First off, shout out to the wonderful family from Keep Your Daydream who planted the seed to potentially go full time RVing. This was something that I had previously dismissed when Kim mentioned it as a possibility a couple of years back. I thought I needed to be grounded and have a permanent residence to go back to after, perhaps, a couple of months. After watching their videos and following some other full time campers on YouTube, we realized not only did it make sense for us to move from tent camping to a trailer, the timing was perfect to try it out as a full time activity.
So what to buy? New or used, what Class of RV to get? The latter was a lot easier as we had an inkling we might want to get a trailer in the future so purchased a GMC Canyon last May 2017. This particular Canyon is a Duramax diesel and comes equipped with a complete trailer package and, for a mid size truck, above average towing capacity of 7600 lbs.
Kim initially only wanted to consider one of the tear drop types and we were checking out models such as the Safari Condo, t@b, and Little Guy Max. All seemed to have good reputations and well built but we soon realized that they would be too small for our needs. I created a spreadsheet that detailed the specifications from the trailers and all our specific requirements. This shortlist of 5-6 trailers really helped us in the decision making. First off, the trailer only made the list once it was confirmed to fall within the constraints of the truck. Using the payload calculator from Keep Your Daydream made it easier to play with the numbers. Two of the trailers we looked at were only available out west and had superior insulation as well as protected and heated water and sewage tanks. This was very important to us as we wanted to keep our options open to camping in the mountains in the Pacific Northwest. We really liked the quality build of the manufacturer Grand Design but we found their trailers to be too large for what we wanted. Fortunately they recently came out with a smaller and lighter model and we were thrilled. We purchased the Imagine 21 BHE. It did not perfectly match our needs but ticked off enough boxes to give us the confidence to make the decision to buy.
Now the fun begins… we plan to put it on a lot at a local campground for a month in August and ensure everything is working prior to heading west in September. Until then, the RV dealership will hold onto it. This is all so brand new to us. Time to practice setting up and breaking down camp, buy all the extras we need. Exciting but nervous times.