We have our vision of what will make us comfortable on the road, at least we think we do. Not knowing if we were going to find it, we started an early (internet) search (not counting the last 37 years of imagining, RV Shows, being invited ‘aboard’ and magazines, etc). Our most distinct (for searching purposes) features were Class A, Diesel, >/= 400 hp, $100-$150K, Bath and Half. We did find that after 2007 (we don’t want anything older than that) all manufacturers made at least one model with an extra half bath. Many react as this last feature being overkill, but for us that is a personal comfort neither of us is willing to forgo if we don’t have to. Enough said, it’s a medical, age, creature comfort thing. There are many more ‘want to’ haves, not necessarily deal breakers on their own merit, although we think we can have it all, so that is what we are going for!
We would like:
- NO Smoking, NO Pets (nothing against the little or big guys, just would be nice to have no hidden smells, my olfactory sense has been dictating much of my life, all my life, a blog in itself)
- TV in main cabin facing living area (NOT overhead from the dashboard- we are standing pretty firm on this one, on principal, that just being an altogether ridiculous design idea, for us)
- free-standing dining chairs rather than a dinette style
- an oven rather than just a convection/microwave combo
- washer dryer
- neutral interior (do NOT want to do an interior decorating project at the get-go)
- The lower the mileage, the better
- Have no strong opinion about door placement (any experienced input on this is welcome)
- Plenty of storage for necessary items and those ‘things’ we just can’t part with
- Hitch (which towable car will be our best choice, future post)
How to create a balance between realistic day-to-day full-time living in a reduced interior space, while not trying to replicate all we have; reduce our footprint, so to speak. We have inquired about above layout and are prepared to travel to Scottsdale, AZ. If not, there is North Carolina, Florida, California and on and on, a plethora of inventory, it helps to narrow it down before you start shopping in earnest.
I have a fairly busy (RV lifestyle change) list this week, finally! Spring or not, the Carlin Odyssey snowball is forming.
- Once we successfully purchase our RV, we will have to store it for a while (we are currently renting and assisting the owner to sell the beautiful house we are leaving-will post here once listed); http://www.yellowpages.com/monument-co/rv-storage
- Time to contact an attorney in Montana and set up our LLC (will post more about this, purpose, decisions we make)
Carlin RV Odyssey 