240,000 Miles In Small RVs: What I Learned and How Those Things Can Save You Time and Money by Chuck Botts

The first of the US Baby Boomers, who were born between 1946 and 1964, reached 65 years old on January 1, 2011. They will retire at an average rate of 4.5 +/- 0.5 million per year, or 12,300 every day over those next 18 years. (Source: “The Demographic Cliff ” page 19, Figure 1-5 immigration adjusted birth index by Harry S. Dent, Jr.) Some will buy an RV to travel in North America. Some will go full time and become Snow Birds, going south in the winter and North in the summers, other, like us, will live at home and travel only in the best season for an area. We were often asked about our choice of a small RV without a tow. Our answer is that the size of your RV depends on how much stuff you must carry to support your lifestyle. RVs larger than 25 feet start to have maneuverability problems on normal streets, tight corners, parking lots, bridge limit due to their weight, and sinking in soft ground when parked. These problems are solved with an additional smaller tow vehicle that is used for touring, resulting in a different way to tour than ours. Now, that large RV must first be parked where it will not be broken into before going off to tour in the tow vehicle and then returning to your RV for the night. Our way is we do our touring directly from our small RV, moving on to the next RV Park for the night. We also travel at the cars speed limits rather that than the reduced speed limit for those that tow.

Chuck Botts is a certified machninst with a BSME degree and has specialized in successfully bringing new ideas and concepts to fruition over his entire 40-year career. He has been successful in eight new and different technologies, leading him to completely remodel his 1977 RV using current modern equipment. He lives in San Diego, California.