with fuel prices increasing, year after year, it made me rethink what I need/want. We currentyly have an older (86) 25' Class C - Yellowstone Cavaleir and still working our way towards full time RVing. (Hopefully in the next 2 to 3 years) the Cavalier only gets between 10 to 12 mpg, so traveling would be a little expensive.
So I started thinking about a minivan version and am in the process of putting it together, gathering components - comfortable front bucket seats, to be mounted on swivel bases to face the rear (at least the passenger one at the very least) the foam mattress from the cab over bed on the Cavalier will work nicely, over 7' long, so enough length for my 6' height which will be along the driver side from the front seat to the rear hatch.
small counter with sink/faucet and spot for microwave on the passenger side, towards the rear. A small cargo trailer towed behind that will hold a generator, water and propane tanks, along with other gear, like camping style tent shower and grill.
Once I get one completed, I want to think about the possibility of an electric minivan RV. charge up at camp grounds, solar and wind generators for boondocking or extending the traveling range.
ROGER WEARE - 13 years ago
Last year 20,000 miles. Most years 15,000 miles. Will have to watch speed, MPG, and budgeting. May not be able to go quite as far. Winter in Arizona and travel the country all summer. "O" for under $1.00 a gallon -- never again.
Iris - 13 years ago
I just went full time last yr in Aug. I still say it was the best decision I ever made. I work as a work camper and try to find jobs where they pay my space plus a salary, during this time I try to make a full circle where my church, jobs and my friends and family are all in that circle so I don't drive much out of my way. I do lots of dry camping or boondocking that gives me more money to pay for gas to go places. I have all the comforts that life could offer, everything in moderation and conserving things lasts longer. Happy traveling.
Carolyn Ledford - 13 years ago
One of our reasons for being full-time is that our four children have each chosen a different state to live in - 3 east of the Mississippi and one west of the Mississippi. Therefore, we still will need to travel the same number of miles just to have time with each of our families. We have chosen this year to spend a longer time at each of these locations and do some touring by car (hybrid) rather than moving the RV about. BUT we still want to give the grandkids traveling experience so will still have to put on miles. Guess we do it till the funds simply say "no more" and hope prices will drop enough to make it all possible.
Dan - 13 years ago
We are cognizant of the higher fuel prices but will continue to travel the miles just over a longer period of time and staying longer in one spot. Our game plan this year is to find a campground within close distances to the sites we want to see. We are pulling a motorcycle to travel on once camped, where in the past we camped moved on to a desired site and camped again. We feel that this is smarter just from the stand-point of not having to break camp every day. Maybe this increase in fuel prices will actually be beneficial to us, forcing us to take more time to enjoy the sites and one location for a longer period of time. 40 mpg on the bike will be a good thing too.
Bruce - 13 years ago
As a fulltime Rver and Workamper, I don't always have the luxury of "staying put" at the park I'm working at. Back in the good ol' days I could travel north in the summer and south in the winter without breaking the bank. Now, fuel prices often mean spending more money just getting to a new job than I will make up working that job. I now have to look for jobs that may not necessarily be where I want to be but close enough to afford getting there. I pray everyday that this economy recovers enough to put all of us that want and need to work back to work doing something that we can actually make a decent living at.
Gerald Bentley - 13 years ago
my wife and I are full timers and we have a set number of miles we travel. We winter in FL, work the summer in Yellowstone National Park, and visit the kids in IA going and coming while we would like to do some extended traveling it really has not been possible and now it looks like it will be even more difficult but we will do what we can when we can.
We try to stay within a flexible amount to spend on gas.(Now that sounds weird "flexible" ... we simply spend what we have to as long as we don't exceed our total monthly budget) We don't seem to have curtailed our miles significantly. During the major gas crunches we experienced with our RVs, we merely stayed in one spot longer between spurts of travel. We also found that we traveled shorter distances between stops. Actually we were able to enjoy an area better that way. (These comments are based on times were in a "tourist" mode and not when we would drop anchor boondocking in the Wild West.)
with fuel prices increasing, year after year, it made me rethink what I need/want. We currentyly have an older (86) 25' Class C - Yellowstone Cavaleir and still working our way towards full time RVing. (Hopefully in the next 2 to 3 years) the Cavalier only gets between 10 to 12 mpg, so traveling would be a little expensive.
So I started thinking about a minivan version and am in the process of putting it together, gathering components - comfortable front bucket seats, to be mounted on swivel bases to face the rear (at least the passenger one at the very least) the foam mattress from the cab over bed on the Cavalier will work nicely, over 7' long, so enough length for my 6' height which will be along the driver side from the front seat to the rear hatch.
small counter with sink/faucet and spot for microwave on the passenger side, towards the rear. A small cargo trailer towed behind that will hold a generator, water and propane tanks, along with other gear, like camping style tent shower and grill.
Once I get one completed, I want to think about the possibility of an electric minivan RV. charge up at camp grounds, solar and wind generators for boondocking or extending the traveling range.
Last year 20,000 miles. Most years 15,000 miles. Will have to watch speed, MPG, and budgeting. May not be able to go quite as far. Winter in Arizona and travel the country all summer. "O" for under $1.00 a gallon -- never again.
I just went full time last yr in Aug. I still say it was the best decision I ever made. I work as a work camper and try to find jobs where they pay my space plus a salary, during this time I try to make a full circle where my church, jobs and my friends and family are all in that circle so I don't drive much out of my way. I do lots of dry camping or boondocking that gives me more money to pay for gas to go places. I have all the comforts that life could offer, everything in moderation and conserving things lasts longer. Happy traveling.
One of our reasons for being full-time is that our four children have each chosen a different state to live in - 3 east of the Mississippi and one west of the Mississippi. Therefore, we still will need to travel the same number of miles just to have time with each of our families. We have chosen this year to spend a longer time at each of these locations and do some touring by car (hybrid) rather than moving the RV about. BUT we still want to give the grandkids traveling experience so will still have to put on miles. Guess we do it till the funds simply say "no more" and hope prices will drop enough to make it all possible.
We are cognizant of the higher fuel prices but will continue to travel the miles just over a longer period of time and staying longer in one spot. Our game plan this year is to find a campground within close distances to the sites we want to see. We are pulling a motorcycle to travel on once camped, where in the past we camped moved on to a desired site and camped again. We feel that this is smarter just from the stand-point of not having to break camp every day. Maybe this increase in fuel prices will actually be beneficial to us, forcing us to take more time to enjoy the sites and one location for a longer period of time. 40 mpg on the bike will be a good thing too.
As a fulltime Rver and Workamper, I don't always have the luxury of "staying put" at the park I'm working at. Back in the good ol' days I could travel north in the summer and south in the winter without breaking the bank. Now, fuel prices often mean spending more money just getting to a new job than I will make up working that job. I now have to look for jobs that may not necessarily be where I want to be but close enough to afford getting there. I pray everyday that this economy recovers enough to put all of us that want and need to work back to work doing something that we can actually make a decent living at.
my wife and I are full timers and we have a set number of miles we travel. We winter in FL, work the summer in Yellowstone National Park, and visit the kids in IA going and coming while we would like to do some extended traveling it really has not been possible and now it looks like it will be even more difficult but we will do what we can when we can.
We try to stay within a flexible amount to spend on gas.(Now that sounds weird "flexible" ... we simply spend what we have to as long as we don't exceed our total monthly budget) We don't seem to have curtailed our miles significantly. During the major gas crunches we experienced with our RVs, we merely stayed in one spot longer between spurts of travel. We also found that we traveled shorter distances between stops. Actually we were able to enjoy an area better that way. (These comments are based on times were in a "tourist" mode and not when we would drop anchor boondocking in the Wild West.)