Getting Started

[Chris K]

I currently live in Northern CA (Shasta County) and am looking to move to another state for reasons to numerous to list.
I’m single and about 95% retired at 56 y/o and have enough money to not worry about having to work on the road.
I’d really like to get an RV for touring the Western U.S.in search of a new home.
And while I’m not looking to move in to an RV full time, I’m looking for a suitable RV to live and travel in for a two to three month period, maybe a couple of these periods.
I debated the RV/towed camp trailer issue and decided that a towed camp trailer would be best for my purposes.
I say this because I’m going to need to be easily mobile to check out the different places and surrounding areas once I get there.
I will also be bringing along a dual-sport motorcycle (KTM 500) which I can easily put in the back of the truck while traveling from place to place, unlike what I might have to do with a motorhome
Oh yeah, I’ll also be bringing along my 15lb. Schipperke dog who is convinced beyond doubt that he is a 140lb. Bull Mastiff, so I have to consider all that as well.

I have been looking at trailers in the 25ft.range, which lack some of the amenities of the bigger rigs (like an on-board generator) but seem to be otherwise suited for my purposes.
I don’t think the generator issue will be too important to me since I don’t really plan to do any boonie excursions.
Other than that, this size/class of rig seems to fill my needs.

I’ve been talking to as many RVers as I can lately about their experiences and to listen to their advice.
Many have told me that you want to be careful about the RV parks you stay at because some of them can be wild gypsy camps with lots of drink/drug behaving people and the attendant thievery that supports that sort of thing, and I certainly don’t want to go around any of that.
But I’m sure there are some websites out there(?) that you can go to to get reviews of any places you may plan on staying at ahead of time and get the skinny on that sort of thing, I hope so anyway.

So naturally, any advice you folks could give to this soon-to-be-greenhorn would be greatly appreciated, and I would like to thank Pippi in advance for letting me be part of this forum.

Chris K

[meggers]

I also am looking at getting started, however, I’d like to RV FT. I at first wanted a Tiny House….but can’t find a floor plan that would work for me, and on the way to researching on YouTube came across Pippi’s channel, and now forum

What is the AVERAGE start up costs? I have found used RVs going anywhere from 5000 to 75,000.00 or more. All are WAY beyond what I can afford, or total wrecks. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Helen]

I want to change my lifestyle but worried how to go about it. I’m in my 70’s, one point against me, I think maybe. My health is pretty good, though. I have a house I’m still paying on but it’s just too much for me to keep up. I want to do some traveling instead of staying in one place while I feel I can. I think I want a small motorhome or box van. I need a little more room than a a regular van. I have four dogs I want to take with me, my “kids” are all elderly like me so I doubt I’d be able to find new homes for them. No one has expressed an interest anyway. I’m just not sure how to go about getting started. Do I get rid of stuff first? Or do I look for my motorhome first? Can’t sell the house until I have something to move into….planning to sell it to a flipper if I can get the right price, maintaining a house isn’t easy. I’m nervous about all this but I know I’ve been wanting to do this for quite some time…life just gets complicated and the way forward is hard to see sometimes. Any advice? Any number 1, do this, number 2, do that, etc.? I’m open to almost anything. I know I won’t be able to do a lot of exploring because of the dogs, but that’s ok, we can move around every week or so, and just be at peace for a change. Thank you for reading.

[jeff]

Howdy:
Here is some site that can help and give you information about
Various items as an RV.

1). Y Tube – The RV show usa – https://thervshowusa.com

2). RV travel – https://www.rvtravel.com

3). RV roof install – https://www.rvroofinstall.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuMW5mabB4wIVkIrICh1hSwigEAAYAyAAEgK8QvD_BwE

Hope this helps out

Jeff

[janedale]

Hello, everyone!
Jane and Derek are here, and we are newbie full time rv’ers as well. Since we are going to spend our first winter in a RV, we started talking about RV fireplaces and whether they are any better than a 1500 watt cube heater? We have the space (just lose a shelf and have to move the woofer). For those that have both, what do you think?

In the interest of my cold toes, I have been reading extensively regarding heating and have come to the conclusion that my e-heater I used at home, while inefficient, seems to be the best for heating. Since the heater is on the bedroom side of our “roller house” the heat is stifling in the bedroom, especially at night. Also, barely any warm air at all blows out of the vents in the living room. Because of this, when it gets really cold, I close off the doors between the living room and kitchen but miss being able to pile up on the couch or recliner.

But I’d be glad to know is there’s other solution. Though I’ve heard of some that will not use electric heaters while sleeping. But burning gas for heat scares me a hell of a lot more than a self contained electric space heater. That’s why I’m considering these two types in the first place.

Thanks in advance.

[BarbarafromTexas]

Hi everyone!
I am new here to this forum. I wanted to get away from renting. I owned my home before and at my age (over 50) I really don’t want to do that again. I started out looking at tiny homes (to expensive) then thought about and researched container homes.I would love to do that but do not build anything haha. So…my grandparents RV’d in the 70s – 80s and loved it. We would hang out with them and we were a camping family so used to it to an extent. I then decided to get an RV then debated on which one. Can’t afford new so looking at used and possibly updating it. Thought about cargo trailer conversion too. So basically here to look around and gain some knowledge and insight to other’s experience. Not sure yet which route to go but have seriously narrowed it down.

Barbara ~

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