Most liked posts in thread: Cruise America

Our dogs loved traveling in the coach, too bad my wife didn't so much....however if they bark at every single person they see or that walks by you'll need an understanding campsite owner, either that or they'll have to park you away from everyone else, which isn't always possible. We just took ours with us whenever we left for more than a couple minutes - that way we didn't have to worry if they were barking and driving people nuts in our absence. Long walks work wonders, you get to see stuff, you both get exercize and they sleep for hours afterwards!

Before you buy, renting one for a week or more is a great way to find out if the life is for you. It's a whole lot cheaper too, if it doesn't work out. Renting also lets you know whether you can handle the stress of driving one, and lets you learn all the little ins and outs of the newer designs, since that's all a big outfit like CA rents - the latest and greatest.

The main reason we didn't choose CA for our rental had more to do with location, not price. That said, in the more "touristy" parts of the country you'll have a lot more sources to choose from. Rates vary, but not hugely from one company in the same area to the next. Here Google is your friend - you can find pretty much all the players in one area pretty quickly. Also you can map your destinations and find campsites ahead of time.

I'd say give it a shot - you might find it's a lot of fun!

As to the car situation, we seriously considered having her follow along behind me in the car so she wouldn't feel "trapped", but again, it's not much of a vacation if we both have to drive the whole way - so we left the car with friends in Colorado Springs.

Anything further you'd like to know feel free to contact me - we've learned a lot since our maiden voyage, we'd be happy to share.

 

"What's behind me is not important!"

The late Raul Julia....

Back to motorhomes for a minute....

My wife and I have been discussing the ins and outs of ownership vs. renting.

Points:

If you own it and aren't living in it year round - you have to store it someplace - that costs money. It also means you have to winterize it if you live in a cold winter climate, or find warm underground storage like we have here in KC. If you rent it, all you have to do is pick it up and take it back.

I don't see the point of buying one if you're only going to use it 2 -3 weeks out of the year. Bear in mind I'm talking about a large, fully equipped coach, not a little van conversion...

We were at the local RV show last night, we sat in a 45 ft coach that had a bath and a half, stacked washer and dryer, side by side fridge/freezer, 45" TV and a fireplace! Now that's what I'm talking about!

But, even the biggest coachs are only about 450 sq ft of living space, remember that if you're thinking of living in one year round, and make sure the two of you (or more?) can be around each other in such a small area day in/day out.

A lot depends on your age/family situation. It's different if you're younger and traveling with kids than if you're retired and just cruising America. For younger folks it's an adventure in outdoor living, for us old farts, it's more like living a travelogue......my ideal would be to tow my race car and a MINI in a trailer and hit every road course I could find in the US and Canada - that could take a while, but think of the great places you would see, and the fun tracks you could run on! I'd have my shop in the trailer for a getaway and something to do, she could go antiquing or shopping or whatever she liked as she'd have a car. Win/win.....to me anyway.

A couple more points on renting vs owning. If you own one and sell your home, then after a few years if you want to stop and stay somewhere, do you buy a home again? Or do you keep your house while you travel - paying for two homes in essence?

Motorhomes depreciate hugely - they're worth about 1/2 what you paid after 2 years, and continue going down steeply from there - the more you spend, the faster and further the value drops. For example, we're looking at a 45' 600 hp diesel pusher by Newmar that listed in 2006 for close to $1 million, right now with 18K on it and in perfect shape, they're asking $300K, chances are it could be bought for $250K - 1/4th it's original cost after only 4 years. Also, the state of the art changes fairly quickly, especially in the last 10 years, with features and amenities that weren't even thought of 10 years ago now becoming standard.....

Renting vs Staying in hotels. For what it costs to buy, own, insure, store and manitain, you could stay in 5 star hotels every night of your travel. Mostly true if you don't live in the coach, but only use it a couple weeks or months a year.

This is a huge country, I would love to spend a lot of time just seeing and visiting all of it.....