Milih RV katuhu tiasa tangtangan. Aya seueur pilihan! Sapotong mimiti nasehat kami masihan jalma anu balanja pikeun RV éta aya NO sampurna 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.

Sajujurna, loba RVers full-waktu anjeun nanya geus paling dipikaresep miboga sahanteuna 2 atawa 3 RVs béda. 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.

Anjeun tiasa maca sadayana tips pikeun milih RV katuhu (sapertos tulisan anu 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.

Pikeun urang, urang geus pernah dipiboga hiji RV sarta sempet bieu malah camped di hiji. Urang otomatis milih roda kalima pikeun spasi. We loved it, too! In fact, we wrote this post – 10 Alesan pikeun milih kabayang Kalima pikeun RVing Full-Time. Éta alesan éta persis naha urang mutuskeun dina roda kalima, sarta masih kauntungan badag pikeun milih hiji kabayang kalima.

Nanging, 8 bulan saatos waktosna mésér RV énggal, urang sagemblengna reuwas diri lamun urang milih pindah ka kelas c motorhome tinimbang kabayang kalima sejen. 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.

Di dieu aya alesan, sanajan, nu urang réngsé nepi milih hiji kelas c motorhome gantina.

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

Nalika mindahkeun barang urang kaluar tina roda kalima, urang ditarik kaluar jadi loba hal kami pernah dipaké 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 éta RV. Janten, seueur jalma bakal milih RV anu langkung ageung dugi ka sadar kumaha sakedik anu diperyogikeun. It’s extremely common for full-time RVers to downsize their RV during or after their first year on the road. Dina sababaraha cara, ngaliwatan tahapan, mangrupikeun bagian tina prosés nyederhanakeun kahirupan anjeun.

Maneuverability > rohangan hirup

Urang leungit hal sabudeureun 50 sq ft nalika urang downsized tina kabayang kalima urang ka kelas c urang. Naha urang sono? Tangtosna! Tapi kauntungan anu kami kéngingkeun langkung ageung tibatan leungitna rohangan.

Kauntungan favorit urang nyaeta kumaha maneuverable kelas c urang. Nyetir karasa pisan sarupa nyetir treuk heubeul urang. 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. Ayeuna, urang ngarasa percaya diri pikeun narik kana ampir di mana waé kalayan gampang, tanpa kedah terus-terusan mariksa eunteung pikeun mastikeun yén urang bakal ngabersihan jalan, sareng Lindsay ngarasa 100% nyaman nyetir iraha waé. 

poé perjalanan gampang

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.

Ayeuna, hayu atuh mimitian ngajelaskeun bédana dina poé perjalanan ku nyebutkeun yén kuring keur nulis pos ieu, urang nyetir ka Nashville. Kuring diuk comfortably tur aman di dinette sakumaha Dan drive. When it’s lunch time, I’ll get up and nyieun kami sandwich a tanpa kudu eureun jeung lamun kuring kudu ngagunakeun kakus…no problem! The dogs can move around a bit more too.

Oh, sareng sateuacan urang angkat ka mana waé, éta ngan ukur nyandak urang 10-15 menit pikeun ngarangkep, pegatkeun sambungan, sarta take off. Taya deui hitching up na strapping handap. Urang nyimpen barang-barang, tarik geser ka jero, cabut pancing kami, luncat sareng angkat! Urang ngarambat gancang sarta ilaharna ngan cicing 1 minggu dina hiji waktu di tempat anyar, jadi ieu badag pikeun urang!

Kalima kabayang 38C Matak luhureun piring-trailer treuk bagian Hitch Heavy Kawajiban Hitch

Rohangan gawé hadé

Sanajan loba model anyar tina roda kalima boga spasi gawé hébat, kami henteu. Hijina aréa gawé kami éta di dapur dinette Ieu diwangun ku samet kai leutik nu geus euweuh cushions deui jeung bieu cukup spasi janten jarak nyaman jauh ti méja. Dinette stan kalawan cushions kualitas leuwih praktis pikeun sakabéh poé diuk.

Mun dinette meunang teuing rame keur urang duaan, kuring leuwih resep gawe dina korsi panumpang, nu swivels sabudeureun nyanghareupan aréa hirup. Aya ogé méja anu tiasa dicabut anu tiasa disetél, anu ogé tiasa ditempatkeun di payuneun dipan, upami kuring ngarasa langkung nyaman sareng nonton TV nalika kuring nyerat. Ku kituna urang boga 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.

Ayeuna kuring leuwih nyaman nyetir RV anyar, Dan tiasa dianggo bari kuring ngajalankeun. Dinten perjalanan henteu hartosna yén urang kedah nyéépkeun waktos ti padamelan. It’s all about efficiency and multi-tasking, right? And our weekends are free for adventuring!

mileage gas hadé

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.

Ayeuna, motorhome nyalira ngagaduhan jarak tempuh gas anu sami sareng treuk nyalira, 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!

Ku kituna aya anjeun boga eta! Jelas, kami pisan senang jeung kaputusan urang pindah ti kabayang kalima ka home motor! Urang milih hiji 2018 Winnebago Navion 24D sarta 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!