We Bought Another Camper…

Yes, I know, I said we had decided not to but… I’d better start at the beginning. So several years ago (8 maybe) we bought an inexpensive used camper for some recreational camping with the kids, etc. We used it to go to Disneyworld, the beach and a few other destinations. The truth is, I didn’t love it. I do love camping itself. I loathe camping preparation though- all the packing and food prep, trying to think of easy to prepare meals, etc. Trying to do it all while working was especially stressful. And when we were IN the camper, there were the frustrations of 4 people living in 200 square feet of space with nearly no storage. Someone was always leaving their shoes in the middle of the floor for someone else to trip over.

My husband used the camper for work quite a bit- it was cheaper and more pleasant for him than staying in a hotel. He also used it for fishing in South Louisiana- his favorite fishing areas don’t have many accommodations. He left the camper in Louisiana and used it a few weekends a month. The rent became even cheaper when a friend offered to pitch in with the rent if he could use it too.

Everybody was happy with the camper situation till hurricane Sally came through. The camper got blown over. My husband paid someone $400 to have it picked back up, and then my husband pronounced it fine. I was a little skeptical. I’d been less and less willing to stay in it since a mouse had been discovered under one of the kitchen cabinets. After the hurricane, the awning didn’t work and there was a small leak in the roof. Still, my husband didn’t want to part with it and repaired and continued to use it. His roommate stopped paying and so the rent abruptly doubled. He mostly fished in the fall and early spring so this summer he decided to bring it home to save on rent.

I used to fish with my husband a lot- back before we had kids. I haven’t been fishing with him in years, because its hard to fish with 4 people on a boat. If one kid stayed home, it was generally me staying with them. This summer when it was time to bring the camper back, my younger child was at camp, and my older child is old enough to stay at home by himself- he doesn’t particularly like to fish. So I went fishing with my husband- just the two of us. I had forgotten how much fun it is! We had so much fun we rented a place to stay for when we came back to pick up the boat. Unfortunately, covid struck, and our youngest son came home from camp early. He was clear to go fishing with us by the time our reservations rolled around though. We had a good time fishing with him too, though he was ready to come in long before we did.

The RV, though, was still awful. On the way home with it, I told my husband that we ought to replace it. He said that it was fine for what we were using it for. I pointed out that it had a musty smell, and had previously had a leak. It had been rolled over, had experienced electrical problems, there was a soft spot in the shower, and I didn’t like staying in it. We are no longer poor, and we don’t have to buy a really expensive one. Just something newer that hadn’t had mice living in it…

He wasn’t hard to convince, and two weeks later has gone to pick up our new (to us) camper. Its about 5 years old, but bigger and lighter than our last one. This is important, because if it had been heavier, we’d have had to buy a bigger truck. The car market is still tight and there are no good deals to be had there. To my astonishment, the RV dealer was willing to take our nasty old camper as a trade. Honestly, we’d gotten a ton of use out of it and I thought it was a piece of junk. I’d have been happy giving it away. So for 14K, we have significantly upgraded our camper.

This is not at all what we had intended to do- we had been planning on buying a 5th wheel camper and bigger truck and travelling all over the US. This camper will be for more local trips in the summer near here and for fishing in the fall and winter in Louisiana. It was also about $76K less than what we had planned on spending for the first plan. This camper might work for what we had originally intended, but it might not. We’ll have fun finding out though, and it would have been a few years till we could travel as significantly as we wanted to anyway. There is fishing in our future though, and some other trips too. Next year my youngest wants to be a counselor at the camp he’s attended for years. He’ll be gone for FIVE WEEKS! Oh, the possibilities…

Favorite retirement things for this week- Covid quarantine is a lot more tolerable without the stress of work. Also fishing on a weekday means never having to struggle to find a parking spot, never dealing with a traffic jam at the boat launch, and not finding your “secret” fishing spot with 3 other boats already parked over it!