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kl7jw · 10-05-2016, 12:06 PM

28 years old in 1965. I had been in the Army for 10 years at the time, and due to numerous changes of station, my wife and I bought a 19' bumper pull to use as temporary lodging. We've had some sort of RV evere since, presently a Monaco Signature.

APhotoWizard · 10-05-2016, 07:23 PM

I began camping in the back yard with cub scouts as a pre teen. Tents and station wagon with a tarp connected off the side was the family camper. Went away to college then got married. Wife and I got our first unit when I was in my late 20's just before my daughter was born. It was a Lifetime Class A gasser. Six miles per gallon on a down hill run and equipped with stylish gold shag carpet. This lasted till our children were in college and we inherited a class C Huntsman so I sold the Lifetime. When I was in my 50's we sold the Huntsman and got out of camping for a while. My first wife died and I went back to tent camping and backpacked as I section hiked the south end of the Appalachian trail with my daughter and grandchildren at age 68. Remarried at 69, and rented a new Thor Bunkhouse to take my wife and grandkids to Colorado. It fell apart, but we managed to get it back home and we were both hooked - again. (She was used to a tent and a popup camper with her parents.) At age 70 we purchased a used DP and an Jeep. We have never looked back. The most recent trip was to Alaska from Atlanta by way of New Orleans, Mexico, and up the west coast staying as far west on the road as possible until we reached Deadhorse/Prurdhoe Bay Alaska and the Arctic Ocean. As I type we are on the way home from a vacation at Disney in Orlando with the grand kids and are traveling by way of Panama City. Next year I will be 74 and we are planning a trip from Atlanta to Nova Scotia to Miami and back. Wheee... If you want to see pictures of our trip to Alaska we have a blog at: Deb_jerry's Traveler Profile - TravelPod It will take a while as there are over 2000 pictures ordered by city. Hope to see you on the road.

PartyBoyWA · 10-05-2016, 10:52 PM

Tent camping as a kid. Class C at 32. We will probably not get a Class A.

Nanci · 10-06-2016, 05:03 AM

Bought Econonline display van when 16. Found book in the library from 1936 on building a camper. Had pump sink, table to convert to a very short bed, coleman camp stove, real ice refrigerator, cabinets and curtains!
Lived in as a freshman in college until it snowed!
Bought truck camper in my thirties and asked my husband to come pick up something in his truck for me.... The camper was old and heavy and at every turn we felt the whole thing would flip and we would end up like a turtle on its back! It really was great until the kids and their friends stayed in camper and we slept in tents outside.
Bought a blood mobile in my forties and we totally gutted and bought everything from the Winnebago Surplus store in Forest City Iowa. My husband cut off the front bed of our pickup truck camper and attached to the blood mobile. I did all the wiring (thank you to all those who spent hours on the phone helping) It was one huge Class C! Camped for 18 years with our children until the siding started coming off!
Finally bought a Coachman Class A five years ago, had a custom paint job done in Elkhart Indiana, retired and now in the process of selling the house to live full time on the road! Finally!

rptipp · 10-06-2016, 05:19 AM

My wife and I camped on our honeymoon in a tent. We purchased a bigger tent when the first child came along, and we decided we didn't enjoy that as much as we should, so we bought a pickup camper in 1981, traveled all over the US with that. We enjoyed it so much, that we bought our first RV, a 1978 Winnebago Class A 23 footer in 1988, traveled from Rocky Mountains to Everglades in that so bought a 28 foot 1984 Suncrest. Put 40,000 miles on it travelling all over, camping almost every weekend with our kids. Sold that and bought a 1999 Winnebago Adventurer in 2006, and have put another 30,000 miles on that. We have traveled extensively throughout the US, and now are contemplating selling it because of my health. I was 36 when we bought our first RV and we are so glad we bought it when we were young. We have had so many wonderful adventures with our kids and ourselves. When people would ask me why we bought an RV so young, I told them I didn't want to be old, horsing around a huge motorhome, having to set it up in campgrounds, towing a vehicle, etc., when I'm old. I'd advise everyone to get an RV while you're young!

MikeMerru · 10-06-2016, 07:05 AM

I started out tent camping with the boyscout in about 1955. My first MH was a 56 bluebird school bus I converted about 1969, I remember it cost me $600. For the bus and about 500 for the remodel, a labor of love. The next MH was a 21ft. Coachman. Next we got a large truck camper and put it on my 1999 Ford 350 Dudley. The camper was totaled in a Texas wind storm. Then 4 years ago when I got ready to retire we got our present unit a 2003 coachman class A 33ft. In the few short years we have had it we have visited all of the states west of Kansas and put about 12,000 miles on it. This year we have been gone from our home in Texas since late March, we will be back home Friday 7 October. It's been a great time. Will take several short trips over the winter. For the next week or two will be doing needed maintenance, like outside seals on the two slides, carpet shampoo, wash&wax, etc.etc.. HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU-ALL

AdvntureCats · 10-07-2016, 05:42 AM

Wife and I both grew up tent camping with scouting -- her dad was a scoutmaster and took her along. Her family had a TT for years while I always tent-camped until after we married. We leased a TT on a seasonal site for a little while, but when it came time to get an RV of our own, we decided on a class A and found a 1980's Pace Arrow to restore as a "starter" when we were in our early 40's.

After about 3 or 4 years, we moved on to a newer and bigger but still vintage Winnebago Adventurer from the 90's that we love. There's probably going to be a DP in our future, but not for a few more years yet.

SuperGewl · 10-10-2016, 10:58 PM

Started camping back in 1967 while in Alaska as young kid. In the mid 70's moved up to a slide in camper. Took my youngest camping across the country in the early 2k's in a TT and have now been able to take one of my grandkids camping in our Class A MH. I'm too old to say but too young to give it up.
I hope to still be able to get around as a young fellow I met at a Rally, he was 94 and still driving his DP like he was 50.