[A/S] Antique vs. modern

["Penny" <WeezlLady@xxxxxxx>]

Hi folks,

I'm a newbie here and wanted to ask you kind people for some advice.

I don't own an RV right now, and am pondering my next one. I 
previously owned a '88 Fleetwood 29' TT and a little Winnebago MMMH 
LeSharo (now sold as Rialta).

I am interested in something with quality, longevity and greatly 
customized. Money on hand is a definite issue. I'll need to pay as I 
go.

I'm thinking of either A) renovating an A/S or similar, B) buying a 
non-RV trailer (i.e. horse, cargo, etc.) and doing the inside from 
scratch, or C) building the whole thing from the ground up (there are 
sites on the net for plans).

I'm no carpenter, but am comfortable with tools and instructions. I 
don't mind "roughing" it during the project.

I will want to fulltime in it, so personalization is a must. I have 
lived in RV's longterm and thru Indiana winters and want to spend the 
rest of my life traveling, so longevity is also vastly important. My 
travel style is S-L-O-W and relaxed and work along the way.

I don't believe very many RV manufacturers really put out lasting 
quality no matter what the price and those that do I can't afford.

FINALLY, THE QUESTION!! (Thanks for your patience ;) Are A/S more 
affordable in the long run, or is the attraction more for 
the "antique, piece of history"?

I admire history, but I NEED to be live in it. And $ will never be 
plentiful. However, obviously, it's wasteful to put a lot of time and 
effort into a rig that won't last.

In a recent post, someone mentioned vintage trailers as being more 
maintenance-intensive or some such. And one website suggested that 
virtually all older trailers needed to be stripped to the bones to 
get rid of disease-causing toxins.

No matter what, I'm going to want everything "just so". I can be 
really particular and living in a small RV makes space-utilization 
essential. I'll likely want to do a very major interior re-fit, even 
if everything's fine.

So, is an A/S renovation the better option? Or would I be better 
building my own?

Thanks so much for your time,
Penny
RV-less in IN