RE: Looking to the future!

[garym053]

 
Not sure this belongs here, but I value everyone s opinion, (even if I don t ALWAYS agree with them!) and would really like to know what you think and are planning!
 My wife and I are looking at retirement 10 or 12 years down the road, providing the stock market co-operates in the next 10 to 12 years!!! We would like to spend a fair amount of time travelling to Arizona to see our son and his family as well as touring the US and Canada. We had originally though of a medium motorized RV, but in talking to some people, they say they wished they had gone with a 5th wheel or TT because of getting around once you get to where you are going.
 Since I would like to retire with no or few payments, I feel like we need to do something in the next 3 to 5 years.
 What, if any, are your plans for RVing into retirement? Motorhome, 5th Wheel, TT, why? How far before retirement do you plan to make the purchase?
 I ve got to say that I intend to keep a pop-up for summer camping right up until or through retirement, I can t imagine enjoying the " dark side"  as much as Poping Up!
 Thanks for your thoughts and comments. I really appreciate everyone on this site, it s a fantastic group of people.

[Tim5055]

 garym053
We are in about the same boat as you, looking about 10 - 12 years down the road and hoping my stocks rebound.  Right now it is between a 5th wheel and a Class A towing something.
 
 The last show in Baltimore we spent the entire day in both types.  If I were going to make my decision now it would be the Class A, but a lot can change between now and then.
 
 Each year we will continue looking and refine exactly what it is we want to do.

[Gatsmommy]

 garym053
Well, I can tell you what my parents are doing.
 
 They are retiring in about 3 years and plan to travel most if not all the time. They sold their house and bought a condo about 2 years ago, and then went out and bought a conversion/camper van. They looked at doing the whole motor home/5th wheel route, but decided to stay smaller for a couple reasons. One being better gas mileage, and another is they can go anywhere with it (mountains, cities etc) and still have all their " stuff"  with them. Also as my mom put it they can only take 1 grandkid at a time, and none of the grandkids parents.
 
 So far they ve lived in it for 5 weeks at a time without killing each other, so we ll see when they up it too 5 months LOL.
 
 Both my dad and one of my BIL s are mechanics though so he will be able to keep it running, or at least know what repairs are needed for a long time still.
 
 

[Gone-Camping]

 garym053
I m not necesarilly going to wait until retirement, but have been looking at EVERYTHING now. I m inclined to go with the fifth wheel over a MH for a couple of different reasons.
 
 If you re in a far away city, and the MH breaks down, you loose your place to stay while it s in the shop being repaired. If you have a Toad with you, then you can still get around town, but RV rentals can get expensive. But, with the 5er, if the truck breaks down, you still have your camper, and can rent a car pretty cheap.
 
 Also, the 5er has many more floorplans to choose from, and overall, much nicer appointments for the money spent. You can also back-up a fiver, but a MH with a Toad is not possible, ya gotta unhook the toad in order to back-up (it can be done, but even the most experienced usually won t attempt that) Keep that in mind when you decide to stop for lunch along the way, or a tourist attraction. It s much easier to get in & out of parking situations with the trailer than a MH with Toad.
 
 That s my $0.02 on the subject...

[mike4947]

 garym053
But no matter how big you go the PU s still got the biggest beds.[]
 Since I ll never be able to afford a class A or a Toad for behind it and with gas prices heading upwards of those in the rest of the world I m staying small and/or put.
 Before the divorce we had the best of both worlds, a 55 foot Detroiter with a 45 foot AAR half screened and half room with a franklin stove on a lot 100 feet from 1000 foot sandy beach on a 9 mile long lake and parked right next to it a PU.
 I figured if gas went sky high we stay in the trailer and if not take the PU on vacations. We also had our eye on another trailer in Florida so we could become real snowbirds.

[slowpez]

 garym053
Well, we are a couple of years from retirement and have talked about it a lot.  We definetely want to keep traveling.  We love the PU and find it comfortable down to the  40 s at night so we are considering renting a furnished place in an area we want to see.  That will be our home base for PU trips.  When we have seen all we want to see, we will move on.  
 We also looked at some of the light TT s but to tell you the truth, I hate the thought of giving up the openess of the PU.  Even with two years to go until retirement, we won t know what we will do until we get there.
 Susan

[Bearnkat]

 garym053
Hi All,
 
 Terry and I are in the same situation as most of you, around 10-12 years away from retirement. When the time comes, there is no telling what types of RVs will be available. We re definitely going to go to one which is " easier"  on us for setup, comfort, etc.
 
 Terry s parents retired 4 years ago and have been on the road as full time RVers every since. (Their motorhome is their only residence.) They are having an absolute ball. Terry felt that they were going to kill each other the first 3 months, but she was wrong. They ve told us they don t know how much longer they re going to stay on the road. They re just traveling around now, visiting all the states to decided where they want to build or finally settle down.
 
 They have a 38  Winnie with 2 slideouts, pulling a Jeep, and all the comforts of home.
 
 C & T

[garym053]

 garym053
Thanks! Keep those thoughts and ideas coming- There s a lot of good stuff here!!! I appreciate all your input!

[kathybrj]

 garym053
Hey Gary- what happened to the campground idea? Weren t you the gent that was talking about the possibility of purchasing a campground?

[garym053]

 garym053
Yeah, I was and still am, BUT! While it would probably be a better investment than my IRA, it would prevent me from camping! Also, if I was 15 or 20 years younger, it would be more attractive as well. Since my wife and I really want to retire and travel in 10 or 12 years, I don t see it happening unless a really good deal comes my way!

[TJWSANTAFE]

 garym053
We are in the same boat with our future plans. We have been looking at both the 5th wheel and Class A.
 My bigest problem with the 5th wheel is that you will need a 2.5 or 3 ton truck to tow the 5th wheel. New these run between $40k and $60+k, then you have the cost of the camper between $40k - $80k.
 The Class A, well you can spend up to $500k, but a really nice one will run about $90k - $110, and you can tow a car or truck that you already have.
 
 However, we also don t think that we have about 5 to 8 years to make this transition.
 One additional thought; You can purchase some very fine Class A s used for a very reasonable price. Good luck on your decision.
 

[Camperroo]

 garym053
We are looking at early retirement in about 10 years.  Our plans are to sell the house, purchase a Class A and travel, spending from a few weeks to perhaps several months on the road.  We also plan to get a small condo near our present home so the kids will feel they too have a home base to come back to for family get togethers, or should we just decide to be " home"  for a spell etc.  Since we would be traveling, I wouldn t want to be towing a big fifth wheel or TT.  Wasn t thrilled with being in a Class C, I found the compartment to confining this past summer on our trip.  Like the space up front and big windows of the Class A.  Rather have all the comforts right there while we are on the road and when parked somewhere have a small toad for driving around in.  I sure can t wait!!

[garym053]

 garym053
Selling the house is not an option for me! My wife wants a homebase to come back to. At least it s paid off this year, so we have 10 or 12 years that we can spend purchasing a " retirement home on wheels" . I m also looking at buying a lot in Arizona, either in an RV park or not, to park said retirement home on! Has anyone done that yet? Any advice on that?
 It sounds like there are a few of us in the same situation as far as nearing retirement and planning for travel. This is a good discussion!