For folks wanting to give something a try, Outdoorsy is a sort of Airbnb for all sorts of RVs. Friends rented locally (one trailer, one mini motorhome) during Covid and liked it. Probably you could also rent at a destination.
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Thatās definitely something we should do first, because you donāt know what you donāt knowā¦ā¦until you try it. Iād like to avoid what we did five years ago, which was buy a large boat new, we barely use it but have to keep paying for the moorage fee. I have a hard time sleeping in it, thereās something always broken and itās a pain to fix. Itās a balance between a small amount of pleasure, stress and irritation. I donāt want another situation like that. We could sell our boat for likely what we paid for it, pay off our mortgage, and get a nice RV, but my husband seems unwilling to do so.
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Looks like there is a similar way to lease/rent boats. Iād probably be even more leery about renting out a boat I owned than an RV. Either way, proper insurance coverage would be important.
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I have a friend who takes RV trips solo (well, with her cat) for months at a time and has for years. Not a small rig either. It would drive me crazy to have a breakdown with an RV but she seems to just take it in stride and keeps going. I personally tend toward hotel reservations.
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We have a friend who rents out four boats on there. He does well, but itās definitely seasonal. We could never rent out our boat without a captain, itās too complicated unless someone is pretty experienced. My husband has talked out getting his captainās license to take people out for hire, and Iām refusing to be his first mate for this. It would be incredibly stressful.
We should have just chartered out a big boat a week or two a year. So much cheaper. And no maintenance responsibilities!
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When our kids were young we had pop up tent trailers. Easy to tow, and once detached you have a vehicle for tooling around. But no bathroom. Definitely not ideal for long term retirement travels.
To me the biggest challenge would be figuring out how to have both a reasonably sized āhomeā plus a practical vehicle for exploring things.
Towing a car behind a big motor home? Not for me.
Towing a trailer behind a small SUV? Maybe
A smallish drivable camping vehicle, like a VW camping bus on steroids? Maybe, but where do you draw the line?
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I wish you the best of luck polishing the aluminum exterior. I donāt own an RV, but I have much experience with aluminum polishing to a mirror finish. Expensive and time consumiung.
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As discussed above, renting an RV makes a lot of sense to try it out if you havenāt spent much time in one.
The place where we rented from a lot (prior to the pandemic) has a lot of āone-wayā rentals at deeply discounted prices. Obviously, you need to get back to where you need to get back to (e.g., home), but the rental prices are great, and they give you a lot of time to spend in an RV thatās fairly loaded. I guess these are the equivalent of a āpositioning flightā for airlines, where the plane flies empty to get to go where needs to be positioned for passengers.
The biggest rig I drove was a 32ā Class C. We just had four people and our dog. Our dog loved it because she stayed in her crate at night in the bunk area (bottom bunk, of course), and we could pull the curtains tight so we wouldnāt bother her.
Class C RVs are relatively easy to drive. This particular one had a dirt cheap rental rate, but I didnāt realize there was no rear camera. That was not fun!
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Back when our kids were in grade school, we used to rent private campgrounds which included renting a small pop up trailer than had a functioning kitchen. We used the kitchen to cook dinners (much easier than doing everything over campfire with sand and wind). It was nice when brand new but the mildew and mold appeared as it aged. We didnāt like it nearly as much as it got older in our later visits to the area.
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Olivers are quite nice and made just up the road here in Tennessee. You can tour the factory.
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If you want to try an Airstream without towing it, there is a lovely campground on the Oregon coast that allows you to stay in one: Airstream Suites - Bay Point Landing
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Thatās a great idea! It would be good to just see how comfortable it is and how you sleep, what you like about the interior before even go to the trouble of towing one.
Looking into that location, it would be perfect, except all of their Airstreams are pretty large, which makes sense for that kind of rental. I hope I can find a similar place that has the small ones, as why try out a palace when youāre looking for a small shed.
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Iām not exactly a mirror finish type of gal.
You should see the layer of dirt on all of our vehicles. Not sure thatās necessary with the newer Airstreams since theyāre clear coated, but I donāt know how long that lasts. Definitely a consideration, do not want to do a ton of cleaning. That Oliver is looking better and better, though I donāt think Iād want to start out with our first RV being so expensive. Worthwhile if you use it a lot and know itās the right one, though.
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Even a ābrushedā finish requires maintenance.
Clear coating (two or more stages) on paint can last a carās lifetime, if properly cared for.
Clear coating on aluminum wonāt last nearly as long, but my question is, would it be much simpler to just leave the raw aluminum and maintain it that way versus having the aluminum probably oxidize under the clear coat.
Iād ask the Airstream forum. I went there when I had aluminum maintenance questions.
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Hmm, I thought clear coats were standard, that you didnāt have an option, but I havenāt much checked into it. Will definitely hit up the forums before seriously considering this.
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I know zippo about Airstreamās, and their offerings, but I know a lot about aluminum maintenance. 
But for shear beauty, thereās nothing like brushed or fully polished aluminum.
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Our family is VERY sensitive to mold and mildew and it physically makes us ill. We do better in open air or clean, new equipment or well-cleaned stuff. Our humidity and heat are great breeding grounds for mold & mildew! 
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For those who donāt want to tent or buy/rent an RVā¦ another option is to rent a Camping Cabin. Usually you bring. your own sleeping bag, food etcā¦ use the campground bathroom/showers. But there are a variety of arrangements, some grand and pricey.
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My friend has a Casita and now has an Escape. The fiberglass ones are supposed to be good and they are lightweight. My friend has a Bambi and itās adorable but expensive.
We have a 21 ft Rockwood Minilite that we bought prior to the pandemic. I was hesitant as I was a tent camper but itās grown on me. We pull with our Toyota LandCruiser which we already owned. I wouldnāt want to live in it full time. Most places we like you have to book 6 months out. We arenāt a fan of private parks.
My husband has been looking at boats for years!
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Casita and Escape look like some interesting options. I like the fiberglass exteriors, that seems easier and lighter than the aluminum ones. What kind of boat is your husband looking at? We have a small, old ski boat that almost never breaks and itās all so easy, you just get in and go. If heās looking for something like that, I highly recommend it! A bigger boat, ugh, forget about the hassle and expense and just have a friend who owns a big boat!
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