Our Travato: Pick up and first impressions
Meet Tedda, our 2021 Winnebago Travato 59KL!
When we decided to make the jump into RV-land, everything seemed to happen very, very quickly. Count us among the throngs gravitating toward RV life during the pandemic. Even after factories shut down for periods and supply chains had been disrupted, sales skyrocketed. With G being high-risk due to having been a kidney transplant recipient and currently on the transplant list for another, the pandemic has reinforced our main priority—keeping him (and our loved ones) safe and healthy. For us, that means being able to travel locally and be self-contained. With our own bathroom, kitchen, and power supply, our interaction with others and with public spaces would be minimal. We made do with our Eurovan and our “pee tent,” but we knew that combo wasn’t a sustainable longterm solution—especially not if G ends up going on dialysis. With demand for RVs outpacing supply, we knew we weren’t going to be able to negotiate much, if at all. We also knew that we weren’t willing to wait—if we found the model we wanted and it was available, we’d jump. And jump, we did.
We had made our decision to purchase a Winnebago Travato in late August; we sold our Disney Vacation Club points contract within a few hours of listing it (the money we’d net for the sale of that would be going toward the down payment). I joined the Travato Owners and Wannabees Facebook group and started devouring information, asking questions, and saving posts. I scoured ads on RV Trader, as we were hoping to find a “gently used” model somewhat nearby. No luck—at least not locally. During the first week of September, I called and sent emails to local Winnebago dealers to check availability on the Travato; then, when I wasn’t finding availability nearby for new models, I expanded the search. On September 7, I contacted Colonial RV in Millstone, New Jersey. Four days later, after a LOT of going back and forth on models (we knew we were getting the K floorplan, but we were still deciding on the lithium/non-lithium), we put a deposit down on a 2021 59KL Travato (we opted for the lithium model), with expected delivery to the dealership in late October and about two weeks after that to us. By the end of September, we had put our Eurovan up for sale; within a few weeks, it sold—just in time to provide the rest of the down payment! Two weeks after we bid farewell to the Eurovan, we were headed to New Jersey to pick up our new Travato—a few weeks early! Whoo-hoo!! Whew, a lot happened in two months’ time!
We scheduled our pick-up for Friday, October 30. Our plan was to rent a car in New Hampshire on October 29, drive to New Jersey on the 30th to pick up the van and go through our orientation, return the rental car near the dealership, and stay overnight in the dealership’s parking lot to plug in and test everything out before driving back to New Hampshire on Halloween. Then, we planned to park overnight in my mom’s driveway to test the system while unplugged. We had also planned to winterize the Travato in my mom’s driveway as well; however, while we drove through an unexpected October snowfall on the way to New Jersey and expecting overnight lows in the 20s, I emailed the dealership to see if they’d be able to winterize it for us. Yes! We’d still have use of the toilet (flushing with antifreeze) but not to our sinks or shower. No biggie—after all, we’re coming from our Eurovan, which didn’t have any of these “comforts”! But I’m getting ahead of myself…
By the time Friday, October 30, rolled around, we were as ready and prepared as we could be. We packed clothes and our sleeping bags, and started on our way toward New Jersey. The route is a pretty familiar one, as I grew up in Danbury, Connecticut, and we’ve made that drive hundreds of times. From Danbury, we’d cross into New York State and take the Gov. Cuomo Bridge (growing up, I knew it as the Tappan Zee) to avoid the George Washington Bridge and then get onto the Garden State Parkway. Easy peasy. Except for the snow, which accompanied us all the way through Massachusetts and most of Connecticut.
We arrived at Colonial RV just before 1pm and finally got to meet Bobby Hensinger, who has been our incredible salesperson throughout the entire process. I cannot say enough about Bobby and the team at Colonial; they were incredible to work with. From my first email to my tenth and the phone calls in between, Bobby answered every question we had and gave us the time, information, and space we needed to make a decision that would be right for us. While buying an RV would be stressful in “normal times,” buying during a pandemic certainly adds a layer of stress—but Colonial RV made the buying process as smooth and easy as we could have ever hoped for. Once we arrived at Colonial (awestruck at the size and at all the Airstreams!!), Bobby gave us a tour of the incredible 55,000-square foot facility that had opened in February—just before the pandemic. Colonial’s inventory is limited to two iconic brands: Winnebago and Airstream. In fact, Colonial is the world’s largest Airstream dealer; in addition to the Airstreams, Colonial carries only Winnebago’s drivable motorhomes, not its towable models. The dealership is absolutely gorgeous, and I took as a sign that hanging above one of the guest areas were prints of two of my favorite places: Muir Woods and Acadia National Park.
After our tour of the showroom, Bobby led us to our Travato. To say we got “the red carpet treatment” would be accurate!
Our first photo with Tedda!
Bobby introduced us to Kevin, who led our in-depth orientation—a 2+-hour walk-through and demonstration of EVERYTHING. Since I had watched hours (so many hours!!!) of YouTube videos,, I was pretty familiar with the ins and outs, but seeing everything up close was super helpful—and super overwhelming!! There’s SO much to learn. We’ll get there—with practice and probably with a whole lot of trial and error!
Soon, G had a chance to take the T out for its first spin—to the Enterprise agency to drop off our rental. Driving a 21-foot long vehicle took a little getting used to (I still haven’t driven it—yet!!), but by the time the weekend was over, G was totally comfortable behind the wheel.
We picked up Subway for a quick dinner and headed back to Colonial for our first night “camping.” We plugged in, set the heat, ate dinner, and started our journey of learning. Who knew that the hardest part (so far) would be pairing the cabin stereo with our iPhones! As tired as I was, I didn’t sleep well that first night—a mixture of adrenaline, nerves, and waking up every time G got up to pee (AT LEAST six times!!!); each time I woke up, I wondered if we made the wrong decision (yup, my mind can be a tangled, messy place of irrational doubts and fears!).
The next morning, a gorgeous fall day so unlike the snowy day before, we set out for our trip back to New Hampshire. Were it not for COVID, we would have stopped in Danbury on the way back to New Hampshire and picked up lunch at JK’s, my favorite hometown restaurant. Those famous Texas hot weiners will have to wait until next time. Still, I made sure to wave to “home” on our way through. Once we got onto the Mass Pike, we pulled into the rest area to gas up, and it was then that I realized just how incredible this new vehicle would be. Instead of going into the rest area to use the restroom facilities, we could simply use our own. These days, with COVID cases rising in our region, we were so grateful for the safety of having our own bathroom.
A partial view of the interior with actual bedding—I didn’t take enough photos of the interior, so stay tuned for more/better photos in future posts!
After making a quick stop at home to grab the new bedding we had bought to try out, we were soon at my mom’s for our second night “camping.” This time, we relied on our propane to heat the cabin and grew more familiar with our Volta lithium system. Everything worked perfectly—AND I actually got a good night’s sleep! Phew! Being in the Travato feels like being in our own little hotel room; it’s compact but feels spacious at the same time. I could TOTALLY live in this full-time. Needless to say, we absolutely love it—even more than we expected we would.
We’re so glad we decided to sleep in the T our first two nights of ownership to build both comfort and confidence. Next weekend, we’ll be camping in it to get even more comfortable, so stay tuned for that trip report. We have plenty of adventures planned for Tedda, and while she’s not technically a four-season vehicle, we’re looking forward to some day trips and overnights this winter. And, as always, I’ll be taking notes and sharing our experiences here on the blog.
And folks, I know there’s a lot going on in the world right now, and if you’re reading this blog, thank you. In so many ways, writing has kept me sane—and I hope these posts have offered you some distraction too, even if just briefly. Thank you for coming along on this journey, and I hope you’ll continue to join us. In the meantime, stay healthy, stay safe, and be kind to others.