Well, I thought it might be a good idea to document the process of becoming a newbie RVer. The thought of getting an RV hit me hard this summer. After the good smack, it left a permanent scar that won’t disappear.
A bit about my life, first. I am recently married to my partner of nine years. We run a very demanding business. A business that can not function, without us. So we are stuck to mini-weekend vacations through-out the year, and the one week, maybe two if we are lucky week long vacation at Christmas. This leaves us mostly stuck on a local level for travel, except during our Christmas Vacation, where we can venture farther away from home.
Our home, is in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. A suburb located in Metro Vancouver. With Less than 4 hours driving, we can easily escape the city. Perfect for us to take our RV, or what I like to call it, “our second home” where-ever we feel like for a weekend of peace, quiet, and relaxation.
We can never make a decision, until it comes to the last moment. We talk and talk about exactly what we want, but when it comes down to it, we might find something so completely different, that we must have it.
We talked about a C-Class motor-home. This makes me nervous, for a few reasons. High cost of fuel, it has an engine, and with engines, come mechanical “errors,” and once you pull up to a campsite, you are basically stuck there without a secondary vehicle to take you to the “yummy gourmet” restaurant you saw in the next town you just drove through on your way to the site. The idea of getting dressed up, and taking your motor-home to a fancy part of the town/city, doesn’t really appeal to me very much.
So I mentioned a travel trailer (TT). My new husband start to squirm in his chair. I started going on about how cost effective a TT would be as they are much cheaper than a C-Class, we can tow it with a secondary vehicle, and the secondary vehicle would be much better on fuel than a C-Class. He told me, it had to be small, 18ft, cause he didn’t like the idea of pulling something. Ok, deal.
Next thing, New or Used? I liked the idea of a used one, as again, it’s cheap compared to buying a new one. But the big reason is, I can renovate it, put our own style into it, and still come out, much cheaper, than buying a brand new one. Yes, I know, watch for leaks, the stove or oven probably wont work in an older one, etc, but that can all be replaced and fixed. Once I mentioned this to the husband, he went for it, with the low cost, being the deal breaker.
So we are in the search for the perfect “vintage” Travel Trailer. Preferably something late 70’s or early 80’s. Must have a dinette, and a bathroom. And must have an oven, as a microwave can be difficult to run on solar-panels, when boon docking.
And thus the blog. Whatever I come across something, I will post it here. I will also post our progress in our search for the perfect “second home.”
August 2, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Hi, we have had a folding trailer but just upgraded to a 18′ ECO travel trailer. I find my biggest concern/challenge is how to pack the cabinets/food securely for travel. Have you any experience to share?