re: Talk me out of buying a travel trailer

Have watched friend de-camp his fifth wheel and begin cleaning process, no way no how would i want to deal with that after a weekend. They remind me of people who have to own a horse and ride them to death for a year and after that they forget all about that urge, same with boats.

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Seems like a relatively cheap way to travel

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Talk me out of buying a travel trailer

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-Maintenance costs
-Storage costs if you can't keep the trailer at your house
-Extra wear and tear on your truck from towing
-Double your truck's fuel consumption when towing
-Hassle of finding places to park when you're on the road and need to stop for gas, food, or other pit stops along the way
-$50+ a night for an RV site with hookups

If you're just getting it for a couple of vacations a year, it would be cheaper to just rent cabins or hotel rooms or rent an RV and have it delivered to your site. Only way buying a trailer is worth it is if you're going to use it all throughout the year for camping trips or parked somewhere as a hunting or fishing camp when you're not taking it on vacation

I look at owning an RV the same as having a camp. Difference is I can change locations whenever I like. I have owned three trailers in the last 15 yrs. the kids love going camping and we have made many memories. They depreciate like crazy and are made to lower standards than boats but stay on top of it and they will serve you well. Mine currently stays inside a barn at my hunting property. Like others have said unless you have an airstream keep it under a cover.

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No its not lol. If you are packing/unpacking that much. You are doing it wrong. Everything stays in the camper. Throw a bag of clothes in, and go. It takes literally 5mins to hook up and unhook from camper.

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We have everything needed for a weekend or longer camping trip in the "basement" of our MH. Lanterns, cook stove, grill, folding chairs, coolers, screen room, folding table...anything that could be needed for tent camping including a tent. Inside the MH we have everything that one could possible need for a long weekend or longer....all linens, cleaning supplies, cooking stuff, etc etc etc.....it still takes a couple of hours of loading shite up before hand and unloading shite after getting home....clothes, groceries (we leave some non-perishables in the fridge and cupboard but you gotta be mindful of mice), personal stuff. It is a HEAPING PILE OF WORK.

Then when you arrive...ohhhh boy the work really begins. Hooking shite up, setting up the satellite dish for TV, if we are going to use it, unloading the camp stuff (chairs, rugs, tables, coolers etc). Inevitably something is either wrong with a mechanical system in the camper OR something is wrong with the camp ground...water is off, power is off, its always something.

If we are merely camping, say Friday through Sunday, and do not take the boat and do not plan to fish or hunt...just sitting around a camp site and camping....it takes 2 hours to load personal stuff, at least an hour in walmart buying groceries and loading them / putting them away, then another couple of hours setting up camp and working out the bugs in the site (dry camping comes with its own logistical issues), then a couple of hours breaking down camp and getting the MH ready for the road, then another couple of hours at home unloading personal stuff and putting it away plus cleaning the thing up for the next trip...you are talking about 6-7 hours of logistical stuff for a 3 day weekend. It is great but it is a LOT of work to sit around a campfire and drink and cook wienies and roast marshmallows...

I have an outdoor kitchen and entertainment center I can hang on the side of our MH in about 20 minutes after everything else is set up....I have watched UGA football games in some of the most beautiful areas of the country with a mountain lake or the ocean steps away from the "house"...but in all honesty you have to enjoy working at it...it is a lot of work...if your idea of a long weekend is relaxing and doing nothing RVing ain't none of that. If you like the idea of having good meals and a comfy place to relax and chill for 3 days without cooking, cleaning, repairing, dumping sewage, loading and unloading shite, RVing is not going to be something you enjoy.

You will get a skewed idea of what it is like if you go to a state park on a Saturday afternoon and you see folks sitting under an awning drinking a cold beer, staring at a fire or playing corn hole, kids running about playing....it looks very enticing. Go on Sunday around 10 am and those same people are likely arguing and slinging shite inside the camper and generally miserable...some folks do get to sit around the camp site all weekend, relaxing, talking to people, eating, drinking etc etc etc...but most likely as a dad you will be working as hard as you would be at home doing lawn work and honey do lists....

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I agree even with the camper having the basics it’s still a good two hours to load up the clothes, food etc for a weekend. Unpacking goes pretty quick. I will say that when I first started out RV camping it was pretty stressful the first couple times till I got a routine down and tried not to over complicate things. Backing into some of those sites at odd angles can be a real test of patience with t onlookers etc and there is always that drunk guy that wants to “help” you get into your spot after you have been driving all afternoon and it’s getting dark.

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Nothing like old drunk dude who has been set up for days wanting to help out LOL!

I agree with it becoming a routine....if you go regularly, especially to places you go regularly, it is much easier. If your family is the type that wants to help it makes it even easier....my daughter is all about pitching in and helping...her mama and brother are more apt to point out how she and I are doing it wrong, all from under the awning, in a chair, with a cold drink in hand. Ahhhhh, family time...

There are two things that seem like they would be nice to have that I will not buy.

1. Boat. Chartering a boat is way cheaper than owning a boat unless you use it every week multiple days per week. There is also the advantage if you are chartering a boat that you can charter different style boats for different applications.

2. An RV. Same thing, unless you use it every week it is cheaper to get a hotel or rent a RV when you need one. If it is just you and the wife you have different requirements then if it is the whole clan.

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1. Boat. Chartering a boat is way cheaper than owning a boat unless you use it every week multiple days per week. There is also the advantage if you are chartering a boat that you can charter different style boats for different applications.

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I think it might be a little extreme to say that you need to use it every week multiple times per week. But I agree with your overall point.

Don't spend a ton of money.

If you are patient, you can find a very affordable version of whatever it is you NEED. We had a pop up that was old, but in very, very good shape and we loved it very much. Bought it for 1,900, put new tires on it, used it for a year, sold it for 1,850. Only reason we sold it was because when we looked at our calendar for last year, it was obvious we weren't going to get to use it much.

We're probably going to buy a 17-20 footer in the range of 5K soon. There is a MAJOR benefit to being able to leave your gear ready to go in the camper as opposed to having to repack everything due to lack of storage (our popup situation).

Good luck-

Better have a shed to put it in or in 5 years you’ll have a piece of junk

Bought a camper 2 years ago, Forest River Mini Lite, many on this board said they were crappy, and stated most of what you see here.

Issues I have had with my camper...
I found 2 screws on the floor in storage area.
that is it.

I am a do it yourselfer so if anything would break I would fix it short of a wall falling off.

We keep the camper stocked with everything but perishables, so loading up before the trip is pretty quick, we usually have bought food and drink before we leave, for more than a weekender we will buy when we get to site.
Coming home dirty close come out and perishables as well. a quick wipe down and sweep it is ready for the next trip.

Camp site set up, we are able to be fully set up in about 30 minutes, gets faster each time we go.

we camp twice a month and also 2 week long trips as well.

If you want a camper get it, I bought new, but a used model can save you some dollars.