Not a big trailer

[Judy_D]

This is one of the many times I am happy we don't have a big travel trailer. Mind you it's not exactly small either. I just spent the day washing and inspecting the roof , then washing the rest of the trailer. It's a 23 " and thats plenty for one day !! Didn't find any thing that looked bad on the roof. Did notice that the antenna is leaving a mark so guess I'd better find something to put between it and the rood though. Now off to do some camping

[campigloo]

dadmomh--I can relate. Often I wonder what people are doing clogging up MY road. Anyway, back to the point. On our trip last weekend, it must have been small camper weekend. Most of them were pretty neat, not for us but still cool. The neatest one was a little yellow pod camper pulled by a yellow Mustang. As I went into my 35' camper, I was almost jealous.

[dadmomh]

My totally UNscientific study has made me think that the larger the TT/5er/MH, the less you see of the people. Cannot count the times that a really large trailer will pull in, set up and that's the last other than to see the light emitted by the flat screen.

Some years ago a couple set up their mid-sized 5er in "our site", if you can believe the gall, lol, as soon as the set up was finished that was the last time we saw them outdoors for the rest of the weekend. Early Sunday morning, they were gone. If we'd have been 5 minutes earlier, they'd have had to pick another site....that one is "ours", but alas, we found another one. So I don't get fussed at for considering it "our site", it's the first site we were in on the first trip with our ROO back in '07. It's really a perfect site, large, great trees, beautiful view, perfect. If it is available, we always chose it. It was also the first site we took our new 2604 to. It's our fav site in our fav campground. Sorta like sitting in someone else's pew....except that we don't tell the people they're in our pew. That said, we go camping to get out and enjoy nature, maybe meet some new people, chill out from life in general....not to sit in our trailer the whole weekend watching TV. If we want to watch TV, we can stay home. My study seems to show that the smaller the trailer, the more folks are out and about.

[ryanw821]

DW and I are new to TT's, we went small (18') for various reasons. First it tows well with our Jeep Liberty CRD (though we plan to upgrade to a larger Grand Cherokee CRD soon), Second, being small, it forces us to spend time outside which is why we got the TT in the first place, when we retire (long ways off, we are still in our late 20's and early 30's) we plan to live full time, then we will get the big 40' diesel pusher with slides and 60" TVs 😉

For where we are at in our life a small trailer is perfect for us!!
As others have said, thats why theres so many options out there, RVing is not a one size fits all club 🙂

[EcoBullet]

Judy D wrote:
This is one of the many times I am happy we don't have a big travel trailer. It's a 23 " and thats plenty for one day !!

That is about perfect for 2 people IMHO unless you are going to full-time in it. We love our 22RB Premier!

[AirForceAngler]

I like as small as I can get. The only reason we have a 26' is for the bunks in the back for our daughter and some space if all three of us have to be inside. When she moves out, if we still camp, we'll probably move to something even shorter. As someone else mentioned, it's all in personal preference. I commented one time how we spent a lot of money to have a nice home on a few acres in a semi-rural area, then spent even more money on an RV to get away from it.

[dadmomh]

Also a strong believer that bigger is not necessarily better. This past year we made the move from our ROO 23SS to a Rockwood Ultra Lite 2604 and it still seems like a mansion. Agree that many, many feel that you must have at least 30' - preferably lots more with many slides - and at minimum an F250/2500, preferably an F-350/3500 to be comfortable. We are more than comfortable with our 26' - and could be equally happy with our HTT had it not been that old age crept up on us and the additional set up was becoming a problem. IMHO, if you and your style of camping works with 15' or 18' or 24'....try to ignore the ones who believe that bigger is better. Not all of us want, need or can afford Buckingham Palace.

[profdant139]

Campfire, just to set the record straight -- I have a tiny trailer pulled by a moderate truck (a Tacoma), and (as we expected) we get bad mileage, just like everyone else, due to the wind resistance. So no one should get a small trailer to save on gas, except a pop-up (which has less wind resistance). We got a small trailer because we like to go into very remote places. But not everyone would find the tight quarters to be comfortable.

On the plus side, it takes almost no time to wash -- and I can dry the whole thing with a handkerchief!

[Sunbird]

"Right sized" is in the eye of the beholder and his wallet. If you want a huge trailer and a Peterbilt to tow it, you need to have the bankroll to support it. In the meantime you can go to all the same places with a smaller, more economical rig.

[rbpru]

Campfire,

You are correct of course. A TT is a very personal choice.

Still it is always nice to know that others share you views and reasoning on what is “right sized”. It is good to see that people are thinking about the pros and cons rather than impluse buying.

As you mentioned it is also nice that RV come in whatever size you think you need, so we all can enjoy the ride.

[Campfire_Time]

I have to laugh when I see threads where someone asks about what they should buy. Someone will chime in and say "a 1 ton diesel and 32 ft trailer with 3 slides because you can't have too much truck and trailer!". Someone else will say "a 16 foot TT and a mini-van because you don't want to have poor mileage when not towing". You get the idea. Always from a personal viewpoint of course. We tend to think because something does or does not work well for us, its going to be the same experience for someone else. But its not. That's not bad, it just is.

That's the beauty of so many different types and sizes of RVs. Something for everyone.

The ideal RV is the one that works for you.

[GrandpaKip]

Our 23 footer is as big as we ever want to get for the two of us and the dog. I'll wish it was smaller when I wash and wax it this weekend.

[rbpru]

My DW and I discovered that finding the right size TT was a matter of floor plan and the TV. At the RV shows we looked at the smallest unit that had the room we needed and decided on a 22 ft. box minimum.

In the end we found a nice 24 ft. (26 ft. with tongue) that is easy to pull and park with our F-150.

Others my find it a bit small but it works for us.

[Road_Phantom]

I had six 5th wheels since '84. The last was a 2006 37 ft'er, great for seasonal camping but a horror trying to take it out for little weekend ditties.
I no longer stay seasonally and now have a 23 ft Funfinder. Though not comfortable for extended stays, it's great for my present use which is weekends and long road trips. The ease in getting around tight places and on the road traveling far outweigh any loss of space. Most of that lost square footage I lugged around
was empty floor space and unneeded storage.