Hopefully, I'll retire in a few months and am considering buying either a motor home that will be able to pull my little Honda Element or buying a camper (no 5th wheel!) that can be pulled with a pickup. No matter which I decide to get, it must have a cargo area in the back since I'll be taking it to craft shows, gourd shows, Indian festivals, etc.

Those of you with either a motor home or camper, why did you decide on the one you have? Do you wish you'd gotten the other? Have you had both and what were the pluses and minuses of each. Any help you can offer will be greatly appreaciated!

Since I'll be driving/pulling it myself, it will not be one of the larger units no matter which I decide on.

Personally I prefer the camper pulled by truck. I camp with a group everyyear after school lets out (about 10-14 families). In our group we have everything from tents to large rv. We are the pop up pulled by truck. Would like to move up to a 24 foot pull behind.

I like the truck/pulling because of my familiarity with my truck and the storage in the bed. The 5th wheelers are easier to pull and have storage under them, so some day I would like one of those, but not for some time.

The folks who have the RV have a 24 ft Toga and they pull a trailer behind it for storage.

We have a 30 ft. pull behind camper and like it. We avoided the 5th wheel because we didn't want to lose the bed space in the truck. We never considered a motor home I guess.

Voice of experience here - tent,popup tent trailer, motorhome,and finally 5th wheel
I would definitely get a popup tent trailer. The 5th wheel is very nice, but heavy and causes lots of gas consumption! The motorhome is what we called a "driveway queen". Unless you use it A LOT, it's not always as dependable as you would like. If something mechanically goes wrong with the engine - you are screwed! The popups nowadays even come with slides and pack a lot of space into a small area. Just be sure you can open the door when it is almost down and pack stuff in it. GOOD LUCK!

I really don't think a pop up would work since I have so much merchandise that I'd have to haul too. That's why I want a camper/motor home with the storage area in the back.

I just don't know whether to go the camper route or the motor home route. I have friends that are forever having trouble with their motor home engine. I'm leaning toward camper, but really didn't want to give up my little Element!

Look into the sports hauler. It is like half camper half hauler. You could sleep/live inthe front andhaul whatever (including Element) in the back.

Something Like this.

http://www.camping-trailers.com/xterra-21spx-sale.htm
http://www.camping-trailers.com/xterra-25.htm

I've been looking at the little A-liner campers on the internet - anyone have any experience with those?

Whatever I got, I'd make sure it was a gooseneck/5th wheel, not a pull-behind...for stability.

The wind drag on pull behinds is unreal causing awful stability problems on the interstate. Having pulled more horse trailers than campers, my experience is limited but I nearly had a nervous breakdown trying to pull a pull behind (not pop-up) camper down I75, it was whipping all over the place.

as far as horse trailers go...I'll never own another bumper pull....never.

We have friends who have an RV and they love it, but it's a HUGE $$$ burden. Unless you're going to live on the road, I wouldn't recommend this option.

We have a pull behind and love it, have to get the stability bars so it's a more managable to pull. We thought about motorhome but:

a. they're expensive
b. you have to maintain full coverage insurance on it
c. you have to pay more expensive vehicle registration on it
d. you have to have it's oil changed and all of the other mechanical expenses that go along with owning another vehicle.

The trailer is cheap in comparison. One drawback, we have to take 2 trucks to pull take the boat too.

what is a 5th wheel?

It is a trailer with a "gooseneck" that hooks onto the truck inside the bed between the two rear wheels.

OK... ty

Walden,

I'd considered one of those until I decided to retire and do more festivals. My friends that I do these events with have a camper, but after more than a couple of days, three people just get to be too many in one camper.

Looked inside a few at one of the Byron GA camper dealerships.

Did someone say motorboat? Home! I mean home.

We just purchased a 22 ft. pop up. Very affordable and practicle no affect on the our gas mileage. We are really enjoying it. A couple of years down the road we may switch to a pull behind camper.

We've had both a motor home and 2 campers. Right now we have a 24' camper that we leave parked at a campground year around and that is our summer cabin. My husband is retiring next year and thats when I get a 30' with 2 slides!! When the kids were at home the motor home was wonderful. I agree that the "toy haulers" might be something you would like. They have extra sleep space in the back, but if you needed it for storage of crafts, you would have it.