Everybody has a story … including motorhomers, of course. That rings true this month, as a number of FMCA members gave us their take on this question:
What was the main reason you decided to buy your first motorhome?
After a two-week vacation with our six kids in a pop-up camper and van, we came to the conclusion we needed something different. We decided on a motorhome, because we wanted to sleep in our own bed every night and not have to worry about finding a restaurant, motel, or bathroom. What a great decision that was! After 36 years, the two of us are still traveling in our (now) third motorhome and have visited every state.
Erv and Iris Ohman, F153399
Pelican Rapids, Minnesota
In 1999 we were looking forward to retiring within a few years. We wanted to travel and see this great country of ours. Being from Mobile, Alabama, on the Gulf Coast, I have always enjoyed the water. We looked at several large boats to live on and travel in but decided on a motorhome, because we could cover so much more of the United States from the highways than we could from the waterways. In March 2000 we purchased a 37-foot Fleetwood Discovery.
Ron Whiteside, F344936
Pensacola, Florida
Our goal is to retire in 2016, sell our home, and travel the continental United States, including Alaska, plus Canada and Mexico. We have family, friends, acquaintances, and all the national parks to visit. We chose a 31-foot Type C Starcraft Ambient, which is our first motorhome, and are still in the learning curve. We love the space above the cab for our gear (bicycling, kayaking, hiking, snorkeling, and cave exploring) and, of course, sleeping space for the grandchildren when we are not traveling.
Rodrick & Katherine Pingree, F425527
Rutland, Vermont
We always wanted to travel when we retired. But diagnosed with cancer prior to retirement age, and uncertain about the prognosis, we decided now was the time. My dad had always sung the benefits of a motorhome; my parents started with a small travel trailer pulled by a car, then bought a larger trailer pulled by a pickup truck, then a motorhome. We agreed and started with a motorhome! You don’t have to get out in the elements to get into your RV. No more in and out of a car, lugging suitcases into a hotel. You can stop and park anywhere with all conveniences. The facilities are always clean! You can save money on hotel rooms and by eating in. Towing a fuel-efficient car helps compensate for fuel costs. Most of all, we’d never give up the convenience of motorhome travel. Still motoring . . . .
Jon and Sharon Miller, F415845
Dillsburg, Pennsylvania
In spite of a secure tent, the following occurred: Skunks in our tent. Thieves in our tent (while we were asleep). Raccoons in our tent. Bears checking the garbage cans right outside of our tent. Rainy days and a cold, wet tent. A hailstorm knocking down our tent (with us in it). Even with these little incidents, we had many happy years of camping with our five children. However, enough was enough, and once the children were grown, it was time to buy a motorhome. Our 19-foot Roadtrek fills the bill perfectly.
Carl and Helen Marschner, F307274
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Back in the 1990s, I was into bicycling. Four friends and I decided we wanted to do RAGBRAI, the bicycle ride across Iowa. We were going to rent an RV, and my wife was going to drive it while the five of us rode our bikes. It turned out we could not find an RV to rent, so we started looking for a “cheap” one to buy. The more we looked, the higher our expectations became (and the price). We bought a 1986 22-foot motorhome from a private party. We had never driven or stayed in an RV before. We took it out for one weekend before the seven of us headed off to Iowa (my wife found a friend to accompany her). We have been moving up in the RV world ever since and enjoying every minute.
Chuck and Sue Borcher, F164191
Naperville, Illinois
In 1976 we were planning a three-week vacation from Houston to California. There would be six of us (including my in-laws). We looked into renting a motorhome and found it would cost more than $1,000! The idea of traveling in one appealed to all of us, but I couldn’t justify paying that much. I thought we could buy a preowned motorhome, use it all summer, and sell it for about $1,000 less than the purchase price. We bought a 1973 Coachmen for $11,000 and loved it. After using it for a year and a half, we sold it for $9,000 and purchased a brand-new 1977 LaPalma (by Executive Industries) and enjoyed it for 10 years. Because of work and other commitments, we found that we couldn’t use the motorhome, so we sold it and did without an RV for 15 years. We then bought a new 2003 Alfa and have been full-timing in it. We originally planned to keep this coach for five years and then either upgrade or quit RVing. Now, 10 years and some 140,000 miles later, we have been in 49 states and most Canadian provinces. We had the Alfa painted this summer and hope to keep full-timing another five years or more. Life in a motorhome is addictive!
Richard Hugo, F323345
Full-Timer
My husband had always wanted a motorhome. I was very reluctant but told him if he could find a brand-new one to rent, I would give it a try. He found one, and I was hooked after our first trip. The reason to buy our first motorhome was strictly an economic decision. We had four young sons, and it was extremely costly to take just one nice family vacation each year. We figured that for the same annual cost, we could buy a motorhome and take many vacations throughout the year. Our sons have been to 38 states and three Canadian provinces. It’s been almost 20 years since our first motorhome, and we now own our fourth one. We’re happy to say we’re carrying on the family tradition and introduced our granddaughter to the lifestyle when she was 6 months old!
Howard and Linda Weinberg, F308149
Vernon Hills, Illinois
In 2007, when we were close to retirement, we bought our first motorhome. We realized we were then facing a window of time that would allow us to use our retirement to travel and share experiences together. That window would be open, however, only as long as we both remained in good health. Given this window, the RV lifestyle was the perfect way to seize the opportunity. We are now committed to the RV way of life and will maintain that commitment until the window closes one day.
John and Mary Ann Guenther, F386102
Borden, Indiana
In 2002, while living in Monrovia, California, I accepted a position at a pharmaceutical company in New Jersey, and needed to start in 30 days. We devised a plan to sell our home, pack, and move. Because we were going to temporary housing, furniture and many items would be placed in storage. We then thought of RVing across the country and carrying our clothes with us. We would first explore the wonders of America, then arrive in New Jersey on time and have our personal things with us. We rented a Type C motorhome and took Interstate 40 across the country for 2,780 miles. We had never RVed before, so we learned how to drive, cook, clean, dump, pack and unpack when we needed to move, and shop for food and supplies. We learned how to communicate with each other — even when backing into a new site! More importantly, we learned more about each other and how to enjoy our longest vacation yet. Being together 24 hours per day for 30 days had its challenges, but love prevailed.
When we arrived in New Jersey, we actually experienced withdrawal symptoms as the Type C sat outside and we wished we were still on the road. Two weeks later we decided to get a motorhome to continue the experience, and six months later, after traveling through New Jersey, we decided to plan our retirement and our full-timing life together. It’s been eight years on the road and six years as a full-timing family of two. We absolutely love our life and our newfound friends. No regrets on our life choices.
Jeanne and Chuck Fingerman, F345878
Full-Timers
We were years from retirement, but in the back of my mind was the desire to fire my boss and travel more (I was self-employed). I felt I had to 1) start conditioning my wife toward taking the initiative and quitting young to travel, and 2) buy smart to avoid a real loss if my plan failed. So in 1988, when I was 41 years old, I picked a used GMC motorhome, which was known not to depreciate, and the plan became reality. Seventeen years and some 250,000 miles later, we sold our first GMC for exactly our used purchase price! Another GMC followed, and now we’ve moved to a Type B. Small motorhomes fit our needs, as we stop for only a day or three when on the road and we travel the blue roads, seldom using those four-laners. We’ve also adopted a travel style that fits us — it’s the trip, not the destination, that’s our priority.
Steve Ault, F106024
Green Valley, Arizona
We started traveling in 2008. Our friends had a toy hauler and our other friends had a motorhome. We purchased a diesel pickup truck and a cargo trailer to haul our motorcycles in. When we traveled with our friends, they would stay at a campground together and we would stay in a motel or hotel. Then our friends talked us into checking out and buying a toy hauler so we could all stay together. This 33-footer was the biggest lemon ever made. We only had it a year when we traded it in on a 2009 Fleetwood Southwind 36-foot motorhome. It was great, except it had difficulty towing our cargo trailer and bikes in it (about 6,000 pounds). Everywhere we went that year was up: Cody, Wyoming (the Rockies); Sturgis, South Dakota (the Black Hills); Branson, Missouri (the Ozarks); and Maggie Valley, North Carolina (the Smokies). A week before we were to leave on our 2010 trip, we traded for a 2007 Fleetwood Bounder 38-foot diesel pusher. Now we have no problem going up and we don’t even know our cargo trailer is behind us.
Rick and Travis O’Leary, F406519
Haines City, Florida
Future questions:
1. What hobbies do you pursue during motorhome trips?
2. Describe your favorite spot for dry camping.
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