Travel trailer search: Looking for input/insight/experience...

[Martinjmpr]

Seeking experience from RV and travel trailer owners on the board.

Here's the scoop: Wife and I started camping in a little home built teardrop in 2012, had that for 3 years and then moved up to a T@B clamshell (the Clamshell - CS for short - has a rear galley like a teardrop.)

But after 3 years in the T@B, as much as we like it, we're starting to yearn for a little more space, especially now that our grandkids are getting to the age when they will be able to go with us (they are 2 and 5.)

Having previously been tent campers, we were somewhat reluctant converts to the "RV lifestyle" and we are still amused when we go to an RV park and everybody sits inside their 5th wheels or gigantic class-A's watching TV while we're outside.

Anyway, over the years we've acquired both preferences and dislikes and I just wanted to see if anyone else could share their insights on what they liked and didn't like about their RVs. I'm particularly interested in knowing if there are things you thought you wouldn't like but did, or thought you would like but ended up hating, things you would do differently, etc.

As of right now, our requirements are:

1. Travel trailer (no desire at this time for a motor home, we have 4 vehicles as it is, don't need another engine to maintain.)
2. 5th wheel (besides being WAAAAY more than we need) is not an option because we don't have a pickup and don't want one.
3. Not interested in anything soft-sided (i.e. a pop-up) for a number of reasons. This also goes for "hybrid" trailers (i.e. hard sided trailers with soft-sided pop-out beds.)
4. Moderate off-pavement capability is desirable (not talking 4wd trails, but the ability to take the trailer 10 - 15 miles down a Forest Service road is necessary as we sometimes "boondock" in the forest or BLM land.)
5. Under 3000lbs dry
6. Under 22' total length (under 20 would be preferred but realistically that may not be an option for what we're looking for.)
7. Only needs to sleep 2 adults regularly with the occasional grandchild or two for a couple of nights - a convertible dinette would work fine for the grandkids at this point

In addition to our requirements, we also have some "preferences":

8. Floorplan: We would prefer something that has a queen sized bed separate from the dining area. That way we don't have to switch the dinette into our bed or choose between sleeping or having a place to eat. Convertible dinette for temporary use (grandkids) is OK but we want a dedicated sleeping area for us.
9. Would prefer no slide outs
10. Would like some kind of outside kitchen (it's what we love about our T@B CS.)
11. If possible we want to avoid the "refrigrerator box on wheels" look, i.e. the square and boxy look.

Cost is not really a major issue for us - I think there are a number of options that fit all of our requirements and are well under $20k. I'm more interested in overall quality (one area where our T@B shines is in the quality of the fit and finish, particularly in the cabinetry.)

As to No. 9, No Slide Outs: My concern about slideouts is that (a) we don't really need them with, at most, 2 adults and 2 little people, (b) slideouts add weight because of the slide itself and the framework that is necessary to support it and (c) slideouts create another potential point failure (i.e. slide out motor fails when deployed, how do you get the trailer back on the road? etc.)

As to No. 10, from my limited research, I'm unlikely to find anything that has an outside kitchen that is not either way bigger than we need, or has slideouts. R-Pod and Winnebago both make outside kitchen models, but they both have slideouts. They also have a floor plan I don't really like (the main sleeping area converts to a dinette on both the Winnebago and the R-pod.) I hope I'm wrong but I'm guessing this preference will have to be dropped.

Right now the trailers on our list include the R-pod, Winnebago Winnie Drop, StarCraft Comet Mini, Jayco Hummingbird, and Travel-Lite Falcon F-20.

Any others I should consider? I like the fiberglass "egg" type trailers (Casita, Scamp, etc) but none of them have the separate dining/sleeping area AFAIK.

Are my requirements too restrictive, do you think?

Of these I think the F-20 is my favorite from what I've seen on-line. Still haven't had a chance to check one out in person.

Also in terms of quality and rugged-ness, I'd be interested in hearing real-world experiences with the various major manufacturers. As I said, we're pretty happy with our T@B (which is not to say we haven't had our issues) but I know all travel trailers aren't equal in terms of build quality or longevity.