Hi everyone,
I'll start by saying I think this is a great website and the forums are superb, I have been watching the forums for a few weeks and have now decided to become a member.
I am a future solo traveller, have spent the last couple of years checking out how I want to travel and have looked at all modes of Vans and Towing vehicles in that time. Campervans, Motor Homes, caravans, fifth wheelers, at the moment I am looking at  5th wheelers, saw a couple of them at the lesurefest show in Melbourne  last week end, Australian built, they looked great, and are not as big as the American imported ones, but I have til the end of the year to make up my mind on what I am going to settle on.
It is so exciting just planning it all, and scary at times also
Is anyone towing a fifth wheeler? would love some feedback if you have any info on them or what is a good tow vehicle, thinking of a dualcab.
At the moment I have a Roadstar Little Rippa poptop that I use on short trips around Victoria, it is just big enough for me and my girl Layla (a Dutch Shepherd)
hoping this is the first of many

Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the our great forum. Don't hesitate to ask for advice,lots of very smart people here that can answer most of your queries.

me second to welcome you (p.s. I'm the one they warn you about)

Hi Rox
welcome from Anne and me,as well. Hope to see you out there one day.


Johnw

-- Edited by jandas fun on Thursday 8th of October 2009 04:55:57 PM

Thank you guys for the warm welcome, and I will surely take you up on the advice, I think I am going to need plenty before I hit the road for good. Just the thought of everything I have to do is mind boggling.

Hi Una .. and a welcome from myself also.

There is a heap of skill and experience here on this site and I too have found it most beneficial ..

I've just gone through a similar exercise to you .. sold the house .. then the car .. and four months after placing an order, I finally viewed my Motorhome today as it has just arrived at the Penrith Avan Dealer ..
Maybe another week or so for some installations .. but I will be finally on the road by the end of the month (at the latest, hopefully) ..

.. then I can be a NOMAD like these other folk ..

good luck!

Jon

Thank you Jonathan, How exciting for you to be only a month away from taking off in your new motorhome, happy traveling. Do you know where you are heading off to first? north or south. You know exactly where I am, Selling my home in April, got to have a couple of garage sales to get rid of everything I have accumulated in this house for the past 30 years. Have to decide which phone carrier to go with, and then there is the internet do I go pay as you go or in a contract, I will have to make a list and cross them off as I go, but I am not complaining, its all great.

Welcome Rosanne. I'm not confident enough yet to drive anything bigger than a High-ace. Good luck with the planning. Cheers, xina.

Thank you Xina,
I see traveling as a good leveler, Its not important how big or small your rig is or what you did in your previous life, all that matters is that you're out there doing it and enjoying it
Well that's my motto anyway.

Hi again Rox ..

Hopefully for a few days at Elmore (Vic) towards the end of this month .. sometime over to Adelaide to visit my my dear Mum and back here for a week late in November to sit my sons house while they're away for a break ..

I'ts all subject to a current activities at the moment as you can imagine .. but .. it's nice to have some idea ..

I've got some great friends not far from where I'm staying, (John & Anne - Jandas Fun)  who I'd like to share some travel time with also .. 
So .. the future looks quite bright .. and as in your circumstances, I too had lived at the old house for over 30 years before it was sold ..

I'm sure you're time will pass quickly ..

Jon

Hi Jonathan, Sounds like you've got it sorted, you are lucky to have good friends to share your traveling with. I have often thought about where I am going to head off to first, and really I don't have any idea. I would like to work while I travel, so maybe I will get myself a casual job somewhere and then head to that spot. I will probably change my mind a few times before I head off :)

Una Zingara? Stai italiana??

Not many Italian Gypsies on the road in Aussie!

Welcome from me too.

I spent several years motorhoming 'on-the-cheap' in Italy in the beginning of the decade and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
I had an Italian lady friend in the early days and that helped me considerably in finding my way around and in coming to terms with the Italian ways and the language.
To say the very least, it was an interesting driving experience.

Ciao Rolly, Si sono italiano
thats about as far as it goes, my italian have a very heavy dialect. Thank you for the welcome, I have also driven around italy for 3 weeks, absolutely loved it.
Now I am ready to see this wonderful country of ours.

Well, welcome Rox, as many before me have said. I too am a solo traveller, with no real estate or furniture. I tow a 20ft van. You seem to have a fairly good idea of what you'll need to do this nomadic thing without furniture and real estate to return to. Go with your instincts and budget, and I'm sure you'll be a happy little nomad like the rest of us. Fifth wheelers are fairly manageable. I haven't towed one, but it is still towing. I have been told they have better maneauverability (spelling) - (it's one of the words I have trouble with) than a caravan. You're already doing your homework, so you have a good handle on what's required, and what's within your capabilities. All the best to you and whatever you do, enjoy yourself. Cheers Chris

Jonathan wrote:

---

Hi again Rox ..

Hopefully for a few days at Elmore (Vic) towards the end of this month .. sometime over to Adelaide to visit my my dear Mum and back here for a week late in November to sit my sons house while they're away for a break ..

I'ts all subject to a current activities at the moment as you can imagine .. but .. it's nice to have some idea ..

I've got some great friends not far from where I'm staying, (John & Anne - Jandas Fun)  who I'd like to share some travel time with also .. 
So .. the future looks quite bright .. and as in your circumstances, I too had lived at the old house for over 30 years before it was sold ..

I'm sure you're time will pass quickly ..

Jon

---

Congratulations Jon, how exciting as you count the days down to pointing the bonnet in your chosen direction, leaving everything familiar behind. A little bit scary too.
Gee, it feels good! I can't wait to hit the road again.
Enjoy overy km as the scenery slides by.  Safe and happy travels. Cheers Chris

 

.. thanks Chris .. !

Thanks Chris
I have had plenty of time to scan the internet and research while I wait for the right time to take off.
Yes definately have to stick to a budget, if I want to be a happy camper.
Its good to talk to people that have the same interest in travelling, I think everyone around me must be getting a bit sick of listening to my plans.
I'm impressed, towing a 20ft Van on your own.when I was thinking of going with a caravan, I was looking at a 171/2 ft one, but thought that was a bit small to live in full time. With the fifth wheeler it is 24ft but some of it sits on the ute so it doesn't seem so big.
again thanks for the lovely welcome everyone has showed me.
Cheers
Rox

Rox,

I think that a lot of the full-timers will agree with me when I say that the real art of happy traveling, is traveling light.

So many of us have set out initially with all the stuff that "might be needed sometime" only to eventually either, send much of the stuff back home, or just simply drop it of at the nearest convenient charity shop.

The majority also seem to live from their caravans, rather than in them.

There are lots who, rather than traveling to "get away from it all" carry it all with them, but, more often than not, they are so busy caring for and protecting their 'investment' that they miss out on a lot of the freedoms that being 'on the road' can offer.

Now, I'm not someone who can afford to risk what small possessions I have, but I would much rather happily bounce around countryside in something that I can put a bit of wear and tear onto in the 'pursuit of happiness', than have to worry about 'residual market value'.

I like to keep my gear in as clean and usable a condition as serves me, rather than pandering to the equipment itself.

A bit of red dust and a few dead flies on the windscreen makes it all look authentic anyway. 

Rolly wrote:

---

Rox,

I think that a lot of the full-timers will agree with me when I say that the real art of happy traveling, is traveling light.

So many of us have set out initially with all the stuff that "might be needed sometime" only to eventually either, send much of the stuff back home, or just simply drop it of at the nearest convenient charity shop.

The majority also seem to live from their caravans, rather than in them.

There are lots who, rather than traveling to "get away from it all" carry it all with them, but, more often than not, they are so busy caring for and protecting their 'investment' that they miss out on a lot of the freedoms that being 'on the road' can offer.

Now, I'm not someone who can afford to risk what small possessions I have, but I would much rather happily bounce around countryside in something that I can put a bit of wear and tear onto in the 'pursuit of happiness', than have to worry about 'residual market value'.

I like to keep my gear in as clean and usable a condition as serves me, rather than pandering to the equipment itself.

A bit of red dust and a few dead flies on the windscreen makes it all look authentic anyway. 

---

Well said, Rolly....

 

Hi Rolly,
Thanks for the advice, I will take it on board. 
getting information from people like you that are already living their  dream is important for me taking off on the right foot.
Cheers

My van is my home, and I care for it as I would any place I live in. It's not immaculately clean and polished, but it needs to be cared for if I want it to last. I do prefer clean and tidy. No flies on me or the windowsills. Curtains need to be washed from time to time, floors need to be washed etc. Just like the cruiser which tows it. I get it serviced and maintained, keep an eye on everything like oil, coolant, tyre pressures etc. I live very lightly, and as I go I do throw some of my older clothes out to the Salvos and old linen to the animal shelters or RSPCA - depends where I am when I have clean out. If I haven't used it for a year it goes. Having lived in the civilised metropolis of Cairns for a while, I have had to update the social apparel a little, versatile but not too high fashion. No clutter here, but I always live an uncluttered life, well, with possessions anyway. It all comes down to weight and balance in the car and van. Then it's about space and usefulness, bearing in mind this is my home, and the back of Rosy is the "shed" complete with tool boxes and equipment. It's all relative.

Sounds like a Men from Mars and Venus thing, I'm think the same way Chris
Cioa
Rox