Deciding on an RV Setup
Alice and I were introduced to RVs when we were scrolling on Tiktok and came across someone who was a Digital Nomad. They traveled the globe with their laptop, working from a cafe in the Philippines and paying $2 a night for a bed in a hostel. However, we already had 4 cats so we knew that wasn't going to happen.
The first thing we needed to do was recognize our constraints. We needed space for us, 4 cats, and a place to work. So what sort of RV set up will fit with that?
There's a bunch of different options, from tiny campers, to massive diesel pushers and fifth wheels. We were beginners, so we wanted to keep it as small as we could. Personally, I was intimidated by Class A's and fifth wheels at the time.
To us, that left us with two options: truck + trailer combo or a Class C. From there, we started looking at floor plans and pricing. This was probably one of the longest processes for us, because I wanted to make sure it was just right for us.
At first, we were really interested in a Class C with no slide outs, because I was also initially intimidated by slide outs. What if they break and we're stranded somewhere? Now that we're a year in, I can safely say it's not so bad!
This was one of the floor plans we looked at first:
Doesn't look that bad, but this is absolutely not enough space for 2 humans and 4 cats.
With the timing of selling the house, we had to move in to our new home before we could realistically prepare the house for pictures and sale. Our finances at the time were tight, so getting a $75,000 loan on a Class C wasn't feasible. But getting a $35k truck loan and a $30k personal loan for a trailer was okay to the credit union 🤷‍♂️. That's essentially how we decided on a truck + trailer combo.
After we sold the house, we took the proceeds and paid off the personal loan.
We ended up getting a 2017 RAM 1500 (do not suggest) and a 2018 Grand Design Imagine 2670MK. Here's the floor plan for that one:
Unfortunately, I made a mistake in calculating the weight capacity for the truck, and the suspension was soft. We ended up selling the truck, and getting a 2017 GMC Sierra 2500 HD SLT. You can read more about calculating the weight for the truck and trailer <insert link here for future post>