Did you wake up one day and think “I’m going to buy an RV” and then rush out and buy one before dinner?
Not many people do that (and they are wise), but we all vary in how long we take from the time we get the idea to buy an RV to when we actually sign on the dotted line.
For some, it’s relatively fast — they hear one friend after another boast about their new RV, or maybe they see the alluring TV commercials that make the lifestyle look so incredibly appealing.
But, then, many people spend years and years dreaming of the day when they can get their first RV. “When I retire,” so many say.
What about you? Please leave a comment
I went on my first camping trip when I was 10 months old, and grew up camping as a family in truck campers and motorhomes. When I was 17 years old, my neighbors had a “Six Pac” cab over truck camper for sale. Since I had a pickup, I bought it. Loved it for several years. Then found a 12’ “Dreamer” camper,,,,,,,, it just grew from there. Two truck campers, three trailers, four motorhomes and 42 years later we now have a 40’ Tiffin DP and love every minute/mile we spend in it.
I remember after my daughter was born my mother said she could not wait to go camping with her. I said maybe next summer? Her reply? A 10 month old camping? This I can’t wait to see. Worked out great and now she talking about her and her fiancee buying a small motor home and traveling the country. He can work remotely so they won’t need a brick and mortar home. One could be so lucky.
I stated less then a month because in summer 2005 we took some friends of ours camping. Their first and last camping ever. Ours ended that summer in a tent permanently when a storm hit and decimated the campsite. I gave up tenting that year and forever until we decided that March to look into pop ups. Ten years later we gave up pop ups for trailers. Trust you me I wish we did a trailer first thing. Now that we have a trailer I will never ever go back to a tent. What a nightmare that was.
Saw an ad for a 1959 Columbia camping trailer and decided it was time to upgrade our tent in 1984. Upgraded to a 27 foot Mitchell 5th wheel 3 years later when the boy could not stand up in the Columbia anymore. Been in a 5th wheel ever since.
I answered more than 10 years, but I didn’t know it was an RV I was dreaming of. As a child, my family took the train to Florida every year to visit my grandparents, and we booked a room in one of the Pulman cars, ate in the dining car, slept through the night while rolling along, walked up and down the cars when we wanted to, and arrived rested and relaxed. By the time I grew up, passenger trains were no longer such a good travel option, and I thought it would be great if someone could outfit Greyhound busses like the old Pulman cars – put in a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, dining room, and sitting area like the trains had. Lo and behold, my wife’s family had a motorhome! Exactly what I had been dreaming of, except I got to drive!
We did do a train to Florida. Orlando. That was a blast. Thanks for the memories.
Actually I never really thought about buying one, but a friend of mine said he knew someone selling one and he and I and another friend buy it just for going to NASCAR races. After about two years and two motors we got rid of it. But then my wife and I thought it would be fun to have one to go places so we bought a nice used class C. Fast forward to a fifth wheel and now a class A.
I really can’t say since I grew up RVing. I guess I would have to say less than five because I was married a couple years before we bought a RV, but we were tenters until we actually got one. Had it less than a year before buying a “bigger” one. LOL Now have a.45 Ft DP.
I grew up with it. Parents bought a 70 starcraft when I was 4 years old. I acquired and used that camper until 2008 when I traded it in on another tent camper. In 2020 I traded that in for a new on the lot 2018 travel trailer. Never remember being without, except when sleeping on a tarp with the Boyscouts.
Fell in love traveling when I was a little girl and my Dad & Mom would pack 6 of us in the car & visit my Dad’s family in Denver every year. When I was 30, then husband and I with our 18 mo old son, rented a Class C and took 6 weeks in 1980 to travel length of Canada & back thru US. Loved it even more. After divorce I did dream of wanting to travel that way again. Met my now husband in1996, who owned a motorhome (and tickets to the Indy 500, another dream of mine) and the rest is history. Ps…his motorhome was the old style shag carpeting in red, tiny bathroom, etc). 6 months later we bought a new Damon DayBreak gasser, 5 yrs later a Newmar Dutchstar which we still have today.
We were coming home from a long road trip in a minivan, and wondered how expensive it would be have an RV and stay in campgrounds compared to hotels. We visited a cousin who had an RV and he said he never stayed in CGs, just Walmart. So we bought a used Class B and have never looked back. By the way, we rarely stay in Walmarts.
Watched the “Long, Long Trailer” when 11 years old and immediately knew that full timing was the life for me! I’ve been living the dream for the past 5 years.
We were tent campers. In 1976 we borrowed a friends 27 foot motorhome for a trip around the Great Lakes. Loved it but had no time or place to store so put it in the Dream Bucket. 1999 we flew to Vancouver to spend a week kayaking and tenting then a week in a rental C. Drove from Vancouver to Kamloops and back in 7 days – I get tired just thinking about it today! Day 2 we put a pad in the dash to list “wants and hates”. 2001 there was a dealer RV Show at the local fairgrounds. Salesman decided we were his pigeon and stuck with us for over 2 hours walking us through every motorhome on the lot. He was right and we closed the deal on our first coach as they were driving them off the lot to the next show. That was a 33 foot gasser. Three years later I called from the road with specs and pricing for our next coach – 2004 Southwind 36E. Loved that coach for 8 years and 105,000 miles. Now live FT in our 2012 Phaeton 36QSH. Our salesman had died so couldn’t make the deal with him 🙁
We had discussed the idea a few times before deciding this was what we wanted to do when we retired.
Spent the next two years visiting RV Shows, RV Dealerships, reading anything and everything RV and watched many, many videos. By the time we were ready to take the plunge, we knew what we wanted and went looking for it.
Only small disagreement we had, because of price, I wanted a Gas powered Motorhome and the wife wanted Diesel, she won (surprise), and we bought a slightly older DP and now 4 years and 33,000 miles later we’re still very happy with our choice.
We spent almost two years researching before buying. We went to several RV shows, read magazines, signed up for RV forums, rented, etc.
Because of that we had very few surprises and are satisfied with the unit we bought.
We were tent campers, thinking of upgrading to a pop-up. My brother-in-law shows up in our driveway with his new dinky little 5th wheel. We said, “That’s for us!” A couple weeks later we had a 25′ travel trailer (no dinky little 5th wheel with a coffin sleeper for us though). That’s how it all started. We never even had a chance to shop for a pop-up!
I despised tent camping! Had to load everything in the vehicle, unload, set up in the tent, blah blah blah. First RV was a travel trailer. It was great to leave everything in the camper and just have to pack some food and clothes for any camping trip. Then we thought let’s downsize to a pop up camper. That lasted one season. We are back to a wonderful travel trailer and this is where we will stay!!
Had always discussed a motorhome when we retired.That was a few years away yet.We had started looking though a month before.My disabilities were getting in the way of tent camping.I couldn’t help much with setup and take down.Memorial weekend we camped.Very windy.Setup was one of those, sorry for what I said while setting up, kind of thing. Worse than usual.The next day we were evacuated due to a fire that started in the campground.We had wonderful neighbors that helped us, which embarrassed me for needing that help.Feeling pretty bad about our camping experience, we left the campground, headed down the mountain.No cell service where we were.Half way down all my msgs came in.1 was from dealer from RV show we had been to the week before.We may have only researched a month, but knew the exact motorhome and colors we wanted.I told dealer about it.He left a msg saying he had my RV in stock.Looked at my husband and said, tomorrow we are going to buy a motorhome!He said, I agree!No regrets.
It only took a week or two after we decided we needed a way to take all four grandkids traveling with us for us to buy our first Class C. I had traveled alone as a single guy in the 70s using a 74 Vega hatchback and a Chevy Luv 4×4 with an over the cab camper shell.
I selected 5-10 years because I was 15 at the time, having an rv of some kind has always been my adult security blanket.
When I remarried, I married into a pop up trailer. It was only used a few times and sold. We traveled for ten years in a van conversion, two actually (one was stolen in Mexico). We then bought a 1967 Colorado,, camp trailer, which I restored. I even found the guy who had bought up the inventory of the factory that had been closed for many years and found new, original Colorado name plates. That was sold to a producer from the Opera Winfrey show who drove from Chicago to Colorado to pick it up. We then found a 67 Airsteam to match the 67 GMC. Ten years later we bought a Winnebago C class the day we looked at it. Two years later, this year, we saw an Outdoors RV, Mountain Series Blackstone 270RLS and bought it then and there. Sold the Winnebago after the fact.
I camped with my parents as a child. After I discharged from the military and settled in at my new home with my wife and two children we saw a neighbor putting a “For Sale” sign on his pop-up. A half hour later I was back into camping.