Memilih RV yang tepat bisa menjadi tantangan. Ada BANYAK pilihan! Saran pertama yang kami berikan kepada orang-orang yang sedang mencari RV adalah tidak ada RV yang sempurna 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.

Sejujurnya, banyak RVer penuh waktu yang Anda tanyakan kemungkinan besar memiliki setidaknya 2 atau 3 RV yang berbeda. 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.

Anda dapat membaca semuanya tips memilih RV yang tepat (seperti postingan yang kami tulis, 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.

Bagi kami, kami belum pernah memiliki RV dan bahkan jarang berkemah di dalamnya. Kami secara otomatis memilih roda kelima untuk ruang tersebut. We loved it, too! In fact, we wrote this post – 10 Alasan Memilih Fifth Wheel untuk RVing Penuh Waktu. Alasan-alasan tersebut adalah alasan mengapa kami memutuskan untuk menggunakan fifth wheel, dan masih keuntungan besar memilih roda kelima.

Namun, 8 bulan kemudian ketika tiba saatnya untuk membeli RV yang lebih baru, kami benar-benar terkejut ketika kami memilih untuk beralih ke motorhome kelas c daripada roda kelima lainnya. 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.

Berikut ini alasan mengapa kami akhirnya memilih motorhome kelas c.

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

Saat memindahkan barang-barang kita keluar roda kelima, kami mengeluarkan banyak barang yang tidak pernah kami gunakan 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 mobil RVJadi, banyak orang akan memilih RV yang lebih besar hingga mereka menyadari betapa sedikit yang sebenarnya mereka butuhkan. It’s extremely common for full-time RVers to downsize their RV during or after their first year on the road. Dengan kata lain, menjalani tahapan-tahapan tersebut adalah bagian dari proses penyederhanaan hidup Anda.

Kemampuan manuver > ruang hidup

Kami kehilangan sekitar 50 kaki persegi saat kami pindah dari mobil roda lima ke mobil kelas c. Apakah kami merindukannya? Tentu saja! Tetapi manfaat yang kita peroleh lebih besar daripada hilangnya ruang.

Manfaat favorit kami adalah seberapa lincahnya kelas c kami. Mengendarainya terasa sangat mirip dengan mengendarai truk lama kita. 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. Kini, kami merasa percaya diri untuk melaju ke mana saja dengan mudah, tanpa harus terus-menerus mengecek kaca spion untuk memastikan kami melewati trotoar, dan Lindsay merasa 100% nyaman saat mengemudi kapan saja. 

Hari perjalanan yang lebih mudah

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.

Sekarang, izinkan saya mulai menjelaskan perbedaan hari perjalanan dengan mengatakan bahwa saat saya menulis postingan ini, kami sedang berkendara ke Nashville. Saya duduk dengan nyaman dan aman di ruang makan sementara Dan mengemudi. When it’s lunch time, I’ll get up and buatkan kami sandwich tanpa harus berhenti dan jika aku membutuhkannya menggunakan kamar kecil…no problem! The dogs can move around a bit more too.

Oh, dan sebelum kita pergi ke suatu tempat, kita hanya butuh waktu sekitar 10-15 menit untuk berkemas, lepaskan, dan lepas landas. Tidak perlu lagi memasang dan mengikat. Kami menyimpan barang, menarik slide, melepaskan kaitan, melompat, dan pergi! Kami bepergian dengan cepat dan biasanya hanya tinggal 1 minggu di tempat baru, jadi ini sangat penting bagi kami!

Roda kelima 38C Bagian truk trailer pelat atas cor Hitch Heavy Duty Hitch

Ruang kerja yang lebih baik

Meskipun banyak model roda lima yang lebih baru memiliki ruang kerja yang besar, tidak demikian dengan milik kami. Satu-satunya area kerja kami adalah di ruang makan dapur. Ruang makan ini terdiri dari kursi-kursi kayu kecil yang tidak memiliki bantalan punggung dan hampir tidak cukup ruang untuk berada pada jarak yang nyaman dari meja. Ruang makan bilik dengan bantalan berkualitas jauh lebih praktis untuk duduk sepanjang hari.

Jika ruang makan terlalu sesak untuk kami berdua, saya lebih suka bekerja di kursi penumpang, yang dapat diputar menghadap ruang tamu. Ada juga meja yang dapat dilepas yang dapat saya atur, yang juga dapat diletakkan di depan sofa, jika saya ingin lebih nyaman dan menonton TV sambil menulis. Oleh karena itu, kami memiliki 3 pilihan ruang kerja! 

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.

Sekarang saya merasa lebih nyaman mengendarai RV baru, Dan dapat bekerja sementara saya mengemudi. Hari-hari perjalanan tidak lagi berarti kita harus mengambil waktu istirahat dari pekerjaan. It’s all about efficiency and multi-tasking, right? And our weekends are free for adventuring!

Jarak tempuh gas lebih baik

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.

Sekarang, motorhome saja mendapatkan jarak tempuh yang sama dengan truk saja, 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!

Nah, begitulah! Jelas, kami sangat senang dengan keputusan kami untuk beralih dari kendaraan roda lima ke motorhome! Kami memilih Winnebago Navion 24D 2018 dan menyukainya! 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!