jerry1946
alabama
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Joined: 01/02/2010
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go to recreation.gov and check the federal campgrounds. you can click on the site and see how long it is
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Pamelajo
Md
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Joined: 08/01/2005
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Thanks, Jerry. 
“Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God” -Kurt Vonnegut
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Gone4Good
North East
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Size is a huge consideration.
We have a 35' motor home. We're at a campground right now where there are beautiful, wooded, spots right by the river. We can't fit in any of them. Instead, we're in an open field with a 5th wheel parked 15 feet away.
I suspect, however, none of the folks in tents and pop-ups nestled into the wooded areas actually live in their rigs. They're here for the week, or the weekend, and after a short-time camping, they'll be back home to their living rooms, bathrooms, and hot showers. While I envy their current location, I wouldn't trade it for the permanent inconvenience that living arrangement would entail.
Another thing to consider if you're planning to full-time and aren't single: How much together time do you really want with your significant other? My wife and I get along fantastically and are best friends, but we still appreciate being able to go off into separate rooms in the R.V. Being in each others space 100% of the time could get trying for even the best relationships.
The full-time lifestyle, like much of life, is all about tradeoffs. We think we nailed it with our 35 footer. But our experience isn't much help to you because it is based on our preferences, not yours. So be honest with yourself about your priorities and what is important to you. When you get that straight, the right rig for your needs will be pretty clear to you.
Good luck, and happy travels.
Brian
Winnebago Sightseer 33C
Filled with the wife, cat, wine and beer.
Touring North America full-time
Blogging about it all here: http://wanderings2010.wordpress.com/
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EelKat
Maine
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Joined: 07/27/2010
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In the 1970's, we rented our house out and went on the road to become "fulltimers". For 9 years: me, my parents, a German shepherd, a poodle, and 3 cats lived in a 1964 Dodge 330 4 door sedan. We had no trailer, no motor home, no camper, no RV or any kind, just us and a 19 foot long car, which equaled 6x10 feet of actual living space.
Today 34 years later, I am in the process of restoring that exact same car, buying a 16' travel trailer for it, and once again going on the road to live full time in a car, this time just me and my 14 cats. Every one I know is telling me I'm crazy, they say, "but there's no room in a car!", "you are looking for a trailer that is too small!"
Well, remember that house I mentioned earlier that we had rented out? After our 9 years of living in the car, we returned to that 16' x 9' house, (yes, our car was 3 feet longer than our house) added 8 more dogs, 24 more cats, and my mom had 3 more kids, and we lived there for the next 27 years.
When our house burned down in 2006, my mom and my 3 brothers moved into an apartment in the city, my dad moved into a Chevy Malibu, and me and 2 dogs and 9 cats moved back into the 1964 Dodge 330 4 door sedan which I still had/have. Beside the car I built a tent out of a 8x6 tarp and that is where I have lived ever since.
So, for me, this is just every day living.
And now I'm here reading this thread, and seeing people complaining that they couldn't live in anything smaller than a 30' rv? OMG! I look at that and ask, How can you live in something THAT BIG!?! I've never lived in anything that was even half that size, not once in my entire life! I just couldn't even imagine living in something so huge! Well, every one is different I suppose, I guess it has a lot to do with where you grew up. I grew up in a car. I know that's far from normal, but hey, I love it and for me, smaller is better.
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Pamelajo
Md
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Gone4Good wrote:Size is a huge consideration.
Another thing to consider if you're planning to full-time and aren't single: How much together time do you really want with your significant other? My wife and I get along fantastically and are best friends, but we still appreciate being able to go off into separate rooms in the R.V. Being in each others space 100% of the time could get trying for even the best relationships.
The full-time lifestyle, like much of life, is all about tradeoffs. We think we nailed it with our 35 footer. But our experience isn't much help to you because it is based on our preferences, not yours. So be honest with yourself about your priorities and what is important to you. When you get that straight, the right rig for your needs will be pretty clear to you.
Good luck, and happy travels.
Brian
Great post, Brian. I am going to add your blog to my bookmarks. Your Winnebago is similar to what we are looking for. We might get something a foot or two smaller but definitely not bigger.
You mentioned that you couldn't fit into the same sites as the tenters but do you find that you have more options for parking than the 39+ rigs or is it about that same?
I definitely agree with the importance of a separate bedroom space. My husband and I get along great, too, but I think it's important to have a little bit of privacy. We pretty quickly ruled out some of the under 30' rigs because they didn't have a truly separate bedroom.
Another thing we've been thinking about with the size issue is drive-ability. We both really enjoy the traveling part of traveling and want to enjoy the drive from one place to the next. Sometimes it seems as if folks in the really big rigs talk about their travel days as if they are a big chore-some even refer to it as moving day. Not everyone, obviously, but I read a lot of blogs where I seem to notice that trend. It's almost as if they are just moving their "house" from place to place and then doing their "traveling" in their toad. I'm not sure if I'm expressing myself clearly on that and I sincerely don't mean that as an insult to anyone. I think all the ways folks full-time are pretty cool I'm just trying to find the right style for us.
I guess we are spoiled by the B in that we can pull in pretty much anywhere. That makes for a fun travel day and we have had some of our best experiences by just seeing a sign for a restaurant or museum or other point of interest and pulling in. Obviously, we will lose some of that ability for spontaneity with even a 30-34 footer but I'm hoping it will give us a bit more flexibility than the really huge rigs.
I'm hoping the folks who have the 35 and under rigs or the smaller trailers could weigh in on this. Do you find that there are advantages in your travels or is it pretty much the same as trying to drive and park a bigger set-up? Do you generally just drive from point A to point B and then take your toad back to a point of interest or do you make the occasional spontaneous stop along your route?
Thanks to everyone for weighing in. I love hearing about all the ways that different folks fulltime.
* This post was
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Gone4Good
North East
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Pamelajo wrote:Great post, Brian. I am going to add your blog to my bookmarks. . . .
Thanks, Pamelajo.
I’ve never owned a 40 footer, but I’m guessing there isn’t a huge amount of difference between those and my 34-35’ rig; at least in the areas you’re concerned about. I’ll try to address some of the issues you raise in turn:
Drivability: I’ve had zero problem driving my coach, and if you’ve looked back in the history of our blog, you’ll see I started with zero experience driving anything nearly this big. I’ve been surprised at how easy it is. It is certainly less forgiving than my car, but as long as you’re mindful of your size, wide turning radius, and back-end sweep, my sightseer drives easily. Other coaches will obviously drive differently. But after having jumped in and driven this one, I wouldn’t let “drivability” deter me from getting the coach I wanted.
Moving Day: The degree of difficulty in moving is largely a function of how much stuff you utilize. I suspect the folks who talk about travel day as a major chore really set up camp when they arrive. You see people with pavilions, tents, tables, fenced in areas for pets, patio mats, outdoor lights, nick-knacks, etc. etc. I get tired just writing about it. Our major chores on moving day consist mostly of stuff we should be doing anyway, cleaning, placing things, and picking up. If you don’t pull out a lot of junk, set-up and take down for a 40’ Class A is virtually the same as a Class B.
Toad Travel: It’s true you won’t want to drive your Class A motor home to the museum or the hiking trail head. But I don’t think that is any less true for a 30 footer than for larger A’s. If you want to utilize just one vehicle and take your house everywhere you go, I think you’ll be better served with the smaller B and C classes.
Our mode of travel tends to be slower. That was true even before RVing full-time. We like to fully explore places, not just hit the highlights. So we prefer to set up a base somewhere and then use the car to explore the surrounding area. We typically stay places 3 to 10 days. It works for us, and we have the time. edit: We also like the weekly discount, which generally saves you 15% off the daily rate. For full-timers, that 15% adds up to real money over the course of the year.
* This post was
edited 07/28/10 07:38am by Gone4Good *
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Pamelajo
Md
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Wow, Brian, thank you so much for taking the time to answer all of that. That's exactly the kind of information I was looking for.
Your style of travel sounds like what we are interested in-3 to 10 days in an area with the occasional longer stay. We'll have a toad so I think I'm just going to have to get used to the idea of limited stops on travel days and using the toad for everything else.
My biggest concern, and one of the reasons we thought a smaller rig might be better for us, is that we have very close family on both coasts that we will want to visit at some point each year. My parents live on the East Coast and my husband's children and grandchild live on the West Coast. We are probably going to have to travel a bit more than the typical fulltimer if we want to spend time on both coasts each year. We've traveled so extensively throughout the East Coast that we really don't want to spend much time there other than visits so we'll probably do some quicker trips than most fulltimers are used to. I really hate to fly but I think that might be one way to limit some of the cross-country travel.
I'm rambling again... Thank you again for your helpful responses. I really appreciate it.
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Gone4Good
North East
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Pamelajo wrote:I really hate to fly but I think that might be one way to limit some of the cross-country travel.
There is no question that I would fly.
~3,000 miles each way. At 7 miles per gallon, and $2.80 per gallon, runs you $2,400 in fuel expenses to make that round trip. Two airline tickets are far cheaper and saves you four days of continuous driving to, and from, someplace you wouldn't want to go, if not for family.
A trip to the airport would be an easy call for this traveler.
P.S. I also wouldn't choose my housing arrangements, which I have to live with 365 days per year, because of a need to see family a couple of weeks every year.
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DianneOK
Donnelly, ID
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We traveled coast to coast about every two years, round trip. We visited along the way, volunteering and workcamping. This worked well for us. We found those visits more than adequate, especially when we spent weeks in the area.
Relatives and friends have their own lives and ours don't revolve around them. After a few days, things can get to be a bit...ummmm, how to word this?...an imposition one everyone, even with our own bed!
Dianne (and Terry) (Fulltimed for 9 years)
Donnelly, ID
HAM WB6N (Terry)
2010 Ford F350, 4x4 SRW, xcab, longbed
2009 Lance 971 Truck Camper, loaded
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CSG
ID
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In 1992, my wife and I owned a Lance 9.5' truck camper that we used for vacations. However, we decided to get out of California and take a trip to find a new place to live. We got rid of our place, put everything in storage, and headed out. We spent six months traveling the west with no home other than the camper and no date certain when to end our travels. No cell phone, no computer, a family member to collect and forward mail. It was easily doable but we would have wanted a bigger rig with a proper bathroom (the camper had a wet bath) had it lasted for a few years. For one (me), it would have been fine for an open ended period. I could live in a B with a good bathroom easily. It would be refreshing from the consumptive lifestyle we've ended up in. 
2001 GMC EC 2500HD, 4x4, 6.0 V8
2007 Nash 27-5B
2002 Pleasure-Way Traverse
2002 Lexus Land Cruiser (LX470)
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