What are your camping setups?

[wibornz]

I'm just curious, what are the prime months?

June, July and August. The general consensus is you leave Alaska by the middle of September.

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[LukeDagny]

You’re probably just smarter and more discerning.This is a stupid way to spend money, especially for somebody with my modest net worth. If it was just me, I would have bought an F450 and another pickup camper, but my wife loves the RV gig, and I don’t want to go places where I can’t pull my jeep, so our options were quickly constrained. If we get 6 or 7 years of travel out of it and sell it for 60% of what we paid I’ll consider it a win.

My brother and smarter friends regularly point out that we could have paid for a lot of hotel rooms for what this will cost us, but after working homicide for a long time, I’m not fond of hotels… As they say, you pays your money, and you rolls the dice!”

Nice looking unit.

Buying an RV is probably not a wise financial decision, but if you believe in the "Die With Zero" philosophy, it makes a lot of sense. My wife and I bought a Ford based Seneca Super C this year. It is our 4th RV/motorhome in the last 15 years. My wife and I love flat towing the Jeep where ever we go.

We're in the Go Go Go part of retirement, we're hoping to get 10 years before we hit the Slow Slow Slow part of retirement. I spent over 50 nights in my motorhome this year.

Pick up campers are nice, but I experienced the benefit of a larger unit this year, when one of our trips it rained for a few days straight. Having more interior space kept us from getting cabin fever when it rained.

I remember saying something to my MIL about being cheaper to get a hotel, many years ago, when they bought a ginormous 5th wheeler and Ford SD diesel. Her reply was I like sleeping in my own sheets. I now understand.

 

[LukeDagny]

Here's my set up from this past March in North GA

 

[Whaler27]

Nice looking unit.

Buying an RV is probably not a wise financial decision, but if you believe in the "Die With Zero" philosophy, it makes a lot of sense. My wife and I bought a Ford based Seneca Super C this year. It is our 4th RV/motorhome in the last 15 years. My wife and I love flat towing the Jeep where ever we go.

We're in the Go Go Go part of retirement, we're hoping to get 10 years before we hit the Slow Slow Slow part of retirement. I spent over 50 nights in my motorhome this year.

Pick up campers are nice, but I experienced the benefit of a larger unit this year, when one of our trips it rained for a few days straight. Having more interior space kept us from getting cabin fever when it rained.

I remember saying something to my MIL about being cheaper to get a hotel, many years ago, when they bought a ginormous 5th wheeler and Ford SD diesel. Her reply was I like sleeping in my own sheets. I now understand.

Thank you, and I agree with your analysis. I like your Jayco too. We were concerned about rear overhang and GVWR, or we would have opted for a little more space/storage/length too. As it is, we’ll be using the cabover for storage.

In the early 80s we started with a cheap, very heavy, well-used, “Dreamer“ pickup camper that was mostly plywood. A few years later we upgraded to a new tent-trailer, Then a new Lance camper, then a Jayco Granite Ridge Class C, then an Arctic Fox camper, then a Tiffin Class A Diesel pusher, then this. The length of time in each unit varied, and there were tenting and hotel intervals in between. Retirement just started for us. I’m getting a late start, so I’ll feel pretty fortunate if we get ten years of go go go, and I’m assuming this will be our last camper.

 

[LukeDagny]

Thnks you, and I agree.

In the early 80s we started with cheap, very heavy, well-used, “Dreamer“ pickup camper. A few years later we upgraded to a tent-trailer, Then a new Lance camper, then a Jayco Granite Ridge Class C, then an Arctic Fox camper, the a Tiffin Class A Diesel pusher, then this. The length of time in each unit varied, and there were tenting and hotel intervals in between. Retirement just started for us. I’m getting a late start, so I’ll feel pretty fortunate if we get ten years of go go go, and I’m assuming this will be our last camper.

We had a similar experience. We started with a motorcycle and a tent. We'd buy a cheap styrofoam cooler to hold our food when we arrived at the campground. When my kids were in elementary/middle school, we had a 6 man dome tent. Once my wife's air mattress sprung a leak in the middle of the night. She said, not more sleeping on the ground for her.

Enjoy it while you can, you never know when things can take a turn for the worse. I'm fortunate my wife is kind of pushing for some retirement travel. Part of her career was a hospice nurse. She would come home and say, " I had a patient today that was only 40 something, or 50 something, we need to make the most of what time we have".

 

[007]

 

[Flip]

June, July and August. The general consensus is you leave Alaska by the middle of September.

Being a fan of ice road truckers, do you think rooms are significantly cheaper during the cold months in Fairbanks?

 

[Flip]

Now I'm starting to realize why the Forest department always stops by to have a chat with me. They think I'm homeless, I knew it.

 

[Flip]

Here's my set up from this past March in North GA

 

[007]

Now I'm starting to realize why the Forest department always stops by to have a chat with me. They think I'm homeless, I knew it.

No worries, I also run a ground tent alone

 

[wibornz]

Nice looking unit.

Buying an RV is probably not a wise financial decision, but if you believe in the "Die With Zero" philosophy, it makes a lot of sense. My wife and I bought a Ford based Seneca Super C this year. It is our 4th RV/motorhome in the last 15 years. My wife and I love flat towing the Jeep where ever we go.

We're in the Go Go Go part of retirement, we're hoping to get 10 years before we hit the Slow Slow Slow part of retirement. I spent over 50 nights in my motorhome this year.

Pick up campers are nice, but I experienced the benefit of a larger unit this year, when one of our trips it rained for a few days straight. Having more interior space kept us from getting cabin fever when it rained.

I remember saying something to my MIL about being cheaper to get a hotel, many years ago, when they bought a ginormous 5th wheeler and Ford SD diesel. Her reply was I like sleeping in my own sheets. I now understand.

While we have had a Class A motorhome. We switched to a small camper behind the Jeep, so that we could easily boondock camp and not be tied to campgrounds. We paid $21,000 for this camper. I have already towed it approximately 30,000 miles. We have stayed about 160 nights in it in a just over a year. I figure it has already paid for itself in hotel and campground fees.

This camper, I paid $10,100 for and towed it approximately 54,000 miles.

r,
This camper easily paid for itself. We are probably about 400 nights in this camper. I sold the camper for $6000 or $6500. Can't remember which one it was. So the camper cost me about 4,000 dollars to own. AI says the average cost of a hotel is $80 and $250. So if we just use $150 a night x 400 = 60,000 in hotels. We stayed 35 days straight in Moab and boondocks the entire time.
AI says this about Moab
Prices for hotels in Moab vary widely, with luxury hotels charging more due to higher amenities. In the off-season, expect to pay around $399, but during peak summer season, average prices climb to $745. With options ranging from $234 to $1,317, there's something for every budget. Hostels are usually cheaper, especially dorm rooms. To save, book during the off-season or keep an eye out for special deals. We were at Moab during EJS, So if a hotel was on the low end of the $234 x 35 days. =$8190.

The 35 days in Moab could have easily paid for the cost of the camper. Boondocking has saved us a bunch of money and allowed us to travel way more than we could if we were staying in hotels.

Jeep camping, we have spent about 10 or 12 days in a campground. It is just not our thing. When we travel, we will get a campground so we can do laundry or have wifi. It is very rare that we even do that. Sometimes as we go very remote, it is cheaper to get a campground site than it is to drive to the nearest laundry mat.

 

[Flip]

No worries, I also run a ground tent alone

Oh, I'm sure you do.

You're just being nice and I appreciate that.

 

[wibornz]

Being a fan of ice road truckers, do you think rooms are significantly cheaper during the cold months in Fairbanks?

I just checked Orbitz. There are some hostels and such for about $100, most are generally between $150 and $200. So they are cheaper.

The motel/ Man camp in Cold Foot as you drive to Dead Horse/Prudhoe Bay was also $250 a night. It is not showing any lodging during the winter for Cold Foot or Prudhoe Bay.. So good luck.


Also expect a full hook up camp site in Alaska to be $80 to $120 a night. I think hotel rooms, and campground site can be cheaper if you book them way in advance. But hey if you are going to drive a RV and a Jeep to Alaska from the lower 48, you will want to plan a summer there as it is expensive to drive up and back.

We spent about $20,000 going to Alaska and back for the summer of 2024. Mind you we boondocks all of it but about 3 or four days.

 

[LukeDagny]

While we have had a Class A motorhome. We switched to a small camper behind the Jeep, so that we could easily boondock camp and not be tied to campgrounds. We paid $21,000 for this camper. I have already towed it approximately 30,000 miles. We have stayed about 160 nights in it in a just over a year. I figure it has already paid for itself in hotel and campground fees.

This camper, I paid $10,100 for and towed it approximately 54,000 miles.

r,
This camper easily paid for itself. We are probably about 400 nights in this camper. I sold the camper for $6000 or $6500. Can't remember which one it was. So the camper cost me about 4,000 dollars to own. AI says the average cost of a hotel is $80 and $250. So if we just use $150 a night x 400 = 60,000 in hotels. We stayed 35 days straight in Moab and boondocks the entire time.
AI says this about Moab
Prices for hotels in Moab vary widely, with luxury hotels charging more due to higher amenities. In the off-season, expect to pay around $399, but during peak summer season, average prices climb to $745. With options ranging from $234 to $1,317, there's something for every budget. Hostels are usually cheaper, especially dorm rooms. To save, book during the off-season or keep an eye out for special deals. We were at Moab during EJS, So if a hotel was on the low end of the $234 x 35 days. =$8190.

The 35 days in Moab could have easily paid for the cost of the camper. Boondocking has saved us a bunch of money and allowed us to travel way more than we could if we were staying in hotels.

Jeep camping, we have spent about 10 or 12 days in a campground. It is just not our thing. When we travel, we will get a campground so we can do laundry or have wifi. It is very rare that we even do that. Sometimes as we go very remote, it is cheaper to get a campground site than it is to drive to the nearest laundry mat.

You're my idol . I read about your travels and hope to spend more time in the camper next year. We are slowly working our way up to longer boondocking trips. So far, 3 days has been th elongest.

 

[wibornz]

You're my idol . I read about your travels and hope to spend more time in the camper next year. We are slowly working our way up to longer boondocking trips. So far, 3 days has been th elongest.

Thank you. Well if you ever want help or advice on planning longer trips, Hit me up. I can be a great resource. I have a process that work great for me.

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