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Reluctant Cruisers


Dan M.
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13 hours ago, clo said:

BTW this little guy has all the bells and whistles.  Including an outside TV.  LOL.  So we can press a button to extend the awning, pull out our chairs,  fix cocktails and watch Rachel Maddow :


We have discussed buying a motorhome to travel the US and Canada with once we retire and are done traveling the rest of the world.  Our requirements are at least a queen bed, a living/dining area with at minimum a micro/convection oven combo and a house sized fridge/freezer and (can be counter depth height/weight), a shower actually in the bathroom and with a door, not just a curtain, and a washer/dryer--stackable preferred but Euro style would be OK as well.  It seems that none of the smaller RV's have many of those options, particularly the washer/dryer, and that's a deal-breaker for me. 

Ideally we'd find something like a 30' diesel pusher with all of those options, but there just doesn't seem to be much out there in that range that includes them. We could buy a glider from MCI and have someone like Nitetrain or Florida Custom fit it out, but that's way more money than we want to spend.

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On 10/9/2019 at 11:17 PM, clo said:

What beautiful timing!!!!!!  We just bought a motor home. LOL.  But you can't cruise from here to Vegas and then to Malibu and then to Death Valley.  (Where we're going in about ten days.)  Do people actually make their beds? 🙂  And I love to cook although when in an RV (we've had them before) we tend to keep it simple.  Or depending on where we are, go out to dinner.  I'm glad we don't have to choose.

 

20191005_134223 - Edited.jpg

 

I did not say they did not have their place.  I have friends who bought one when they retired.  But they sold their house and spent several years traveling around the US.  They towed a Jeep and stopped and stayed for weeks.

 

For the fuel cost of their rig (large one), versus my car, I can pay for a nice hotel and restaurants with the difference. 😄

 

But for a couple of weeks a year, I would rather drive and stay in hotels.  Versus driving a bus and playing turtle.

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On 10/10/2019 at 11:33 AM, clo said:

You should have seen and heard me in Scotland a few years ago.  Dropped Bob off to play golf and I headed out to ride a horse.  Driving a manual transmission car, on the wrong side of the road, going through roundabouts.  The hearing part would have been my praying...and I'm likely an atheist!

 

I have rented in Scotland several times.  And other than walking to the wrong side the very first time, I have had no issues with driving on the other side.

 

BUT, I have a heck of a time when I come back to the US.

 

The one thing I never got used to, was the inside rear view being on the left.  I would ALWAYS look up and RIGHT, then have to turn to the other side. 🙂

 

 

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5 hours ago, ducklite said:

washer/dryer

Recently we saw a 44' 5th wheel with a W/D and I imagine lots of other things.

 

Ours is 24' with lots of bells and whistles including a THIRD tv OUTSIDE.  LOL.

 

Floorplan Title

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4 hours ago, SRF said:

But for a couple of weeks a year, I would rather drive and stay in hotels.  Versus driving a bus and playing turtle.

Whereas I hate eating all my meals out.  And I like to cook.  

 

Since the average length of a regular size car is around 15', our 23.5' isn't much longer.  I don't know what "playing turtle" means.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I assume "playing turtle" means carrying your house with you.  Your camper looks nice, but one of the perks of camping for us was to unplug, so any tv seems like overkill (but I was a week at a time at most camper, not month long).

 

OP - I wouldn't try to force travel with others.  There are lots of reasons why there isn't any interest: not enjoying cruising, finances, limited time, fear of unknown, etc.  We travel well with my in-laws, but I am hesitant to travel with anyone else (although we would in the right situation).  Even when we cruised with our kids this summer it was hard to fully relax.  

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It is an interesting thing....

 

We generally holiday by ourselves..... Some of my extended family always holiday together....

 

Cruising we fine is great for us.... you a mix with people or not......

and we have met some lovely and interesting  people on our cruises

 

We once took my mum of holidays with us for a week...... never again....

 

Everybody is different.... some like groups....family.... friends... or nobody...

 

Also we like to do our own thing....   happy to talk to people over drinks or dinner.

 

We could go days without talking to anybody else....

 

Cheers Don

 

 

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On 10/12/2019 at 4:07 PM, clo said:

Whereas I hate eating all my meals out.  And I like to cook.  

 

Since the average length of a regular size car is around 15', our 23.5' isn't much longer.  I don't know what "playing turtle" means.

 

Playing turtle = you carry your house around with you. 🙂

 

You can always rent a room with a kitchen every so often. 🙂

 

Different choices for different people.  My choice is not your choice.

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1 hour ago, SRF said:

You can always rent a room with a kitchen every so often. 🙂

 

The "rest of the story" involves my avatar, Hairy Red Dog.  We won't stay in a motel with him because he might disturb other guests.  We have stayed in a few airbnb's with him.  And when we finish our cruise in Buenos Aires (without him of course!) we'll have four days there in an airbnb.

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It was so difficult to convince my fiance to go on a cruise with me...he was very resistant to the idea of spending so much money on something that would be over in a week. Luckily I convinced him, and he had so much fun that he insisted on booking the next one the day we got back. Sometimes getting someone on a ship is the hardest part, but the rest takes care of itself 😏

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1 hour ago, SRF said:

I would see the TV as a rainy day thing.  Nothing else to do, have a DVD player or use a computer to stream movies.

Bob's off the Best Buy to get some advice.  The motor home is only three years ago and is loaded with nice and useful things.  But for the life of him he can't get his phone to sync (or whatever the right term is) with the radio so we can listen to thinks 'up front.'  Also the TVs aren't "smart" so that's limiting (very).  We tend to have quiet evenings during/after dinner.

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On 10/26/2019 at 1:51 PM, SRF said:

I would see the TV as a rainy day thing.  Nothing else to do, have a DVD player or use a computer to stream movies.

That makes sense.  I grew up camping with no TV - and pre-internet - so my first thoughts go to cards, books, and naps on rainy days (rain on a camper roof is almost as soothing as gentle ship rocking).  Depending on how long you camp the TV could be a very welcome addition.

 

On 10/26/2019 at 3:04 PM, clo said:

The "rest of the story" involves my avatar, Hairy Red Dog.  We won't stay in a motel with him because he might disturb other guests.  We have stayed in a few airbnb's with him.  And when we finish our cruise in Buenos Aires (without him of course!) we'll have four days there in an airbnb.

 

Thank you for being considerate of other guests 🙂 I know many hotels are starting to allow pets, but they can disturb others (noise or allergies).  In a day of many of us considering our own needs and wants when traveling, it is refreshing to see someone putting others first.

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On 10/26/2019 at 7:04 PM, clo said:

The "rest of the story" involves my avatar, Hairy Red Dog.  We won't stay in a motel with him because he might disturb other guests.  We have stayed in a few airbnb's with him.  And when we finish our cruise in Buenos Aires (without him of course!) we'll have four days there in an airbnb.

 

When have traveled with dogs.  But ours did not bother other people.

 

We never left them alone in a room though.

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2 hours ago, SRF said:

We never left them alone in a room though.

That's the key.  So now we can leave him in the RV (and we leave the tv on for him).  He's small enough that even if he does bark it's not loud enough to disturb others.

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23 minutes ago, SRF said:

Or get a breed that does not bark much.  And when they do, it is time to pay attention. 😄

 

He doesn't bark for no reason.  But if he sees or hears something outside he will.  Hence leaving tv or radio on.  He's particularly fond of NPR 🙂

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12 hours ago, clo said:

He doesn't bark for no reason.  But if he sees or hears something outside he will.  Hence leaving tv or radio on.  He's particularly fond of NPR 🙂

 

Ours typically would only bark if someone invaded what they considered their territory.  Outside the room was not their territory.

 

They might go on alert if something is happening outside our room.  But not do anything, unless there was a need.

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6 hours ago, SRF said:

 

Ours typically would only bark if someone invaded what they considered their territory.  Outside the room was not their territory.

 

They might go on alert if something is happening outside our room.  But not do anything, unless there was a need.

But, like us, you don't leave them alone in a strange place.

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