Elegir la autocaravana adecuada puede ser un desafío. ¡Hay muchísimas opciones! El primer consejo que damos a quienes buscan una autocaravana es que... NO existe la autocaravana perfecta 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.

Para ser sincero, Muchos de los RVers de tiempo completo a los que preguntas probablemente hayan tenido al menos 2 o 3 RV diferentes. 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.

Puedes leer todo el Consejos para elegir la autocaravana adecuada (como el post que escribimos, 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.

En nuestro caso, nunca habíamos tenido una autocaravana y apenas habíamos acampado en una. Elegimos automáticamente una quinta rueda para el espacio. We loved it, too! In fact, we wrote this post – 10 razones para elegir una quinta rueda para viajar a tiempo completo en autocaravana. Esas fueron exactamente las razones por las que decidimos optar por una quinta rueda, y aún lo son. Grandes beneficios al elegir una quinta rueda.

Sin embargo, 8 meses después, cuando llegó el momento de comprar un RV más nuevo, Nos sorprendimos por completo cuando decidimos cambiar a una autocaravana clase C en lugar de otra de quinta rueda.. 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.

Sin embargo, estas son las razones por las que terminamos eligiendo una autocaravana clase C.

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

Al trasladar nuestras pertenencias de la quinta rueda, Sacamos tantas cosas que nunca usamos 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 el RVPor eso, muchas personas eligen una autocaravana más grande hasta que se dan cuenta de lo poco que necesitan en realidad. It’s extremely common for full-time RVers to downsize their RV during or after their first year on the road. En cierto modo, ir pasando las etapas es parte del proceso de simplificar tu vida.

Maniobrabilidad > espacio habitable

Perdimos unos 50 pies cuadrados cuando cambiamos nuestra quinta rueda por una clase C. ¿Lo extrañamos? ¡Claro que sí! Pero los beneficios que obtuvimos superan la pérdida de espacio.

Nuestro beneficio favorito es lo maniobrable que es nuestra clase C. Conducirlo se siente muy similar a conducir nuestro viejo camión. 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. Ahora, nos sentimos seguros de poder entrar a casi cualquier lugar con facilidad, sin tener que mirar constantemente el espejo para asegurarnos de que superaremos un bordillo, y Lindsay se siente 100% cómoda conduciendo en cualquier momento. 

Días de viaje más fáciles

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.

Ahora, permítanme comenzar a explicar la diferencia en días de viaje diciendo que mientras escribo esta publicación, estamos conduciendo hacia Nashville. Estoy sentado cómoda y segura en el comedor mientras Dan conduce. When it’s lunch time, I’ll get up and Haznos un bocadillo sin tener que parar y si lo necesito usar el baño…no problem! The dogs can move around a bit more too.

Ah, y antes de irnos a algún lugar, solo nos lleva unos minutos... 10-15 minutos para empacarDesconectamos y despegamos. Se acabó el enganchar y atar. Guardamos las cosas, plegamos la plataforma, desenganchamos los enganches, ¡nos subimos y nos vamos! Viajamos rápido y normalmente solo nos quedamos una semana en nuevos lugares, ¡así que esto es fundamental para nosotros!

Quinta rueda 38C Piezas de camión de remolque con placa superior fundida Enganche Enganche de servicio pesado

Mejores espacios de trabajo

Aunque muchos modelos nuevos de quinta rueda ofrecen amplios espacios de trabajo, el nuestro no. Nuestra única área de trabajo era el comedor de la cocina. Este consistía en pequeñas sillas de madera sin cojines de respaldo y apenas suficiente espacio para estar cómodamente separados de la mesa. El comedor con cabina y cojines de calidad es mucho más práctico para sentarse todo el día.

Si el comedor se llena demasiado para los dos, prefiero trabajar en el asiento del copiloto, que gira para mirar hacia la sala de estar. También hay una mesa desmontable que puedo colocar delante del sofá si me apetece estar más a gusto y ver la televisión mientras escribo. Por eso tenemos... ¡3 opciones de espacios de trabajo! 

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.

Ahora que me siento más cómodo conduciendo el nuevo RV, Dan puede trabajar mientras conduzco. Los días de viaje ya no significan que tengamos que ausentarnos del trabajo. It’s all about efficiency and multi-tasking, right? And our weekends are free for adventuring!

Mejor rendimiento de gasolina

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.

Ahora, la autocaravana sola obtiene el mismo rendimiento de combustible que el camión solo., 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!

¡Así que ahí lo tienen! ¡Claramente estamos muy contentos con nuestra decisión de cambiar de una quinta rueda a una autocaravana! Elegimos un Winnebago Navion 24D 2018 ¡y estamos enamorados! 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!