Anyone have an interesting reason they are into RVing

[BC1]

So I've had 7 RVs and been doing this for about 25 yrs. At some point I realized that lots of us who are not just a sort of temporary/short term RVer probably got into it either because our parents or friends were into it.

In my case, neither my parents or any friends ever had an RV. Guess how I became obsessed with them? When I was about 7 for Chirstmas my parents bought me a Barbie motorhome. I don't even think I knew what a motorhome was so I'm not sure why they bought it but I was completely amazed that you could live in this house that you drive. That was all it took for me LOL. That thing was the best toy I ever had.

Just thought I would share that funny story.

[saddlesore]

Retired Long Haul truck driver, now full time RV'r

Now I can stop and "See" everything I've had to drive by and wonder "what was that" as I passed.

[Bob Denman]

. We like getting away from it all...

... while taking it all with us!

Seriously: started this whole camping thing with my parents about 55 years ago, and just never stopped.

[JamieGeek]

Growing up I would "camp" in a boat. My parents belonged to a club that was an island (appropriately named "club island") that we would spend every weekend at in the summer.

From work travel picked up a pretty big travel bug as well.

Later on figured out that camping in an RV was incredibly similar so picked up a travel trailer. Been over 20 years now camping...

[Cakeman]

Let see, I am 57 and I started with my parents (maybe around 7?). I remember the pop-up my parents had. I think it was a playmate, then they had a dutchman pull behind (towed with a wagon, you know sit backwards, window down, look at trailer, breath exhaust fumes, while my dad smoked a cigar ) and by the time I was getting into high school they had a Georgie Boy -Cruise Air Class A (My dad bought it as the advertisement had a pinto wagon on the roof, which was his toad at the time). Oh boy…. Let me tell you about the keg parties we had when my parents went out of town. My wife and I started with a tent, then a popup, then a pull behind. Then our children went to high school we sold the camper. I wasn’t having those parties at my house.. . Then we bought a project 74 Winnebago 4x4 for camping on the beach. Then a dutchmen Quigley converted class C 4x4 for beach camping. Then all our friends we camped on the beach with started camping in campgrounds, so after a few year…. Now here we are with the Class A. We bought a little earlier than thought for retirement travel, but I can afford it now, so why wait. Trust me as a cancer survivor…. Waiting for a rainy day may not happen. I’m not saying be ridiculous with your money, but for us…. This was it. So maybe it’s in my blood?

[Oneilkeys]

I sailed a 36’ Beneteau to the Bahamas every year for 12 years, raced the the Abaco’s regatta every year and spent 6-8 weeks sailing around. My wife no longer wanted to be 50 miles from the nearest town with no one around and no one to come rescue her, so I sold the boat and bought an RV. The first year we did 1400 miles from Florida to Alaska and back - up the AlCan Highway all over Alaska and down Rt 37 home. Many times we were more than 50 miles from the nearest help - but she felt safe because we could pull off the side of the road and not have to anchor and not worry about hurricanes and be pretty sure that someone would come by to help. RVing is not the same, but it is close enough for me.

[paulwadley]

For me it started out going to the Redwoods during the summers. Dad and the boys slept in a tent and Mom with the girls slept inside the station wagon(1960's era). Fast forward to early 1990, my wife and I bought a friend's pop up Viking tent trailer and off to Canada across the trans Canadian Highway back down through Wyoming and Montana. We took our daughter(toddler with us). Moving forward to 2015 we bought a brand new Class B motor home and traded it after two years for a brand new 2018 Thor Siesta. Enjoying taking our grandson on many trips so he can have the same experiences that we have had over the years.

Paul

[ducksface]

Hotels are a mess.
It doesn't matter that it says Hilton on it.
The Hilton in downtown oklahoma city has a blimpies like menu.



We don't travel on a schedule. Given the chance, we physically flip a coin when at a cross roads or y so advanced reservations are constricting.
We got tired of starting to look on-line for a room by noon to get one that night to find out the nearest chow was a waffle house. Have to be out at 11am. Pets are becoming the norm. Smokers smoked in the only room available.

We're a pressed and polished pair so dragging luggage to the third floor of an edgy redroof inn mostly sucked.
The last straw was the fairly recent habit of halfwits talking loudly in the halls while strolling to the elevator.

Punchline:
The unwashed and untamed and uncaring have driven us to carry our hotel on our back. The food is there, the clothes are hung in the closet, the a.c. doesn't rattle all night in a $200 room and no kids are tap dancing on our ceiling.

Not exactly an interesting reason. Just a reason.
I'd rather not have an rv.
I was driven to it.

[halfprice]

Dogs is our reason. When we got married we did 2-3 trips a year. Cruises, flying somewhere, taking several car trip to wherever. Then the dogs came. First one lab, then another lab, then the Chihuahua, and finally the yorkie. In-law were at watching them but as they got older is was getting to difficult. So we got the 5th wheel which was good for several years and them moved up to the 29m. Only the yorkie is left and she runs the mh. When shes gone well go back to flying and exploring the world with mh trips in between.


Jerry

[Bob Denman]

No doubt: our furry kids have trained us well!

[Leadgator]

I had been sailing for years, had 3 different boats before my first husband and I bought our Morgan 41 OutIslander. He passed away two years later, demo'd and sold the Morgan and bought myself a Nonsuch 30" Cat rig and stayed in sailing. Met my second husband who also was in sailing. We sold our boats and got a 42 Ft Hans Cristian motor sailer to sail off shore. He had health problems and we sold that and bought a condo in Florida. When he passed away, I was tired of sailing and having Coast Guard rescues and dragging anchors. I bought my first 34' Winnebago in 1998 even though I had never driven one. They delivered it to my condo and gave me a half hour driving lesson. Since then I have probably put on 150,000 miles in RVing. My current husband would pick where he wanted to fly in and I would pick him up at the airport, he's spend 2 or 3 weeks and fly home. I have driven across US, all of Canada including the Maritimes and New Foundland, and have been through most of Alaska with a Camping Group, most of it myself as my husband had to fly home. Currently we have a Thor Hurricane 29M, 2018, and are continuing to travel, although not necessarily as far as I am 75 and my husband is 79 and is currently experiencing ill heath with Pulmonary Fibrosis. We have an oxygen concentrator in the RV and he has a portable unit and scooter so we can walk our dogs together as he cannot walk long distances. Rving is a way of life and a way to enjoy life in the Great Outdoors. Hope you enjoyed this story. When I get behind the wheel I bless myself and say "God, please guide and protect us and lead us on our way".

[tbl5142]

BC1 you asked a great question and the stories are all very interesting, we loved reading them and hopefully more people will answer this question, it's intriguing.

As for us, My wife and I met in Europe in the late 1980's. I had a S-10 Pickup with a topper on the back so we would throw our sleeping bags in the back whenever we were both off at the same time and travel. When we returned to the States, our son was born and we purchase an AZA Membership. At first is was just day trips, then we went over night but the S-10 was getting a bit too small so we purchase a 1970 Scamper Pop-Up for $400. We used that for a few years, sold it and purchased a new Pop-up. We traveled all over the country towing a Pop-up until my wife's disability started getting worse, then we moved to a trailer but having to get in and out of a truck and in and out of a trailer was wearing her out, so eventually we sold it all and started going to hotels. That lasted for a few years but having to be on someone else's schedule was not for us, so in 2013 we purchased our first Thor Motorhome, used, 25' Majestic (La Tortuga we named her) from Cruise America. We had that for 5 years. In 2018 my wife wanted a new motorhome, one that no one else had slept in, so we purchased our present RV, 2018 Thor Quantum RW28 (La Tortuga II) and have put a good amount of miles on it. La Tortuga II makes travel easy for her and I like the idea of pulling over just about anywhere for a break. We have always loved to travel, see new sights, try the local cuisine, and speak with the local people of the areas we visit. We traveled to 49 of the 50 states over the many years and we can't figure out how to get La Tortuga II to Hawaii . As Samuel Clemmons said, Travel is detrimental to Prejudice, Narrow Mindness, and Bigotry, get out and see what's there, no one is promised tomorrow. Only 2 things always remain the same, The Love of God and Death.

[danrn]

Like many have already said,I too started with tent camping, and moved up from there. I just love the fact I can take everything with us. We're the only ones that have every used this camper unlike hotel rooms. Hotels can be hit or miss. Noisy people/kids, smells, etc. Hotels also normally only have a small fridge and microwave, unlike our campers have stoves/ovens so we can cook when ever we want and not have to go to restaurants. While traveling if the weather gets bad just pull over and chill out.
A five star hotel, or my camper??? My camper will always win!!

[Bob Denman]

Leadgator,
I'm in awe of your refreshing outlook!

[CLG]

Two dogs, two cats, two homes, one happy wife.

[Cpd]

My husband and I had never camped together before. I had tent camped long ago but his idea ocamping was a cheap motel.
I had a job where I traveled around the country. He hadn't seen much outside of Vermont. I had decided to retire. Business travel gets more tedious with ago imo. He said he was ready too. My only requirement was we not retire to sit around on our thumb or meet at the local diner to talk about our aches and ailments. I saw too many doing it in our little town. Sitting around waiting to die...

So I started researching rv life. Next thing I knew we had bought one and after retirement set out on the road. We we were " most timers" until we sold our home last fall. We're now full-time.

We have had so many great adventures and seen so much of this beautiful country. Traveling with him has been like traveling with a child. He has been so in awe of the majesty of this country and I got to see it in a better light too.
We love this life! Happy trails all.

[Jimbo56]

We went tent camping with daily monsoons at Ocean Isle Beach NC 30 years ago. My 6 year old daughter said “Daddy, can we go to a motel? Please!”. It went from there to a Class A now.

[Ford1]

Couldn't resist adding to this thread! No one in my family ever camped. When I was thirty I got the great idea that if we got a camper, we could comfortably take the kids (3 at that time) on vacation to see the grandparents and on weekends trips closer to home. So we bought our first motorhome and thus the story began. In recent years only one of our kids has been bitten by the RV bug. My oldest doesn't like insects, the youngest says it doesn't fit his lifestyle, and the other one got a bad taste about RVing when I owned the 'motorhome from hell'! I guess one out of four ain't bad. At any rate, we are on our 7th motorhome and I feel like I am enjoying a little bit of heaven on each trip we take, whether it's 1000 miles or 40 miles.

[Nursx2]

Family time!

[saddlesore]

Originally Posted by Cpd

I had a job where I traveled around the country. He hadn't seen much outside of Vermont. I had decided to retire. Business travel gets more tedious with ago imo. He said he was ready too. My only requirement was we not retire to sit around on our thumb or meet at the local diner to talk about our aches and ailments. I saw too many doing it in our little town. Sitting around waiting to die...

So I started researching rv life. Next thing I knew we had bought one and after retirement set out on the road. We we were " most timers" until we sold our home last fall. We're now full-time.

We have had so many great adventures and seen so much of this beautiful country. Traveling with him has been like traveling with a child. He has been so in awe of the majesty of this country and I got to see it in a better light too.
We love this life! Happy trails all.

Yup..Same here..I trucked over the 49 states for 50+ years, while the wife had a job with state treasury and held down the fort..

We had a 34' gasser class A parked in a semi permanent site near my employer [300+ miles from home] that I used when I got back to the yard ,but did not have enough time between loads to go home.
When I was forced to retire after receiving artificial shoulders, Sold the gasser and Bought our Foretravel ..
When the Wife decided enough was enough after 35 years and retired, We sold the S & B home , left Oregon for South Dakota and began the FullTimer lifestyle..
I also Really enjoy showing Her the "Real USA" that She never had experienced.... Like enjoying "Fried Pickles or an evening of drinking RC Cola and nibbling on a Moon Pie!..While watching a bug zapper....[AKA southern entertainment Center]
For me.. Now I can stop and See everything I've had to just drive on by in the truck and wonder "What was that?
Happy Trails