O le filifilia o le RV sa'o e mafai ona avea ma luitau. E tele naua filifiliga! O le fautuaga muamua matou te tuʻuina atu i tagata o loʻo faʻatau mo se RV o le e LEAI se RV atoatoa 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.

Ia faamaoni, tele RVers tumau e te fesili mai e foliga mai e le itiiti ifo i le 2 pe 3 RVs eseese. 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.

E mafai ona e faitauina uma fautuaga mo le filifilia o le RV sa'o (pei o le pou na matou tusia, 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.

Mo i matou, matou te leʻi umiaina lava se RV ma e tau le tolauapi i se tasi. Na otometi lava ona matou filifilia se uili lona lima mo le avanoa. We loved it, too! In fact, we wrote this post – 10 Mafuaaga e Filifilia ai se Uili Lona Lima mo le RV Taimi atoa. O na mafuaaga tonu lava na matou filifili ai i le uili lona lima, ma o loʻo tumau pea aoga tele i le filifilia o se uili lona lima.

Ae ui i lea, 8 masina mulimuli ane ina ua oʻo i le taimi e faʻatau ai se RV fou, sa matua faateia lava i matou ina ua matou filifili e sui i se taavale afi o le vasega c nai lo le isi uili lona lima. 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.

O mafuaaga nei, e ui i lea, na iu ai ina matou filifilia se vasega c motohome nai lo.

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

Pe a aveese mai a tatou meatotino le uili lona lima, na matou toso mai i fafo le tele o mea matou te leʻi faʻaaogaina 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 le RV. O lea la, e toʻatele tagata o le a filifilia se RV lapoʻa seʻia latou iloa le laʻititi latou te manaʻomia. It’s extremely common for full-time RVers to downsize their RV during or after their first year on the road. I se auala, o le alu i tulaga, o se vaega o le faagasologa o le faafaigofieina o lou olaga.

Fa'atonu > avanoa nofo

Na leiloa se mea pe tusa o le 50 sq ft ina ua matou paʻu mai le matou uili lona lima i le matou vasega c. Pe tatou te misia ea? Ae a! Ae o faamanuiaga na matou mauaina e sili atu nai lo le leiloa o avanoa.

O le fa'amanuiaga sili ona matou fiafia i ai o le fa'aogaina lea o le matou vasega c. O le aveta'avale e foliga tutusa lava ma le aveina o le matou loli tuai. 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. I le taimi nei, matou te maua le lagona mautinoa e toso atu i totonu toetoe o soʻo se mea ma le faigofie, e aunoa ma le siakiina pea o le faʻata ina ia mautinoa o le a matou kilia se pa, ma e lagona e Lindsay le 100% lelei le avetaavale i soo se taimi. 

Fa'afaigofie aso malaga

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.

Ia, sei ou amata faʻamatalaina le eseesega i aso femalagaaʻi i le fai atu aʻo ou tusia lenei pou, matou te tietie atu i Nashville. O loo ou nofo filemu ma saogalemu i le taumafataga a o tietie atu Dan. When it’s lunch time, I’ll get up and fai se matou sanuisi e aunoa ma le taofi ma afai ou te manaomia fa'aoga le faleta'ele…no problem! The dogs can move around a bit more too.

Oi, ae tatou te le'i o ese atu i se mea, e na o le fealua'i lava 10-15 minute e teu ai, motusia, ma alu ese. Le toe pipii i luga ma fusi i lalo. Matou te teuina mea, toso le fa'ase'e i totonu, tatala a matou matau, oso i totonu ma alu! Matou te faimalaga vave ma e masani lava ona nofo i le 1 vaiaso i le taimi i nofoaga fou, o lea e telē tele mo i matou!

Uli lona lima 38C Fa'amea pito pito i luga vaega ta'avale ta'avale So'a Tiute Mamafa

Lelei avanoa faigaluega

E ui o le tele o faʻataʻitaʻiga fou o uili lona lima o loʻo i ai ni avanoa faigaluega lelei, o matou e leai. E na'o le matou potu faigaluega o le umukuka e iai ni nofoa laupapa laiti e leai ni aluga i tua ma tau leai se avanoa e mamao ese ai mai le laulau. O le 'aiga o le fale'ai fa'atasi ai ma aluga lelei e sili atu ona fa'aoga mo le nofo i aso uma.

Afai e tumu tele le taumafataga mo i maʻua uma, ou te manaʻo e galue i le nofoa pasese, lea e taʻavale solo e faʻasaga i le potu malolo. O lo'o iai fo'i se laulau e mafai ona tu'u ese'ese e mafai ona ou fa'atutuina, e mafai fo'i ona tu'u i luma o le nofoa, pe a ou lagona le fia fa'amalie atili ma matamata TV a'o ou tusitusi. O lea ua tatou maua 3 avanoa faigaluega! 

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.

O lea ua sili atu lo'u to'a e ave le RV fou, e mafai e Dan ona galue a'o ou ave taavale. O aso o femalagaaiga e le o toe uiga e tatau ona tatou faʻaalu se taimi mai galuega. It’s all about efficiency and multi-tasking, right? And our weekends are free for adventuring!

Sili atu kesi mileage

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.

O le taimi nei, na'o le fale afi e maua le kesi e tasi e pei o le loli, 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!

O lea la ua e maua! E manino lava, matou te matua fiafia lava i la matou filifiliga e sui mai le uili lona lima i le fale afi! Na matou filifilia se 2018 Winnebago Navion 24D ma ua matou fiafia! 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!