Å velge riktig bobil kan være en utfordring. Det er SÅ mange alternativer! Det første rådet vi gir folk som handler bobil er det det 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 å være ærlig, mange fulltids RVers du spør har mest sannsynlig hatt minst 2 eller 3 forskjellige RVs. 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 lese alle tips for å velge riktig bobil (som innlegget 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 oss hadde vi aldri eid en bobil og hadde knapt campet i en. Vi valgte automatisk et femte hjul for plassen. We loved it, too! In fact, we wrote this post – 10 grunner til å velge et femte hjul for fulltids RVing. Disse grunnene var nøyaktig hvorfor vi bestemte oss for et femte hjul, og er det fortsatt store fordeler ved å velge et femte hjul.

Men 8 måneder senere da det var på tide å kjøpe en nyere bobil, vi overrasket oss selv fullstendig da vi valgte å bytte til klasse c bobil i stedet for et annet 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 imidlertid grunnene til at vi endte opp med å velge en klasse c bobil i stedet.

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

Når vi flytter eiendelene våre ut av det femte hjulet, vi tok ut så mange ting vi aldri brukte 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 bobilen. Så mange mennesker vil velge en større bobil til de innser hvor lite de faktisk trenger. It’s extremely common for full-time RVers to downsize their RV during or after their first year on the road. På en måte er det å gå gjennom stadiene en del av prosessen med å forenkle livet ditt.

Manøvrerbarhet > boareal

Vi mistet noe rundt 50 sq ft da vi reduserte fra vårt femte hjul til vår klasse c. Savner vi det? Selvfølgelig! Men fordelene vi fikk oppveier tapet av plass.

Vår favorittfordel er hvor manøvrerbar vår klasse c er. Å kjøre den føles veldig likt å kjøre vår gamle lastebil. 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. Nå føler vi oss trygge på å kunne dra inn nesten hvor som helst med letthet, uten å måtte sjekke speilet hele tiden for å sikre at vi klarer en fortauskant, og Lindsay føler seg 100 % komfortabel å kjøre når som helst. 

Lettere reisedager

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.

La meg nå begynne å forklare forskjellen i reisedager ved å si at mens jeg skriver dette innlegget, kjører vi til Nashville. Jeg sitter komfortabelt og trygt ved dinetten mens Dan kjører. When it’s lunch time, I’ll get up and lag oss en sandwich uten å måtte stoppe og hvis jeg trenger det bruke toalettet…no problem! The dogs can move around a bit more too.

Å, og før vi drar et sted, tar det oss bare ca 10-15 minutter å pakke sammen, koble fra og ta av. Ikke mer å feste og feste. Vi stuver bort gjenstander, trekker sklien inn, kobler av krokene våre, hopper inn og går! Vi reiser raskt og blir typisk bare 1 uke av gangen på nye steder, så dette er kjempestort for oss!

Femhjul 38C Støpt toppplate-tilhenger lastebildeler Hitch Heavy Duty Hitch

Bedre arbeidsplasser

Selv om mange nyere modeller av femte hjul har flotte arbeidsplasser, gjorde ikke vår det. Vårt eneste arbeidsområde var ved kjøkkenet dinette Dette besto av små trestoler som ikke hadde hatt ryggputer og knapt nok plass til å være et behagelig stykke unna bordet. Boddinetten med kvalitetsputer er mye mer praktisk for å sitte hele dagen.

Hvis spisestuen blir for overfylt for oss begge, foretrekker jeg å jobbe i passasjerstolen, som svinger rundt for å vende mot stuen. Det er også et avtakbart bord som jeg kan sette opp, som i tillegg kan plasseres foran sofaen, hvis jeg får lyst til å være ekstra koselig og se på TV mens jeg skriver. Vi har derfor 3 alternativer for arbeidsplasser! 

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.

Nå som jeg er mer komfortabel med å kjøre den nye bobilen, kan Dan jobbe mens jeg kjører. Reisedager betyr ikke lenger at vi må ta tid borte fra jobb. It’s all about efficiency and multi-tasking, right? And our weekends are free for adventuring!

Bedre bensinkjøring

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.

Nå får bobilen alene samme bensinkjøring som lastebilen 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! Vi er tydeligvis veldig fornøyde med avgjørelsen vår om å bytte fra et vendehjul til en bobil! Vi valgte en 2018 Winnebago Navion 24D og er forelsket! 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!