Question:
I have this idea that in a few years with time on my hands I might like
to travel and drive or drag my place to sleep. My wife has a hangup
about motel cleanliness and I agree but am not as squeamish. She
refuses to use the comforter cover or blanket since they don't always
get changed - just the sheets and pillowcases.
I don't really want a behemoth 100K unit of any kind. Just a place with
a sleeping space, a rudimentary kitchen and small fridge,a sink,
and a toilet. Perhaps a shower but not mandatory.
I was thinking a conversion van, a pickup camper, or a small pull behind
camper. I looked at the smallest AirStream and while it looks nice 30K
Is a bit much, but vans cost too. I may go used - say 5 years old.
My high range is probably 30-35K but desired is probably 10-25K. I will
rent a few before I buy to make sure this is really what we want.
How many of you have one or had one and what are you opinions? What
did you like, what did you dislike, and what would you do if you bought
another.
I did a cursory glance and there are many many different types of RV's
on the market. One that caught my eye is a Scamp 5th wheel. It is
light enough to be handled with a Ford Ranger instead of an F150. But I
am sure there are others. Some of the crank up that are not tents seem
interesting - trailor manor was one.
We had an Apache Popup Hardside 25 years ago, but it was a hassle. At
the time I kept getting terrible headaches when we camped. I blamed it
on the smoke at the camp grounds, but have later found it was atypical
migraines.
Answer:
My wife and I bought a 16' camper trailer a few years ago. We do a lot of
traveling to VA because of our activities with our dogs. These include hunt
tests, dog training days, breed club meetings, etc.. We got tired of renting
motel rooms almost once a month, and especially tired of communting from
town to the property where we do the dog stuff at least twice a day.
These days, the camper stays up in VA most of the time so we don't have to
haul it back and forth. We have place to plug it in and dump the waste
tanks where it
is parked, which is on private land.
We opted for the trailer rather than a motorized unit because we did not want
to haul our house every time we wanted to go drive somewhere. With a motor
home, that would involve packing up loose items, and having to re-level
and re-setup
repeatedly. Of course, if you have a big enough motor home, you can tow a small
commuting vehicle, but you still end up maintaining two engines, drive
trains, etc.
Ours is a super light weight trailer, which we can haul with a GMC Safari van.
IIRC the GVW is under 4000lbs. and the towing capacity of the van is 5000 lbs.
We have hauled the camper over the mountains to Missouri without a problem.
The camper has two queen sized beds which open out of either end with
vinyl tent-like coverings. The set-up and close-up time to get the beds
ready is
minimal and not much work. I feel any inconvenience is made up by the
compactness in towing and weight savings. The dining area also converts
to a bed.
There is a nice 3-burner gas stove, microwave, gas/electric 'frig, and
kitchen sink. The bathroom has a half tub with a seat in it that is also
the shower. The toilet is separate from the shower-some smaller campers
set the toilet in the shower to save space.
The only thing we find lacking is closet space to hang clothes. There is none.
There is good space to store folded clothing, but we end up hanging clothes from
hooks that fit over the top of the bathroom door, from the towel bar in
the bathroom and hooks that hang from the overhead storage ledges at the
openings to the beds.
The camper is made by Thor. The model is the Cub, or Cub Cadet. Thor makes
a number of other
brands also.
We find the camper is adequate for two adults and four larger-than-medium
(70-85 lbs) dogs. We have even put up another adult and two more dogs on
more than a few nights.
However, if we had it to do again, we would got for a 20' camper, possibly
with a slide-out and for sure with more real closet space. It would have
to be another ultra-light as I don't really want to go to a diesel truck
to haul it.
I hope this helps in your search. If you can take the time, I suggest you
check out a RV/Camper where you can get a good look at what is available.
