Looking for full-time couples opinions 🫂🤮😱🤗

[Bikerabbi]

My wife and I are selling house and hearth,  moving out of Baja.  We'd like to spend at least a couple of years as nomads exploring the U.S, and Canada.  Are there any couples here who have lived on the road in their Oliver continously for 2 or more years? Care to chat a bit? 

Thanks, 

Gabriel and Ella

[ScubaRx]

Slight topic hijack here, apologies...

In another thread you asked "My expected vehicle (2016 Volks Touareg diesel) is rated to tow 7700 lbs.  Will it be happy towing the Elite 2 at 6500 lbs?"

If you plan to go somewhere and stay for six months at a time that tow vehicle should be "OK". Nothing great, but it would do. On the other hand, if you plan on full timing, you would be carrying all your worldly possessions with you everywhere you go. Further, if you really plan to explore the U.S, and Canada like you indicate in your opening post here, you would be traveling more than staying in one place too long. You are going to need a much more capable tow vehicle. You need something that can carry all the cargo weight and tow the trailer anywhere you decide to go. A 3/4 ton diesel  pickup would be minimum and for the minimal price difference between the two, I'd go with a 1 ton diesel.

Carry on.

[Bikerabbi]

30 minutes ago, ScubaRx said:

Slight topic hijack here, apologies...

In another thread you asked "My expected vehicle (2016 Volks Touareg diesel) is rated to tow 7700 lbs.  Will it be happy towing the Elite 2 at 6500 lbs?"

If you plan to go somewhere and stay for six months at a time that tow vehicle should be "OK". Nothing great, but it would do. On the other hand, if you plan on full timing, you would be carrying all your worldly possessions with you everywhere you go. Further, if you really plan to explore the U.S, and Canada like you indicate in your opening post here, you would be traveling more than staying in one place too long. You are going to need a much more capable tow vehicle. You need something that can carry all the cargo weight and tow the trailer anywhere you decide to go. A 3/4 ton diesel  pickup would be minimum and for the minimal price difference between the two, I'd go with a 1 ton diesel.

Carry on.

Good points. Thank you!

[rich.dev]

9 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

Further, if you really plan to explore the U.S, and Canada like you indicate in your opening post here, you would be traveling more than staying in one place too long. You are going to need a much more capable tow vehicle. You need something that can carry all the cargo weight and tow the trailer anywhere you decide to go. A 3/4 ton diesel  pickup would be minimum

The Touareg diesel is actually a very capable tow VH, and very underrated by folks who have never owned one or towed with one. I do agree with you 100% about cargo weight, that is definitely the limiting factor for us. For full timing we can probably also say the Ollie is too small, it’s all about making compromises, definitely downsizing and keeping an eye on the cargo capacity. 

[John E Davies]

You need a tow vehicle that is serviceable in most small towns. NOT a German, Swedish, Tesla, or other non-mainstream brand. You will be spending lots of time away from large urban areas where those brands have (a few) dealers. Ford, Chevy, Ram, Toyota, and no other brand, if you want to avoid major headaches in the event of a major breakdown. You really should have a HD vehicle, so that takes Toyota off the list. Ollies have very little storage capacity for full timers. Actually they have very little storage for two-weekers …. They are not the best choice for full timing, so you need to have massive cargo volume and payload (weight capacity) in the truck.

If I were going to full time, an Ollie would not even be on my wish list. I would look for a smaller used high quality diesel pusher motorhome with NO slides. 

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[Cort]

I've been on the road by myself for ten years. Yes to heavy duty. Diesels are fine but are much more expensive, less reliable overall (with emissions in the US), and mechanics are harder to find. A big gasser will do fine.  (These are not heavy trailers).  Yes, to lots of storage in your tow vehicle!

[SeaDawg]

Everything  depends on your wants, needs, and willingness to scale back.

We had, way back in the day, three couples out of the first twenty or so, who full-timed in the smaller original Elite, for several years. And, we routinely spend three to five months a year in ours. The Elite II is luxuriously spacious, by comparison. 

What you don't carry can be as freeing as what you do carry. Traveling light can actually be fun, in my opinion. It's challenging to learn how little you actually  "need" sometimes,  vs "want."

Depending on where you want to go, @John E Davies does make a very good point about getting service. Small towns in the hinterlands don't always have mechanics familiar with foreign made vehicles, of limited USA production numbers. I can find someone capable of working on my 2005 Chevy Silverado, or my husband's 2008 Ram, just about anywhere. Not so true in many small towns for foreign badges.

If you stick with the VW that you know and love, my advice would be to get good tow insurance that covers both the vw and the trailer (like good Sam's premium), unlimited mileage,  "just in case."

 

[Steph and Dud B]

Get a big truck. Not just for towing, but for the storage space. We have a crew cab gas dually with a covered 8' bed. It's big. We don't full time but even so the truck is full. The Oliver cabinets are full if we're out for 2 weeks or more, loaded up with a mix of clothes, food, and gear for both dry camping and full hookup glamping. In effect, a lot of the stuff that was in the basement of our fifth wheel is now in the truck. 

Of course, we could cut back what we carry. We have a generator we've never needed. We have a Clam with us. We have a lot of bike gear. A small Blackstone griddle. We could cut back on clothes. We could get a cap for the truck instead of the hard tonneau cover. I'm sure it could be done, but I'm not sure we'd be comfortable with the choices we'd have to make to do it. But, as @SeaDawg points out, others can. There's a couple on YouTube who full time in a Class B van. That's even smaller.

It's a big leap. Have you RV'd before?

[Bikerabbi]

11 hours ago, rich.dev said:

The Touareg diesel is actually a very capable tow VH, and very underrated by folks who have never owned one or towed with one. I do agree with you 100% about cargo weight, that is definitely the limiting factor for us. For full timing we can probably also say the Ollie is too small, it’s all about making compromises, definitely downsizing and keeping an eye on the cargo capacity. 

Thanks.   It is a bit of a dilemma:  go small and 1st class or larger,  more comfy,  but, well,  you know... We really intend to travel bare bones - we just have to see if we really can...

[Bikerabbi]

9 hours ago, John E Davies said:

You need a tow vehicle that is serviceable in most small towns. NOT a German, Swedish, Tesla, or other non-mainstream brand. You will be spending lots of time away from large urban areas where those brands have (a few) dealers. Ford, Chevy, Ram, Toyota, and no other brand, if you want to avoid major headaches in the event of a major breakdown. You really should have a HD vehicle, so that takes Toyota off the list. Ollies have very little storage capacity for full timers. Actually they have very little storage for two-weekers …. They are not the best choice for full timing, so you need to have massive cargo volume and payload (weight capacity) in the truck.

If I were going to full time, an Ollie would not even be on my wish list. I would look for a smaller used high quality diesel pusher motorhome with NO slides. 

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

Yeah - other sane people tell us pretty much what you say John. 

The price of those big trucks, even used, is pretty high...

[Bikerabbi]

8 hours ago, Cort said:

I've been on the road by myself for ten years. Yes to heavy duty. Diesels are fine but are much more expensive, less reliable overall (with emissions in the US), and mechanics are harder to find. A big gasser will do fine.  (These are not heavy trailers).  Yes, to lots of storage in your tow vehicle!

Hmmm, I hear ya...

[SeaDawg]

34 minutes ago, Bikerabbi said:

Thanks.   It is a bit of a dilemma:  go small and 1st class or larger,  more comfy,  but, well,  you know... We really intend to travel bare bones - we just have to see if we really can...

I guess the next question is, have you done any rving or camping  before? (Sorry if I missed that in your other posts?)

For example, my husband and I have camped 7 weeks in Australia in a very small camper van (portapotty, two burner stove, hatbox dc fridge) , and we were very happy, with just the two duffel bags of stuff we could bring on the plane. Ditto, camping around Iceland,  in an even tinier van, with no kitchen but my jetburner and backpack cookware. 

Not everyone would be so happy, as we were. We like the challenge of basics. And, understanding layers of clothes, etc. really does help. Any van, rv or trailer is a big time saving and comfy step up from tent camping, imo.

The Elite 2 is infinitely better than those two examples, but, I think you will have to honestly pare away a lot of "stuff", especially if you want to tow with any suv, for full timing. I know my husband and I could be very happy, but I don't honestly know that everyone could. 

We routinely spend 150 days or more in the smaller Elite, each year.

Everything is a tradeoff. If you want to get into the tiny spots, you need the smaller setup. We've seen places we never would have seen with a big motorhome,  or even a small class c, with the vans, and with our little Ollie. 

Just my opinion. 

 

[Bikerabbi]

On 8/19/2023 at 8:15 AM, rich.dev said:

The Touareg diesel is actually a very capable tow VH, and very underrated by folks who have never owned one or towed with one. I do agree with you 100% about cargo weight, that is definitely the limiting factor for us. For full timing we can probably also say the Ollie is too small, it’s all about making compromises, definitely downsizing and keeping an eye on the cargo capacity. 

Yes, we're considering the size issue - and the need to have a widely serviceable TVehicle...

[Bikerabbi]

On 8/19/2023 at 10:16 AM, John E Davies said:

You need a tow vehicle that is serviceable in most small towns. NOT a German, Swedish, Tesla, or other non-mainstream brand. You will be spending lots of time away from large urban areas where those brands have (a few) dealers. Ford, Chevy, Ram, Toyota, and no other brand, if you want to avoid major headaches in the event of a major breakdown. You really should have a HD vehicle, so that takes Toyota off the list. Ollies have very little storage capacity for full timers. Actually they have very little storage for two-weekers …. They are not the best choice for full timing, so you need to have massive cargo volume and payload (weight capacity) in the truck.

If I were going to full time, an Ollie would not even be on my wish list. I would look for a smaller used high quality diesel pusher motorhome with NO slides. 

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

Dang, I hate it when the grown-ups talk sense....

Yeah, I hear you...

[Bikerabbi]

On 8/19/2023 at 11:02 AM, Cort said:

I've been on the road by myself for ten years. Yes to heavy duty. Diesels are fine but are much more expensive, less reliable overall (with emissions in the US), and mechanics are harder to find. A big gasser will do fine.  (These are not heavy trailers).  Yes, to lots of storage in your tow vehicle!

10 years?!  Impressive.  Good stories, I imagine.

Good points, also.  Thank you.

[Bikerabbi]

On 8/19/2023 at 6:16 PM, SeaDawg said:

Everything  depends on your wants, needs, and willingness to scale back.

We had, way back in the day, three couples out of the first twenty or so, who full-timed in the smaller original Elite, for several years. And, we routinely spend three to five months a year in ours. The Elite II is luxuriously spacious, by comparison. 

What you don't carry can be as freeing as what you do carry. Traveling light can actually be fun, in my opinion. It's challenging to learn how little you actually  "need" sometimes,  vs "want."

Depending on where you want to go, @John E Davies does make a very good point about getting service. Small towns in the hinterlands don't always have mechanics familiar with foreign made vehicles, of limited USA production numbers. I can find someone capable of working on my 2005 Chevy Silverado, or my husband's 2008 Ram, just about anywhere. Not so true in many small towns for foreign badges.

If you stick with the VW that you know and love, my advice would be to get good tow insurance that covers both the vw and the trailer (like good Sam's premium), unlimited mileage,  "just in case."

 

Glad to read that at least a few couples did it full time for a few years.   Hopefully they're still together 🙃.   I keep coming back to the OE2, rather than lesser quality rigs, due to the quality.  At this point in my life, I'd like to keep maintenance issues to a minimum.  But the wife questions roominess.  We've sat in various models and we've decided (apparently as others have) that an "OE3" that is 2-3' longer and a few inches wider would be ideal.

As, John D mentions,  - a pusher RV.  We had been looking at the 25' Winnebago View, and that makes a lot of sense in many ways also...

Life can't be too bad if this is our biggest concern! 

We're down to a few weeks for decision time....

Thank you. 

 

[Bikerabbi]

On 8/19/2023 at 7:19 PM, Steph and Dud B said:

Get a big truck. Not just for towing, but for the storage space. We have a crew cab gas dually with a covered 8' bed. It's big. We don't full time but even so the truck is full. The Oliver cabinets are full if we're out for 2 weeks or more, loaded up with a mix of clothes, food, and gear for both dry camping and full hookup glamping. In effect, a lot of the stuff that was in the basement of our fifth wheel is now in the truck. 

Of course, we could cut back what we carry. We have a generator we've never needed. We have a Clam with us. We have a lot of bike gear. A small Blackstone griddle. We could cut back on clothes. We could get a cap for the truck instead of the hard tonneau cover. I'm sure it could be done, but I'm not sure we'd be comfortable with the choices we'd have to make to do it. But, as @SeaDawg points out, others can. There's a couple on YouTube who full time in a Class B van. That's even smaller.

It's a big leap. Have you RV'd before?

We've each rented or accompanied others a few times times and very much enjoyed it.  I've motorcycle traveled and camped and enjoyed.  People suggest that we rent for a month or so.  We don't feel we need to .  We're  pretty confident that we'll  like it and a few weeks or a month isn't really like spending a year.  We'll  just do it - just deciding on the means...

[Bikerabbi]

On 8/19/2023 at 7:52 PM, SeaDawg said:

I guess the next question is, have you done any rving or camping  before? (Sorry if I missed that in your other posts?)

For example, my husband and I have camped 7 weeks in Australia in a very small camper van (portapotty, two burner stove, hatbox dc fridge) , and we were very happy, with just the two duffel bags of stuff we could bring on the plane. Ditto, camping around Iceland,  in an even tinier van, with no kitchen but my jetburner and backpack cookware. 

Not everyone would be so happy, as we were. We like the challenge of basics. And, understanding layers of clothes, etc. really does help. Any van, rv or trailer is a big time saving and comfy step up from tent camping, imo.

The Elite 2 is infinitely better than those two examples, but, I think you will have to honestly pare away a lot of "stuff", especially if you want to tow with any suv, for full timing. I know my husband and I could be very happy, but I don't honestly know that everyone could. 

We routinely spend 150 days or more in the smaller Elite, each year.

Everything is a tradeoff. If you want to get into the tiny spots, you need the smaller setup. We've seen places we never would have seen with a big motorhome,  or even a small class c, with the vans, and with our little Ollie. 

Just my opinion. 

 

As above, yes we've done a small bit of rv and camping.  Enough to know that we'd like to do it full time for a bit and we're at an age that we'd  better get to it.  My older brother dreamed of RVing upon retirement.   When he got to it he was no longer healthy enough to really get out in it.  Bought 4 different size rvs and never really went anywhere.  Now he has alzheimers.  Soooo, we're just gonna do it, enjoy the adventure as long as we can, and when we hit 80 or so, settle down.  Then my kids can relax 😆

"Paring away" a lot of stuff is something we are joyfully doing.  I've spent the first part of life experiencing  and preparing.  The next part was spent building and accumulating. The last part is declutering, experiencing, and preparing...

Where have some of your "tiny spots" that you've "Oli'd" in?  Sounds a bit like what we aim to head towards in our own way.

[John E Davies]

2 hours ago, Bikerabbi said:

 

As, John D mentions,  - a pusher RV.  We had been looking at the 25' Winnebago View, and that makes a lot of sense in many ways also...

That is a Mercedes Sprinter, not a pusher. An older high end unit like a Tiffen with a commercial non-emission diesel truck motor, for example Cummins, in BACK.

No slides, they are problematic to maintain and will kill you in a collision.

”If you are driving down an Interstate Highway at 60 miles per hour and you have a collision, your vehicle stops, and you stop with it (as long as you are wearing seat belts). However, the slides are still moving forward at 60 miles per hour. Whoever is sitting directly in front of them (driver or passenger or both) is going to be crushed to death.”

https://axleaddict.com/rvs/RV-Slide-Out-Dangers

Resurrecting a really old Ollie thread:

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/1414-slide-outs-and-conventional-construction/

Since you have linked to a $200k RV you should check out used high end expedition campers like Nimbl ($$), EarthCruiser ($$$), Earth Roamer ($$$$$), or custom one-off builds. Do you have a price limit? If not, a new one built to order!

https://thisbigroadtrip.com/nimbl-xpcamper-for-sale/

https://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/xpcamper-nimbl-2018-for-sale-189k-very-lightly-used.220074/

https://earthcruiser.com/vehicles/pre-owned/

https://earthroamer.com/pre-roamed/

I really do like spending other people’s money….

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[Steph and Dud B]

5 hours ago, Bikerabbi said:

dreamed of RVing upon retirement.   When he got to it he was no longer healthy enough to really get out in it. 

Yes, the other side of the coin. You are right. "Analysis paralysis" can cause you to miss out. There are no guarantees in life, something we've learned first-hand, so I understand your eagerness to get started. Sounds like you a have a general idea of what you're looking at, but you're still a little light on the specifics. Asking questions here is a good move. Have you looked at Escapees: https://escapees.com/ ? Their members have decades of experience full timing.

Understand that full time RVing comes with most of the problems of full time house living: electrical problems, plumbing problems, appliance problems, leak problems, neighbor problems, plus a few more: drivetrain failures, accidents, difficulty finding a place to stay. It's not all sunsets and waterfalls. If you're sick, you may still have to pack up and move on because your reservation is up. Same if you're tired or the weather's bad. You will be transients. (At the start of the pandemic a lot of full timers had a big problem because the campgrounds closed and they had nowhere else to go.) I wanted to full time when we retired, but my wife insisted we still needed a home base. Turns out she was right, we like to be on the road but we need a place close to our doctors and family, too.

I wish you luck and hope you are able to live your dream. Maybe ask a few more questions and try a few more outings before you commit. There are a lot of options.

[Steph and Dud B]

6 hours ago, Bikerabbi said:

We've sat in various models and we've decided (apparently as others have) that an "OE3" that is 2-3' longer and a few inches wider would be ideal.

Have you looked at Bigfoot? A larger molded fiberglass camper, maybe not the same level as an Oliver, but more living space and still very nice. A bit longer and wider with the same advantages of a molded shell: https://bigfootrv.com/2500-series/b25-trailer

[Wandering Sagebrush]

35 minutes ago, Steph and Dud B said:

Have you looked at Bigfoot? A larger molded fiberglass camper, maybe not the same level as an Oliver, but more living space and still very nice. A bit longer and wider with the same advantages of a molded shell: https://bigfootrv.com/2500-series/b25-trailer

We looked at Bigfoot several years ago.  The interior height was a no go for us.  I am 6’ 2” and had to duck under the air conditioner.  Other than that they seemed fine.

[Shawna and Scott]

I agree on the analysis paralysis part of these types of things. I could have still been on here asking questions about Oliver and wondering when the "right time" to buy one would be. In our case, Life is about change and discovery. We decided to just go do it and we didn't look back.

All your concerns are legitimate but do you have to have it perfect before you begin? You can start with your VW and if along the way you decide it doesn't work for you then they do sell trucks everyday. You travel plans are also adjustable since you are in charge. You may have planned to go explore Colorado for example but decided to explore Alaska instead. 

We have several large trips planned in the future. I don't expect all them to go as planned but some of the fun we have experienced in our short time is making those adjustments and doing things more spontaneously. 

All this to say,  you can sit and research this for years or you can start your next chapter and understand life is full of surprises that sometimes require adjustments. Enjoy and Discover all the wonderful places and people you will encounter. 

 

[Tom and Doreen]

6 hours ago, John E Davies said:

 

Since you have linked to a $200k RV you should check out used high end expedition campers like Nimbl ($$), EarthCruiser ($$$), Earth Roamer ($$$$$), or custom one-off builds. Do you have a price limit? If not, a new one built to order!

 

 

Two enthusiastic thumbs up for Earth Roamer👍👍 and also it's little cousin Truckhouse. 

[SeaDawg]

6 hours ago, Shawna and Scott said:

All your concerns are legitimate but do you have to have it perfect before you begin? You can start with your VW and if along the way you decide it doesn't work for you then they do sell trucks everyday. You travel plans are also adjustable since you are in charge. You may have planned to go explore Colorado for example but decided to explore Alaska instead

Possibly some of the best advice ever given.

If you want to go camping, go. You're already in the process of divesting. Put family heirlooms in storage, or give/loan them to relatives, divest the rest, pick something,  and go. 

We are very, very glad that we chose our little Ollie that has served us well for so long, but we had no illusions that it would truly be our travel home for 15 years, in 2008. 

The great news is, if you find (like some do) that it's not perfect for you, resale on molded fiberglass is great, particularly Ollies.

The adventures can't begin til you actually get on the road. 

It's not always easy, but it sure is fun, and rewarding,  most of the time. As my husband says, sometimes the tougher times make the better campfire stories. 

Me? I can't imagine traveling in a diesel pusher, pulling a toad, and feeling "free." Ditto a fifth wheel, dragging every comfort of home with us. (I'll admit, freely, one of the inanimate things I miss the most in our travels is my washing machine...) I  can live without the Splendide washer/ dryer in a fifth wheel, for the splendid views out my rear window.