Escolher o trailer certo pode ser um desafio. Há TANTAS opções! O primeiro conselho que damos a quem está comprando um trailer é: não existe RV perfeito 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, muitos RVers em tempo integral que você pergunta provavelmente tiveram pelo menos 2 ou 3 RVs 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.

Você pode ler tudo dicas para escolher o RV certo (como o post que escrevemos, 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.

Nós nunca tivemos um trailer e quase nunca havíamos acampado em um. Nós escolhemos automaticamente uma quinta roda para o espaço. We loved it, too! In fact, we wrote this post – 10 motivos para escolher uma quinta roda para RV em tempo integral. Esses motivos foram exatamente os motivos pelos quais decidimos por uma quinta roda, e ainda são grandes benefícios em escolher uma quinta roda.

No entanto, 8 meses depois, quando chegou a hora de comprar um trailer mais novo, ficamos completamente surpresos quando optamos por mudar para um motorhome classe C em vez de outro trailer de 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.

Mas aqui estão os motivos pelos quais acabamos escolhendo um motorhome classe C.

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

Ao mover nossos pertences para fora de a quinta roda, tiramos tantas coisas 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 trailer. Então, muitas pessoas escolhem um trailer maior até perceberem o quão pouco realmente precisam. It’s extremely common for full-time RVers to downsize their RV during or after their first year on the road. De certa forma, passar pelos estágios faz parte do processo de simplificar sua vida.

Manobrabilidade > espaço de vida

Perdemos cerca de 4,6 metros quadrados quando mudamos do nosso quinto carro para o nosso Classe C. Sentimos falta? Claro! Mas os benefícios que obtivemos superam a perda de espaço.

Nosso benefício favorito é a manobrabilidade da nossa classe C. Dirigir é muito parecido com dirigir nosso antigo caminhão. 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, nos sentimos confiantes para entrar em praticamente qualquer lugar com facilidade, sem precisar ficar olhando o espelho constantemente para garantir que conseguiremos passar pelo meio-fio, e Lindsay se sente 100% confortável dirigindo a qualquer momento. 

Dias de viagem mais fáceis

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, deixe-me começar a explicar a diferença nos dias de viagem dizendo que, enquanto escrevo este post, estamos dirigindo para Nashville. Estou sentado confortavelmente e em segurança no refeitório enquanto Dan dirige. When it’s lunch time, I’ll get up and faça um sanduíche para nós sem precisar parar e se eu precisar usar o banheiro…no problem! The dogs can move around a bit more too.

Ah, e antes de sairmos de algum lugar, levamos apenas cerca de 10-15 minutos para fazer as malas, desconectar e decolar. Chega de ficar engatando e prendendo. Guardamos as coisas, puxamos o slide para dentro, soltamos os ganchos, entramos e vamos! Viajamos rápido e normalmente ficamos apenas 1 semana por vez em novos lugares, então isso é ótimo para nós!

Peças de caminhão de reboque com placa superior fundida 38C da quinta roda Engate para serviços pesados

Melhores espaços de trabalho

Embora muitos modelos mais novos de quinta rodas tenham ótimos espaços de trabalho, o nosso não tinha. Nossa única área de trabalho era a copa da cozinha. Esta consistia em pequenas cadeiras de madeira sem almofadas no encosto e com espaço suficiente para ficar a uma distância confortável da mesa. A copa da cabine, com almofadas de qualidade, é muito mais prática para ficar sentado o dia todo.

Se a copa ficar muito cheia para nós dois, prefiro trabalhar na cadeira do passageiro, que gira para ficar de frente para a sala de estar. Há também uma mesa removível que posso montar, que também pode ser colocada em frente ao sofá, se eu quiser ficar mais aconchegado e assistir TV enquanto escrevo. Portanto, temos 3 opções de espaços de trabalho! 

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 mais confortável dirigindo o novo trailer, Dan pode trabalhar enquanto eu dirijo. Os dias de viagem não significam mais que precisamos nos ausentar do trabalho. It’s all about efficiency and multi-tasking, right? And our weekends are free for adventuring!

Melhor consumo de combustível

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, o motorhome sozinho tem a mesma quilometragem de combustível que o caminhão sozinho, 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!

Então aí está! Claramente, estamos muito felizes com a nossa decisão de trocar uma quinta roda por um motorhome! Escolhemos um Winnebago Navion 24D 2018 e estamos apaixonados! 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!