Once in a lifetime

dragonsdofly

While staying on BLM land outside of Tucson, AZ (Snyder Hill), we met a German family that is traveling the United States for an entire year. They brought their own trailer and truck from Germany for this adventure. We got to see firsthand a relative to our t@b, and for the few and far between Avia owners, a direct sibling.

Following are a few pics of their Tabbert Da Vinci caravan.

Look carefully and you will see the shared characteristics in our trailers such as the exterior handles.

Their tow vehicle, a (European) Ford Ranger has shown them the difference between U.S. vehicles and theirs. Our tow vehicles are (in general) more powerful, designed for more stability and built for much safer long range tow/travel on U.S. highways.

But what an unexpected experience, to see a true Tabbert while exploring the wilds of the western United States.

It was good fun to see a piece of the origin of our beautiful t@b trailers!

Sharon_is_SAM

How cool is that!  Fine for boondocking, but do they have an adapter to plug into US power?

techietab

Wow. Wonder how much shipping their rig over cost. Can't have been cheap.

Also curious as to how they're handling the visa situation. B-2 visa with a 'reset' trip abroad internationally in the middle of their year-long jaunt in the USA? CBP is usually *very* suspicious of folks doing that, especially when it's a whole family, and stating that they're planning to return to traveling in a camper that they own (where they could conceivably live indefinitely) when trying to reset the 6 month entry validity is a perfect recipe for denial for entry.

bergger

@Sharon_is_SAM I think it's super cool too!  And if they managed to get their trailer and tow vehicle over here I'm sure they planned for the electrical adapters.  Also, they are on a grand adventure.  Who cares about visas and the CBP.  I'm sure they got it all worked out before they shipped their vehicles over.  Hope they have a trip of a lifetime and wish we'd bump into them when out traveling. 

Tabaz

No interior photos??????  Turns out to be a small world after all.  What a cool post.

pak

Sounds like fun. At first glance, I would think their tow vehicle is a bit small. Although it must be working.

dragonsdofly

@Tabaz this was a family of 5, mom, dad and 3 children. After 6 months with all 5 living in that trailer I'm sure it was either militarily organized or rough around the edges and we didn't want to impose. They were gracious enough to share their opinions and experiences regarding towing, touring and being here in the U.S.

@Sharon_is_SAM & @bergger yes, really cool. Sharon, we didn't talk about rv parks or plugging in but they did have their Euro genny running for one of the 3 or 4 days they were parked near us.

@pak we agree and so did they. They had learned they had a bit of the tail wagging the dog situation at U.S. highway speeds and had to learn to slow down. It was something they didn't expect to happen and quickly adjusted the amount of travel time from location to location.

But, we thought it was just great to recognize  what kind of trailer they had and that we knew a bit about Tabbert history. They were especially surprised to see pics of our t@b. 

They told us they were having a great adventure and were seeing things they hadn't planned or anticipated and they liked meeting many friendly people. We felt the same about meeting them.

Truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Sharon_is_SAM

I wonder if one of them has dual citizenship which may help with the prolonged stay.  

Tabaz

This is such an interesting discussion.  I wonder which T@Bbers among us will reciprocate and travel to Germany with their rig?  Would love to follow this family's travels in the US and their thoughts about the trip.

Sharon_is_SAM

I wonder if they have a YouTube channel?

dragonsdofly

@Sharon_is_SAM we didn't think to ask about a youtube channel, but they did have a "signature" line, or saying on their trailer, which roughly translates to "life is too short for someday". 

I heard my grandfather say it often (in German). The American version is the familiar sentiment of not to put off what you can do today. These Tabbert owners were living their dream and not waiting for the future.

pthomas745

When I drove to Alaska in 2014 (pre-trailer) I met several people from Germany in a huge Mercedes "Unimog" that had been all over the world, practically. (Their web site is gone, however).  A group of BMW motorcycle riders (more than 10) who shipped their bikes into Mexico somewhere.  They were from Australia,  and were slowly working their way all the way to Prudhoe Bay. And tons of bicycle riders from all over.  The logistics of shipping vehicles must be...something to deal with!

I'm always surprised by the numbers of "foreign tourists" I notice when I'm at any national park or beautiful place in the US.  It makes me realize if I was from a different country, and I saw pictures of Yosemite or Arches, I'd want to go there, too.  Just like some one from North America wants to see they Pyramids or something. 

@d@dragonsdofly this is a very nice story!