Forum Discussion

kodiakcanuck's avatar
kodiakcanuck
Explorer
May 27, 2015

Well...we've reached that point

I have 2 sons, one is 13, 6'1, 205 lbs, the other is 11 and not far behind, 5'8, 160 lbs (yes they both play football :B ). Getting them into the front coffins..err I mean bunks is getting increasingly difficult. My 13 year old now sleeps on the fold out couch, not that it's much bigger, but at least a little wider. I think I can get another year of convincing my 11 year old in the front bottom bunk. At least the top bunk is used as a handy storage area for laundry etc :C

So just wondering what others have done at this point in their trailer lives. Obviously if money was no option I'd just go trade it for a double-wide bunk model, but I already took a loss when I got rid of our hybrid. Plus we really like our current model, its very open, has all the options we want and I've kept it in perfect shape, we've hardly had any issues with this model.

So do others just stick it out with the fold-out couch and table, or do you get them out in a tent with some friends (I'd just prefer they then don't all try to pile into the trailer when they get flooded out from a storm in the middle of the night). My 13 year old is still interested in family time, so I suspect we will camping together through their teen years, we are a close family. This space issue in the bunks as the kids get older is one you kind of forget about when you are buying...
  • Get them nice tents and let them take them with them when they decide family camping is no longer cool. That way they may keep interest and turn camping into a lifelong passion of their own.
  • Our kids couldn't wait to be old enough to stay in tents. We never looked back.
  • By the time they were 13 or so my girls had pup tents they slept in. They did not want to hear mom and dad snoring any longer. So trailer became what we wanted, not what we needed.
  • Get a nice cabin tent for the kids. Our daughter tented in her teens and early 20s when she camped with us. And several friends that we camped with when our kids were small did this as their kids got older. The kids get some time "on their own" without being far away, and mom and dad get some evening quiet time.

    Tenting is also great experience for them, if they still enjoy doing it as teens, more than likely as adults they will start off with tents anyway.

    It's a win/win for everyone in the family.

    Another plus, the bunks then become extra storage for you!