G & T go to an RV show...oohs and ahhs
It’s been a while since I sat down to write…winter has always been hard for me, and finding the motivation to be creative (or motivation to be anything, really—other than cold!!!) is tough. I typically spend winter under my down Rumpl blanket(s), wearing my Christmas-gift-to-myself Rumpl poncho (looks ridiculous but it’s oh-so-warm), looking online for warm-weather getaways, and scrolling real estate listings in those same locales. I’ve tried to be a winter person. Really. I have snowshoes. Cross-country skis. Layers upon layers. I’m just not cut out for New England living a quarter of the year. By the time the end of February rolls around (finally….), I’m usually hopping a flight to escape. I’ll be doing that this year, too—stay tuned!
But a few weeks ago, G and I spent a few hours in Boston at the Boston RV and Camping Expo. Ever since buying our van, a 2002 VW Eurovan Weekender, in November 2018, we’ve become even more obsessed (okay, that’s more me than G) with road travel options. We love our van; we don’t have kids, so I imagine that our van is to us what kids are to so many parents: a source of great joy and frustration—and a veritable money pit. We’ve already had a ton of great moments and memories with the van, and we’re looking forward to many more…but that doesn’t stop us from dreaming about what’s next, right?
And so, on a cold Saturday in January, we found ourselves at the expo—oohing and ahhing at vans and RVs of all shapes and sizes. Hell, some of the RVs cost nearly as much as our condo—and seem just as big!! I’ve never been in an RV, and while I prefer a future in a small-ish van, G waxes poetically about RVs. I can’t imagine ever driving one of those behemoths, but I try to humor him. Now, if we’re talking an Airstream, that’s a different story. I do love Airstreams!!
After ogling the Airstreams—and wishing the Nest was there so I could check that one out—we visited some of the big boys. Some of these RVs featured king- and queen-sized beds and fully equipped kitchens and baths. Hardwood floors? Check. Full-sized appliances? Check. Recliners? Check. Whoa. Just whoa. Seriously, these really are homes on wheels—and luxury homes, at that!
We also had the opportunity to check out some of the van-based options, like the Airstream Interstate Nineteen, the Winnebago Revel and Travato, and the Pleasure-Way Tofino and Ontour. Those are all much more our style. The Revel is based on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis, while the Travato and Tofino are both based on the RAM Promaster chassis; the Contour is built on the Fort Transit 2500 Chassis. All of them were pretty cool, with options and styling that seemed much more US. The pricetags, though? Not so much us right now!
After a few hours of stepping in and out of RVs and vans, checking out specs (and price tags), we came to the same conclusion: our Eurovan set-up is pretty damn-near perfect for us. While we love a lot of the campervans, we DEFINITELY need separate sleeping quarters—our van has the pop-top, allowing me to sleep “upstairs” while G sleeps “downstairs” and can get up during the night as many times as he must…without waking me. While extra storage space for gear hauling would be awesome, gaining that space at the cost of sleeping space would be tough. Who knew that we’d end up thinking that our 2002 van suits us better than all the bells and whistles out there on the market? Guess we picked a keeper—at least until this beauty is out on the market!