Are you happy with the size?

tenhorsun wrote:
... do you think you would have been perfectly happy with a smaller TT? (smaller payments, less gas, etc.)

Obviously the shorter the trailer the less it's going to cost for a similarly equipped longer one but in terms of gas mileage you'll hardly achieve any advantage. With any full height trailer you should assume ~ 10 miles to the US gallon when towing with a gasser ... slightly more with a small 19 footer like mine compared to a 30+ footer, perhaps 1 or 2 mpg, but that's about it. If fuel consumption and it's related cost is an important consideration then perhaps RVing isn't for you.

As for the trailer itself you'd be foolish to purchase any model with bunk beds if you're never going to use them, especially not when there are so many couple's models available in all size ranges. Having traveled considerably with the various campers we've owned over the years I'd agree that 25' is just about the right size as it can provide plenty of interior space for 2 yet will still fit on pretty well any campsite you may come across, an especially important consideration if you intend to travel a lot and expect to just land somewhere each evening without reservations and have to take whatever site may be available.

I've always been a proponent of "smaller, lighter, but fully equipped" in all the trailers we've owned - popups, hybrid, travel trailers - but our current 19' is the first one we've ever owned with a slide. I personally could have been just as happy without a slide, often use ours without deploying the slide if I'm camping solo with just my dog, but would agree it does open up the interior space. My wife prefers having the slide so I guess I am too, as long as it continues to function correctly, but the first time it doesn't I know I won't be a Hapyy Camper at all, especially if we're 1000 miles from home at the time. Slide failure, though not an every day occurrence, does happen so it's important to decide whether you have the tolerance for dealing for the potential that yours one day could, at the most inopportune time / place. You also want to consider whether any slide(s) would interfere in any way with complete access to the interior of the trailer - in many a slide does and would be a complete non-starter for us, for others slide obstruction doesn't matter at all.

Our previous triple bunk bed family trailer measured 26' 9" coupler to bumper and over the years we owned it not once could I not park it on any campsite we'd chosen or had been assigned. We've since downsized to a 19' couple's model that measures 22' 6" coupler to bumper so it will fit on just about any site we may ever come across other than perhaps a terraced site designated for tent use only. It's particularly short length also means I can keep the trailer here at the house, parked on the driveway, and still accommodate our other vehicles ... others may disagree but no way would I ever own any trailer that was so long that I'd have to store it at a remote storage lot and therefore have to retrieve it each time we wanted to head out camping.

Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS




Had it been available at the time we might have gone a bit longer with this Apex model - same floor plan, more interior space, but the downside (for me) is it's over 25' coupler to bumper.

Coachmen Apex 239RBS




Ultimately, it's a personal decision, one only you can make ... good luck with your search. :)