At vælge den rigtige autocamper kan være en udfordring. Der er SÅ mange muligheder! Det første råd, vi giver folk, der køber en autocamper, er det der er INGEN perfekt RV for you. You will have to make some sacrifices…of course unless you plan to spend a million dollars for custom options. But if that’s the case, you probably aren’t reading this post anyway.

For at være ærlig, mange fuldtids-RVers, du spørger, har højst sandsynligt haft mindst 2 eller 3 forskellige RV'er. Before you’ve lived in an RV, it’s hard to truly know what you want and need. So don’t be surprised if you change your mind, too.

Du kan læse alle tips til at vælge den rigtige autocamper (som det indlæg, vi skrev, DON’T Buy an RV Until You’ve Read These 5 Tips!), do tons of research, and drive yourself crazy. But, ultimately, until you’ve hit the open road and discovered your travel style, your parking preference, etc….it’s hard to know which RV is the best for your lifestyle.

For os havde vi aldrig ejet en autocamper og havde knap nok slået lejr i en. Vi valgte automatisk et femte hjul til pladsen. We loved it, too! In fact, we wrote this post – 10 grunde til at vælge et femte hjul til fuldtids RVing. Disse grunde var præcis, hvorfor vi besluttede os for et femte hjul, og er det stadig store fordele ved at vælge et femte hjul.

Men 8 måneder senere, da det var tid til at købe en nyere RV, vi overraskede os selv fuldstændig, da vi valgte at skifte til en klasse c autocamper i stedet for et andet vendehjul. We purchased our fifth wheel knowing it was a “starter unit” to simply allow us to try out RV life and determine if it was for us or not. It wasn’t designed for full-time living…it was much more of a weekend warrior RV. So we originally went into the purchasing process with the plans to buy another fifth wheel.

Her er dog grundene til, at vi endte med at vælge en klasse c autocamper i stedet.

We didn’t need as much “stuff” as we thought we did

Når vi flytter vores ejendele ud af det femte hjul, vi trak så mange ting ud, vi aldrig brugte and actually forgot we had in there. Again, we didn’t know anything about the lifestyle and how it would be. Now, we know what we like to do in the places we visit, we know we don’t need as many clothes as we thought, and we ditched the duplicates of things.

It’s a huge adjustment to downsize from a house to autocamperen. Så mange mennesker vil vælge en større RV, indtil de indser, hvor lidt de faktisk har brug for. It’s extremely common for full-time RVers to downsize their RV during or after their first year on the road. På en måde er det at gå gennem stadierne en del af processen med at forenkle dit liv.

Manøvredygtighed > opholdsrum

Vi mistede noget omkring 50 sq ft, da vi reducerede fra vores femte hjul til vores klasse c. Savner vi det? Selvfølgelig! Men de fordele, vi fik, opvejer tabet af plads.

Vores foretrukne fordel er, hvor manøvredygtig vores klasse C er. At køre den føles meget lig at køre i vores gamle lastbil. Since the length is right under 26 feet, we can “fit” into most parking spots. We’ve even managed to find street parking in the city and have “moochdocked” outside of family members’ houses with no problem at all.

In contrast, the last time we returned home, we had no choice but to put our fifth wheel in storage while visiting family because there was not enough space for it in anyone’s driveway or neighborhood. It was really inconvenient to move out of our home for a few weeks and not have full access to some of our belongings.

We also used to be so jealous of the RVers who could pull off the side of the road to snap a photo of a scenic view. We’ve had to settle for mental pictures because pulling over with a 30ft trailer isn’t exactly safe, if there is even space for it. Nu føler vi os sikre på at kunne trække ind næsten overalt med lethed uden konstant at skulle tjekke spejlet for at sikre, at vi vil rydde en kantsten, og Lindsay føler sig 100 % komfortabel med at køre til enhver tid. 

Lettere rejsedage

Let me paint a picture of what our travel days looked like when towing the fifth wheel. First, we would have to strap down any loose furniture, along with the typical stowing of items. Then, we’d have the usual disconnecting of the sewer, water and electric. The final step would be backing up the truck just right, lowering the trailer, and hitching it up, which would typically take 10 minutes alone (on a good day). We’d often be stressed that we would forget a step, because there were just so many.

I forgot to mention that we’d have to set up a comfortable space for the dogs, pack up a bag of snacks, water bottles, a trash bag, our computers (if we wanted to struggle to work at all), cameras (you always have to be prepared for beautiful scenery), etc. We would be crammed in and have to stop every 2-3 hours to stretch and use the bathroom. If we wanted to make lunch in the fifth wheel, we’d end up taking 30-45 minutes every time we stopped, which made travel days even longer.

Lad mig nu begynde at forklare forskellen i rejsedage ved at sige, at mens jeg skriver dette indlæg, kører vi til Nashville. Jeg sidder godt og sikkert ved spisepladsen, mens Dan kører. When it’s lunch time, I’ll get up and lav os en sandwich uden at skulle stoppe og hvis jeg har brug for det bruge toilettet…no problem! The dogs can move around a bit more too.

Åh, og før vi rejser et sted, tager det os kun ca 10-15 minutter at pakke sammen, afbryd forbindelsen og start. Ikke mere at spænde og spænde fast. Vi gemmer genstande væk, trækker rutsjebanen ind, løsner vores tilslutninger, hopper ind og går! Vi rejser hurtigt og bliver typisk kun 1 uge ad gangen nye steder, så det er kæmpe stort for os!

Tavleskive 38C Støbt topplade-trailer lastbildele Hitch Heavy Duty Hitch

Bedre arbejdspladser

Selvom mange nyere modeller af drejeskiver har gode arbejdspladser, havde vores ikke. Vores eneste arbejdsområde var ved køkkenet Dinette Dette bestod af små træstole, der havde ingen rygpuder og knap nok plads til at være en behagelig afstand fra bordet. Standen dinette med kvalitetspuder er meget mere praktisk til at sidde hele dagen.

Hvis spisestuen bliver for overfyldt for os begge, foretrækker jeg at arbejde i passagerstolen, som drejer rundt for at vende mod stuen. Der er også et aftageligt bord, som jeg kan stille op, som derudover kan stilles foran sofaen, hvis jeg har lyst til at hygge mig ekstra og se tv, mens jeg skriver. Vi har derfor 3 muligheder for arbejdspladser! 

I mentioned that I am working while we drive, which is also a big deal for us. And the computer is not sitting on my lap in the passenger seat. I am actually at a “desk”, where I can focus without getting car sick or getting a neck cramp!

We also used to only be able to travel on weekends because Dan was the primary driver and he couldn’t take time away from his work during week days. We would occasionally be able to squeeze travel in on a week day if the drive was under 3 hours and after the work day. The hardest part about that though, other than driving at night, is that our weekends are our most valuable time. Weekends are the best time for us to be exploring new places and enjoying the greatest benefit of RV life.

Nu hvor jeg er mere tryg ved at køre i den nye autocamper, kan Dan arbejde, mens jeg kører. Rejsedage betyder ikke længere, at vi skal tage tid væk fra arbejde. It’s all about efficiency and multi-tasking, right? And our weekends are free for adventuring!

Bedre benzin-kilometertal

What do you get when you cross a GMC Sierra 2500 truck and a 8,500 pound fifth wheel? A gas guzzler! That’s not a joke. We used to get 7-8 miles per gallon while towing! Then we’d continue to get poor gas mileage when we would detach the trailer and drive the truck around cities. We basically lived at gas stations.

Nu får autocamperen alene det samme benzinforbrug som lastbilen alene, which is around 15 mpg. When we tow our Jeep Wrangler behind the motorhome, we still average around 11 miles per gallon…not too shabby. But when we arrive, we can ride around in the jeep and get 18 miles per gallon around the city! Cha-ching! More money in our pockets, which makes us happy campers!

Så der har du det! Det er klart, at vi er meget glade for vores beslutning om at skifte fra et vendehjul til en autocamper! Vi valgte en 2018 Winnebago Navion 24D og er forelskede! We named her “Wanda” because she allows us to “wanda” around the country while feeding our “wanda-lust”. Or, as my dad says, we “wanda” how we’re going to pay for her! But, as they say, not all who “wanda” are lost. Ha! Okay, that’s enough puns!