BootsnAll Travel Community

Please help…its going wrong… advice needed!

Hello, I am departing from here in London on 15th June to start a round the world trip. I am 38 and will be travelling with my seven year old child. We have not done anything like this before. We are spending 3 months going across the States (E to W) starting flying into New York and out at LA. Spending a week in Disney Florida,,, to stop the lad asking 'are we there yet'
I thought I had got it all sewn up with this idea... which has now started to fall apart. I was going to buy an RV from CruiseAmerica as they wrote to me stating they buy back at a minimum of 60% of what I bought it for. I kept up to date with searching their site at what was on offer (in $15,000 range) and all seemed ok. THEN they changed their website. No longer do I see any RV's under $30,000??? And have had an email saying 'up to 60%'. Although they then took this back.. but it has un-nerved me.
I have bought tickets for a festival in Nevada end Aug/beg Sept and a motorhome is a sure fire necessity if I want to attend and not die! America is going to be the first country my son and I see on our World Trip and will set the tone for him for the rest of the year. Soo.... what do I do.
Do I still go with Cruise America in the hope 'they find me an RV and stop saying why dont i come to Phoenix' - they have said contact Cicago..who in turn said they will 'find' a unit for me.
Or do I still scour RV Online and buy private without the safety of a guarantee and hope it doesnt break down and that I can sell it when i get to LA. I dont mind dropping by say $4,000. I tended to think that we would feel safer as a travelling single mum and child with our temporary house already with us, along with the ability to rest up in a site when we wanted or to carry on spontaneously. The RV would give us the space to spend time reading books and have continuity for those three months.. The whole trip is going to be a culture shock for us...just being together all daylong is a novelty. (no school.. no work.. no videos.. no tv.. no immediate friends to play with etc etc)
On top of all this I now hear that the insurance will be astronomical.
I have looked and renting...but that ends up quite expensive as I would want to drop off in a different state each time the 28 days are up. And then me and my son would have to have a major rethink about spending and sleeping arrangements. Choice of motels, camping (so then need to buy tent - we have never camped before, only in our campervan here in the UK)
Then would have to rent an RV for a week for the Festival...
Or to keep our flexibility and movement going... do we do it by coach/bus/trains. And short term hire. I didnt really want to spend a large proportion of our time looking for accomodation or ending up spending too much on it because the lad needs to get to sleep and quick.. He is that young enough to fall asleep on a local bus, but too heavy to carry around whilst asleep.
CAN YOU SEE MY DILEMMA... ANY ONE PLEASE WRITE .. I AM OPEN AND LOOKING FOR SUGGESTIONS OR AFFIRMATIONS ABOUT WHAT I SHOULD DO.. TIME IS FAST APPROACHING... AND I NEED TO DECIDED WHAT TO DO.
For those still interested... from the USA we go to Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, India and back to London.
Please any helpful suggestions are greatfully received... Lisa and Arun. x
Lisa6297@hotmail.com

Wow, Lisa, that's quite a plan with a 7-year-old. I guess you've worked out in-country transport for the rest of the countries you're visiting, as well as medical care -- I'd be worried about that with a 7-year-old boy in tow.

I can't imagine your finding a new RV for $15,000 -- a pick-up truck or van costs more than that. The $30,000 price you say CruiseAmerica lists now sounds more like it. However, I just looked on Ebay and found a camper-van for $7,000 (reserve) in Boston at http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=577959792&r=0&t=0

You might consider whether the two of you can be comfortable in a vehicle of this size. And at that price range you could blow the bucks on an occasional motel room. Of course, I realize you'd be stuck with selling it in LA. But LA is car land, and if nothing else there are plenty of used car lots.

I'm curious whether the festival you're planning on attending is Burning Man. Unless you've been there, you probably have no concept of just how hot it will be in the desert. It'll be suck-the-air-out-of-your-lungs fight-for-any-scrap-of-shade hot during the day, then shiver-in-your-sunburn chilly at night. No matter what vehicle you have, you'd need to keep the engine running to keep the air conditioning on, so you'd need to have lots of spare fuel. And if you're not going to keep the air on, then you'd actually be more comfortable in a tent rather than a metal box. Either way, you might consider getting a kiddy pool and hauling in a lot of water to put in it.

Insurance IS expensive, probably doubly so when you tell them what you're doing with the vehicle. Insurance companies seem happiest when you don't actually plan to drive the vehicle, and charge a lot more the moment you tell them you're taking it across state lines, since insurance here is handled on a state-by-state basis. Your not having a US address could also drive the cost up (but I don't know that, I'm only speculating).

I'd visit Geico.com or other insurance companies on the web and try to get an esimate for the type of vehicle you're considering. Then at least you'll be prepared for the sticker shock.

If you can be flexible about where you acquire the vehicle you can save a lot on tax, insurance, and registration. Don't buy, register, and insure in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut: the rates are sky high. Virginia is a popular lower-cost state, as is Rhode Island I believe.

Finally, if you give up on vehicle ownership entirely, you could cobble together an itinerary that includes trains, busses, ferries, rental cars, and even bicycles (although 7 is a little small for long days in the saddle). Check Amtrak's web site -- they have passenger service along a lot of routes, including some "tourist" trains (like between Washington, DC and New Orleans) that make stops in places you'd want to visit.

Most important, let us know how your plans progress. I'm very curious how you and the lad make out.

Mia

Wherever you go, there you are.

If it's just you and your son, you might consider something like a Van Conversion, which would be much cheaper to purchase and insure while still providing all the amenities. There are some nice ones on rvonline.com. Or you could rent one for as little as $400 per week. Also, a Class B motorhome would be much less expensive than the moe common Class C, however it is harder to find as a rental.

I did see Cruise America offering rentals for $1400 per week with all insurance and 1000 miles included. This is probably a decent deal, considering the cost of insurance in America especially on an RV. Also have you spoke to the UK office: 08705 143607

Other links you might check:

http://www.privatervrental.com
http://www.1-stop-guide.com

Especially good link:

http://www.rvamerica.com

use the pulldown menus to see rv's fcor sale and rent throughout the country. Found Class B rentals for as low as $400/week. Bad thing about buying is no insurance against break down and high insurance. Would recommend renting if possible. Hope one of these helps.

hello to you two..

had not expected to buy a new RV from cruiseamerica for $15,000, these were from their fleet and were about 5 years old. They came with warranty.. which was the whole reasoning for my planning to do it this way.

the $1400 hire per week ends up costing me $18,000, and they do whack an extra charge for dropping in a different state. Got a bit confused.. each time i look at the site it only offers rental for up to a week with then extra days added on at about $100 a day.

I know that with C.A the smallest they tend to do is 20ft. A bit bigger than the one i currently drive around the city of London.

And yes we are going to the Burningman.. and realise the hardships of it.. hence a motorhome is needed... will be buying a tent as well. But need to carry huge amounts of water as you say. If we cant hack it we just leave.

I suppose what I am trying to cover is the fact that i would have no problems doing buses, trains etc... but when a child wants to sleep a child falls asleep... and our journey would be no fun at all (become quite stressful in fact) if i constantly have to wake him up to get off buses and go find a place to sleep. He does travel well in vehicles, but does have a tendency to nod off. With our own transport there is more control.. I expect i am starting to answer my own dilemma now.

I will check out the insurance site tho... as that has been one of those things that I know if i do a search then the list is going to be endless.. where does one start... thanks for the links.

p.s I don't mind paying up to $18,000 (for a 16-19ft)for an RV/camper and then selling it for a lot lot less 3 months later.. say £13,000... $5,000 to have the convenience, transportation, accomodation is a good deal and affordable.

will check the links tomorrow... all tired out..

Just to wish you and your son lots of luck and happy travels. I'm sure you will make out fine, you have just got to be very flexible! I can't offer you any advice about traveling in USA but just wanted to let you know that it is possible to use public transport when traveling with children. I traveled for 6 months many years ago with my partner and a two year old and a four year old. We only went through W.Europe and N.Africa but did it on a very low budget and had no worries. In fact the kids handled it better than us at times!

It is wonderful that you are doing this and I am sure your son will have a ball. My son (the 4 year old) is now 26 and one of his earliest memories is a horse and carriage ride through Valletta Malta, that was on his 4th birthday. Your son will have many very special memories of his own.

Good Luck.

Some further thoughts:

-Remember that most of the driving you'll do in the US is nothing like driving in London, so your big vehicle won't be quite so difficult. Places like the Orlando theme parks are designed for "land yachts." For city visits you can park it and use public transport. I'd never plan to drive around Paris or London -- you can apply the same logic to New York, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco, etc. -- pretty much any American city except maybe those in Southern California.

-When you rent, the insurance is part of the deal (maybe extra cost, but you don't have to shop for it). Also when you rent, is it possible that your own insurance at home will cover your rental? (I'm assuming you have an insured vehicle). Also some credit cards provide that coverage.

-How about renting cars for most of your trip, then getting the larger vehicle for Burningman?

-As the previous person said, seems like kids manage to sleep anywhere -- it's us adults who are more fussy about having beds. But I'm sure the quality of the sleep is important, too.

-Your son will learn so much from this, I'm jealous!

Again, let us know how things go.

Mia

Wherever you go, there you are.

Hello It me with the RV buying renting coaching training dilemma!!

I think I have it sussed… thank you for your contribution to my message on the message board.

The last few weeks have been very stressful… trying to sell my house here in London… timing to be correct for moving possessions over to small place in France… and all before the flight to New York on the 15thJune happens.

I am still in my house in London… realising that I am STILL a control freak!!!

The solicitors/lawyers are controlling me at the moment…hence the stress. But..

I have decided that to deal with my dilemma I just have to let go of all or some of these plans… and will go with renting either a car or RV when I need to and travelling by other means… greyhound/train etc etc.. When I get to a state I particularly like I can always hire an RV for 3 days!!! And keep within the same state. Move on .. and re hire..

Thanks again… needed some interjection to sort out my frazzling brain.

Lisa and Arun (who's having his seventh birthday on Monday!)

Hi Lisa,

You're talking pretty large sums of money. I reckon you should look into buying a VW van. These things can sleep up to 4 people ( with a pop up roof and often have a small fridge and stove.

They are economical, easy to drive, you can tour a city in the day and park in the evening. Also you will be able to pull in at the rest areas ( free ) pop up your top and get some sleep. RV parks charge and paying the gas fee for a mobile living room can get spendy.

For an '85 VW you might pay $3,000. You can sell this on the west coast when you are ready to leave.

Try this link.

http://www.autotrader.com

i agree with buying a van or van conversion. less than $5000 is possible. it's just that the trains are a pain in the states, not like europe, and Greyhound is really sleazy. don't know that you want your kid going that way. I wouldn't.

US trains are good for short trips, but for longer ones, well, it takes ages because, obviously, it's a big country, plus we don't have modenrized rails, so the trains can't go as fast as most European trains, plus, you aren't really saving anything. You could fly for roughly the same prices!

And Greyhound? No way. I use Greyhound to do short trips ,because it's cheap and the bus station is around the corner from BootsnAll HQ, but between the teen runaways and the fugitives, you should probbaly give the hound a miss.

VW vans, though - completely different story! A great way to go, pretty good fuel economy... only trouble is that they can be definite tinkerer's vehicles. If you're not too auto-savvy, I'd be sure to try to find some roadside assistance package (sometimes you have this through your credit card), and maybe buy a copy of 'VW VAns for Dummies' (or just some sort of simple but extensive repair manual) to keep in there too.

Good luck!!

Actually the combi-vans you can get these days are sweet! I'm assuming you're not looking to do the V-dub backpacker thing with your son. You can find the Combi-Vans on the same sites you've been looking at RVs on. Most are totally tricked out, with baths and cooking and full sleeping facilities. And believe it or not they do go used for $5000 and up. Check it out.