Memilih RV yang betul boleh menjadi satu cabaran. Terdapat begitu banyak pilihan! Nasihat pertama yang kami berikan kepada orang yang membeli-belah untuk RV ialah itu TIADA 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 RV sepenuh masa yang anda tanya berkemungkinan besar mempunyai sekurang-kurangnya 2 atau 3 RV berbeza. 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 boleh membaca semua petua untuk memilih RV yang betul (seperti siaran 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 tidak pernah memiliki RV dan hampir tidak pernah berkhemah di RV. Kami secara automatik memilih roda kelima untuk ruang itu. We loved it, too! In fact, we wrote this post – 10 Sebab Memilih Roda Kelima untuk RVing Sepenuh Masa. Sebab-sebab itu adalah tepat mengapa kami memutuskan pada roda kelima, dan masih faedah yang besar untuk memilih roda kelima.

Walau bagaimanapun, 8 bulan kemudian apabila tiba masanya untuk membeli RV yang lebih baharu, kami benar-benar terkejut apabila kami memilih untuk beralih ke rumah motor kelas c dan bukannya roda kelima yang lain. 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 ialah sebab, bagaimanapun, kami akhirnya memilih rumah motor kelas c.

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

Apabila memindahkan barang-barang kita keluar dari roda kelima, kami mengeluarkan begitu banyak perkara 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 RV itu. Jadi, ramai orang akan memilih RV yang lebih besar sehingga mereka menyedari betapa sedikit yang mereka perlukan. It’s extremely common for full-time RVers to downsize their RV during or after their first year on the road. Dari satu segi, melalui peringkat, adalah sebahagian daripada proses memudahkan hidup anda.

Kebolehgerakan > ruang kediaman

Kami kehilangan sesuatu sekitar 50 kaki persegi apabila kami mengecilkan saiz dari roda kelima kami ke kelas c kami. Adakah kita merinduinya? Sudah tentu! Tetapi faedah yang kami perolehi melebihi kehilangan ruang.

Faedah kegemaran kami ialah kebolehgerakan kelas c kami. Memandu rasanya sangat serupa dengan memandu trak lama kami. 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 mendapati diri kami berasa yakin untuk masuk ke hampir mana-mana sahaja dengan mudah, tanpa perlu sentiasa memeriksa cermin untuk memastikan kami akan membersihkan jalan, dan Lindsay berasa 100% selesa memandu pada bila-bila masa. 

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 mula menerangkan perbezaan hari perjalanan dengan mengatakan bahawa semasa saya menulis siaran ini, kami memandu ke Nashville. Saya duduk dengan selesa dan selamat di meja makan semasa Dan memandu. When it’s lunch time, I’ll get up and buat kami sandwic tanpa perlu berhenti dan jika saya perlu gunakan tandas…no problem! The dogs can move around a bit more too.

Oh, dan sebelum kita pergi ke suatu tempat, ia hanya membawa kita kira-kira 10-15 minit untuk mengemas, putuskan sambungan dan berlepas. Tiada lagi mengikat dan mengikat ke bawah. Kami menyimpan barang, tarik gelongsor ke dalam, tanggalkan cangkuk kami, lompat masuk dan pergi! Kami mengembara dengan cepat dan biasanya hanya tinggal 1 minggu pada satu-satu masa di tempat baharu, jadi ini sangat penting untuk kami!

Bahagian trak treler plat atas 38C roda kelima Hitch Heavy Duty Hitch

Ruang kerja yang lebih baik

Walaupun banyak model baru bagi roda kelima mempunyai ruang kerja yang hebat, kami tidak. Satu-satunya kawasan kerja kami ialah di ruang makan dapur. Ini terdiri daripada kerusi kayu kecil yang tidak mempunyai kusyen belakang dan hampir tidak cukup ruang untuk berada dalam jarak yang selesa dari meja. Ruang makan gerai dengan kusyen berkualiti adalah lebih praktikal untuk duduk sepanjang hari.

Jika ruang makan menjadi terlalu sesak untuk kami berdua, saya lebih suka bekerja di kerusi penumpang, yang berpusing menghadap ruang tamu. Terdapat juga meja boleh tanggal yang boleh saya sediakan, yang juga boleh diletakkan di hadapan sofa, jika saya berasa lebih selesa dan menonton TV semasa saya menulis. Oleh itu kita ada 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 lebih selesa memandu RV baharu, Dan boleh bekerja semasa saya memandu. Hari melancong bukan lagi bermakna kita perlu mengambil masa dari kerja. It’s all about efficiency and multi-tasking, right? And our weekends are free for adventuring!

Perbatuan gas yang 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.

Kini, motorhome sahaja mendapat perbatuan gas yang sama seperti trak sahaja, 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!

Jadi begitulah! Jelas sekali, kami sangat gembira dengan keputusan kami untuk bertukar daripada roda kelima kepada rumah motor! Kami memilih Winnebago Navion 24D 2018 dan sedang jatuh cinta! 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!