End of my career

[bowen71]

I am at 20 years in the USMC and I am looking to be a full time RV'er. I need advise. Get a DP or Gas, how long is to long. What do I look for. I am new to it all but I have no kids and my wife and I love to travel.

Give me the good and bad of it all.

[denochs]

Bowen71, welcome to iRV2. You came to the right place for input.

It sounds like you have the income to travel quite a bit. If that is the case, you will want to buy all that you can comfortably afford and leave enough to enjoy it. In my opinion, nothing is too long. It's like asking a question about how comfortable do you want to be?? If you find you will be putting a lot of miles on your RV MH, get a DP. They are more costly in terms of initial cost & maintenance. But you get your money back in other savings. There has been a lot of discusson on this and other forums about that alone. And whatever you do, I would not recommend buying something new. There are a lot of good deals on used out there now.

I'll leave it for others to offer some good advice to your questions.

Happy travels,
Dave

[Batman_777]

Full-time RV'er? Get the biggest, baddest thing you can afford.

The longest is 45 foot tag. The most expensive is $2.5 million. The more slides, the better. Multiple baths? The list is endless. As you start looking and driving, ask a lot of questions? New? Used? Class A? Class C? Most as they say will buy a partular unit based upon: Floorplan, Model, Make, Engine, Size, Cost, Features, etc.

Pitfalls? This is of course a major purchase. You'll need a good warranty, RV insurance, Pick a state for cheaper vehicle registration. State registration is big and can be worth literally, a savings of thousands per year. Some state charge huge personal property taxes.

Pick a home state to establish your residence.

["007"]

Welcome to irv2 bowen71.
Here is a link that may cover much of what you need. Thanks for joining us, enjoy your new adventure.

[PNWGirl]

Welcome Bowen71 and thank you for your Service!!!

As the daughter, grand-daughter and former spouse of career Marine's, I know the next year is going to bring with it a lot of changes and new challenges but as a Marine, I know you are up for it!!!

Can't help you with your questions, just wanted to make you feel at home and say 'Hi'!

Sheila

[Kablewizard]

I would also like to Thank You for your service, our branches of service may have been different, but the reason was the same.

You will get some great information here, and depending on what we own everyone tries to sway you. We have a 5th wheel toy hauler with a garage to tow our Gold Wing around its 35' because of our tow vehicle. We are not full timers yet, and when we do we are thinking class A. I have read someplace that a 5th wheel was better for towing ( I agree 100% there) and a class A was more for the ones who wanted to travel a lot. We like to spend time in one place, we may travel 3 days to spend a week but we have 2 modes of transportation when we are parked this way. Something I didn't realize until I talked to a friend is that a Smart car will fit in our garage it is shorter and weighs a bit more the he wing. That me be our next toy for those cool weather trips.

You really need to decide what you want to do with the RV and think about where you want to go and what type of travel when you get to the destination. That alone makes a difference on what you get remember the weight of what you tow. I know you will get more ideas to ponder over, but dont rush into it take your time. One thing for sure you will want at least 2 slide outs it makes all the difference in the world and ask to see what tthe rig looks like with them in just in case you can't extend them for any reason, can you get around inside to include the bed, fridge and most important the bathroom?

Let us know.

[sknight]

Welcome, congrats and thank you for your service!

A DP is the way to go really, actually diesel anything is better than gas, IMHO.

But it sounds like you've never done this before so here's my recommendation. Worth every cent you paid for it.

Rent and try it for a couple of weeks. RVing isn't for everyone, and there's lots of things people don't expect.

If you don't want to rent then buy something small and travel for awhile. You might like cozy out of the way campgrounds that simply can't fit a big rig. Or you might decide that a truck trailer arrangement is for you. Or that you only want to visit campgrounds that cater to rigs the size of a Greyhound bus. The possibilities are endless. But if you get the bus you'll only know about that particular segment of the experience.

In short a little experience will go a long way towards getting exactly what you want that fits your particular lifestyle. I can tell you what I'd do, but not what would be good for you.

[Stanbnv]

You need to look at FLOOR PLANS. I just read a poll yesterday on one of the RV manufacturers web page and that was the most (76% ) listed item that people look for in RVs. I don't necessarily agree about MH v/s 5ers, but that's just me. Look at many kinds and remember, if you get a MH, you will probably want a "toad", and I think that cars that you can tow 4 down are limited.
30 years USCG Retired, and we fulltimed for four years but had to settle because of health. Hope to at least snowbird for 5 - 6 months in a couple of years. BTW, we fulltimed in a 29GS Laredo, which was 30 ft long, and had no problems.

[KC1BUD]

I will tell you what works for us, although we aren't full timers yet. We have a 34 foot gasser on a Ford chassis with a V-10 and love it. It has a single large slide in the livingroom area which is where I would want the extra room. The Queen sized bed is more than adequate, and there is more than enough room to get up half awake and make it to the bathroom without incident. It also has a single bath and more than enough closet space that it is rarely anywhere near full.
We get around 7 to 9 miles to the gallon, which close to what the diesel pushers are getting, and gas costs less.

My wife, daughter and grandsons all show horses and that takes up most of the use of the rig right now. It has no problems pulling a 2 horse trailer with a small front dressing room and tack.

[DBOL]

Floor Plan,Floor Plan that you can live with and good Chasey and Motor,we started with Gas V-10 35 ft.and went to 40ft.DP with 5 slides and 4 rooms just like small apartment,and we really like! 2008 Tuscany 4055

[powerboatr]

welcome Devil Dog
thank you for your service


my advice would be know your budget... and what floorplans your thinking would be good for you
we choose ours because it has a dedicated desk area for the computer. and files. paperwork never really goes away.
then visit every rv lot you can and run off the salesmen then move around the coach and make believe your living in it.
think of it as a pre deployment work up.
run both a/c units in the heat of the day and see how long it takes to get comfy.
some lots will balk at your requests. thats ok, they didn't really understand your spending a ton of dollars and you should be able to do your research
crawl in and out of the basement and see what bangs your head
imagine what would go where in the cupboards, think about your pack out.

sit on the couch for over 20 minutes, and each seat
drive as many different lengths as you can, even if its a short drive around the lot, sit in the drivers seat and see what BUGS you. like wheel to far away, or gauges hard to see if your tall or short etc.

[Wayne M]

Welcome Marine! Semper Fi!

I don't full time, but we travel quite a bit. There is no way I could travel on just my MSgt retirement pay of 23 year, 6 months. I'd be broke. Fortunately I have other income and it sustains us fairly well. So, as stated, a DP will be the better choice, in my opinion, for the heavy mileage. Up front maintenance is more expensive, but longevity of the engine is much better. Again, my opinion. We just spent 81 days on the road from the Texas Gulf Coast, to CA To WA, across ID, MT, WY, CO, OK, and back to Texas. We didn't stay but seven days at the longest stop. I averaged 9.6 for most of the trip, and when I pulled into the driveway at the stick house it was 10.0. That's a 340HP Cummins ISB 6.7L.

Prior to the MH we had a Montana 3400RL. Again, my opinion is that the MH is easier to set up. But, the 3400RL seemed to have more usable space and felt a little more "homey" to us. If you are going to park it for a month or so, maybe a 5th wheel is the way to go. Parking a motorhome for long periods of time may not be the best thing to do.

It really comes to personal choice. You are doing your research. I hope that includes visiting every type of RV that you have an interest in. Choose one that suits your needs and fits your budget. Don't be in a big hurry as it is a financial commitment if you can't pay cash. You're retirement pay may not cover both a mortgage and travel. Well, maybe you are retiring as an 0-10.

p.s., you are not ending a career, you are beginning a new lifestyle. And it's great.

[kjburns]

I'll go with the floor plan recommendations. We started with a 2003 DP with two slide, but as we spent more time in it, the layout got a little narrow. We spend at least a couple of weeks per month in ours. After 15 months or so, we upgraded to a 2008 Winnebago Tour 40TD. It has two long slides that overlap to make the living room nice and wide.

I think we could be happy with a shorter RV with adequate width. I've seen other floor plans that look pretty good. The major selling point for our decision was the living room layout, with the fireplace and TV across from the seating. It's a lot more residential than most living rooms I've seen.

You can do all the research you want, but it's still a learning process. After our first RV, we knew more about what we wanted and what didn't matter. We're not full-timers, but I have noticed how many have selected the same DP. It is a very comfortable plan for someone who intends to spend a lot of time in it.

[WOODYDEL]

My wife and I agree the Winnebago Sightseer 37L has the most homelike floorplan. Living room in front with french doors!, kitchen/dining in middle and master bedroom in rear. You can even order a fireplace and 40" LCD for the living room. With the Ford F53 chassis you can carry 3100 to 4000 lbs cargo. The variance due to options ordered. Fresh water capacity is good too at 94 gallons. We saw it at a show last September.