Bunk Beds in Small Class C
Hello - I've been reading posts here and there for a few months, first time posting. :) We are a family of four + dog planning a year long US trip, leaving July 2014. Today's question is whether a b...
Forum Discussion
Hi, welcome to the Forums.
In answer to your questions: Your boys will probably fit in the bunk bed space. Resale value is hard to predict. If you want that floorplan, most likely, someone else might in the future. It just depends how long you want to wait until someone comes along and how badly they want it.
If resale is a prime concern, then I'd opt for a more main-stream floorplan (full or queen bed in back, overhead bunks up front) and a slide. You'll probably be at around 28' for so.
Here's my opinion. I just looked up the floorplan for that motorhome. In my opinion, that's too small of a rig for a family of four (plus dog) and a year long trip. I really don't think you'll have the storage space you'll need for clothes, tools, cooking supplies, food and you'll be extremely cramped on days where you'll be cooped up inside due to travel/weather. Unless your dog is of the size that easily fits into your pocket :) I'd recommend something with a slide to give extra floor space. Stepping over the dog gets old.
To be honest with you, for a one year trip and your size crew, I wouldn't recommend anything much smaller than 35', either a Super C or even a gas Class A.
The larger rigs will have larger storage bays outside, more cabinets/storage inside, and larger fresh/black/gray holding tanks. The latter is really convenient if you should be camping at an area without full hookups. The holding tanks on the 23BB would last you two, maybe three days IF you're very conservative with water usage. Most people aren't. We can go 5 days on the holding tanks in our rig.
There will be issues with getting around when you're camped, but you'll have the same with the small C. Once you're set up at camp, you don't want to have to break camp & drag the family around every time you need to go out shopping. And the less you can store, the more likely you'll be shopping. So you can either tow your vehicle behind you, or rent one at your destinations.
We've been on the road for 2 months at a time in our rig and it worked really well. We're a larger family than yours, but knowing what I know, I wouldn't even think about the trip you're planning with anything smaller than our rig.
I do envy you for planning such a trip. We're hoping that one of these year's I'll be able to take a long enough leave of absence to do the same.
Keep asking questions here and we'll do our best to help.
Good Luck,
~Rick
P.S. To put my post in perspective, I'll let you in on a little secret. :) When I first came to these forums, we were planning on getting a small hybrid trailer to pull behind our Honda Odyssey. Instead, we ended up with a 36' Class A and tow our Odyssey behind it. Thanks to the terrific experience & insight of the folks on this board, we ended up buying the right rig the first time. We did our research (about 2 years worth) and looked at all combinations between where we started and what we ended with, but in the end it was all worth it. We have yet to find a floorplan I like more than ours (dual slide/dual sofa). Well...there was that 45' Prevost Bus....but that'll have to wait until the kids are grown up...and I hit the lottery! :)
In answer to your questions: Your boys will probably fit in the bunk bed space. Resale value is hard to predict. If you want that floorplan, most likely, someone else might in the future. It just depends how long you want to wait until someone comes along and how badly they want it.
If resale is a prime concern, then I'd opt for a more main-stream floorplan (full or queen bed in back, overhead bunks up front) and a slide. You'll probably be at around 28' for so.
Here's my opinion. I just looked up the floorplan for that motorhome. In my opinion, that's too small of a rig for a family of four (plus dog) and a year long trip. I really don't think you'll have the storage space you'll need for clothes, tools, cooking supplies, food and you'll be extremely cramped on days where you'll be cooped up inside due to travel/weather. Unless your dog is of the size that easily fits into your pocket :) I'd recommend something with a slide to give extra floor space. Stepping over the dog gets old.
To be honest with you, for a one year trip and your size crew, I wouldn't recommend anything much smaller than 35', either a Super C or even a gas Class A.
The larger rigs will have larger storage bays outside, more cabinets/storage inside, and larger fresh/black/gray holding tanks. The latter is really convenient if you should be camping at an area without full hookups. The holding tanks on the 23BB would last you two, maybe three days IF you're very conservative with water usage. Most people aren't. We can go 5 days on the holding tanks in our rig.
There will be issues with getting around when you're camped, but you'll have the same with the small C. Once you're set up at camp, you don't want to have to break camp & drag the family around every time you need to go out shopping. And the less you can store, the more likely you'll be shopping. So you can either tow your vehicle behind you, or rent one at your destinations.
We've been on the road for 2 months at a time in our rig and it worked really well. We're a larger family than yours, but knowing what I know, I wouldn't even think about the trip you're planning with anything smaller than our rig.
I do envy you for planning such a trip. We're hoping that one of these year's I'll be able to take a long enough leave of absence to do the same.
Keep asking questions here and we'll do our best to help.
Good Luck,
~Rick
P.S. To put my post in perspective, I'll let you in on a little secret. :) When I first came to these forums, we were planning on getting a small hybrid trailer to pull behind our Honda Odyssey. Instead, we ended up with a 36' Class A and tow our Odyssey behind it. Thanks to the terrific experience & insight of the folks on this board, we ended up buying the right rig the first time. We did our research (about 2 years worth) and looked at all combinations between where we started and what we ended with, but in the end it was all worth it. We have yet to find a floorplan I like more than ours (dual slide/dual sofa). Well...there was that 45' Prevost Bus....but that'll have to wait until the kids are grown up...and I hit the lottery! :)
