Thanks for the replies so far… I’ll respond with specific follow up/questions as appropriate later on, but for now I wanted to drop a general question.

What’s a reasonable expectation on price for a large-ish motor home that has a history of dependability and longevity? We won’t be purchasing new, but but would likely rather buy a few years used… or even more than a few years for a well maintained unit.

And are there preferred brands and brands to stay away from? Again, probably valuing reliability over other considerations.

The question is a good one. As a point of reference I bought a 1993 Foretravel. It’s dead reliable and I’ve never had a mechanical issue. We spent money on changes we wanted to make and annual maintenance. Most people want slides but I didn’t. I wanted simple.

Look at Foretravel, 1998 a 2001 are the best years. I was introduced to the brand by SF member Armored. I had never hear of it but they are still in business making and servicing coaches. They’ve been around for 50 years.

Not me , but I know of four people doing it.
All sold their homes and two sold their farm land as well.

The two that sold their homes have part time jobs ,where ever they land.

The two that rent farm land do not take jobs.

After three lunchs and seeing Facebook info

It kinda sorta seems like a p.i.t.a.

Yes they go and do what ever the want,whenever they want.

But it seems like the time is structured around fixing the motorhome, correspondence with family friends and doctors,lawyers ,tax people, insurance .

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
One caution about converting a bus. There are RV parks will only accept RVs with the RVIA medallion. In other words, no home built units.

Sort of like an HOA?

Home built buses...some are absolutely works of true craftsmanship and show a true pride in ownership. You let them in and have to figure out how to keep the "gypsy" looking piece of shit school bus painted blue with plywood over all the extra windows from your park. When the standards go down, the good customers move on and the park suffers. There are RV parks that won't allow rigs over 10 years old. Trailer trash applies to RVing too. Look around at some KOA campgrounds.

I managed an RV Resort for 4 years and traveled for 8, I can tell you some stories.

I don’t know about living in an RV but I have researched the nomad life. There’s a town in TX that’s set up to service people like you will be who live in RVs. No taxes. You’re going to want a mail forwarding service in the same state. Depending on the service you select, they will scan and email you pdf copies of mail you select, they’ll scan the envelopes they received and email to you so you can select. They’ll forward what you want like packages and they’ll destroy the rest.

For Internet, if you are a rule-breaker, many RV travelers say that T-Mobile home Internet is the way to go, HOWEVER it's against their terms of service to use it as a "mobile" base station if you don't like breaking rules.

It is Cell Tower based Internet. As long as there is a OK 4g or 5g T-mobile signal, you have internet. I use it at home, where with 2 bars or service, I get 300-500MB/sec downloads and 10-25MB/sec uploads depending on time of day usage on the tower.

Look it up on google/Youtube and there are a ton of RV people using it (against the terms of service rules of course)..

Have a friend who did this for 18 months while he and fiancé selected where they wanted to live. He was on RVing America or similar show. Two key things from him.

First - understand the warranty on trailer or RV. In his experience only one or two manufacturers of 5th wheel trailers warranties weren’t affected dramatically by living in it full time. Like 90 days vs 1-2 years affected. This is a big deal.

Second - if towing get too much truck. I thought he overshot the mark, but in retrospect he was never short on power or sufficient weight to make towing a HUGE 5th wheel easy peasy.

Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
Have a friend who did this for 18 months while he and fiancé selected where they wanted to live. He was on RVing America or similar show. Two key things from him.

First - understand the warranty on trailer or RV. In his experience only one or two manufacturers of 5th wheel trailers warranties weren’t affected dramatically by living in it full time. Like 90 days vs 1-2 years affected. This is a big deal.

Second - if towing get too much truck. I thought he overshot the mark, but in retrospect he was never short on power or sufficient weight to make towing a HUGE 5th wheel easy peasy.

Good luck!

I don’t see us buying a brand new RV of any sort and I don’t think we’ll be doing a travel trailer type deal… we don’t have a tow rig now and I think long term travel in a motorized coach would be far more comfortable with kids. I think a motorhome and a flat-towed vehicle is probably our best solution.

Doing some quick searching I am seeing 10-12 year old Class A’s for around 50k that seem like they’d work… just need to figure out what brands I want to consider or not consider.

I full-timed for 15 years in an Airstream, and later a Grand Design. I'm only going to answer a couple of your questions though. Firstly, I was an Escapee out of Texas. Easy to set up and no state taxes except for the trailer. Used Rainbow drive as my permanent address, and when called to do jury duty in Polk County, I just told them I was an Escapee and was excused. Secondly, as for internet, I used OCR mobile at about $80 a month but was limited as to the T-Mobile connection in the area, otherwise, most RV parks have decent enough wifi as long as your not trying to Netflix and chill.

Good luck on your adventure, you'll make a lot of friends! (also: youtube longlonghoneymoon for some tips)

Don’t buy one which is underpowered. Whether it’s a fifth wheel, or an RV.

Commercial bus chassis ones are, probably, the best option, but more expensive.

Have you considered a very small one - the Sprinter van ones, etc - and staying in hotels?

Where will you be traveling? A bus chassis and a flat towed vehicle is much easier west of the Mississippi.

It sounds like you might be leaning toward a motorhome. That's what we prefer because it makes traveling easier for me, the kids and dogs. A large towed RV is generally more comfortable when you're camping. You have to decide what's good for you. Motorhomes have a few downsides to include the extra trouble of the generator. They don't like E-10 gas, but many places you can't get pure gas and it's generally 40-50 cents more per gallon. Ethanol Shield helps but you'll almost certainly end up working on the carburetor to get the gum out at some point.

One of our biggest mistakes was assuming that low mileage was a good thing. Our first bus was a Class A Winnebago that was really worn on the outside but nearly pristine on the inside. It was 18 years old with only 50K miles. I had a mechanic check everything out and he said we were GTG. I meticulously maintained the fluid levels, etc. Even after having to replace each tire individually over the next year, we still hadn't figured out what, "lot rot," was. Eventually, were stranded on the Interstate with locked up engine.

One of the ways to avoid that is to drive your coach at least monthly for several miles and run the generator (preferably under load) for a while.

There's so much more to it, but I'll leave you with this: Black before gray.

A lot of good points here and the OP will have to decide what works best for him and his family.

Although I don’t full time I do take extended trips up to 3 months a year. One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is the challenge just going to places like a grocery store, laundry or gas station with a larger RV. Towing a rig allows you to leave the 5th wheel or trailer at the campground when you do your inevitable chores. Also if you decide to go explore some place parking could be a bitch in more popular locations…

Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by enidpd804: Black before gray.

Solid advice.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
A lot of good points here and the OP will have to decide what works best for him and his family.

Although I don’t full time I do take extended trips up to 3 months a year. One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is the challenge just going to places like a grocery store, laundry or gas station with a larger RV. Towing a rig allows you to leave the 5th wheel or trailer at the campground when you do your inevitable chores. Also if you decide to go explore some place parking could be a bitch in more popular locations…

Good luck.

Great point. For the first five or six years, we took taxis or Ubers. Since 2017, we have been towing the Jeep. That does not have to be as expensive as some make it out to be. I got a Smittybilt bumper and compatible tow bar for about $600. A local guy wired the Jeep with brake lights that work with the motorhome for a few hundred. Break-away and braking units can be had for about $1200. Keep in mind, many of our trips are about Jeeping, so for us, it's a perfect way to travel.