for decades.
I still have obligations until the end of October. After that, I have nothing tying me to Oregon other than a house that I don't want to spend the rest of my life in.
So I'm getting mentally ready to do something else. I may find somewhere else that I want to stay. I may want to just wander until I'm too old to continue. Workamping occasionally sounds interesting.
Dave
Welcome to the forum and the fulltime lifestyle.
I will be 62 this year also and lost my wife of almost 40 years a little over a year ago so I have been traveling alone for a little over a year now.
I travel in a 42 Foot 5th Wheel and have thought about and looked at some smaller Class A Motorhome but after many walkthroughs I am very happy with my current 5th Wheel and have decided to stay with what I currently have.
I looked at a number of brands, floor plans and layouts, I found them to be smaller living spaces, smaller bathrooms and more cramped than my current 5er and just could not bring myself to go smaller and lose the space and openness of my rig.
Robert
First of all ... welcome! You are going thru the same process that most of us did regarding what type of RV would work best for you. That is not something anyone should try to sway you one way or the other. Each type has strengths and weaknesses and you'll just have to decide which compromises you are willing to make, as they all require some compromise. It's not an emergency decision, so take your time and enjoy the process. Finally, your decision is not forever ... you can change your mind down the road and switch to something else. There are people on this forum who started in 5th wheels and later moved into a class A. There are others who started in a class A and then moved to a 5th wheel. It's hard to find the "perfect" RV, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. If I were you, I'd buy what "feels" right to you and then go have some fun. Best of Luck.
-- Edited by RonC on Friday 19th of May 2017 08:08:24 AM