The motorhome exporter
Vivien Ogden ships a camper to the USA for a road trip
Should we or shouldn’t we ship our demountable motorhome to North America? The idea had gradually grown and now was the time to start an action plan.
The three options were to take our own camper, rent, or buy one in the US. We settled on our own because to rent would cost as much in two months as return shipping. Buying a vehicle is difficult in the US unless you are a resident. There is an option to set up a limited liability company that circumvents this requirement, but there are ongoing costs and storage to consider.
To mitigate the expense, we wanted to go for longer than the three-month ESTA visa allowed so applied online for a B-2 tourist visa. This entailed an appointment at the US embassy in London; the B-2 visa allows six months in the US at a time for up to 10 years, there is no specified time to be out of the US between each six-month period. It cost £280 per person and took four months.
While waiting for the visas we explored shipping, vehicle import requirements and insurance. I found YouTube a good resource as ‘Tread the Globe’ had documented their recent shipping and explained the procedure.
I contacted their shipping agent, Ship Cars Ltd, which obtained quotes and dates for me.
The total one-way cost from Southampton to Charleston South Carolina came to £3,500, this included a roll-on roll-off crossing, marine insurance and agent fees for customs paperwork. The crossings can only be booked one way a maximum of six to eight weeks ahead so booking the return voyage had to be done towards the end of our trip, and cost £3,085 (total £6,585).
To import a vehicle to the US, a TIP (Temporary Import) document is required from US border control. I was put in touch with the US agent and this was completed online and included Canada and Mexico.
The vehicle can be imported for up to a year or, if the importer (me) leaves the country, so must the vehicle. We planned to fly back to the UK to reset our visas, but this is not permitted.
If we had known this, we would have investigated shipping to Canada where this may not be a restriction. The Plan B was to drive into Canada and back into the US.
Technically, Canada is a ‘de facto’ country and does not officially count as going out of the US; however travellers do get visa renewals and this depends
on your border guard. Plan C was to ship back from Halifax in Canada.
It has got increasingly difficult to insure a European vehicle in the US. Thum quoted £6,000 for the year with huge excesses and SerguroGringo offered third party.
After many phone calls to Progressive, we bought insurance at £900 for the truck and £280 for the demountable camper for six months at a time. Despite this, on the morning we set off in the USA, Progressive emailed to say the underwriters had refused the camper part and refunded the premium. We decided to set off using roads less travelled and park well away from other vehicles. Not ideal and at least the pick-up truck had not been declined.
In total, it took five weeks for the camper to arrive – the ship had been delayed a week in Southampton, then a week was added to the usual three-week voyage. This meant changing all our travel arrangements. In hindsight it would be better to make these arrangements once the ship has sailed.
With a great sense of achievement we collected the camper in Charleston. One document had the wrong box ticked on the TIP by the agent, but I realised this and had it changed. Apart from that the pick-up was completed in 20 minutes.
Our trip started in Charleston. In pursuit of clement weather mid-March we headed southwest along the Mexican border to Big Bend National Park, turned north to explore inland states west to California, and north again through Yellowstone and Glacier NPs into Canada. Here we let our B-2 visas run out and, after three weeks, dipped back into the US and were stamped in for a further six months.
Then we toured through Niagara Falls and the Blue Ridge Mountains to New Orleans for Halloween and finally Florida ready to ship the camper from Brunswick Georgia back to Southampton.
In total, over 10 months, we visited 25 US states, four Canadian provinces and 12 national parks.
RV parks are numerous and offer full hook-up from $40-$100+ per night, similar to private campsites offering a variety of service levels.
A year’s subscription of $79 for Harvest Hosts or Boondockers gives access to individuals who host travellers on their private property for free; some ask a small charge if electric hook-up is offered and many take same-day bookings through the app. We used over 20 of these, and our hosts were able to suggest local places that we would have otherwise overlooked.
Boondocking/wild camping is possible in lots of settings though there are local bylaws that stipulate if parks are closed at night or if other overnight camping restrictions apply, eg, in Walmart supermarket car parks.
Anyone 65+ can get senior discounts in places such as tourist sites, restaurants, public pools and transport, so it is always worth asking.
If you have a Gaslow LPG system, propane is widely available and the European adaptor for Germany and Ireland fits at all outlets in the US and Canada. Likewise, hosepipe and dump connectors are one size countrywide, including Canada.
The US runs on dollar quarters for laundromats and car washes so keep plenty for these services.
The only hiccup on the return sailing came when we dropped the camper at Brunswick port to be told a ‘Certificate of Emptiness’ for the LPG cylinders must be shown; I had asked the agent about this and was advised that, as long as the cylinders were empty that would suffice.
After many calls a certificate arrived via email from the agent, which satisfied the port authorities.
This has been a wonderful trip. Our foreign vehicle had the added advantage of creating a talking point and we met many interesting people because of it. I have to say, despite everything involved with international shipping, it is one of best decisions we have made to tour the USA in the comfort of our own vehicle. ➤