Blogs and forum postings by others have been invaluable to me as my plan developed. Notable among these are David Elmore's very detailed and thoughtful plans for his Sportsmobile, Chumley's thoroughly documented (and not entirely positive) experience having his Sportsmobile built, and Andy Baird's entertaining and helpful tips for life on the road. I have no illusions about being as helpful as these, but I ought to at least offer back what I can to those interested in the preparations leading up to RVing. One thing I can contribute is my take on the RVs I considered on my way to the current plan. Just because they weren't right for me doesn't mean they wouldn't be perfect for someone else. Elements of each of them have left a lasting impression on the choices I've made.
Once I'd made the decision to investigate RVs, I simply did a web search and started down the list. The first one to make me stop and say, "Ooooooo..." was the Leisure Travel Vans' Free Spirit SS. (By the way, you really should check out at least one of the RV tour videos on the LTV site. Their salesman, Dean, is a hoot!) All of this company's RVs are well-designed and polished. A few images will show what I mean:
The strongest attraction was that huge swath of storage you see in the photo above. Planning to RV full-time, I was already worried if I'd be able to take along the essentials I'd need. I also liked the layout of the bathroom. For readers not familiar with the terminology, that is called a "dry bath", meaning there is a separate shower stall. Many designs have a "wet bath", which means the sink and the toilet are inside the stall and get wet when you shower. They also take up significant room in what is already a very crowded space.
For at least a couple weeks, Free Spirit SS was "it" for me; that was my van. Then the slide-out began to nag at me. For me, it was definitely not a feature, but a nuisance - something else to eventually break down, something else to futz with when setting up or breaking camp. I didn't feel any need for the extra floor space it provided. Suddenly, it dawned on me that sliding out wasn't an option in this design; the couch did not have room to fold out into a bed unless you extended the slide out. I knew then, this was a deal breaker for me. An aspect of the Sprinter that had been growing in importance for me was its "stealthiness". The idea of being able to pull over to the curb and sleep for a night almost anywhere is very appealing. The Sprinter's small size relative to many RVs and lack of a "swoopy" paint job means most people wouldn't give it a second look. But having to extend a slide out ruled out sleeping in it on a street regardless of the circumstances.
If the Free Spirit SS wasn't going to work for me, what about the LTV model that it spun off from, the Free Spirit:
No slide out on this one. The price for that is a significantly smaller wet bath and a considerable loss of storage space. A nice alternative, but not so compelling that I wouldn't consider expanding my search horizons. I'll explore some other options in the next post.
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