You are at the point in your life where you are considering a recreational vehicle. So, how do you decide what is best for you?
It all depends on your lifestyle and what you want to use your RV for to satisfy your needs. Do you want to travel to a local campground or state fair and stay for a couple of weeks as an easy getaway? Are you looking to go across the country once a year? Or maybe you are looking to replace your primary home and go full time with life on the road.
All of these factors are things to consider when searching for an RV. Plus, you need to consider your budget too. Look at what your needs are and what you can afford. You can always upgrade or refinance your RV purchase but at least weigh out what you have planned for your RV so you will actually get use out of it because if your RV is just going to stay parked in the shed for a year, what is the point?
It can be overwhelming and you then overanalyze. But then once you have analyzed looking for the perfect RV, you might put it off and not get one at all. There is no perfect choice but there is a right choice for you. You may choose and decide you aren’t satisfied. It’s no big deal. You can always change your mind.
How do you choose? There are a lot of options.
You might be one of those people who is just loving the idea of living like a nomad. You might want to take off and you go to travel out on the road. You might want to just not have a house anymore. You might just want the minimum you can live with and have a simpler lifestyle. You might want more amenities and have the ability to go down some rougher roads. If something happens to your house or your car, you would still have an RV.
Some may choose a Class A that you would not have to get out in the weather. If it is cold or rainy, you simply don’t have to get out of your RV. It is a larger rig and some find it a little harder to drive. Essentially you can go anywhere you want but there are some complaints that even though there are several amenities, it can be difficult to steer.
A conversion van that is customized may be a good option. It would have all of the simplicities needed and the ability to live or sleep but not in a huge space. You would have access to a car without actually having a separate car.
Get an idea of what your life is going to look at as a nomad. Until you decide what your vision looks like, you will not know what your needs will be. Otherwise, you can’t make sure you get it. Do you want to travel constantly? Do you want to live in nature? Do you want to stay in an RV resort because you are more social? Do you want to stay in place for six months?
In order to develop a vision of the ideal life, do some research. Talk to people who have RVs and find out about what their choices have been. How did they decide and what were their needs? Try some out before you truly decide. Make some trial runs. Go rent different RVs and test to see if that is what you would be satisfied with and also, go look around at RV shows. Go inside them. See what each one has as options. Join some networking groups. Tell the people that you just want to get started and ask them what they do or do not like about their rigs. This is just the beginning of starting out the RV life.
Set your priorities after you have settled on your vision. What do you need out of a life on wheels? You need to think about which is the most important. If you want room and comfort, that would be the opposite of getting an RV that has good miles per gallon gas mileage. A large Class A would get lesser gas mileage. But if you are not looking to travel and drive a lot, that might be OK for you. If you want to drive around a lot, you may need to forego some of the comforts and luxuries because of affordability.
Do you want to go off road and more into nature? You may need a four wheel drive. There are options in the middle that can give you a little bit of both worlds but you are still going to need to weigh it out.
If you are looking for an RV that is a daily driver, the best would be a travel trailer but the absolute worse would be a Class A RV. For driveability, the best would be a Class B while the worst would be a big Class A. For back-road ability, Class A is the worst and Class B is the best. For comfort and room, a fifth wheel would be the best and a Class B would be barely adequate and a van would be the worst.
If you are looking at other options for the price, you might think about the cost and budget. The initial cost of RV life would be the absolute best in a van but also very good with a travel trailer. A Class A RV and fifth wheel would be the absolute worst options in initial class. When considering fuel budget, a Class B RV and a van are the best while Class A is the worst. For safety, a Class B and a van are the best options while a fifth wheel and travel trailer are pretty poor and a truck camper being the worst.
These comparisons are also subjective and can be used as an overview. Someone else with another opinion might have different feelings on what RV is best and worst. It is still best to drive them for yourself and look at the other variables. Even within the same classes of RV, a 30 foot and an 18 foot rig are still going to be different in their drivability and their pros and cons
You may need a shower. Some people do not. Be option to these possibilities and that one factor alone would narrow things down. The need for standing room in your rig would eliminate it. A small budget would also decide and you need to know what your fuel budget is going to be. You also need to figure out if you want to drive a vehicle and pull the rig or if you want to drive the rig and pull a car.
These factors are some pretty important ones when selecting priorities. Look at which ones you must have so you will know that you will get it. All of these choices and what are deal breakers for you will help you to narrow down what will best meet your needs.