Choosing an RV for Full-Timing

Where’s Charly?
Aug 23, 2017 · 8 min read

Any big decision, when carefully considered, can be broken down into a series of smaller, yet seemingly just as important decisions. For example, if you are buying a house, you must come to several conclusions throughout the process. What is your budget? Which neighborhoods do you search? How many bedrooms do you need? Which luxuries are you willing to sacrifice, if any?

Purchasing an RV is no different. I am, admittedly, the type of person that can get bogged down in the details, so diving head first into the RV industry with zero experience was a bit overwhelming at times. There are many nuances, and so much information out there that it can be difficult to navigate. Here, I will provide a simplified overview of the main factors that influenced my final selection.

Motorized vs Towable: In order to narrow the field, the first consideration was whether I wanted a motorized RV (meaning one that includes the motor in the unit, so can drive itself), or a travel trailer that I would tow behind a separate vehicle. At the time, I was driving a sedan which could neither tow nor be towed, so I would be selling it and starting from scratch. Purchasing both a motorhome and a small vehicle to tow behind that (aka “a toad”) was simply not in my budget, so I scratched that option early on.

I was stuck on this decision for a long time. On one hand, I liked the simplicity of having one thing to purchase, one thing to insure, and one thing to maintain, rather than both a vehicle and a trailer. But on the other hand, breaking down and packing up every time I needed to make a short trip to the grocery store or post office sounded like a ton of extra work. Having a separate vehicle that could detach would eliminate that issue altogether.

Another downside of a motorhome would be that if something happened to go wrong, say mechanically, I would — for lack of a better phrase — be shit outta luck. While it was being serviced, I would have no other mode of transportation AND no other home. That, coupled with the fact that motorhomes are generally more expensive, led me to ultimately decide on a towable trailer. I felt this method of travel would afford me the most freedom, and freedom was my number one driver in this lifestyle change to begin with (see Becoming A Nomad).

Budget: It goes without saying, budget is a major consideration. For me, it was one of my top priorities. I knew I was already taking a risk by mobilizing my entire business and livelihood, so I was not willing to take on copious amounts of debt in order to do so. Also, knowing this would be a radical lifestyle change that may or may not play out exactly how I imagined, I didn’t want to make a huge investment up front. I went in with the mindset that I would ease into the lifestyle as affordably as possible, and if it did suit me, I could upgrade later.

Size: I knew I would be traveling with, living in, and working in the space full-time, so whatever I purchased was not just something to get me from point A to point B. I would be spending considerable amounts of time inside, as well as hauling it around, so there were a few must-haves and deal-breakers for me.

1) Maneuverability. I have absolutely zero experience driving large vehicles, much less towing anything. I knew going in that there would be a learning curve, but I did not want the constant battle of maneuvering something huge into tiny spaces on top of that. That sounds extremely stressful, so I preferred to keep my set-up as small and agile as possible, while still having adequate space for day-to-day living.

2) I did not want a giant monster of a tow vehicle. On a similar note, I have no desire to drive, or pay for, a big, powerful truck. In my research, I discovered that there were actually a handful of mid-size SUVs with decent towing capacity, which was much more appealing to me. I could use the back for extra storage, plus get better gas mileage compared to a large truck.

3) I wanted to be able to stand up inside. There are a ton of small towable trailers out there, but I was able to eliminate many of them simply because of their interior height. I’m a fairly tall gal at 5’10”, and I wanted to be able to fully extend and walk around in my living space.

4) I wanted a bathroom. This was something I decided fairly early on. Having a toilet (I felt a little more flexible regarding a shower) was valuable to me, as I knew I could potentially be staying in areas without facilities.

5) I had to have room for a desk/workspace. Before I made my final decision on motorized vs towable, I considered going with a Class B, which is basically a camper van. I felt this was an ideal compromise for maneuverability, gas mileage, urban stealth camping, and simplicity. However, once I began more in depth research, I realized that although tempting, a van would just not have enough room for my workspace, let alone all of my equipment that goes with it. Most small towable trailers, which are typically larger than vans, have a designated dinette area. I decided that I was willing to sacrifice a dining table in order to convert this space into a desk.

With all of these things in mind, I narrowed down my search to lightweight trailers, somewhere around 2,500–3,000lbs. This would leave plenty of weight margin for my cargo with an SUV that would tow 5,000–6,000lbs. I did not want to be pushing my maximum at all times, so I wanted to keep my total weight well under that. Most trailers of this weight are approximately 20 feet in length, which has just enough space for a kitchen, a bathroom, a dinette (in my case workspace), and a queen bed. This met my criteria for being “enough” while staying relatively small.

New vs Used: At first, I did not even consider buying anything new. To me, it just seemed like I’d be paying a premium, as I had no qualms whatsoever with a pre-owned unit. Besides avoiding the huge depreciation hit that comes with buying a new trailer (21% on average, the moment it leaves the lot), I had also read that a new trailer may actually experience more initial problems than a pre-owned unit that had been “broken in” by its previous owners.

However, I came to find that not only were there very few pre-owned trailers that were within my search criteria, but the ones that I did find were not that much cheaper than a brand new unit. My main motivation was to save some dollars, but if I wasn’t going to be saving that much, I was willing to pay a bit extra for exactly what I wanted. And a new trailer within my parameters, to my surprise, was very affordable.

Quality: At one point, I thought I had found the perfect trailer. I loved the Forest River R-Pod from the moment I saw one when I was tent camping in Arkansas. I made note of the name, and immediately began reading up on it when I got back. I liked the overall retro look of the exterior, it was affordable, it was small and lightweight, and even had a slide out to increase the interior space. Wins all the way around.

So I went to visit my first dealer with a particular floor plan in mind (I happened to like one that had a large rear bathroom with a separate shower, rather than the shower/toilet combination of a standard wet bath), but definitely thinking I had it narrowed down to the R-Pod. I learned a lot on that first visit. I realized that the separate shower was a joke. It was so tiny that I could barely turn around in it, much less clean my entire body. Not a deal breaker, as there were other floor plans available, but it also became apparent that the quality of the R-Pod was subpar. It was not well insulated, the floor felt very hollow when you walked on it, and the materials used felt cheap.

Luckily, a knowledgeable salesman suggested that I take a look at a similar trailer that was made by Jayco, which in his opinion, was a more reputable brand. So I did, and it was immediately apparent that the quality and workmanship was superior. It was heavier, as expected with higher quality materials, but still within my weight limit. I found a floor plan that satisfied me, with a large U-shaped dinette for my workspace, and a wet bath. The toilet/shower combo was off-putting at first, but once I stepped into it, I realized that it was much roomier than the separate shower of the R-Pod.

floor plan for the Jayco Hummingbird 17RK

Local vs Corporate: As advised, I did not make a purchase on my first visit to the dealer, but left feeling like I had found something that worked in all regards. I went home, continued researching, and found that a local dealer much closer to home actually carried the same Jayco in the floor plan that I wanted, and had one available. I went to take a second look, and was even more pleased the second time around. It had more interior storage than I remembered, which was a huge plus.

I was ready to start talking numbers. Long story short, I could have purchased the exact same trailer from a different dealer (a very large and corporate one) that was 3 hours away for about $500 less. But in the end, I decided that supporting local business, and the service department being much more accessible (a 30-minute drive vs a 3-hour drive) was worth more to me.

And that is how I ended up with my Jayco Hummingbird 17RK. It was a long and arduous process involving countless hours of research, and I’m sure I will have many more opinions on my choice once I have the clear vision that only hindsight can provide. But as of now, I am happy with my decision and excited to start this adventure!

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Where’s Charly?

Written by

rv nomad + solopreneur // 👸🐶🛣️🏜️🏞️🏖️✌️

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