Newbee Insecurities

[Mikepace]

Apologies in advance for lengthy post.
- 68 year old retired widower going full time solo nomad on or about 12/1/18.
- 16 ft AR One TT with F150 Tow, very well equipped for long term boondocking.
(Assuming sewer dump, water, gasoline, propane avaiable within reasonable distance for reprovisioning. 35 gal Blue Boy on special tow vehicle ramp, 25 gal food grade water tank on tow vehicle. Inverter-generator, plenty of battery, solar soon).
- initial from SW Florida to RTR. Probably over winter in metro Quartzite then North to Grand Canyon in Spring. After that ???
- have lifetime NPS America the beautiful plus Great RV Escapes (purchased on this site).
Probably will add Passport America.
- Will probably want ( or be forced to) a number of nights per year at campgrounds with facilities.
- looking to "lock in", to a degree possible, site expense for first year until I can get some experience other than what I have learned on YouTube. Have some flexibility in annual site budget but trying to avoid big "gotchas" and keep as much available for unexpected repairs that I can't do myself.
- should I consider a basic Thousand Trails for the first year or am I being unnessarily cautious and I have enough with the three programs I have? Sorry again and thanks.
-

 

[rvwandering]

No need to apologize. We're here to help with any questions especially from new members.

 You're in great shape for full timing! Your camping expenses can be completely free or very expensive depending on what you chose to do. Don't buy any more campground memberships until you've been on the road a while. Chances are you won't need them. There are so many beautiful places where you can camp for free on BLM and forest lands or almost free at federal campgrounds with your America the Beautiful pass.

 Just in case you don't have them yet here are a couple of helpful sites:

 Free and cheap camping - https://freecampsites.net/

 Dump stations - https://www.sanidumps.com/sanidumps_usamerica.php

 

[Mikepace]

Thanks so much for the reply and thoughts!

 

[Blanch]

I am full time with a truck and travel trailer. I use my Access Pass and get 50% off in some national forest campgrounds as well. When you roll into a new area you go to the NFS or BLM local office and ask them where the local dispersed camping is. They can give you accurate information on road closures and how difficult some roads are. Good first hand information.

I don’t have / haven’t needed any camping memberships in two plus years.


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[RoamerRV428]

Thousand Trails IS ONLY good if you are in those campground areas and plan on being there. You can go all out and buy all in.....or you can 'zone' a pass. Yes it is cheap rv'ing, like $3-4 a night for full use of campground, but again, is it where you want to be?

use every senior discount you can at every opportunity

and go for it! There are so many wonderful nice people out there to help you along your way....any rv'er you see on the road will help if they can. We rv types are good people LOL well most, haha, and you will be fine out there.

Those 'gotcha's' can happen for any reason.
truck repair, gotcha big time on bill
medical issues, gotcha on big time med bills
gotcha on paying a bit more for your campsite than ya wanted

you go out and enjoy and pinch the pennies where you must and feel comfortable doing just that, and spend a bit to enjoy your time on the road as you see fit. best of luck

 

[Mikepace]

Thanks Roamer and everyone else.
Already feeling better. Going to go with what I have for discounts-membership for now (will add Passport America for $44 just before I depart).
Will wait until I have some nights and miles in my log book before making any decisions on Thousand Trails, even basic zone plan. You folks are super.
Hope to meet some of you at RTR.

 

[bullfrog]

Using National Parks Pass to get access to Wifi, beaches, picknic areas, dumpsites,water, free hot showers and dumpsters while staying at night on near by BLM land is hard to beat as at your age a lifetime pass is now only $80. It used to be $10 when I got mine, just don't loose it! You will spend more on gas to get supplies or pay more for them if available on site so stock up before going.