My ship came in on July 1, 2015 when my husband asked me to retire, but instead of heading out in the Nina we packed up our F150 with all our worldly possession and depending on who is
narrating the story – some junk.
We began our journey by downsizing – the rule was if we couldn’t fit the item in the truck we sold, gave or donated it. We could have done storage, but we figured the cost of a storage unit over time would cost more than the value of things we were storing.
We started out tent camping:
Disadvantages to tent camping: no bathroom in the middle of the night, unpacking and packing the truck when looking for anything, food storage
when you camp in an area with bears.
Advantages to tent camping: we didn’t have to worry about electric, water and sewer connections, we didn’t have to worry about the size of the pad, the maintenance and expense is less, and the upkeep minimal.
We up sized to furnished rentals:
Disadvantages to furnished rentals: cost, time spent researching possible locations, difficult meeting new people, and we still had a pickup topper full of possessions.
Advantages to furnished rentals: bathrooms, showers, Internet, TV and temperature control.
Sold the tent and purchased a used 24′ Springdale travel trailer:
Disadvantages to bumper pull: When camping for a week or two, discomforts were
minimal. But when we started going full-time the three-quarter bed (smaller than a double but larger than a twin) was comfortable until someone (me) had to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. I would have to wake up DH and ask him to sit up so I could crawl behind him to get to the bathroom. The cushions on the dinette were okay for dinner time, but we sat on the same foam to watch TV, read, check emails, play scrabble…
Advantages to bumper pull: Easy to pull. We traveled from Oregon to Wisconsin and back again. Sites were easy to find because of the length of the trailer and we only need 30 AMP, camping with bears was no longer a problem and we didn’t have to store our food in the truck, and it was so much easier to get out and meet people.
One of the couples we met was selling their rig. A F350 dually with a 39′ Redwood. Even though we had read all the testimonials about the size of the 5th wheel and we were convinced we wouldn’t go larger than 36′ – you guessed it we bought the rig and started workamping as volunteers.
Disadvantages to 5th wheel: There is more maintenance. We have three slide outs, electronic leveling system, and our truck is diesl. We haven’t had any trouble finding a camping spot large enough, but than I use my AllStays App and filter my allows big rigs.
Advantages to 5th wheel: We have storage room to spare. We no longer have any of our possessions in the truck and we have a walk around queen size bed.
RVWife 