Best Of

My wife and I are new to the RV concept with our 2016 T@b S-Maxx that we bought last May. Last summer we made a few forays out with the T@b and generally found it a nice experience and met some really nice people. We pretty much limited outselves to nicer campgrounds, mostly KOA, with full hook-ups so that we could use the toilet and shower and not need to rely upon the campground communal facilities. But now, as we prepare to begin our second season, we realize that we may not have really thought through our concept of traveling with the T@b (or any RV). We thought that RV'ing, instead of travel by car and staying nightly in motels, would accomplish two things: sleeping in our own bed each night, with no worries about bedbugs, dirty rooms, etc., and travel with our beloved little dog. We envisioned using the T@b while we accomplished our main desire for travel which is sightseeing, visiting national parks, etc. What we didn't fully think through was that it was not practical, not acceptable to some campgrounds, for us to leave the dog in the T@b when we wanted to visit the national park (when we visited Yosemite we stayed at an upscale lodge, without the T@b, and used their "doggie daycare" for a day while we took a guided tour. But at $115 for the day, its not something we would do routinely). So now we are faced with some decisions: do we leave the dog with relatives, and ignore one of the main reasons we bought the T@b, or continue to take the dog but limit ourselves to only going places where we can have the dog with us?

A second thought for you folks just thinking about this whole subject, is that while we knew that we would see a huge drop in gas mileage while towing the T@b (BTW, we ended up with the T@b specifically because we could tow it with our Subaru Outback and did not need to buy a truck as a tow vehicle) I never really thought about the reality that we would be traveling at 55 or 60 instead of my usual 75 or 80 mph. Every destination is thus that much further away in terms of time. But this is not a major issue since generally we are not in a rush when doing this kind of traveling. 

So this second season we plan on taking at least a few long camping trips, and then we will reassess whether or not we made a costly mistake in buying this new T@b in the first place. The T@b itself is amazing and we do love it. We are amazed with how livable this tiny trailer is, and with a shower, toilet, kitchen, A/c and heat, etc, etc. it far outclasses other small camping trailers. But whether or not the RV lifestyle is really the one for us is yet to be decided. If later this year you see a new thread started with a title "Almost new S-Maxx Sofitel for sale in northern Illinois" you'll know what decision I have made.