Since we sold our camper, we’ve been looking for a slightly bigger one. We didn’t want to buy a new tow vehicle, so we knew we’d have to find a lightweight one. I’ve been stalking craigslist and a couple local RV sites. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go the craigslist route (although that is how we sold our pop-up). Before we sold our pop-up, we went looking at a local RV dealer just to see what was available. Big mistake! We found one we liked, but knew that we couldn’t afford it right then. We were really just looking to see what was out there that would meet our needs. It was hard to convince the salesman though. We were a little gun shy after that! I went back to stalking websites. There was nothing! I thought we wanted a bunkhouse preferably a single over a double (like the one we saw at the dealer). We looked at a couple trailers at a local RV dealer, but they were a little too used! So, I went back to craigslist and found one that looked so cool – it was trailer, but it had beds that popped-out from the sides.
The kids’ beds (and our bike carrier).
A little more looking and I found a nice used one at a dealer. On the website, it looked like it was at a dealer about 2 hours from us. When I called to get more information, they said it was actually at a dealer near us…the first one we had been too and weren’t sure we wanted to go back. This time around, we knew someone who worked there and so we went through him. We asked lots of questions – how much does it weigh, are the brakes and tires good, how much cleaning did the dealership do (the camper was spotless – apparently they don’t clean them much so you get a feel for how the previous owner cared for it), how big are the water tanks, is there anyway we can take our bikes (turns out there is)? We learned how to hook up a weight distributing hitch and sway bar. We learned that the beds are held out by cables (I had to google how much weight they can hold – over 1,000lbs!).
This is the front bed. I like that it’s away from the kids’ beds. At night we can still use the dining room table and not disturb the kids.
Even though it’s a used camper and it’s 5 years old, it’s in excellent condition. We can’t get over how much bigger it seems inside – there’s so much more room & storage (pictures coming in a future post)!
The slide has our dining table and benches in it.
We’re looking forward to lots of camping adventures this summer!
We have two young children and an average income at best. We are thinking of buying a cheap camper van, but my wife is unsure. Will we enjoy cheap holidays or suffer endless journeys in cramped conditions? How have other readers got on with their camper vans?