Buy a good van and make rentals at B&Bs wherever you direct your travels. An RV, ANY RV, is a black hole of a money pit, new, used, reconditioned, bought at a bargain price, whatever. It has to be housed even when it is not moving, and you can expect 4-6 mpg on the road, which I suppose is not bad mileage for a house, but excretable for personal transportation. These vehicles depreciate at an alarming rate, and maintenance is a bear. These are heavy-duty TRUCKS, and while the actual mechanics of driving on a freeway are not too strenuous, they cannot be easily parked anywhere, and they have HUGE blind spots, even with rear-view cameras and sensors. Also, they are unusually sensitive to cross winds, and any mountain driving at all is subject to some of the most white-Knuckled heart-stopping experience there is short of being in a war zone.
I do not recommend ANY RV. Ever. And this is after having had three of them.
Yer no damn fun :)
If they did, their very first question would be the one I'm going to ask you: have you ever (fully) restored a car/boat/airplane, or built a house/addition (including foundation)?
Because if you haven't, run, don't walk, as fast as you can away from any notion about RVing. The simple fact is that owing an RV - whether it's a trailer or MH - draws on every mechanical, electrical, automotive, plumbing and other engineering skills you ever developed and/or used, professionally or hobbyist.
If you cannot do a complete break-down and re-build, then you will be at the mercy of mechanics. It's bad enough with a trailer, where it can sit for weeks locked behind a huge backlog. But at least you still have your driving vehicle. Going with a MH, whether B, C or A, means the entire vehicle is gone - and seemingly forgotten - leaving you high and dry. (Oh, by the way, regular shop don't take class A or C - maybe some B - so that means it has to go to a truck or RV center. Which means, yes you have to drive there and back.)
Secondly, when the work is finally done, have a chair nearby to sit in when you feel faint after reading the bill. (If you have a diesel, it should be a cot because you're definitely going to need/want it.) And by the way, just because the work was billed doesn't mean any problem(s) were actually fixed. RV mechanics go from dealer to dealer, with no real oversight or guarantees.
I say this as an owner of both a trailer and class C, and as a person who HAS restored cars and HAS built an addition to my house. (In addition, I'm actually friendly with my mechanic since we're both "car guys".) My RVs have fully taxed my mental/skills database. Get used to needing to read and understanding extremely complex diagrams, whether it's electrical, gas, water, etc. There aren't any short-cuts. There also aren't any stringent home level standards either, so even a minor short in a 12v circuit can burn the entire mother down.
With all this being said, if you insist, then do this: buy yourself a new stripped F150 with the eco-boost 3.5L + 10 spd tranny. Make sure it's a 2-dr, rear wheel drive, gas. 4 drs, 4x4 & diesel are all very heavy and destroy payload/tow capacities. If you special ordered one with max trailer tow, your payload will be around 2,000lbs. Ignore my advice and buy a pimped out, heavily optioned FX4 off the lot, and you'll be down around 1,500 lbs.
Secondly, buy a 3-5 year old travel trailer. Don't be too concerned about condition, because it will be worthless by the time you try and sell it. Unless it's an Airstream, the build quality is so low that they are essentially completely worthless after 7-10 years. (As the literally bust apart at the seams.)
The other standard warnings apply as well: service and maintenance, storage, MPG, camp fees, campground availability, degrading highway infrastructure, etc.
In summary, it is infinitely cheaper, more flexible, less stressful and more fun to simply drive a purpose built, long wheelbase transportation vehicle - say like a Honda Odyssey - and stay at lodges and hotels along the way. Get an Odyssey, load it with some fishing poles, cooler etc, and have fun driving to Alaska and back. Return to the Seattle area, and head east to Maine on I-90. When you're done with that, head down I-95 to Key West.
Traverse the country multiple times like Kerouac in On the Road, and you'll be thankful you followed my and Alloysteel's advice.
Totally agree. I lived in a conversion van for a year and just got hotwire hotels when I wanted an upgrade. Cheap, free, and easy!
Love your honest post.
A friend of mine said the WORST vacation their family ever took, was when they rented an RV and set out, to the west.
She said constantly having to sweep floors, cook and squeeze past each other, was NOT a vacation :-)