We went to a dealership and decided to walk into different models to see what felt like “home.” The year before we had actually gone dream board shopping and fallen in love with a toy hauler model because of the high ceilings. At the time we were not planning on living in one full time, but it was just a thought to have one for getaways in the future.
Exactly a year after our dream board shopping adventure we went on a SUPER last-minute RV getaway with my in-laws (a whole other fun story of its own). It helped inspire us to go buy an RV and live in it full time instead of renewing our rental lease at the time! It was a pretty wild decision and quite honestly the best one we have ever made for ourselves and our family.
When we purchased our RV, we had a one-year-old who was just learning how to walk and a three-year-old. We knew that we wanted two bathrooms and a good area for them to play and also sleep. We went shopping again and decided to look at different types (Class A, travel trailers and Class C). We ended up falling in love with the toy hauler once again because of not only the high ceilings but this one happened to have a side patio and a back patio. We were totally sold on the side patio because we could set it up as a play area for our little ones.
We were extremely happy with the layout and the fact that it not only had a second bathroom, it had a small bathtub in the kids’ bathroom as well! It was truly perfect for us! We honestly should have done more research, read more articles like this and spoken to fellow RVers about their RVs to educate ourselves on the differences. Luckily, we ended up choosing a toy hauler which later we realized has a lot less sway than a travel trailer. The more people we meet with travel trailers the more we realize that the toy hauler was the right decision for us.
I love the fact that our RV just like any other RV out there gives us the freedom to move around if we choose to move it. For us it’s a great feeling to have our home wherever we go. It means less packing for vacations and always having our toilet and our bed (seriously priceless lol).
Something that I wish I would have done before purchasing our RV was to rent different types. I think this would have given me a better feel for the different layouts. Nowadays there are neat companies like Outdoorsy and RV Share where you can rent an RV from someone in your area! I think that is one of the neatest ways to rent because you are renting from a private owner who you can even chat with about why they chose that specific RV and then try it out for yourself to see if you really like it.
I highly recommend when searching to write down your “Must Haves” on paper because it will make it easier when finding the perfect RV for you. The perfect RV for us has been our Heartland Toy Hauler AKA Big Bertha because it is what got us on the road. It can be overwhelming with the different RV types, hitch types, axles, landing legs, etc, etc. Best advice I can give is to ask yourself the following questions:
- What kind of camping will you use your RV for? (Campground camping or off-grid boondocking?)
- What is your budget?
- How many people will you be traveling with?
- How long are you planning on RVing?
- Who will be driving it? (You want to make sure the driver is comfortable driving the RV.)
These are a few questions that helped us when we chose our RV. Trust me, before you know it you will also have the perfect RV for you to take on your next adventure! The more experiences we collect the more we realize that all the junk we left behind to live full time in our RV doesn’t even matter.
