RV rental.

[L.A Marche]

Anyone done it? We’re planning a cross country road trip for early summer of about four weeks duration. The options are hotel/motel nightly or rent a RV, the per night cost being roughly the same with the RV fuel costs being higher than our personal vehicle. Someone here must have some experience RVing good or bad. Anyone have any experience with long trips towing a travel trailer, that’s another option, but lower down the list.

[SKIP KILPATRICK]

Watching this thread with great interest!

no experience here.

[Jim Bow]

My son, his wife, and 3 kids rented a motorhome for two weeks. They enjoyed it for the first week. He got stressed if more than three hours at a stretch. Half the rv parks were more like party pads than campsites. Once you park, you’re stuck, so have all ducks in a row before arriving.
They talked us out of trying it.

Plus, a cabinet door was open when they retracted a slide-out. It broke. The RV owner demanded that the entire row of cabinets be replaced. The discussion lasted 6 months.

[SKIP KILPATRICK]

Well some experience, In 1976 my family took a trip west from Virginia to Montana then down the spine of the Rockies to Colorado. 1973 Ford Country Squire pulling a pop-up camper. What an adventure! We did it he Grizwald Vacation 1st.

[Nicholas Scheuer]

I was thinking of trying this with Wife. We have experience overnighting at KOA in our boat on trips to the east and west coasts.

[Jim Bow]

Don’t forget there’s a mileage fee on top of the fuel cost. Plus an RV park fee, unless you’re going to overnight in a Walmart parking lot.

[bamamick]

We bought one last winter, and sold it in the fall. It was a class C with a Mercedes Sprinter truck and cab, two slide outs, the works. Just about the best thing you can guy in that class. We had plans to use it on frequent trips to Colorado and Maine, and wound up taking a couple of short trips and one round trip to the Denver area. Here is a bit of what we learned:

When we bought it the machine had 40,000 miles on it. The dealer did a thorough once-over before we took delivery, and then we paid another $4K for a warranty. When we bought it the dealer told us to try it out and if we didn't like it, bring it back and they'd buy it from us.

Pros: the thing drove great. I wasn't worried at all about driving it on the interstate, and the Mercedes had plenty of power to get us where we needed to be. We were told the fuel mileage would be around 18 mpg, but it was actually around 15 mpg. The shower was great. The bathroom was great. I slept like a baby in the bed. It was awesome to have our own food and cook on our own stove, use our own sheets and towels, all that. It took all of about ten minutes to drive into the parking spots and hook up the hoses and power cable. Easy breezy.

Cons: there are a lot of systems on these things. A LOT of stuff to take care of. It's essentially a small house rolling down the road at 65 mph. Before we even left our house the first time I had to have an inside tire pulled and the valve stem replaced. You don't think that's a big deal? Have it go bad on the road somewhere. Then, halfway to Denver from Mobile, I got a whole bank of what we used to call 'idiot lights' (I apologize. I know that's a rude name but I can't think of what they are called now). The indications didn't make sense and weren't connected in any way, and I would walk around the vehicle about once an hour with a nervous stomach to make sure nothing looked wrong. The farther we drove the more of these things came on.

Once we got to my daughters house we found a place nearby to take a look at it. I had them change the oil (it was one of the lights that was on), check the generator, all the stuff you would check, and they found nothing wrong. But they could not re-set any of the indicators because it was a Mercedes. I had to take it to a Mercedes dealership for that, they said. That cost me almost $300, but it gave me peace of mind to get home without worry.

When we got home I took it to the dealership and demanded they fix it! And of course, they did. To the tune of $600, because they had to 'recalibrate' all of the sensors rather than replace them (which would have been free, as I understand it, due to the warranty). That took about a month or so.

Anyway, we decided that it was not really our thing, so I told the guy to go ahead and put it on the market, but that's not what they meant when they said they'd sell it for us. What they meant was that they would buy it, at about 60% of market value, so we drove it to a 'u sell it' lot and sold it ourselves, for about 75% of market value.

We learned a lesson about traveling and are now back to being pretty comfortable just finding a Hampton Inn or whatever as we travel. I mean, it's not like we haven't been doing this stuff forever, but the idea of the RV appealed, until we actually did it. One thing I will say, the KOA campgrounds we stayed in were great. Every one of them had washer/dryers, showers, stuff for kids to do (we took a three year old back home to Colorado and brought an eight year old with us back to Alabama, and they both enjoyed the trip).

I think that renting it is a good idea for a single trip. I will say that if we ever decided to do anything like that again we would just get a class B (the Sprinter Van kind of thing). You have to make it up each night and I don't think the bathroom situation is too cool, but it's nothing more than a van that you can drive and park anywhere. A lot of younger people are buying them and traveling the country in them.

Anyway, that's our short-lived experience with our class C. In some ways it was perfect and exactly what we'd hoped it would be, but there are a lot of systems that can go wrong on them, and once they start going wrong you are at someone else's mercy unless you can fix it yourself. A good friend of mine had the electric motor on his slide out go bad so he took it in for a warranty repair. He got it back three months later.

Mickey Lake

[Frost]

Wife and I own a Casita travel trailer, 17' fiberglass, quite small in comparison to most rv's but a bit sturdier than popups being motr boatlike, but has bathroom, fridge, propane stove, heat and ac as well. We've taken off on 2-3 month journeys 5 or 6 times, mostly early Feb to mid April. All models of rv's offer things and take away others. We settled on a small trailer as it allows us to take our tow vehicle around once we park the trailer at a campsite. I have a F150 that tows the trailer well. You have to learn to live outside as its easy to feel cramped when we're both in. Its easy to fall into a routine though. While we might just overnight if we're looking to get somewhere quickly, we try to stay for 3-7 days at each campground. Just relaxing and gives time to explore, we have stayed 2-3 weeks in places, do bicycling, kayacking, hiking. We like to stay at state parks as they're in the nicest places. Over the years we've found that rv'ing is taking off as more boomers decide to try it, makes reserving spots difficult but still possible. Expect National Parks to be full during warm weather and having to camp on the outskirts. Rates for sites are all over, from $25-$60 is likely. We love camping in the Adirondacks, New England and Atlantic Canada during the shoulder seasons, May-June and Sept-Oct., summers are crowded. Feel free to ask a more specific question if you like.

[StevenBauer]

My neighbor has a Class B RV. Promaster based. She uses it in the Summer to go to scenic places and in the Winter to go skiing. Just parks it at the ski area. First one on the lift in the morning. They cost almost a hundred grand so she financed it. But to help make the payment she rents it out through the website Outdoorsy. I think she gets enough money renting it out for a week to pay for several months payments.

We have been thinking about converting my work van (also a Promaster) into an RV but before I put in that kind of time and money we will take our neighbor’s van on a trip to see if we really like it.

[Ted Hoppe]

How spry are you? You really can have a blast with a Miata and a tent used sparingly (in national parks or BLM land). It would be a wonderful trip. Could stay in nice hotels and mom and pop places and save $$$$ over an RV rental.

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If you got a game momma - you could go more daring.

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[Jim Bow]

My son in law did a tent camp road trip, Oregon to DC and back. He stayed at Harvest Home and Hippcamp. Those are farms that have set up 3 or 4 campsites on their farm. He thoroughly enjoyed every stop, including being awakened by a sneezing llama.

https://harvesthosts.com

https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US

[Todd D]

There are also what are called Glamping Resorts where you rent a sort of tent "house" or Yurt. There are several locally. The tent houses/yurts have heat pumps so they have heat and AC as well as permanently set up full bathrooms, kitchens etc. You can cook your own meals, go out to eat or at one place have meals delivered from their upscale restaurant. The only down side is that the local places cost $500+ per night before you start catering meals. One place even had EV chargers at each unit.

[elf]

5 weeks on WA coast 10 years ago. Went to Wal*Mart bought a cheap tent I could stand up in. Packed it up with Thermarest pad and bag etc. Flew to Seattle. Rented Corolla size car. Drove to Port Angeles.

Went to Wal*Mart to buy a towel and facecloth I'd forgotten. Brain kinda slow here. Dawned on me I coulda bought the tent in Port Angeles. Duh.

Stayed at state, BLM and Federal campgrounds. One, on the Ho, was kinda iffy for a single woman, the rest were the usual - minimal, moderately clean, in the forest, pretty cheap.

Finished the trip in Port T at a friend's house. She bought the tent off me so I didn't have to bring it back or ditch it.

The thing I like about a tent is I can have my own pillow, sheets, bag and insulation from the ground. Pillow really important.

Now, 10 years later, things are less easy. Can't get down onto the ground, or up. Knees won't kneel. Bladder doesn't wait any more. Bought a more house tent type for local camping, with cot. Discovered all the headroom had to be heated, by my body heat, all night. Fly couldn't hold the temp against October in the NE forest. Cot too narrow, can only sleep on back. Tried sleeping in car - Corolla wagon. Just about 10" too short. Very secure. Can get to loo more or less in time. Can camp anywhere, pretty much. Must have space in vehicle for food - bears.

For Oregon trip thinking of renting a RAV 4, hybrid if possible. Live in that for 5 weeks. Camp in State, BLM, Federal campgrounds - try to get site near toilets. Fed campgrounds are usually horribly crowded. Sites way too small, noisy, not sorted well by vehicle size, tents relegated to open fields. Mora, Kalaloch, Cape Disappointment Even Klahowya was cramped. Yuck.

Do the laundry on a rainy day. Don't need campground with laundromat. Drop in organized campground, pay small day fee, hot shower. Catch up on social media rituals at local library.

I don't cook at campsites. I eat one hot meal a day, and carry ice, drinks, bread, cheese, deli meats, mayo, mustard, veggies in cooler. KISS. I'm not there to eat. or if I am it's to eat local foods.

[Lugs]

Took the family to the UK and hired a 6 berth FIAT Ducato-based RV in 2001. That was when the Pacific Peso was at it's worst against both the Pound and the USD (about 33 pence to our Peso and 50 cents to the USD). Toured England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Great experience, the kids still remember it. Parked in friend's driveways about 3 or 4 times along the way and in camps at other times. Managed to scratch the perspex windows in one narrow lane with encroaching hedges. Would have been expensive, except this near new (under 2k miles) FIAT suffered a catastrophic brake failure on us in Ireland. The engine rocked enough in its mounts to knock the brake line off the master cylinder. Apparently not a split system. I was driving, foot went to the floor with the brake pedal whilst descending a steep hill with a roundabout at the bottom. I downshifted, grabbed the handbrake... but we still had no chance of stopping until well after the roundabout. Luckily, it was clear.

When the missus went to return the RV, they started to walk over to do the inspection. "Don't bother, says she... that van nearly killed us and I'm not in the least bit interested in an inspection". She left them with the parking ticket we picked up in Lancaster too. Which raises that point - parking can be a bastard in tight areas.

My current missus (2nd and shaping up as the final one) runs an RV business of sorts. Along the lines of what Ted suggested.

Here's a couple of shots from a recent camping trip



Same guy (Operations Manager) the next day, after it rained overnight

[L.A Marche]

Wow, great input thanks.
Bamamick your experiences with an older vehicle hit one of our concerns on the head. The top contender for a rental was an older local vehicle, 2016, at a good price with unlimited mileage but no nation wide support network, we’d be on our own the moment we picked up the vehicle. With that in mind we might revisit renting from a larger company with locations all across Canada, spend a few bucks more but have a little more piece of mind.
In a way the idea of towing a trailer has some potential, we’d have to rent one keeping in mind some of the above issues, or do a quick utility trailer conversion to a minimalist camper, lots of YouTube videos on that and I do have the skills. I’ve been informed that a tent is a nonstarter if I want to remain married.
We’re still in the early days of holiday planning and little at this point is really off the table.

[L.A Marche]

Lugs, it never occurred to us to RV in Europe, thanks for adding another complication to our holiday planning.

[Steve McMahon]

We’ve done the RV thing, camper van. The thing ate gas and drove like a pig. We had some fun but it had its disadvantages, the main one being that once you are at the campground or wherever you set up you are stuck. You can’t easily un set up and go exploring or even run to the store. Also did the trailer thing back and forth between home at the time in NS to NL. Set up in one place for a week, then over the weekend travel to the other side of the island and set up for a week. Towing a trailer is stressful and I will never spend another night in one if I can help it. Again fuel is a killer. These days we find decent Airbnb’s and hotels. We have a travel tote(utensils, coffee maker, condiments etc) and a portable bbq and a 12v cooler. Cook most of our own meals and a lot less stress and expense. In the process now of planning a cross country one way trip from NL to AB in a u-haul….semi retirement and chasing the kids and grandkids. The plan is to take our time and tent a bit in provincial parks and maybe an Airbnb or hotel every 2nd or 3rd night.

[Garret]

My brother & I took our parents on a 2 week trip to the outer banks in a class C. My dad had limited mobility & sudden need for the toilet as he'd broken his neck @ 70 & even though he got to walking with a cane, there were still issues from the paralysis.

Anyway, it worked very well. Gas when we did this (late 90's) was far less of an issue than today - but that thing was thirsty. 10-12MPG on the highway, maybe 14 on back roads. As mentioned above, parking is a pain as they are big. Another issue was campgrounds. The ones we found were kinda noisy & RVs all get lumped together with little distance between each one - so less privacy than we really wanted.

I don't find pulling a trailer at all stressful - as long as the tow vehicle is properly sized. Friends have a 25 ft trailer they take to various campgrounds & they started out pulling it with a Tacoma. They, after 2 years, went to an F150 & Steve said that it reduced the stress level hugely. A 25' conventional trailer is big & will get blown around a lot (as will an RV - lots of area to catch cross winds). The Tacoma just wasn't heavy enough, so cross winds would require constant attention + it just wasn't powerful enough to keep up with traffic safely.

Some of the newer popup campers are surprisingly comfortable with a bath, kitchen, & heat. Most can be pulled by a normal size car (not a Corolla or Civic, but a Camry or Accord or small SUV) & because they fold down, they get blown around a lot less. In addition, you can find them on craigs list in decent shape for around 2-3K. I haven't checked RV rentals in years, but I'm guessing they're close to 1K a week nowadays?

Mostly random thoughts - good luck on your adventure!

[L.A Marche]

Lots to think about.
RV rental in Canada is currently $200-250 a day minus long term rental discounts plus mileage for a newish middle of the road vehicle. Fuel in my part of Ontario is currently $1.40 a litre and we expect it will be higher in Northern Ontario, lower in the prairies and jump up again in BC and the Yukon, so fuel will be a major factor. Current estimates for a four week road trip is something north of ten grand. That kind of coin is putting us into the fly to France and rent a house in Brittany for a month territory, the idea of which is gaining traction with every reply.

[Dan McCosh]

Early in life, we did road trips and tent camping. That led to cruising under sail, and it's been downhill ever since. Own a tent thingy that sets up at the back of the Prius to give you a bed in back, with stand-up room. Still takes a while to unhook it to use the car. Discovered many parks have small cabins for about half the price of a motel room. Mainly, however, we bum off of friends on route. My sister owned a pop-up trailer/camper for years, took to on several long trips, and loved the thing. Pulled by a Honda pickup, it got reasonable mileage, and when the roof was popped up, had many amenities. Small enough to be no problem on the highway. A friend once said: "If God meant people to camp, he wouldn't have invented Holiday Inns."

[MoePorter]

I'm trying this rv rental site for the 1st time...interesting concept - airB&B for RV's..
They seem to be in canada too...
Lot's of choices locally here in California. Price's seem high but there are protections I hope not to test...

https://www.outdoorsy.com/

[dbstra]

I’ve owned an array of trailers and motor-homes over the years. Class A, B, and C rvs, trailers and fifth wheels, and a utility trailer that converted to a fold down tent. Simple is the most enjoyable. If you’re going to tow a boat, then a class B or C will be your best bet – the smaller the better. No slide-outs, great! Our current Class C has the overhead above the driver dedicated to an entertainment unit, and at 31’ with three slide outs is far too large to launch our boat easily. A 22’ or 24’ Class C is in our future.
The benefit of a trailer or a fifth wheel is that you can use your tow vehicle to sight see or pick up groceries when you arrive at your destination. We did a lap of North America in 1997 with a 27’ fifth wheel (no slide outs) and traveled across Canada in 1999 with a 13’ trailer that had pop-outs on both ends. Enjoyed the little trailer the most, and it required a smaller, more efficient tow vehicle.
If a warranty is involved with your purchase, then you should verify the specifics of the warranty with the seller. During our lap of North America, our air conditioner was fried by a storm in Fort Lauderdale. We called the dealer expecting the warranty to be like a vehicle warranty, but no, we were told to call Dometic, the manufacturer of the air conditioner. Fill out your warranty cards.
If buying a used unit, beware the smell of dampness! Leaks are not uncommon, and roofs generally have a lifespan of 10-years depending on where you are located. If buying new, expect a few trips back to the dealer to fix deficiencies. Our last trailer, purchased new in 2016 had a label on an interior wall that said to “cut here” for your solar panel controller as it was pre-wired for panels. After cutting a hole in the wall, the wires were not there. Quality control is not the forte of manufacturers.
If you decide on a Class B or C, then pick a GM chassis. I have found them to more capable than Ford. With either a GM or Ford, chassis maintenance will be a lot cheaper than a MB.

[Ted Hoppe]

I will have one of these when I move into the mountains by next year. Will be glad to loan it out to friends. It won't require much to pull it, nearly any car with a hitch. It will make a great combo with intended hotel, motel and B&B stays. Easy to hide in a garage or pay $ for storage.

4BE32BFC-60E6-4923-B458-8D114915936B.jpg

[Ted Hoppe]

Took the family to the UK and hired a 6 berth FIAT Ducato-based RV in 2001. That was when the Pacific Peso was at it's worst against both the Pound and the USD (about 33 pence to our Peso and 50 cents to the USD). Toured England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Great experience, the kids still remember it. Parked in friend's driveways about 3 or 4 times along the way and in camps at other times. Managed to scratch the perspex windows in one narrow lane with encroaching hedges. Would have been expensive, except this near new (under 2k miles) FIAT suffered a catastrophic brake failure on us in Ireland. The engine rocked enough in its mounts to knock the brake line off the master cylinder. Apparently not a split system. I was driving, foot went to the floor with the brake pedal whilst descending a steep hill with a roundabout at the bottom. I downshifted, grabbed the handbrake... but we still had no chance of stopping until well after the roundabout. Luckily, it was clear.

When the missus went to return the RV, they started to walk over to do the inspection. "Don't bother, says she... that van nearly killed us and I'm not in the least bit interested in an inspection". She left them with the parking ticket we picked up in Lancaster too. Which raises that point - parking can be a bastard in tight areas.

My current missus (2nd and shaping up as the final one) runs an RV business of sorts. Along the lines of what Ted suggested.

Here's a couple of shots from a recent camping trip



Same guy (Operations Manager) the next day, after it rained overnight

Last night I had the chance to be with some of them most well connected travel specialists on the planet at my wife's industry travel related function in Palo Alto. The topic of motorcycle touring in SEA came up. I mentioned the riders cafe in Chang Mai and how there were some amazing opportunities from you all. The director of operations for Asia for the largest 5 star luxury travel company who is a sensible rider, lives in Bangkok wants to ride with me there. Others were super hyped to look into you all and the bike offerings and how to build they could build itineraries around them.

[Dave Wright]

I will have one of these when I move into the mountains by next year. Will be glad to loan it out to friends. It won't require much to pull it, nearly any car with a hitch. It will make a great combo with intended hotel, motel and B&B stays. Easy to hide in a garage or pay $ for storage.

4BE32BFC-60E6-4923-B458-8D114915936B.jpg

I just looked that one up. If it really weighs 850 pounds then it's very nice indeed. Just a fraction of the weight of many off road competitors.

[Breakaway]

I will have one of these when I move into the mountains by next year. Will be glad to loan it out to friends. It won't require much to pull it, nearly any car with a hitch. It will make a great combo with intended hotel, motel and B&B stays. Easy to hide in a garage or pay $ for storage.

4BE32BFC-60E6-4923-B458-8D114915936B.jpg

Respectfully, this thing seems silly.

I can carry a tent a cooler and campstove and sundries for a couple inside most vehicles. Why should add the complexity and expense of towing those things? ( Setting aside someone simply thinks the thing is cool and wants it, which is fine by me. )



Kevin

[Ted Hoppe]

Respectfully, this thing seems silly.

I can carry a tent a cooler and campstove and sundries for a couple inside most vehicles. Why should add the complexity and expense of towing those things? ( Setting aside someone simply thinks the thing is cool and wants it, which is fine by me. )


Kevin

Kevin

I love to spend time out in the middle of nowhere. I also love to and am a great cook. I often stop at Whole Paycheck for the meals for the week. The trailer is capable of carrying a full camp kitchen, 40 gallons of fresh water for cooking and bathing and a huge ice chest. The whole unit can be powered solar. Rather than own a self propelled RV, this makes sense in space and ability. Sleeping above the dirt, leveled with an open sky is truly remarkable. Where i camp usually has no mosquitos or biting insects. Camping outdoors in the great west is awesome. Come and see for yourself. I will be glad to take you.

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And sometimes - having a trailer and pulling into a KOA that has hot showers, a pool, laundry facilities and movie night is alright too. A small trailer often is charged as a tent...

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[Paul Pless]

if this jacked tent is a rock'n. . .

I will have one of these when I move into the mountains by next year. Will be glad to loan it out to friends. It won't require much to pull it, nearly any car with a hitch. It will make a great combo with intended hotel, motel and B&B stays. Easy to hide in a garage or pay $ for storage.

4BE32BFC-60E6-4923-B458-8D114915936B.jpg

[Lugs]

Last night I had the chance to be with some of them most well connected travel specialists on the planet at my wife's industry travel related function in Palo Alto. The topic of motorcycle touring in SEA came up. I mentioned the riders cafe in Chang Mai and how there were some amazing opportunities from you all. The director of operations for Asia for the largest 5 star luxury travel company who is a sensible rider, lives in Bangkok wants to ride with me there. Others were super hyped to look into you all and the bike offerings and how to build they could build itineraries around them.

That's simply amazing, Ted. I'm stoked. Thank you for that.

I'm also amazed that we've survived "Covid" so far. Many didn't - but there's stories there best left for over a beer. The devastation in the Thai tourism industry was huge - a great deal of experience went, so much has changed.

The next chapter in a long discussion with a colleague starts tomorrow... and that may drive the whole adventure tourism thing a lot faster.

[BrianW]

The 26ft-30ft Class C RV is a popular rental because it can provide decent sleeping space for two adults and 3 kids, or even two adult couples, with a bit of privacy, plus the bathroom, kitchen, and of course it's the vehicle which gets you from point A to point B. The problem is they are too big to get to the cool places off the beaten path, yet still fairly small when the weather is not cooperating. Seems the more serious RV crowd skips over the Class C, and run big Class A's, or 5th Wheel's, or Class B vans.

For cheaper places to stay, I would recommend Harvest Host. It's a company in which small businesses, farms, wineries, breweries, distilleries (get my drift? ) will allow you to stay overnight for 'free'. Free as in you are expected to purchase or donate at least $20 to their business/cause. There's also churches, museums, roadside attractions in Harvest Host. A year ago Harvest Host bought out another website called Boondockers Welcome. Boondockers Welcome is pretty much the same thing, without the $20 donation, but almost exclusively at people homes. In their driveways, backyards, back lots, etc. The expectation is there are no hook ups at either HH or BW sites. Generators may be allowed, but with quiet hour rules. That said, some do have electricity, probably 30amp at most (can run one air conditioner typically on 30amps) They can charge more for that, if you decide to use it.

Harvest Host is currently on sale right now for less than $90. You'd pay that for 2 nights in an RV park, so it's well worth it. Adding on Boondockers Welcome is probably $50 more. Make sure you check your route for HH and BW locations before you buy. There's no refund for not using it.

https://harvesthosts.com/join-now/?a...0aAnZOEALw_wcB

We chose a truck camper for our RV travels.

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We can obviously remove the camper at a campsite and take the truck to explore. Or use the e-bikes. Also we have the ability to tow a boat or ATV trailer if we wanted. We don't do that yet though. Unfortunately, these are not popular for renting.

Speaking of that, as a one way rental is going to cost more than a round trip itinerary, you might dig a bit deeper into you rental search and find companies that want RV's brought back from someone else's one way trip, then you could save money. Those will have time frames that are shorter than you probably want, but it's an option.

[Jim Bow]

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[Nicholas Scheuer]

The Google news feed on my phone (don't know the proper name) keeps showing me stories about the quality of current RV production. In a word, with the exception of a very few brands including Airstream, IT SUCKS. Something to consider.

[Nicholas Scheuer]

So it was two words. 40 lashes with a wet noodle dipped in quality tomato sauce.

[Dumah]

Back in the day I always had a pickup, so it follows that instead of a trailer I prefered a slidin truck camper.My last one was an older 11' with a three way fridge, three burner propane stove, with oven, full head with shower and slept 4 in very good comfort. What I liked was it took about 15 minuites to drop it and now you have an empty pickup to tour with. Yes, for a 3500 lb camper you definatly need a 3/4 ton machine, but that was pretty much all I owned at the time, working trucks and all. My dad used to show cattle at numerous exehipitions through the province and dad was surprised when I pinined up to his cattle trailer with the 11'er and towed it to Windsor and Truro. To me, a truck camper is the only way to go.

[JimD]

RVs are fine to leave parked someplace nice for a length of time. But for lots of driving and short stays, if you really need a hard shell with a kitchen, etc, a trailer you can tow and a tow vehicle you can still use once the trailer is parked sounds a lot better to me than driving a huge bus around.