RV's anyone???

pacu traveler · Jul 9, 2006

My husband and I have sold our home and moved into our 37 Ft 5th wheel. It has 3 slides. I am not traveling now but will be in January. We had planned to leave the area in September but my present employer made me an offered offer I can't refuse until the end of the year. My husband will travel with me. His plan is to work at the campground we are staying at. He is a "work campier" By doing this our site is either paid for or at reduced rate. The campground we are at now he works 20 hours a week and our site is paid for. All hours over 20 he works he gets paid a small hourly rate. I will let everone know as time goes on how this is working.

As for internet where we are now they have WI FI for $39.99 a month. Some campgrounds have wifi as part of the site.

kadee7 · Jul 9, 2006

My sister and I are both concidering the traveling nurse thing and yes we also have heard that it can be expensive to do that, but there is good coming out of it also. see you can do a 13 week stay in a condo or apartment where the hospital puts you then you can also do the RV thing. I am really looking forward to becoming an RN and hope that I do get a traveling nurse job. Do you know anyplaces that we can start looking at so good cheap RV's at on line or something.

stuckinthecedar · Jul 10, 2006

Think long and hard before you buy a toyhauler. I think those are great for weekenders. However; that garage portion of the trailer becomes your sleeping/living area once you arive at your destination. Most parks are not going to allow you to park/store your toys during your 13wk assignment. Also, it takes very little spilled gasoline to totally permeate the interior of your nice RV. My wife and I travel a lot. We like our 5th wheel, but it does limit what you can haul in the bed of the truck. Still, for most of us the 5th wheel is the best option. We found out the hard way; buy the best quality model you can afford up front.

rodggang · Jul 11, 2006

I love this posting. :balloons:

Did your husband use workcamper.com to find the job in the RV park where you are staying or just get hired after you arrived? My husband is retiring next year and we are working toward traveling next year. I have been on the workcamper.com site to look at some opportunities that might keep him busy. I am going to start with some per diem close to home, then start traveling next year.

We just traded up to a 36' Excel 5th wheel this year and just love it. I think it will be great having all your own stuff when you travel and not have to pack everytime you pick up your roots.

Cris

RNERHOUSESUPOR · Jul 17, 2006

I really want to thank everyone for keeping this post going. It is helping me a lot. I have looked at all the toy haulers that I can find in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. Haven't found one that I think I can live in for an extended period yet. My problem is I want to take too many things. Picked up an RV trader this weekend and will be on-line most of the night looking up the ones I find in there. I agree with the comment on having a gas spill, and was concerned about parking the pulling truck, my car and my motorcycle all in the same spot as my RV in the campground. Next weekend I hope to spend some time talking to the managers of a few RV parks in South Florida. I hope they don't laugh at me when I ask about bringing my toys with me.

ICURNGUY · Jul 18, 2006

Thanks for the quick responses. Scarpbooker06, you will have to let me know how it works out for you . What type did you choose? I worked with a couple in South Florida who had a travel trailer and a CRNA in Kansas who had a Class A motorhome. I've read about the cost of parking spots in Florida and may rethink trying to do the RV site there until I find out for certain what I will have to pay for a spot and if I have to pay for the whole year just to have a reasonable monthly charge. If anyone else has information I will appreciate it.

I have recently been redirected in life's arrangement. I am a nursing student, and when married my friends and I would joke about "if my wife left me....". Well it happened and I bought a travel trailer. Very nice, comfortable, and cozy. I would recommend a slide b/c it gives you a greater sense of room. Not confining. Gotta get one pretty big, mine is 31 ft. long. I love it, and my house was 1300 sq ft. As far as the lots they are flexible, and most will go month to month. You can arrange for certain amounts of time. Even only days or weeks. It is pretty affordable even with the payment for the trailer. I have a truck to pull it, and use it to go to work. If weather is good I have a scooter to save $. KOA campsites are pretty common, and once you visit a few sites they will lead you to more and more. There are websites that list areas nationally as well. Be carefull some are for the wealthly and charge a pretty penny. Down-town Austin has one that is for them and it is nearly $500 a month just for the space, before the water, cable, and elec. This has been a great option and it is portable. When I finish I plan on being a traveling nurse, and this will be prefect.

RNERHOUSESUPOR · Jul 25, 2006

Finally made it out of town to visit Harper Camperland, anyone heard of it? They had one of the Super Class C motorhomes there. I have sort of given up on the "Toy Hauler" , and had thought that the Super C would be the way for me to go. After looking at it I'm not sure. They had two on the lot. One a "buy back" and the other new. Both had the same floorplan and were nice enough, until I stepped into the used diesel pushers (DP) that were parked right next to it. There just seems to be so much more room in the DP. They only had one used Class A Gas, and it wasn't in very good shape and they had one New Class A Gas, that wasn't too bad. How do you decide on which one to buy. There are so many pros and cons with each of them and I am having trouble weighing them out. I have checked with a couple RV sites but it's hard to sort through all the information. I guess I will have to keep on looking. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

nightingale, RN · Jul 25, 2006

RNERHOUSESUPR:

I do not know anything about RV's but I can speak of shopping. Whenever I make a purchase greater then (usually) $500, I force myself to mull it over. I try it on so to speak in my mind. Your purchase is unusually large and important and it sounds like you are already making that mental "list" of pros and cons.

Most often, IMHO, the purchase of a home is ultimately emotional and gives us joy, pride, and peace. I hope by laying it out here, you get the reinforcement you need to feel good about your purchase.

Good luck to you. I am envious, We have three teens to go in educating, before we can make a beeline for the highway.... I do live vicariously through many of the posts here on AllNurses

Happy Travels to you.

RNERHOUSESUPOR · Aug 22, 2006

Last weekend I may have found the RV for me. It's a 2001 Rexhall Aerbus. 39 foot with a 330 Cummins Diesel and 6 speed Allision automatic. There is a front and rear slide and a unique floor plan. Any trevelers know anything about this type of unit? Thanks in advance for any replies. Hope to see you on the road soon.

Trvln Nurse, RN · Aug 24, 2006

I origionally posted on the first page. I am the traveling RN living in my 40 foot Safari Panther double slide diesel pusher. Sorry I haven't checked into this web site again sooner....a lot of good postings here. I am currenlty half way though my Florida assignment....and as always I am getting eager to hit the road again. My husband jokes with me....says I should make my assignments 8 weeks instead of 13. We just love getting on the road and seeing new places. I had a blast traveling from the West coast to the East coast last June. I took six weeks off to make the trip...it was so much fun....saw a lot of great places along the way. After this assignment completes (early October) I am planning on taking a few weeks of to travel up and down the Eastern coast line. Have to stop off at Cape Cod...and get up to Portland, Maine on this venture. I actually just got my Mass. RN license...so I might make a travel assignment stop there if anything looks interesting. Otherwise...who knows. My husband and I are always talking about all the different places to go....there are so many options. I've had fun here in Florida....I must have landed in the golf cart capital of the U.S. They have seperate roads for them....it's hilarious....lots of unique golf carts out there....interesting area (central Florida...huge retirement area called the Villages) but very warm in the summer and thankfully no hurricanes or tropical storms thus far. I plan to stop and say hi to Mickey Mouse before I leave as my husband and I love amusement parks. So we're going to check out Disney Worlds campground too.

You were talking about different sites to look at RV's. There are lots of them. Some I really like are RVTraderOnline, RVSearch, RVHits, etc. Most importantly....I also always look up anything I'm thinking about buying on the Nada guides (don't enter any options) just search the basic price....if buying...try to buy at low retail or better. The most important thing about buying an RV or trailer is buy at the right price as they do depreciate. I've walked away from many RV's I was interested in buying because the price wasn't good enough. I'm glad that I have done so....as I have never been "stuck" in an RV that was worth less than my loan payoff....thus enabling me to "move up" with different purchases at later dates.

I'd love to get together with other traveling RN's on the road. Perhaps we should start a annual RN RV ralley or something. Would be fun to see where others are traveling. It is also fun to caravan places with other RVers...have done that too. My husband and I were also thinking of Alaska for a summer....that trip will take some serious planning however and think we will wait a couple of years before that one....but I'm sure we will make the trip. We will definately caravan that one. Happy Travels!

motomanRN · Sep 2, 2006

Hi, I just purchased a rv last week and I am planning on taking it to an assignment in Seattle. I like the idea of my own housing. I don't think I will come out ahead on cost though. Spots in an rv park aren't cheap. Hopefully it will work out. I have heard of others traveling with an rv and they like it.

wondering if you traveled to Seattle yet. I just bought a Rv myself and am going to take my first assignment in Washington State. Looking Forward to it. I am an Er Nurse. Any feed back on good Hospitals to check out or stay away from.

MotomanRN

motomanRN · Sep 2, 2006

wondering if you traveled to Seattle yet. I just bought a Rv myself and am going to take my first assignment in Washington State. Looking Forward to it. I am an Er Nurse. Any feed back on good Hospitals to check out or stay away from.

MotomanRN