After renting a Class C motorhome we decided to buy an RV. But figuring out what we wanted and finding it proved difficult.
For what seems like a year I had been floating past my husband, Will, the idea of building a camper van ourselves. He was not at all interested in taking on such a huge project. Looking back I'm glad he shot it down, because we would have ended up with something that's too small for our family and what we hope to do.
We hadn't talked about the camper van project in months when COVID-19 rocked the world. Two months into sheltering in place we began talking about camping, as it seemed like the only way we would be able to travel anytime soon. For our anniversary, we drove two hours north to go hiking. While we were at the state park we made a point to walk through the campground so we could get a feel for what's out there and what it might be like.
Once home, we spent a few hours researching and talking and decided to rent an RV for a few days. We rented a Class C*, loaded up and headed north. We chose to rent a Class C because it was smaller than the large motorhomes that look like a bus. We thought it was most likely that if we decided to buy after testing the concept that we would buy a Class C. We learned immediately that we just didn't like Class C for the following reasons:
We didn't like the over cab bunk. Our son, Jack, slept over the cab and we slept in the queen bed slideout.
We didn't like the TV being mounted over the cab. Jack watched it while we drove to the campsite and it was loud and distracting. I'm sure you could solve this problem with a set of Bluetooth headphones, but he won't wear headphones.
The ride was loud, bumpy and uncomfortable.
I didn't like the layout. I can't pinpoint exactly what it was I didn't like about it, but it didn't feel like it could be a relaxing escape.
Once home we spent the next two weeks researching RVs and trying to make a decision. Find more on our research process here and here.
Our Class C rental to test the concept.
__________________________________
*A Class C motorhome is a more compact version of the bus-style Class A models. Class C RVs are built on a van frame or truck chassis.
Comments