Well, we thought we had it all figured out. Invest in a new fifth wheel plus a new truck: our dream rig. But as we began running the numbers, we started thinking that maybe that wasn't the most prudent financial decision. We don't want to have to work every minute that we're on the road in order to support vehicle loan payments, and we do want to have the means to enjoy the places that we plan to visit!
In much the same way that we moved toward our decision to hit the road earlier than retirement age, we have moved toward considering buying a smaller, used rig. We could purchase it now, start traveling in it on the weekends, park it in our driveway rather than on a storage lot, minimize our debt load and expenses - the list is persuasive.
Many of the adventure travel podcasts and vlogs that I have been following emphasize doing what you can now, not waiting for the "perfect" setup or the "perfect" someday. It may be that owning a smaller, used rig for a couple of years, then looking to move up to our "dream" rig, is the right thing for us. (A friend reminded me that I've been talking about this dream of living on the road for as long as he's known me - a dream that wasn't limited to a particular way of doing that.)
This, of course, meant repeating Step 2: Research, research, research! all over again.
We started by considering the amount of space that we would need for living (a separated bedroom space) and working (desk or table space for each of us), and I began reviewing quality ratings and floorplans of Class C motorhomes.
Doug and I settled fairly quickly on a model that we thought would work for us. Next, I used the search/filter/sort functions on various RV-for-sale websites, such as RVTrader.com and RVT.com, for information on nationwide availability and price on both new and used rigs. (Nationwide, because we might be willing to buy a distantly located motorhome based on pictures or video, as we did with one of our conversion vans.) Still, we'd like to physically walk through at least one example of the model before making a final decision, so we're working out when we'll have time to make a trip, possibly even out of state, to see one.
A couple of other things we learned in the past week:
First, when we do hit the road, we won't be driving anywhere without a map app, even in our own backyard. The reason we had so much time to talk about our finances last weekend was that I didn't turn on my phone's map app until 40 minutes past the area in which we had wanted to look at storage units. I suppose the extra 80 minutes of driving did have the silver lining of reminding us how much we enjoy each other's company on the road...
Second, whether and how to tow a car behind a motorhome was a more complex decision than I would have guessed. While there are travelers who use their Class C motorhomes for daily errands at their destinations, we decided we would prefer to tow a small, used car. We started by researching the towability of the Jeep Renegade we're currently leasing. The manufacturer states that it has to be towed on a full trailer! That would add to the cost of our setup and the size of campground site we would need. Fortunately, Good Sam/MotorHome Magazine has a web publication that lists what car models can be "flat-towed" without a trailer: Guide to Dinghy Towing. We should be able to find an appropriate used car for a reasonable price, then outfit it for a tow bar.
I had known that flexibility is a valuable character trait when traveling. Turns out, it's also a valuable trait when planning!
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