Best FGRV for fulltiming couple with dog and cat

[paulpleiss]

Grettings FGRV world,
My wife and I are living in the San Francisco bay area and finding the rental market to be spiraling out of control. As a way to simplify our lives and escape the madness we're looking to go full time in an RV, but we're having trouble deciding what would be best for us. It's me, my wife, our dog Juneau (greyhound) and our bengal cat, Lucy.

I think we could get by in a Scamp or Casita 16ft trailer with the side dinette and bathroom/shower. My wife agrees, but I was hoping to get some advice from this great community.

We've done some camping in a 13ft Scamp, but after some serious considerations decided that would just be a little too close of quarters for the two of us.

We have a Subaru crosstrek that is only rated for 1500lbs, so we'll have to upgrade our tow vehicle, but hopefully we can find a trailer that when fully loaded can get us down the road at 2500lbs or less. It's likely we will leave the bed/dinette in the bed position, and just use the dinette for meals and hang out outside when we can.

Any recomendations on other brands of FGRVs or to go bigger than the 16ft? Maybe a different layout?

[tractors1]

You'll need to either upsize the trailer or downsize the dog.

Also note your height required - a 16 Casita is less than the 6 ft high inside a 17. Wifey and I had a 17 Casita LD, but after a few 2-3 week trips found it too small as we'd be adding dogs after she also retired. Almost went for a 19 Escape but decided the added 6 inch width of the aisle in an Escape 21 worked better for us and the dogs (terriers.)

We downsized dogs from an Irish Setter and Golden Retriever.............

[paulpleiss]

Or dog is a lazy greyhound who sleeps more than our cat, and at only 45 lbs, I think she'll be okay add long as she had a good pillow to sleep on. Both my wife and I are under 5'8, so we're not worried about height. Our biggest concern is storage. I think we could make it work in 16/17 casita. My wife is trying to convince me to go the airstream route, but I like the fiberglass eggs so much better. More character. More room for personalization.

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[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by paulpleiss

Grettings FGRV world,
My wife and I are living in the San Francisco bay area and finding the rental market to be spiraling out of control. As a way to simplify our lives and escape the madness we're looking to go full time in an RV, but we're having trouble deciding what would be best for us. It's me, my wife, our dog Juneau (greyhound) and our bengal cat, Lucy.
I think we could get by in a Scamp or Casita 16ft trailer with the side dinette and bathroom/shower. My wife agrees, but I was hoping to get some advice from this great community.
We've done some camping in a 13ft Scamp, but after some serious considerations decided that would just be a little too close of quarters for the two of us.
We have a Subaru crosstrek that is only rated for 1500lbs, so we'll have to upgrade our tow vehicle, but hopefully we can find a trailer that when fully loaded can get us down the road at 2500lbs or less. It's likely we will leave the bed/dinette in the bed position, and just use the dinette for meals and hang out outside when we can.
Any recomendations on other brands of FGRVs or to go bigger than the 16ft? Maybe a different layout?

Hi, yup, you will have to replace the tug to get a bath . You didn't say, but are you looking to travel or is this something you plan on living in and still working in the SF area? Scamp/Casitas are on the narrow side but good for mpg's. A number of other molded brands are wider and have more storage. There are a few members here that fulltime and they'll chime in soon. Just my opinion and I'll probably get slapped by members , but if it's a long term arrangement and you're still working someplace, think I would be looking into stick built trailers as they have way more room and can be had for a lot less $ than molded units. Good luck to you.

[paulpleiss]

I'm in the Coast Guard, so we will be in the area for 2-3 more years, but hope to travel as well. Ideally this could be our home until I retire from active duty in another 10ish years. We can go wherever, whenever, and explore the country along the way. We may even reconsider a 13ft trailer with no bath and park at KOA or other full service type locations for our first 6 months-year and then upgrade. Lots to consider as we begin our search for a home on wheels.

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[CindyL]

You may have a lazy dog, but you have a cat variety who likely is not. Better look at something with space.

CindyL

[steve dunham]

My wife and I travel with our 65 lb chocolate lab "Axzel" in our 17 ft Casita . We all fit but barely . I like my space and so does Axzel. We only make relatively short trips so we make it work but I'm not sure it would work full timing . We are looking for a slightly larger trailer .

[honda03842]

Paul,

We've traveled for a number of years in 16 foot trailers and average 7.5 months a year on the road. We find the space adequate for our travels. It's important to consider what you want versus what you need in terms of stuff. For us downsizing was a blessing, learning what we really needed.

I will admit we dramatically improved the storage ability of our Scamp 16 but more importantly improved our view of "things" that might go with us.

We also have the "no-pet rule". We decided it was unfair to pets and to us. Fulltiming on the road is a life of exploration and learning and leaving your pets in our trailer did not seem fair to us or our neighbors. This may sound silly but in a sense we have become each other's pets. Though we always have had a good relationship, it has deepened on the road.

When we bought our first RV we moved into it on our front lawn for 4 months to become accustomed to small space living. Most small trailers are the size of today's bathrooms. Imagine the four of you spending 300 days in the bathroom together, really a 16 foot trailer is not much bigger.

Of course the reality is that people spend little time, except sleeping in their trailer, however there are those days where you are confined by weather, illness or just life. We are comfortable with just the two of us.

For us our 16 foot trailer is more than adequate space, we towed it with a Honda CRV for years without any issue. There are plenty of tow vehicles that could meet your needs, personally I'd look for something that's comfortable with volume. We are now towing with a Honda Odyssey which is very comfortable and more than adequate for towing our trailer. There are similar vans available that could do the job as well. Our first goal with a tow vehicle is reliability.

We have done a lot in our lives, but our time on the road has been absolutely wonderful.

Wish you well.

[Bertus65]

We have been full timing in an Oliver 23.5 for 6 months. We travel with two Samoyed dogs and a cat. While a challenge and considering the intelligence of your dog, it's quite doable. Our dogs poop and hold and aren't fussy but you do have to walk them and the real challenge is when it rains. We are having a lot of fun and the dogs and trailer attract quite a few comments. Had a Scamp before but even with one dog it never would have worked.

[paulpleiss]

Thanks everyone for your comments. Norm and Ginny, I've read through your posts and pictures of your 16ft conversion to a super storage mobile. Awesome.

My wife and I have a lot to consider, and having the pets definitely makes it more of an issue, so maybe we will need to look at a considerably larger rig and tow vehicle. We're hoping to get out and see some rigs in the coming weeks and get a better feel for the space. We won't be doing a bunch of travel for the first couple years, as it will mostly be parked long term, but we do plan for occasional trips.

Since we wouldn't be moving it frequently, we discussed the idea of just borrowing her dad's truck, or renting a tow vehicle when we need to move or go on vacation. Has any one else done this? Just trying to avoid purchasing a big rig tug if we can avoid it since we're not going to be tramping around the country... at least not for a few more years.

[Roger H]

The notion of living in a tiny space is more romantic than the reality of living in a tiny space. I lived in a 23' Airstream for a year when I was in my early 30s and going through a divorce. While that year was one of the most care-free of my life, it also wasn't without it's problems.

There are several decisions you need to make before you can decide what size RV you want. The first is where you're going to park it. You'll need a trailer with full hookups including a shower and toilet. You don't realize how much you appreciate those amenities until you don't have them for an extended period... you might be able to make do, but everything takes more time. You can't do two things in the trailer simultaneously, there's just not room. One project has to be finished or put away before another can begin. Traipsing out to a bath house to shower every day when you're on vacation is an adventure. Trying to do it before work when it's storming is another trial altogether. And emptying a porta-potti as a daily chore is... well... a chore.

Traveling in a trailer in campgrounds with nice facilities for a couple of weeks and loose time constraints is different from extended daily living in a small space where you have to be to work every day and maintain routines. It can be done, and folks do it. But it's neither romantic, nor particularly enjoyable. And when you figure in campground fees and commuting costs, it's not even inexpensive. If you have less-expensive "arrangements" somewhere, that may be cheaper... but without that you could be paying up to $50/nite in some places for a space.

You don't have "extra" anything that you have in conventional housing. You have a couple of pair of shoes, a few sets of clothes... cooking utensils, food, bedding, and not much more. You need to have a ready supplier of propane, and a water source, and full-time sewer. Most places you park will only let you stay for two weeks out of a month, and IIRC there aren't a lot of places in the Bay Area that you can do that...

I made do as a single guy in the 23' trailer parked in a trailer park for a year. I think I was paying $400/mo space rent... and that was in 1987. I couldn't have done it in any less space than a 23' trailer, and I don't recommend doing it without having your own tow vehicle. There are times when it may be necessary to move the trailer on short notice, and if everyone else around you is moving theirs, you may not have anyone to help out.

So, if you really think you want to try this... figure out how much 'stuff' you really need to live... food, cooking stuff, uniforms, extra clothes, bedding, tools; your "necessities." And then figure out what you want for luxuries and amenities. THEN look for a trailer that has enough storage to accommodate those. Decide what kind and how big of a bed you need. Get a bath that's big enough to actually use on a daily basis.

Then figure out where you can park it and what that costs... and what you need to tow it for yourself... and what it'll cost you extra in commuting costs (operating expenses, maintenance, and depreciation.)

THEN you can realistically look for a trailer that will fit your needs... and THEN you'll have enough information to decide if you can afford that lifestyle change, or whether it's actually less expensive to stay in rented housing while you're there.

Good luck with your decision. If you do your homework, you'll be a lot more likely to be successful at whichever choice you make.

[bpfick]

Everyone finds their own way, but while we're only snowbirding, it is a long enough time period to experience some aspects of things. First, we gave ourselves permission to see the first trailer (or two) as our trial versions. If we liked them, we'd keep them, but there was no "obligation" to force ourselves to feel "stuck". Truth is? Both our trial units re-sold in a day and at a tiny up from what we had paid. This was one HUGE reason that we went with the FGRV. We felt we had the freedom to change our minds or upgrade with little to no hit on re-selling the unit. Turned out to be one of the smartest decisions we made.

[paulpleiss]

pbfick, my wife and I had discussed that exact idea. That we could get a trailer, move in, and if it doens't work, move on, upgrade, downgrade, or move back into a brick and mortar home. And just try out some different trailers and see what we need long term, and buy/sell until we had what we needed for a happily ever after. Great suggestion.

Roger, thanks for your advice as well, you bring up some great things, things I've been discussing with my support network as well. We're hoping that we're giving ourselves enough time to consider the idea, before we commit fully, and not just jump in for the romantic idea. Hopefully it turns out well. And if not? Well, there are plenty of apartments in the area willing to take our dollar bills.

[honda03842]

"The notion of living in a tiny space is more romantic than the reality of living in a tiny space." Roger H.

We've lived in large spaces and tiny spaces. We've had more fun in the small spaces and it's plenty romantic.

Of course everyone has their own vision of life and what meets their needs. We're happy in our small bed and love our small trailer. As to costs, my camping fees for a year are less than my town taxes for a year.

In our view happiness is not related to trailer space, the amount of things we can fit into our RV, or the size of our bed. My first mentor told me the purpose of life is to maximize happiness. We're happy in 92 square feet in our Scamp 16. It may be hard to believe but I bet Floyd is just as happy in his Scamp 13.

Isn't happiness inside?

[Eddie Longest]

Paul
One other thing to consider that most here don't have to deal with. Being in the CG what are you going to do with your uniforms, you can't downsize your issue clothing. I had a small closet in my house dedicated to my military uniforms and stuff. Even though the closet was small it was larger than any storage area in a small fiberglass trailer.
Eddie

[paulpleiss]

Eddie, I've got a locker and some storage at work to store my uniform items and another work stuff. But, yes, it is a significant issue. Thankfully my work had the space for it.

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[CindyL]

Frankly, we bought our Silver Cloud, since we need to spend some extensive time in the south during the winter for my palmar and plantar fibromatosis when we retire. We do about 2 weeks vacation in our Uhaul VT with its screenhouse and are both glad to be home at the end. We are hoping that the new camper will make extended stays more comfortable for us.

We travel with 3 Munchkin cats.

CindyL

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Isn't happiness inside?

No, I believe happiness is where you find it, sometimes that's not where you are AT. Small spaces work for some, not so well for others. Some are happy cooking outside, others not so much. I haven't used a laundermat for close to 40 years.... is that something I want to do again? Do you?

My needs and desires are probably different than yours. Only you can decide. BUT, you won't know until you try.... (live with no regrets... too many woulda/shoulda/coulda)... then you run out of time.

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I haven't used a laundermat for close to 40 years.... is that something I want to do again? Do you?

Same here. The little old ladies who did laundry on Thursday nights used to cheat playing cards (mostly hearts and rummy) so I bought a washer and dryer for my house.)

[JBjunior]

Paul,

Good to see another Coastie here. I don't full time, but I do love my Trillium 1300. I have two young boys that perfectly fit right now, but will have to go bigger at some point.

JB