I sold my pop-up camper last year because it was too much work. I have the bug again, but I want an expandable trailer. DH says no thank you - what would compare and be an alternative? Of course, other than quilting.



:-D

If you only get the bug once in awhile, renting an RV is an option. It is expensive, but much less expensive than owning if you only go a couple of times a year.

Tent: authentic camping, cheap, portable, primitive, eco-friendly AND you'll be glad to get back home. :lol:

a nice resort hotel, with your own hot shower, and preferably a goose down duvet, room service & clean pool :)

just sayin...

How about a cabin in a park? Several state parks in Ohio and Indiana have cabins to rent.

What about tent camping? These days you really don't have to "rough it" if you don't feel like it. Those super-deluxe raised air beds are surprisingly like a real mattress, especially the dual-chamber ones (really nice if you're sharing the bed). Big tents are readily available and much easier to set up than I remember them being 20 years ago. Plenty of state parks and other campgrounds have excellent shower facilities (Indiana Dunes has nicer showers than I had in my old house!), and if you get an electric-supplied campsite, you don't even need to cook over a fire, just bring a hotplate. A few hundred dollars will set you up with some really nice gear, and it'll fit in your car (no gas-guzzling truck to maintain and insure).

I miss camping. We haven't had a chance to go in the last couple years, but we're hoping to get out at least once this year.

This would be my choice, better than a tent at my age and not a cookie cutter motel.:)

We have an '89 VW camper. It comes with a 2 burner stove, tiny sink, internal propane system to run the fridge and stove, some have been modified to have a furnace that uses it too. It has 2 beds, an upper that comes out when you pop the top and a lower that the back seat converts into. it has a water tank for the sink (cold). It plugs into electric and then the fridge switches to that.

Lots of rear storage space behind the seat for an extra table and chairs, also a big center space for a portapotti and standing room. They are just as cute as a bug in a rug, but if one of you isn't mechanical, there are better options. They go for about $10,000 to $12,000 normally for late models. If you find an older one in a barn in reasonable shape any age, PM me

You could consider a class B van which is similar, but usually has the addition of a permanent toilet, real furnace and more mechanical relilability (SP). And usually quite a bit more money. With either of the above, you need to put everything away if you don't plan to sit at the campsite the whole time-a big pain in our opinion (but we've had the van since '94 and put over 200,000 mi on it). We also never hesitate to sleep in a motel if we need to, either!

The next step us is usually a class C with a double bed over the van and lots of beds hidden all over, like the dinette usually makes a bed, etc. Those you can usually get for $5000 to on up and some those could be nice for occasional jaunts.

The big boys are called class A's and are the big mooses you see at CG's or on the hiways that have any thing you might ever want even including washer and dryers now. It's truly taking your house with you and many people live in them full time. I think those generally go from $30,000 to ridiculous (over $1 million). If you buy one for the million, please invite us over for a visit.

Then since (if), you already have a tow vehicle there are the trailers. We've been looking for a light weight one that is very small, but has basic BR with toilet & shower, stove, double or full bed out and a small dinette. We saw one in VT at a GC that came out of Canada I think it was called a ProLite by Profil or the other way around, it only weighed about 1500 lbs. and I *think* could even be towed by a car. We didn't see any prices on the web site, but there are some darling lightweight trailers out there now including an A liner pop-up or the new craze the tear-drop type (Tab is one brand name). And there is always the vintage the old ones that are called "canned hams" because that is their shape! We see a lot of them for sale by the roadside as we drive by or a vintage Airstraem:
we'd love a Bambi, their baby.

And across from us in VT this couple literally had a house tent. It was the biggest 3 room tent we'd ever seen, and it had mock mullions in the window and a front door screen room and I bet it was under $200. With a tall blow up mattress and some chairs inside, it looked to be pretty comfortable to us and the kids that had it were thrilled with it.

In lots of area of the country there are still summer cottage colonies were you can rent one by the week either private or at state parks.

What ever you choose, it'll work for you if you want it to and if you're like we are, you'll always still be glad to get home, we don't have the souls of fulltimers!


Let us know what you decide to do, ok? :lol:

I checked into renting, Only motor homes are rentable at 10mpg. The cost is $2000 plus a $1000 deposit/refundable if tank is full and perfect condition. Gas is not included in the cost!

I want a Hybrid that is only $5600, I have $2800 from the sale of my pop-up. If someone would buy my embroidery machine that would be another $1800 - now only $1000 more than before. I really hate hauling stuff and setup of those items in the pop-up. It isn't necessarily cranking up the pop-up, but equipping it afterward. In a TT most of the items would already be set up right?

After we got older, we no longer tent camped but still did tent camp in Yosemite Valley. The park service rents big cement floors/walls with tents covering the tops. We used to take a tiny covered trailer behind our car or Scout, and would stay a week at a time and loved it. It had a wood stove and a huge metal, bear proof food locker. We and the kids all loved it.