Having retired several years ago, we hit the road for a couple of long exploratory trips to see if we could do the RVing thing long-term. We were well setup for it with a 3/4 ton truck and a 32 ft high profile fifth wheel.
We learned a lot from that trip.
First and foremost, we had to compromise with each other. I could have quite cheerfully kept on traveling, but Karen was getting antsy to get back home to her routine, her quilting frame, etc. and that has been the case for every long trip we’ve made since.
We also had a big problem with our fifth wheel. Karen was just overwhelmed by the fifth wheel’s front looming over us as we drove down the road and my trying to park it in anything that wasn’t wide open and level gave her a lot of anxiety. It was also too big for a lot of the more rustic campgrounds we like to frequent. (see the image at the top of this page)
Long story short — we still do the RVing thing, but we’re keeping our paid-off home in the middle of the USA. It’s more than just a base camp as we are here more than we’re gone. We also didn’t have to figure out how to dispose of everything that wouldn’t fit in the RV and we don’t have to figure out how to transition back to a stick-house after living on the road.
The fifth wheel is long gone.
We downsized to a 25 foot Class C motorhome and tow a small car behind it. RVing is pleasurable with it, for us, and we can park it in just about any campground that allows RVs.
I still have the truck.
Notes:
This post is from a comment I left on a post at the The Bayfield Bunch blog on February 23rd.
Nick Russell, author of the Big Lake mystery series, wrote about adequate RV sizing in today’s post on his blog at Gypsy Journal. His post reminded me about the comment I had left at The Bayfield Bunch blog and that I had wanted to make it into a stand alone blog post. (Thanks Nick!)
