Our RV Quest
So many RV's to choose from
RV or Bust - This site is about our search for the perfect RV and the helpful people that we meet along the way; the dealers, the owners, the part-timers and the full-timers, the 5th wheelers, the luxury motorhome set, adventurous cabovers, toyhaulers and the hardiest of all, the pop-up people. As a baby boomer husband and wife that just turned 60 we are looking forward to the day (just about two years from now) where we can thumb our nose at corporate America and discover the real America on the open road in our perfect RV.
RV as home or as weekend warrior
Stop! Look, then look some more - Over the last year and a half (mostly weekends) we have toured the insides of at least a thousand RV's, sat in hundreds of slide-out dinettes, pretended to prepare meals (checking counter space) in just as many kitchens and squinted our eyes while trying to imagine the view (out those gorgeously expansive windows) as being that of the ocean or forest. Takes a vivid imagination, I know, but those days will come. Who was it that said, "if you picture yourself there, it will happen"?
Get to know different kinds of RV's
Once we decided that the RV life would be a big part of our retirement we formulated a three year plan to research the in's and out's of RV living that first had us addressing our mis-conceptions. For example: We didn't know a slide out from a pop up and we certainly couldn't use a public restroom - yuck! I will never forget the first RV we looked at was a 35 foot beauty and when my wife saw the bathroom in it she just about pulled out her checkbook right there on the spot! From then on we began to wonder if three years would be enough!
Make it the right RV for you
There are so many types and sizes of RV's and being fortunate to live in Arizona we have lots of choices. We could have purchased the first or the 100th of any RV we looked at, they were are all cozy, compact and had our imaginations soaring. Only by reminding ourselves that this is a major purchase and not an impulse buy and the fact that we are not quite ready to buy kept us honest. After much shopping around you too will begin to develop an idea of what it is that you want based on the type of travel you plan to do and where your comfort levels are. Then it starts to get easier. Am I suggesting that you take three years to find your perfect RV? No. But I am suggesting that you take your sweet time. Oh, and did I mention that all the time that we spend looking is - FUN!
We have only managed to narrow things down a bit to the point of knowing what we don't want but that in itself is a moral victory. Our perfect RV will be in the size range that we think will be manageable (how we arrived at that is another post) and will give us the four elements in a traveling home that we feel are things we can't compromise on. Our RV will be lived in for a quarter of the year in places like Oregon, Colorado, Alaska and we want to feel at home, not cramped. Your perfect RV may be anything from a Pop-up to a fancy motorhome depending on how you want to use it and how much time you plan to spend in it.
We think it will be a fifth-wheel
And after having visited more RV lots than we can remember and talked to many "experts" at dealerships, RV shows and with private owners we find (at least at this point) that we are about 80% decided on a 5th wheel or "fiver", as they are sometimes affectionately called, something in the 27' to 30' range. This should make towing and maneuvering easier (especially for rookies like us) yet seems to be big enough to offer the most options in floor plans for rigs of that size. It also keeps the towing vehicle to three- quarter ton size with room to grow.
More useful RV information
Our plan is to (for the first few years anyway) travel about four months of the year, June through September, returning back home to Scottsdale, Arizona in the fall. Meanwhile, during our search for the perfect RV we will be gathering items of interest that we run across that we think will be useful info for the prospective RV buyer and even the experienced RV'er. It is my sincere hope to be able to devote full time to this endeavor in the next year or so and if that happens you can expect more frequent postings with a lot more information. It has truly become a labor of love for me and I give thanks every day to the patience of my dear wife who still suffers the daily grind in corporate America. It won't be long now my sweetness!
The RV lifestyle will change our lives
My military disability may prevent me from working a 9 - 5 job but I can still handle a pick-up truck with the best of them and hooking up a 5th wheel should be no problem. With our faithful companion Duke, the "Wonder" dog, we will embark! (ha) on a road to discovery that will more than likely change our lives forever. No more commutes, no more office politics, no more "suits" and no more fear of hearing the "F" (fired!) word. When I close my eyes I see us somewhere like the Oregon Coast, comfortably ensconced in our 5th wheel trailer, listening to the strains of the Beach Boys while my wife fixes us a cocktail, just in time to enjoy a spectacular ocean sunset. Until that incredible moment arrives where dreams meet reality please enjoy the journey with us.
Ask The RV Experts
The best way to research and gather the information we need to spread the RV gospel and to further our mission is to talk to the people involved in this industry personally and as a boomer couple who likes to plan ahead for major life changes -over the last year and a half we have talked to a lot of interesting people about RV’ing. Having said that, we do not pretend to be experts in this arena (yet!) but as baby boomers ourselves who have decided that the RV lifestyle is going to play a major role in our retirement plans we have already done a ton of research. The purchase of an RV is a major investment that will not be undertaken lightly – we came by our money the old fashioned way – we earned it! – and we won't be parted with it easily! We still have a lot of ground to cover before making that final decision.
Hit The Road - So please follow along with us as we undertake the journey to find our perfect RV. We hope that you find that the information we post will be useful to you and that you will support our advertisers by visiting their sites. That is the only way that we can continue to provide our readers with free, up-to-the-minute and relevant content and how we make a modest income from the site. We want you to benefit from our experience and our mistakes alike. The purchase countdown clock is set for May 2009, not that far away in boomer time. The question still remains; what will it be? However, we have a sneaky feeling, as with all things that we are passionate about, that the journey might be as much fun as the destination and hopefully, dear reader, you will find us qualified to not only share the adventure of our quest but to present it in a way that is truthful, straight-forward and entertaining. The simple truth is: at this stage of our lives and being still considered "young" by most standards we long for the excitement and freedom that the American road has to offer. It's hard to believe that in less than two years we will sell the house, store the furniture and heirlooms and hit the freedom road in our 5th wheel travel trailer. Hoo ey, we can hardly wait!
See America one mile at a time
The RV Way - We may decide to become full -time RV’ers at some point but that decision is a ways off. You can be sure that along the way on every journey we will document our experiences (both good and bad) and will keep our readers informed about what we discover. We want the reader to be able to avoid the mistakes we are bound to make and that hopefully they will find our style to be homey, sometimes off-beat, yet honest in the way we present the “Boomer Approved” RV resources seen on this site. Discover America the RV way and see it as it was meant to be seen.
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