Elixir o RV axeitado pode ser un reto. Hai tantas opcións! O primeiro consello que damos ás persoas que están a mercar un RV é ese NON hai RV perfecto 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 honesto, moitos vehículos recreativos a tempo completo que preguntas probablemente tivesen polo menos 2 ou 3 vehículos recreativos 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.

Podes ler todas as Consellos para escoller o RV adecuado (como a publicación 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.

Para nós, nunca tiñamos unha caravana e apenas acampamos nunha. Escollemos automaticamente unha quinta roda para o espazo. We loved it, too! In fact, we wrote this post – 10 razóns para elixir unha quinta roda para ir en RV a tempo completo. Esas razóns foron exactamente as que nos decidimos por unha quinta roda, e seguen sendo enormes beneficios de escoller unha quinta roda.

Non obstante, 8 meses despois, cando chegou o momento de comprar un RV máis novo, Sorprendemos completamente cando optamos por cambiar a unha autocaravana clase C en lugar de outra quinta roda. 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.

Porén, aquí están as razóns polas que acabamos elixindo unha autocaravana clase C.

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

Ao sacar as nosas pertenzas a quinta roda, sacamos tantas cousas 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 o RV. Entón, moitas persoas escollerán un RV máis grande ata que se dean conta do pouco que realmente necesitan. It’s extremely common for full-time RVers to downsize their RV during or after their first year on the road. En certo modo, pasar polas etapas, forma parte do proceso de simplificación da túa vida.

Maniobrabilidade > espazo habitable

Perdemos algo ao redor de 50 pés cadrados cando reducimos o tamaño da nosa quinta roda á nosa clase c. Botámolo de menos? Por suposto! Pero os beneficios que obtivemos superan a perda de espazo.

O noso beneficio favorito é a maniobrable que é a nosa clase c. Conducilo é moi parecido a conducir o noso vello 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. Agora, sentímonos seguros de poder achegarnos a case calquera lugar con facilidade, sen ter que revisar constantemente o espello para asegurarnos de que imos despexar un bordo, e Lindsay séntese 100 % cómoda conducindo en calquera momento. 

Días de viaxe máis 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.

Agora, permíteme comezar a explicar a diferenza entre os días de viaxe dicindo que mentres escribo esta publicación, imos conducindo a Nashville. Estou sentado cómodo e seguro no comedor mentres Dan conduce. When it’s lunch time, I’ll get up and fainos un bocadillo sen ter que parar e se o preciso usar o baño…no problem! The dogs can move around a bit more too.

Ah, e antes de marchar a algún lado, só nos leva arredor 10-15 minutos para empacar, desconectar e despegar. Non máis engancharse e tirar. Guardamos os artigos, tiramos do tobogán, retiramos os nosos ganchos, saltamos e listo! Viaxamos rapidamente e normalmente só quedamos 1 semana á vez en lugares novos, polo que é moi importante para nós.

Quinta roda 38C Partes de camión de remolque de placa superior fundida Enganche de enganche de alta resistencia

Mellores espazos de traballo

Aínda que moitos modelos máis novos de quintas rodas teñen grandes espazos de traballo, os nosos non. A nosa única área de traballo estaba no comedor da cociña. Estaba formada por pequenas cadeiras de madeira que non tiñan almofadas de respaldo e apenas espazo suficiente para estar a unha distancia cómoda da mesa. O comedor de cabina con almofadas de calidade é moito máis práctico para estar todo o día sentado.

Se o comedor está moi ateigado para os dous, prefiro traballar na cadeira do pasaxeiro, que xira para mirar a zona de estar. Tamén hai unha mesa desmontable que podo montar, que ademais se pode colocar diante do sofá, se me apetece estar moi acolledor e ver a televisión mentres escribo. Polo tanto temos 3 opcións de espazos de traballo! 

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.

Agora que estou máis cómodo conducindo o novo RV, Dan pode traballar mentres conduzo. Os días de viaxe xa non significan que teñamos que levar tempo fóra do traballo. It’s all about efficiency and multi-tasking, right? And our weekends are free for adventuring!

Mellor quilometraxe 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.

Agora, só a autocaravana obtén a mesma quilometraxe de gasolina que só o camión, 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 aí o tedes! Claramente, estamos moi contentos coa nosa decisión de cambiar dunha quinta roda a unha autocaravana! Escollemos un Winnebago Navion 24D 2018 e estamos namorados! 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!