New or Used?

To reduce costs we thought a second hand fifth wheel would be the way to go. There are many sites but the main ones I researched were;

Holman Motors – sells both second hand and new
PPL in Texas – sells on consignment
RV classifieds – covers all of the American states

As with all second hand vehicles you really don’t know the history of the vehicle and in the case of fifth wheels, does the plumbing work, are there leaks, what is the overall condition etc I emailed several people about fifth wheels some answered some didn’t so the process become quiet long. Then there was the problem if I found a suitable trailer my brother in law would have to travel many hundreds of miles to inspect it and not being a mechanic or RV technician it would have put a lot of pressure on him. My brother in law works six days a week so the ability for him to find the time to inspect our chosen trailer also became a little limited. I could have employed an RV inspection service but this could become quiet costly especially if several trailers needed to be inspected. So my thoughts came back to a new fifth wheel and the great people we met at Holman Motors Ohio, they sell second hand trailers as well as new. I had been monitoring their site for a number of months keeping an eye on prices. I phoned them and was put onto a salesman by the name of Danny. I introduced myself and advised him I was ringing from Australia and I was looking to purchase a fifth wheel, there was a short pause, I could almost hear his thoughts!! What?? Who, from where?
Tip, buy phone card to save plenty of dollars.

I spoke to Danny and informed him of our plans to come to the USA and I arranged for my relative to visit the dealer and inspect the three used fifth wheels I had chosen. In the meantime Holman Motors had further reduced their new fifth wheels. By the time we did our sums on purchasing a second hand trailer of which we had to add nearly $3000 for sales tax and a 12 month purchased warranty the difference between old and new became very small. Some more calculations and for peace of mind and value for money purchasing the new fifth wheel was the best option. We had no trade and were looking to pay cash. We also figured if and when we sold the trailer the newer the better.

A quick inspection by my brother in law on the new fifth wheel and the deal was done. Rose was away interstate for work so I set my alarm clock for 12 midnight Australian time and phoned Holman Motors and bought the trailer then and there! I phoned Rose the next morning and advised her of our purchase, there was a brief silence, and just the sound of morning TV coming through the phone from Canberra! Then the words, "you did what," mmm I could tell she was happy just like me. This sounded like happiness to me? Of course she was happy.... Rose did warm to the idea once the shock wore off. We purchased a new 2012 Heartland Sundance XLT fifth wheel, at just under 31 foot in length with included numerous options as standard.

Something to is check is to make sure you know what comes with the trailer for example, leads, sewage hose, fresh water hose ours even has a bike rack. Little things can make a difference like, the stowage of the sewer hose in the back bumper bar of the trailer. Just nice to know this particular hose is not stowed underneath with all your other personal gear.

Now how to actually pay for our chosen trailer.


- Posted by RnR on their IPad

Location:Brisbane

What to Buy, RV, Fifth Wheeler or Travel Trailer

We basically had three options, a travel trailer(caravan), a fifth wheel or a full blown Recreation vehicle or most commonly called an RV.

There are advantages and disadvantages for all of the above.

Travel trailers;
Are much cheaper and it's common for them to have a slide out, this expands your living space substantially. They come with all the mod cons you would expect with many configurations. For example a 2013 Forest River CHEROKEE GREY WOLF 18RB with a total length of 24' 8" from Holman Motors Ohio is only $14,221-00, I reckon you would pay upwards of $50,000-00 here in Australia! As previously stated we wanted to do our trip in a more "American" way so we discounted the travel trailer optional tempting as it was.

Fifth Wheelers;
We had previously inspected a fifth wheel on our last trip to the States and having inspected one at Holman Motors Ohio we had a fair idea on what to expect. The advantage of a fifth wheel is you get a fair sized “house” 30ft in length with two slides for your money. For example currently you can get a new 2012 Keystone Laredo 266RL which is 30" long for $21,933-00, yes you also need a truck (a Ford 250 will do the job) to tow it but they are pretty cheap also. Check out cars.com there are plenty on the market. The advantages of a fifth wheel is you can unhitch your truck to do your sight seeing, shopping and all the other things you need to do without pulling your trailer with you, same as towing a travel trailer. Another advantage of towing a fifth wheeler is, it is much more stable as the weight of the pin is directly over the back axle where its meant to be so no highway swaying.

Recreational Vehicle (RV)
RV's are fantastic to see they again offer great value and leave the Australian equivalent for dead! Truly these are amazing and with something like 7 million RV's in the US they have truly got it right, seeing is believing! Just check out the PPL web site.
RV's come with two engine types gasoline and diesel, with diesel commonly called a diesel pusher on account the engine is in the rear.

With an RV unless you hitch a small car to the back you more or less have to pack up and take your RV with you no matter where you go, makes sight seeing rather difficult. An RV is more expensive but is much bigger and the cheaper ones run on petrol and generally diesel RV’s are dearer again. So we excluded the RV option as to expensive as they can be dearer and the cost to buy a small car added to the set up costs.

So taking into account all of the above we decided to go with the fifth wheel option, great value for money, mobility and plenty of highway stability.

Next step new or used?



- Posted by RnR on their IPad

Location:Brisbane

Consulate Visit

Well we arrived nice an early for our appointment on a cool morning in Sydney. It took us a little while to find our way into the consulate they don't exactly advertise it with a big sign. Getting into the actual US consulate is not easy as you would expect.

We stood in line with our pre paid self addressed envelope and waited for our turn. First step is to offer up your phone, handbag if you have one, or any other type of bag, you even have to remove any jackets you're wearing. A quick walk through the metal detector, oops remove belt and shoes just like getting on a plane. You get your shoes and belt back but not your bags - you have to check these in with the security guard.

Next step is a check of your application by consulate staff to ensure you have all the correct stuff including a confirmation of your appointment (including a receipt), no confirmation your visit stops here. Very efficient staff run quickly across your actual application, bind it all together with a rubber band and it's take a seat and wait. Step one completed.

Next an armed guard motions you towards the lift, swipes his card and pushes the appropriate floor button for you, he gets out and away you go!

Next stop the "actual consulate" but wait not yet. Another guard behind what appears to be bullet proof glass and I would hazard a guess, bomb proof, requests your neatly bundled application. Again it is checked making sure you are there for legitimate reasons. Once you're confirmed you are motioned to a door, a loud buzz to release it and you enter a small part of the USA. Front up to a console put your appointment number in and take another seat and wait, I must say they have great views.

Processing your application takes most of the day. Call your number go through your application take a seat, call your number get your fingerprints taken, take a seat an so on till finally you get to the "big" window. Here we provided our payslips, employment letter, bank account statements etc and finally we get the nod, your visa is granted! Woo hoo! The scary part is leaving your passport there and hoping it does not get lost in the "system". This is where your self addressed envelope comes in, two weeks later we had our five year visa.




- Posted by RnR on their IPad

Location:Sydney

Applying For Your 5 Year Visa

As our previous post advised for a stay of 90 days or more without the need for continued exit/entry on an ESTA Visa you will need to apply for a B2 visitor visa.
A B2 visa is a non immigrant visa that permits tourists to visit the United States temporarily. B2 visa holders are permitted to sightsee, visit family and friends or receive medical treatment in the US.

B2 Requirements:
A B2 visa can only be applied for outside of the US and applicants must show that the purpose of their trip is for pleasure, tourism or medical treatment.

Applicants must demonstrate they intend to remain in the US temporarily and that they will return to their home country at the end of their stay. B2 visa applicants may be required to show that they have sufficient funds to support themselves during their stay. Applicants may also be required to meet certain health and character requirements.

A B2 visa usually allows the holder to remain in the US for a maximum of six (6) months while some B2 visa holders may be granted a stay of up to one year.

The process to actually apply for your visa will cost you, especially if you don't have a US consulate in your city. In Australia there are three main consulates where you can apply for your visa, Melbourne and Sydney and Perth. For us that meant a flight to Sydney with accommodation for two nights.

Your application is done online and must be accompanied with the appropriate passport photo. US passport photo's are not the same as Australian ones, the US Consulate site has a list of photo shops that can take your photo in the approved format. These photo's are not cheap about $45-00 each for a set of four. The online form is quite lengthy and will take some time to work through, tip save it regularly. Your application must include a digital copy of your passport photo. The site is strict on the size and quality of the photo, in fact it does a test to confirm its appropriateness.

When first starting your application you are asked which consulate you wish to visit, we chose Melbourne, however due to personal circumstances had to change it to Sydney. This was no great problem it just meant booking our appointment in Sydney. Our application was then transferred online from Melbourne to Sydney on our interview day, a slight delay. To book your interview you must sign up to a third party site, from memory about $30-00 each. Booking and submitting your application are closely linked and one can't be done without the other, in our case that interview was now in Sydney. You must pay for your application at the the time of submission and it is vital you keep your receipts and any confirmations you get as you will need them later. The cost for your visa application is $160-00 US each. Don't leave it to the last minute to apply as we found out that large blocks of days can be blocked out, we waited six weeks for our appointment.

So for the next six weeks we gathered our documentation:
Letter of employment
Rate notice
Bank statements
Payslips
Proof of our leave entitlements
A brief itinerary and outline of our trip
And any other documentation that we thought would support our application and put minds at rest that we always intend to return home to Australia.
It was even suggested to take photo's of our grand children.


The next step is a visit to the consulate.


- Posted by RnR on their IPad

Location:Brisbane

Visa's

Visa’s
An ESTA visa is only valid for 3 months so for long term visits it won’t work and you cannot just keep reapplying for an ESTA visa this not the intent and from what I have read you will end up in detention. You will need to apply for a 5 year visa. Don’t get confused, a 5 year visa does not allow you to stay in the USA for 5 years it only allows you to present to the US border numerous times in a 5 year period, its up to the immigration official at the border as to whether he lets you in and for how long. Generally they will give 6 months but be prepared. Make sure you have a return ticket, a letter of current employment in Australia, if you own a home take a rate notice, to show you own property in Australia, take evidence of income including providing proof you can support yourself for the extended stay this could include a letter from your employer if you are on extended leave, copies of bank statements etc. My investigations show that if you get any longer than a 6 month entry you are lucky. You will be issued your I94 on entry with an exit date. You can apply for a further 6 months using an I539 form to make it a total of 12 months which is what we wanted but you have to apply for the extension at least 45 days before your current I94 expires and the cost is $290 per application, a family is one application. The US immigration web sites states “generally extensions are granted” but 12 months is the maximum allowed. Another option is to leave the US and return however you must leave the America’s, you cannot slip over the boarder to Canada, Mexico or the Bahamas’s re enter the US and start the clock ticking for another six months. This option will require you to travel back home or to Europe. In the end they need to be satisfied that you will not just disappear into the vastness of the US but will actually leave the country.
- Posted by RnR on their IPad

Location:Brisbane Qld Australia

How It All Began

I have been encouraged to put together this information by my family and friends not so much as a bible on how to do this but to provide information for others who may wish to do a similar trip. Firstly since the Patriot act was put in place in the USA it would appear to be much more difficult to do a number of things when you want to plan an extended trip to the USA. I have done much research on the internet and phone calls to the US fact finding, and although my information will not be conclusive it will provide information that I have found out which may be of assistance.

Firstly some background to our trip. My partner Rose and I travelled to the US in October 2009 for six weeks and spent 7 days in an RV driving around the Grand Canyon. This was one of the highlights of our six week trip, the ability to have the freedom to go when and where we please proved to be very advantageous. Some weeks later whilst driving in Ohio we stopped at an RV dealer and inspected an RV and some fifth wheels. We were amazed at the value for money these gave. We returned home and gave it no more thought. One day I was searching the dealer’s web site (Holman Motors Ohio) and again I was truly amazed at the value for money these vehicles offered compared to Australia. It was at this point I could not let the thought go of an RV trip in the USA for 12 months!. Rose and I sat and discussed the many options and we came up with “lets buy a fifth wheel and travel the US for a year!” That was it I was hooked and every spare minute I was researching RV’s, fifth wheels and travel trailers (caravans). We sold our investment property got cashed up and started planning. I wanted to do this trip just like the Americans do, in an RV or a fifth wheel so that excluded the travel trailer (caravan) option.

A lot of our planning was made easier as we have a relative living in the USA but if you don’t I would expect one option would be to register an LLC, Limited Liability Company, there are many websites offering this service and I am sure some are scams so beware. Having an LLC gets you an US address to enable you to title (register) your vehicle and to have a US bank account. Depending on which state you register your LLC can even save paying sales tax on your RV or trailer purchase. Several states have no sales tax at all!

Location:Brisbane Australia