First Trip Plan

As I write this, the first trip in my motorhome is still three and a half months away, but it's all planned out in my head, so why not put it down on paper? That way, I can provide the answer to one of the most common questions I'm asked. The objective of the trip is the wedding of my cousin's son, Tim. The route will go from San Diego to Seattle, most of it running up Highway 395 on the eastern side of the Sierras. I'll be trying out the leisurely pace I intend to keep in my retirement travels: not much more than 4 hours on the road per day. With a couple extra days thrown in to see the sights, it will take me nine days, with six scenic stops along the way, and plenty of time to explore.

Mail Call

Among friends that begin to consider the implications of my fulltime RVing plan, the most common question is, "How will you get your mail?" I'm far from the first person to face this issue, and, thankfully, there are a number of solutions available. I'll review them in this post, and discuss how the answer is linked to a much more important question with long term consequences. Clubs for RV owners have a role to play, so I'll mention a few of them, too.

Gadgets

What can I say, I'm a gadget freak. It's mostly electronics, but anything that makes my life easier or more enjoyable qualifies. My retirement travel plans are a way to get closer to nature, but that doesn't have to mean leaving technology behind. Let's take a look at some of the gadgets I'll take along when I start on my travels, and some I'd like to have when my budget allows.

Basement and Utilities

A motorhome with a basement? Sure, a basement is where you store stuff you use infrequently, and it's a term in common use by RV'ers. Often it's applied to storage that's accessed from outside the RV, but it can be found under seats and beds, too. The basement is also where you find a home's utilities: furnace, water heater, electrical panel, etc. Let's conclude our tour of the "rooms" in my motorhome design by taking a trip to the basement and the things it holds.

Bedroom and Closet

Whether it's a house, an apartment, or a motorhome, nothing is more indispensable than a place to sleep. Somewhere to store your clothes is also pretty important. Thus, of all the "rooms" in my RV design, I had to get the bedroom and closet just right. After considering a lot of alternatives, I believe I have.

Salle de Bain

Woo hoo! I finally got some mileage out of the five years of high school and college French I took, thereby avoiding a post entitled "Bathroom". (Apologies to any readers from France, Quebec, and various African and island nations.) It's the "room" in my motorhome where I'll spend the least amount of time, but its importance merited considerable design effort. This continues my detailed review of the "rooms" in my RV design, in preparation for final submission to Sportsmobile.

Galley

Continuing the tour of the "rooms" in my motorhome, allow me to conduct you to the galley ( or kitchen, for those of you still attached to an immobile foundation). Along the way, I'll have something to say about the equipment I'll use, and cooking outside, too. Please step this way...

Living Room

Would you believe that a roughly 100 sq.ft. space can be divided into five rooms? Well, that's the way I think about my Sportsmobile (SMB) design. To me, there's a distinct living room, kitchen, bedroom with a closet, bathroom, and a basement. Would you believe that I intend to devote an entire post to each of them? If you've read my previous, occasionally obsessive, posts, that's probably not hard to believe at all. But I do have a reason - or rationalization - for this attention to detail. The time is approaching to submit my final design to SMB. Writing these posts will give me a chance to review everything one last time. It will also give anyone who cares to read, a (very) thorough tour of my motorhome, and a chance to chime in if they wish. Let's start with the living room.

Steady State

In June 2013 I paid a visit to the Sportsmobile factory and liked everything I learned about them and their products. Aspects of my design that I expected to be problematic turned out to not trouble their designer at all. But my design was overweight: it exceeded the cargo capacity of the Sprinter van. Their designer had pointed out that possibility, and by diligently working to prove him wrong, I had proven him right. The alternative was to use a Sprinter with dual rear wheels, but that hurt fuel efficiency and intruded on my interior space. So, I set to work cutting weight out of a design that I had regarded as perfect.

The Source

In late June of 2013, I took a long-planned trip to the Sportsmobile factory in Fresno, California. This would be my first chance to see for myself some conversions they'd done, and also to present my own conversion plans for their comments. My daughter, Kelcy, home from college, came along. It was only a small detour along the way to see the Lazy Daze factory, too, so we made a stop there. This post recounts that trip, and describes how my discussion with Sportsmobile forced a major revision of my plans. A long post with lots of pictures ahead!

Going Social

Early in the process of looking for a motorhome, I found the Sportsmobile website and soon had prepared a custom plan that I liked quite a lot. However, I continued to research other RVs to make sure I wasn't overlooking a great alternative, or at least to gather ideas. While there wasn't another option that I'd trade my Sportsmobile design for, I did find features that made me reexamine the ways I intended to use my motorhome. This eventually led to a completely new design that was better than the original in almost every way.

Commitment Issues

The check went out in today's mail to Sportsmobile for the deposit on a Sprinter. I tried negotiating with the local Mercedes-Benz dealer. Though initially their price was higher, I eventually got them down to a bit less than Sportsmobile's price, but that difference wasn't enough for me to accept the risk that some subtle thing on the options list wouldn't meet Sportsmobile's requirements. So, I'm paying a small premium for peace of mind. Also, the MB dealer couldn't guarantee that I'd get swivel seats in the cab - it seems that's a fleet-only option. The deposit itself is small, I pay the balance when Sportsmobile receives the van, between three to five months from now ( it comes special-ordered from Germany ). Until recently, I never expected or aspired to own a Mercedes-Benz, but I'm committed to that now.

Plan A

The biggest attraction of buying my retirement motorhome from Sportsmobile is that they let the customer design the interior, from the type and number of furnishings to the materials and finishes used. If I hadn't chosen electrical engineering as a career, I probably would have been an architect, so the opportunity to design my own living space was very appealing. Though I've tried dozens of variations, my design has progressed through three major versions. In this post, I present some background information for the design process, and the first design that I thought was "the one".

Silver Bullet

In choosing my retirement motorhome, I want something that is not only functional, but also projects a sense of style and class. To me, those terms have always been synonymous with the Airstream brand. So I was interested to hear that, in addition to their esteemed trailers, Airstream makes a Sprinter-based RV. Also, if any brand could convince me to choose a travel trailer instead of a van, it would be Airstream, so I looked at those, too.

Going Pro

Sprinter-based motorhomes have been unrivaled in their fuel-efficiency, and in my previous post I calculated that could save me something like $4K/year over traditional motorhomes. In 2014 a new entry will appear on the American scene that is expected to be on a par with Sprinter fuel economy. I'll take a look at several variations on this new platform in this post.

Old School

The motorhomes I've looked at in previous entries have all been based on a Sprinter chassis. This has been my focus because nothing comes close to their fuel efficiency. However, I did begin to wonder if I was being penny wise and pound foolish: Are there other choices that I'd be more comfortable in, and is miles-per-gallon really such an important consideration? Those are issues I consider in this post.

Broader Horizons

In previous posts, I've looked at several options for my retirement motorhome. Some have been too small, some too closed in, some too expensive, but nothing has been just right - I'm beginning to feel a bit like Goldilocks. So far, I've only discussed models from Leisure Travel Vans, but my search has ranged more widely than that. In this post, I look at a couple models from more mainstream RV manufacturers.

We interrupt this program...

Breaking news: When I visited Sportsmobile last June they said the plan I presented probably exceeded the load capacity of the Sprinter chassis I had chosen. I went to work trimming weight off the plan, the result of which you see in the "Fulltime Planning" post earlier on this blog. Yesterday, I got up the nerve to email them this revised plan and their response today is that it is okay to build.

Serenity Now

In my quest for an RV that would be just right for me, I had passed over the Free Spirit SS because I couldn't use the bed without extending the slide-out, and the Free Spirit (no SS) felt cramped to me. Maybe it was time to take a look at a couple of the larger models from Leisure Travel Vans.

Paths Not Taken: Free Spirit

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.