Life in a towed caravan
 

My partner and I are going to transform our lives as we know it to start living in a caravan for up to 2 years. We are looking to buy a new truck and tow a second hand twin axel or fifth wheeler on to it.
We are planning to start somewhere in Michigan still not quite sure where exactly but I know that winter can be a challenge, and move about as and when we need to.
Can anyone recommend and tell me about personal experiences during living in a caravan? What type of caravan was it, and how many people were living there at the time?
how easy and convenient is it warming the caravan in the winter?
Anything I should include when purchasing a second hand caravan?

Anything else you can share with me would be most appreciated!

Thank you for all the answers

Suggest reading the "how to" posts on this site:

https://everywhereonce.com

There is more to consider than just which vehicle to buy.

And with two years, why on earth would you start in the north in the winter?

<<And with two years, why on earth would you start in the north in the winter?>>

There's a reason that Canadian RVers go to South Texas, Arizona, California and South Florida in the winter.

Winter weather in Michigan is legendarily bad, so if you're starting this winter, I would get to a warmer area--you list South Carolina and Texas, for example--and purchase your truck and camper there. Driving from Michigan wouldn't be wise, again, assuming it's this winter that you're starting. In summer, you'd be fine.

Oh, also, there aren't a lot of people on these boards who RV (camper), so I doubt you'll find good answers to your detailed questions about camper life. Good luck to you, though!

I'm guessing you are not from the US as we call it RVing. No way would I RV in Michigan in the winter. Even my brother who lives in Oregon will not use his 5th wheeler during the winter. Driving can be dangerous and depending on the rig, hard to keep cozy warm.

I was wondering the same thing, BarbAnn, if the OP is from the US. I don't mean to be condescending, but I assume immigration issues related to living in the US for two years have been sorted out?

Yes, after I posted it did occur to me that the use of "caravan" implied a non-US poster. In that case, visa status is certainly important, along with potential difficulties acquiring insurance. All the more reason to read the site I posted, which addresses the issues of living in the US without a fixed base.

Yes, definitely read the RV-specific link that thrusdaysd posted - you'll need much more detailed information than anyone on this board can give.

I believe that most people who live in RV's full time migrate north to south according to the seasons. That is something to take into consideration when planning such a life.

Have you googled this?

Look at the blog Adventures of Trail and Hitch. They've posted in depth about buying an airstream.

Don't know if you're a family but you can listen to Family Adventure Podcast for stories of families traveling all different kinds of ways.

Find a family then go to Instagram and start following them, Instagram will suggest other people to follow and soon you will find a whole group out there on the interest who are full time traveling.

I've given lots of thoughts to doing this so started collecting resources but for now have to stay put.

My in-laws did this for a while after retiring.

Why people don't live in caravans in Michigan in the winter: the heaters are marginal, and the pipes hang well below the floor where they can freeze, both water and sewer pipes.

Used trailers (what we call caravans) are going to have something wrong with them. It may be minor or it may be critical, but you are going to wind up spending money on your "new" vehicle, sometimes more than once, before you get it sorted out.

The great myth of the open road is that you can drive along footloose and fancy free until the urge to stop strikes you, then find a place to stop and hook up. This is rare enough that people who do this regularly almost invariably book ahead just as they would with hotels. You will never want to take the caravan into a large city, so you will have to find a campground on the outskirts and drive your truck in to sightsee.. and where will you get mail?

If I wanted to do this, I would find a state with no sales tax and cheap license plates. New Hampshire and Delaware are two, but there are others, notably South Dakota for registrations and domicile (legal address). I would travel south to Texas, learning how to drive in the wide open spaces. Get to know others doing the same thing, then, when it gets hot, head north to visit some of the places they suggest. You can see a lot of the country in two years, but a lot of it is pretty empty.

"Used trailers (what we call caravans) are going to have something wrong with them."

There is usually a huge inventory of "slightly" used RV's in Arizona [perhaps other places as well] because of all of the seniors who think this is their retirement dream, only to find out it is more of a nightmare.

There is also the issue of insurance if the OP isn't US citizen, I think.

<and where will you get mail?>
What's mail, lol? Seriously, the people I know who are under, oh, 35 or 40, get nothing of significance via snail mail. And there are services that will collect and scan your snail mail and email it to you for very little money. Or you could ask a friend to help out with it. This is not a concern in 2016.

There are TONS of used campers and accoutrements for sale in Florida as well, as DebitNM says. People give up on them, or, well, they die (sorry). If you study up and are savvy, I think you can get a good deal.

This kind of lifestyle is not for everyone. I wouldn't do it in a fit, and most people on this board seem to feel the same way, which is why it's not the best place for the OP to ask for advice.

We have friends who just retired and bought a brand new 38 (!) foot RV for more than they paid for their house. It has granite and stainless and two bathrooms and three TV's and a fireplace. (yep) We don't envy them, but they have been saving and planning for years and are thrilled. Now they have to buy a car to tow behind their behemoth...

"the people I know who are under, oh, 35 or 40, get nothing of significance via snail mail."

This generational difference came to light at my company earlier in the month. We get statements from our ESOP (company retirement) mailed to our houses periodically - some of the younger engineers were incredulous that this information is not online somewhere and that we get *paper* sent to the house. One of the older folks wanted to know what the big deal was - so it comes, you put it in your file cabinet and there you go. A *file cabinet*, for real, like a physical thing with *paper* in it!?!

Yeah, I think I get maybe replacement credit cards, and ballots. Maybe the odd birthday card. REI flyers. And then about a million pieces addressed to "current resident". So the only thing nonnegotiable is the credit card but that's like once a year. Every single bill and bank statement is email. I'm a bit amazed the post office is still functioning as well as they are.

I do keep a file cabinet, but it's 90%
art paper and 10% tax/vet/personal Id stuff.

I agree with the footloose myth thing. First, it's a lot of work. Second, the nice RV campgrounds you may be picturing with a pool and laundry are really expensive and are booked way ahead in popular destinations. So you spend a lot of money or you hunker down in Walmart parking lot- no facilities, fires, or scenic advantages,

I think this site attracts planners. I can't remember the last time any sort of footloose/fancy free idea received approval here. I got scolded for advising a visitor to Venice (Italy) to just roam--didn't I know there are maps?? And that to venture out without a map was foolhardy??

I will report anything interesting about my friends' 38 foot RV adventure. I have made them swear they will blog faithfully.

Re venturing out without a map: in Odessa Ukraine we ventured out with a map in our standard Latin alphabet. But all the street signs were in Cyrillic. We got lost ... no one that we found spoke English and we know about 4 words of Ukrainian and Russian and they couldn't make heads nor tails of the road names on our map.

A sailor from there knew a bit of English and insisted on being our guide for half of the day ... and wouldn't accept any gift or money in return ... he explained that he'd had similarly gotten lost in cities all around the world.

That turned out to be one of our favorite days. Spontaneous unplanned things are often the best.

I don't think their idea is bad. It just needs to take into account certain realities.

"A place to get mail" is shorthand for having a legal address. You need this to register your vehicles, buy insurance, and get things like tax returns. South Dakota is apparently a good place to do this for all kinds of reasons.

As someone who sort of randomly divides his time among three locations in two states, I can tell you that there is still an awful lot of paperwork being generated out there, and it is a huge PItA to deal with. Having it all go to a mail forwarding service like Deb suggests is a good idea.

Finally, I would join all of you who suggested buying someone else's used dream in a place like FL, AZ, or South Texas. You can get good deals, but you can't expect your purchase to be trouble free. But broken water pumps or having to level the whole trailer every time you move it so the refrigerator will work isn't part of the dream.

<having a legal address. You need this to register your vehicles, buy insurance, and get things like tax returns.>
My understanding based on friends' experience is that RV dealers will help with this.

<Having it all go to a mail forwarding service like Deb suggests is a good idea. >
That was me, but I got the idea from another Fodorite, so fair enough.

Lastly, can't we just assume that the OP knows that vehicles require maintenance? And used ones perhaps more so? I know RV's are in a different category of vehicle in a big way (heh heh), but still...

You need a truck with a good factory installed tow package. We only camped in the summer so I agree that winter camping is not a good idea although I think there are manufacturers who do make winterized campers. We bought our campers used but dh could handle any problems and knew what to look for. We preferred a larger camper with a separate bedroom. If we had gone 2 feet longer, the camper had a larger bathroom. I usually used the campground shower because the camper shower was so small. We also preferred a front kitchen (tow behind camper) so people didn't have to walk thru the kitchen to get to the bathroom or LR area. Our first camper was really too small for three people since our bed was the fold out couch that had to be made up every night. Our second camper was just the two of us and had a separate bedroom.

When you know the weight of your camper and calculated how much it will weigh loaded with water and supplies, you have an idea of how much truck you will need. This summer ds and his family traveled cross country. Because he tows a variety of trailers and truck mounted campers, he prefers a diesel. Some of his friends have Ford 350s because they tow so much weight (camper plus race car). Fifth wheels can be easier to tow. Anything with a slide out will provide extra room if you stay awhile some place but will also make the camper a lot heavier.

Even driving on good roads in good weather is not without warnings. You can't just swerve if there is something in the road when you're hitched to a camper. One time our first summer we arrived at a grocery store early and without thinking, parked near the front. Well, by the time we came out, people had parked on both sides of us. I think there was one empty space and dh was just able to drive out. In the future we parked at the rear of parking lots. Be aware of bumps and steep areas where things underneath can scrape (this is particular true if you ever go on a small ferry). Be aware of overhangs. Many are marked with the height. Coming back thru NY ds accidentally got on a highway that was supposed to be off limits to trucks and campers - reason was the low bridges. There was one they barely cleared before he was able to get off that road.

It really depends on how well you can drive in winter. We have friends who travel cross country in late January pulling a large enclosed trailer. They are careful about weather but have encountered snow and bad roads.

I agree that a lot of campgrounds are expensive and the smaller state parks might no have large sites for campers (some are tents only).

Wondering what "move around as and when we need to" means. It is the "need" part that has me puzzled.

I suspect they are trying to stay 1 step ahead of the fuzz ;)

As usual, useful information from dfrostnh.

Thanks, Ackislander.

Gail, we did "move around as and when we need to", during a summer long camping trip. Sometimes we only stayed a night, other times we stayed longer, investigating an area. We headed south in July. Returned home for about a week due to a commitment, then headed north for the rest of the summer focusing on PEI and Nova Scotia. Perhaps they are pursuing a passion or study.

Since ds and his friends always buy used campers and trailers, usually off Craigslist, I know some people have the ability to know a good deal and/or deal with problems that are known or unknown at time of purchase. Sometimes they have even bought junkers to part out and help renovate a better candidate. Perhaps the OP and partner have some mechanical skills. A couple of times, ds has had to make some repairs on the side of the road. Usually, someone stops to offer help but he hasn't needed help. Here's hoping if the OP ever needs some roadside assistance, it comes along.