this year I purchased a low-milage 99 Ford Explorer XLT for $650 and put a couple thousand into it (guy thought he was taking advantage of me). I didn't have to put nearly that much, but I did for the purpose of long-term maintenance as I want to have this vehicle for years.

The back is big enough to fit a twin mattress, so I did exactly that. I then purchased one of those bags you can strap onto the top. I can now do things like drive down to water that's 4 or 5 hours away and stay for the weekend before coming back (gf loves fishing).

w/i the last month I took it on a 9 hour drive down and back (so 18 hours total) and it ran extremely well for a vehicle that old.

I'm super happy with it and it's one of those things that rolls around in your head until you finally commit and you wish you had done it sooner. So for me, now, unless there's a time reason I wouldn't fly even outside of a 10 hour drive.

And a large part of that is, as you said, the way you're treated like a criminal.

Just thinking about it, I can't wait for summer to show up :)