He, he, we are pulling a 17' Oliver with a Jeep Wrangler. Currently in North Dakota working the sugar beet harvest.

Plan A - sell business and property, purchase 35' HitchHicker 5'r and hit the road full time. Bought a 1 ton diesel duelly to pull it with.

Buyer did not show up - still waiting.

Plan B - in order to do some weekend camping, went from the sublime to the ridiculous and purchased a slide-in truck camper. Camper worked great at local COE campground.

Took it on a 6 week, 4,000 mile trip this fall - AND LEARNED A LOT about what we need and can get along without. So thankful we didn't just jump in and buy the 35 footer. We loved the National Parks and they, along with the roads travelled, were so easy to navigate in the truck camper.

We still want the 5'r if we ever get to workcamp, or even if we can only get away from here for a couple months in the winter - but we now know we can be quite satisfied with a shorter RV.

So - I said all of the above to only make the point that as novice campers, we could have spent mucho $'s on a rig that is beautiful but would be a challenge for us to pull to, and park in, the more remote campgrounds that we are discovering that we really enjoy.

Strongly recommend that you and your wife are on the same page with your expectations.

Best wishes for happy traveling,
Fancy

Fancy, you bring up a good point. Sometimes it is better to start with an inexpensive used one to find out what it is you really want. Like you discovered, your needs may turn out to be different than what you originally thought.

CJ

I guess its a very personal decision but for us "smaller is better" so we have a 25 ft 5th wheel which we live in about 40% of the time. Our reasons- Our driveway is small and tight, we don't like being locked out of small sites in state and national parks, takes less fuel, easier to maneuver in parking lots, gas stations, etc. Stops quicker. Pulls with a half-ton truck. But then we aren't full-timers.

As said before, depends on YOUR preference... no one else.

I know a couple that has fulltimed in a 13 ft Scamp for years. They live in Quartzsite during the winter, and have seen every corner of the country during decades of summers. They sold their farm long ago and have not looked back at a sticks and bricks. The male part of the couple says "I am going to die in here". For them, it's about the experience, not the accommodations or money. The Scamp is very comfortable and homey.

I personally live in only slightly larger. I insist on a private bathroom, something the above couple looks at as a luxury, nice, but not necessary.

I have all the same things in here as my sticks and bricks. In lots of cases, better quality as well. I just don't have the wide open spaces I did at the house. I rarely miss the airspace. I too, am comfortable for me and my needs.

I like the ease of cleaning, the ability to fit in almost anywhere I want, the fact that most employers look at it as a money saver for them in resource consumtion..yes, I have had them tell me that, and not the biggest consideration, but a pretty nice benefit... it is easy to tow and inexpensive to tow as well.

We started out in 97' with a 34' 1984 Coachman with no slides that we paid cash for. The intent was to travel for 3 years and see how we liked the lifestyle. In 2000 we decided we were not ready to settle down and purchased a 1998 Carrie-lite with 3 slides and a new Ford 1 ton dually. In 2008 we were still not ready to settle down and we purchased a 2004 Monaco Diplomat 40' with 4 slides. We find the MH easier to manipulate and back into tight spots than the 5th whl, and much easier to hook up a small car than to hook up a big 5th wh and truck. That said, if we were EVER to settle down and needed an RV to just travel around the country we would purchase a smaller unit for the ease of fitting into sites, boondocking, backcountry and narrow, curvey roads. (not to mention MPG). The choice of course is very personal and depends on how comfortable you are in small spaces and how much STUFF you want to take with you. We carry EVERYTHING we own with us so bigger is better. I agree, if you are going to be doing a lot of traveling you want to look at the functionablity of the unit when it is closed up.