1st Time Buyer - Recomendations??
Husband and I are looking for a travel trailer under 20' (need one 2 person bed + a bathroom and kitchenette?). Need suggestions on good brands that are built well and don't need a lot of maintenance....
Forum Discussion
A few additional thoughts that may help ...
This size of trailer will have but one entry door which will either be located midway along the side of the trailer or alternately near the rear. Having previously owned a trailer with a mid entry door we specifically looked this time for a rear entry, the reason being that I'm an early riser but my wife really enjoys sleeping in ... with a rear entry door the dog and I are much less likely to disturb her.
Regarding the slide, I'd personally have been just as happy without one but any models we found in this size without one had a fixed dinette on the curb side of the trailer. I think this would have worked fine for just the two of us but we also have an 80 pound dog so the extra floor space provided when our sofa slide is extended is an advantage I can't deny. It's also not uncommon for these dinette slides to be raised off the floor of the trailer, a design some don't mind but one I detest intensely as it makes me feel like I'm a mannequin on display when seated at such a dinette. I also don't see the point in having a dinette on the street side of the trailer where all you can see are trees or bushes or worse still your next door neighbour's campsite.
A mid entry trailer in this size will almost always have a full size bathroom located across the rear of the trailer, meaning it's a pretty good size, sometimes will even feature a glassed in neo angle shower. A rear entry trailer in this size most often has the fridge located along that rear wall so by definition the bathroom is going to be much smaller, as it is with our 192RBS. Although we'd like a large bathroom as much as anyone else the reality is we spend very little time in there overall, it offers all the same amenities, so in the overall scheme of things a small bathroom for us really wasn't an issue that would stop us from buying the trailer we otherwise liked very much.
A trailer in this size often will have very little galley countertop space ... our 192RBS is an exception and especially with a cutting board atop the stove we find it works just fine. We've owned trailers in the past that offered little countertop space and for us that proved to be a real annoyance.
Hope this helps! :)
This size of trailer will have but one entry door which will either be located midway along the side of the trailer or alternately near the rear. Having previously owned a trailer with a mid entry door we specifically looked this time for a rear entry, the reason being that I'm an early riser but my wife really enjoys sleeping in ... with a rear entry door the dog and I are much less likely to disturb her.
Regarding the slide, I'd personally have been just as happy without one but any models we found in this size without one had a fixed dinette on the curb side of the trailer. I think this would have worked fine for just the two of us but we also have an 80 pound dog so the extra floor space provided when our sofa slide is extended is an advantage I can't deny. It's also not uncommon for these dinette slides to be raised off the floor of the trailer, a design some don't mind but one I detest intensely as it makes me feel like I'm a mannequin on display when seated at such a dinette. I also don't see the point in having a dinette on the street side of the trailer where all you can see are trees or bushes or worse still your next door neighbour's campsite.
A mid entry trailer in this size will almost always have a full size bathroom located across the rear of the trailer, meaning it's a pretty good size, sometimes will even feature a glassed in neo angle shower. A rear entry trailer in this size most often has the fridge located along that rear wall so by definition the bathroom is going to be much smaller, as it is with our 192RBS. Although we'd like a large bathroom as much as anyone else the reality is we spend very little time in there overall, it offers all the same amenities, so in the overall scheme of things a small bathroom for us really wasn't an issue that would stop us from buying the trailer we otherwise liked very much.
A trailer in this size often will have very little galley countertop space ... our 192RBS is an exception and especially with a cutting board atop the stove we find it works just fine. We've owned trailers in the past that offered little countertop space and for us that proved to be a real annoyance.
Hope this helps! :)
