Well, we weren’t a one vehicle family for very long. We bought a Class C RV, the Winnebago Itasca Viva, the other day. You read that correctly. WE BOUGHT AN RV! Now, this wasn’t just a random, spur of the moment decision. We have been thinking about buying an RV for over a year now. We…
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Well, we weren’t a one vehicle family for very long. We bought a Class C RV, the Winnebago Itasca Viva, the other day.
You read that correctly.
WE BOUGHT AN RV!
Now, this wasn’t just a random, spur of the moment decision. We have been thinking about buying an RV for over a year now.
We have done an insane amount of research, we have watched and read countless RV videos and websites, and more. We’ve thought about maintenance expenses, fuel costs, emergency repairs, RV parking, RV campgrounds, laundry, wifi, and so on.
We ended up buying a Winnebago Itasca Viva, which is a Class C RV. We thought about getting a Class B RV but decided on a Class C RV so that we could have a little more space.
Some of the reasons for why we decided on the Winnebago Itasca Viva include:
It’s not a huge motorhome, but it’s enough space for us at 24 feet long. We will be traveling with our dogs and there is plenty of space for the four of us.
It’s not hard to drive and it doesn’t get absolutely horrible gas mileage (it’s very similar to the Wrangler we used to own).
There’s a full bathroom with an actual shower, toilet, and sink.
There’s a bed. There’s actually enough room to sleep 6 in our RV. Who wants to join us?
There’s a kitchen with a big fridge, freezer, sink, stove, and microwave.
It has a dining table with plenty of space for me to work.
As you can see, the RV we chose is pretty amazing! We really love it and have already taken some day trips to test everything out.
Now, some of you may be wondering why we bought an RV in the first place. Below are some of the reasons we decided to buy an RV.
Class C RV’s are not cheap, I do realize that. The Winnebago Itasca Viva isn’t cheap either.
However, we spend a decent amount of money on traveling each month. I would much rather put my money towards an RV and the costs related to that. I’m all for nice hotels and resorts, but with our trips lately we have been staying at many highway hotels which are not always the greatest.
After all of the traveling and spending money on hotels lately, traveling via RV just seems like a much better option. We do still plan on staying in hotels and Airbnbs occasionally, but it won’t be as often. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely love hotels, Airbnbs and resorts! We will just be able to stay in our “second home” more often.
There are ways we can save money too such as going on longer trips where we stay in place for a longer time (so that we spend less on gas), riding our bikes or moped whenever we can (we don’t plan on towing a car), and boondocking as much as we can.
Packing and unpacking our stuff each morning after staying in a hotel gets annoying after awhile. In fact, the other day I left my favorite shirt at a hotel and I’m still upset about that!
We realized that having an RV would make traveling much more comfortable for us as well as the dogs. Plus, we would have a place to pretty much call home for when we are not actually at home.
It will also be nice to have everything we need right in the RV. We can make meals and save a ton of money on food while traveling, have our own bathroom, a bed, and so on.
We want to be able to take breaks when we want and need to.
With an RV, we can stop whenever we want (okay, not literally but you get what I mean) instead of trying to race to the next hotel.
We often log around 12-15 hours in the car each day when on road trips because we don’t want to stop as frequently for hotel stays.
With an RV, we will be able to travel at a more casual pace.
We want to visit friends and family more.
While we love Colorado and the surrounding areas, we do miss friends and family. Having an RV means that we can visit them all more and stay longer (until they get annoyed of us). Since we will have everything we need in the RV, we won’t feel the need to rush home either.
We enjoy traveling.
We enjoy traveling, being on the road, and know that there’s still a lot of North America that we would like to see. Having an RV just seems like a much better way to travel.
I know many like to say that there’s no where in the U.S. to travel to and some even make fun of RVers for that reason, but I think those who say that are crazy! There are so many different dramatic landscapes to see here and I would like to spend more time experiencing everything.
We can still work on the road.
Another great reason we decided to buy an RV is because we can work from wherever since we are location independent.
Working on the road and being able to travel wherever I want sounds like a dream to me!
Also, I’ve had a lot of you ask what I’m using for internet. I’m using a Verizon MiFi Jetpack.
Are we crazy? Does traveling in an RV interest you? Would you be interested in some RV-related posts on Making Sense of Cents?
Probably the most important question: Where should we go next in our Class C RV – the Winnebago Itasca Viva?!
Hey! I’m Michelle Schroeder-Gardner and I am the founder of Making Sense of Cents. I’m passionate about all things personal finance, side hustles, making extra money, and online businesses. I have been featured in major publications such as Forbes, CNBC, Time, and Business Insider. Learn more here.
How exciting! Congrats on your RV. The hubs and I both grew up going on RVing trips with our families and decided about ten years ago to do the same for our family. It’s so much fun.
We still frequent hotels now and then, but an RV is a great way to go. Most of my articles are about our Southern Travels at http://thehowtoguru.org/category/southern-family-travel. I’m also editing a book right now for an Author that is part of a young, full-time family that is sharing their resources and what they’ve learned on the road in the past five years, traveling the U.S.
I hope you get enough use out of it to justify it Michelle. Not trying to be a Debbie-downer and I’m sure you did you research – but when my parents bought a camper it just sat there most of the time and cost them money to maintain.
We’ve been on the road more than we’ve been home this year so I know we will use it 🙂 We’ve already logged a few HUNDRED hours this summer in our car on road trips.
Michelle, we went through a lot of propane on chilly nights when we first got our fifth wheel, until another camp host (we were volunteering at a beach in Southern California in the winter – another great way to save money and get to know an area) another camp host suggested we buy an electric heater, which runs off the campground’s electricity instead of your propane! It works great, and it was years before we had to refill the propane! For gas costs, keep track of your mileage; we have a 29 foot class B-plus (which is what yours looks like, by the way – no big overhang in front), we average 8 to 10 mpg, and we’re towing a Ford Fusion. You’ll probably do better with a 24-ft rig. Will you tow your more economical car to sight-see on trips?
Congrats! My husband and I really want an RV. We love to travel and having an RV would make traveling a lot easier with two kids. It is not in our budget at the moment (or for a while), but I would love to road trip across the continental U.S. With as much as you guys travel, an RV sounds like a really good investment.
Congrats! We have been talking about the same. I am with you regarding having a smaller RV than the larger ones we see lumbering down the highway every summer. I just returned from a vacation in the Black Hills SD. Mount Rushmore, Deadwood, Devils Tower WY, etc. that I would recommend as a great RV destination. If you haven’t been up there before it isn’t too far from CO. Lots of places to park an RV over night. Just avoid going their during the coming couple of weeks around the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Have fun traveling..
Wow, congrats! We had one when I was a kid and I loved it! I’m curious about them because I have an interest in the Tiny House lifestyle…I know that’s a little different than the reason you bought one, but still very exciting! Looking forward to reading about your adventures!
Congrats! THERV lifestyle is good as long as you have funds to cover it all. I won my RV. I need to pay 20k in taxes on the 85K retail value.
Well seeing as we are a low income family, I need to sell it. 2015 Fleetwood Storm Game Day Edition. Elevate your Tailgate sweepstakes grand prize winner, ME!!!!!! It is an awesome RV, I want 68K for it, thanks for spreading the news. We are in Golden Colorado for Buffalo Bill days, then Parker Colorado to visit family. Then the Great Sand Dunes is calling, lol. This is a new RV with less than 4 thousand
miles on it.
Just got back from a family camping trip and I’m definitely considering buying something to make it easier. I may not go the RV route but I’ve been checking out those teardrop trailers. A great compromise on a budget and it would make our camping trips sooooo much easier.
So many great reasons! Congrats on the RV. Now that I’ve read this post, it makes me realize how great this would be for us someday too. We have out of town family we only see once a year. And we would love to take our kids on road trips. Thanks for the inspiration!
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How exciting! Congrats on your RV. The hubs and I both grew up going on RVing trips with our families and decided about ten years ago to do the same for our family. It’s so much fun.
We still frequent hotels now and then, but an RV is a great way to go. Most of my articles are about our Southern Travels at http://thehowtoguru.org/category/southern-family-travel. I’m also editing a book right now for an Author that is part of a young, full-time family that is sharing their resources and what they’ve learned on the road in the past five years, traveling the U.S.
#awesomesauce
blessings,
The How-to Guru
I’ll check out your link now. Thanks!
I am not surprised at all that you bought an RV. You travel so much and it’s perfect for road trips.
I’m not surprised either 🙂
I hope you get enough use out of it to justify it Michelle. Not trying to be a Debbie-downer and I’m sure you did you research – but when my parents bought a camper it just sat there most of the time and cost them money to maintain.
We’ve been on the road more than we’ve been home this year so I know we will use it 🙂 We’ve already logged a few HUNDRED hours this summer in our car on road trips.
Hah! I literally just wrote about mobile homes today – too funny.
Way to go 🙂 Though you didn’t include any of the sexy financial #’s! haha…
Ha yeah I saw your post in an email and immediately had to hope over and read it.
I plan on covering the financials of everything once we finally get used to the expenses. Still don’t know how much propane, gas, etc. will cost.
Michelle, we went through a lot of propane on chilly nights when we first got our fifth wheel, until another camp host (we were volunteering at a beach in Southern California in the winter – another great way to save money and get to know an area) another camp host suggested we buy an electric heater, which runs off the campground’s electricity instead of your propane! It works great, and it was years before we had to refill the propane! For gas costs, keep track of your mileage; we have a 29 foot class B-plus (which is what yours looks like, by the way – no big overhang in front), we average 8 to 10 mpg, and we’re towing a Ford Fusion. You’ll probably do better with a 24-ft rig. Will you tow your more economical car to sight-see on trips?
We don’t plan on towing. We plan on bringing our moped and a few bikes 🙂
So cool! I think this fits your adventurous outdoor lifestyle very well! 🙂
Yes, I agree! 🙂
I was able to find a device that will let me access internet from pretty much everywhere. It was a tad expensive, but well worth it.
Can you mention what that device is?
Verizon jetpack 6620 🙂
Congrats! My husband and I really want an RV. We love to travel and having an RV would make traveling a lot easier with two kids. It is not in our budget at the moment (or for a while), but I would love to road trip across the continental U.S. With as much as you guys travel, an RV sounds like a really good investment.
Thanks Sarah!
Congrats! We have been talking about the same. I am with you regarding having a smaller RV than the larger ones we see lumbering down the highway every summer. I just returned from a vacation in the Black Hills SD. Mount Rushmore, Deadwood, Devils Tower WY, etc. that I would recommend as a great RV destination. If you haven’t been up there before it isn’t too far from CO. Lots of places to park an RV over night. Just avoid going their during the coming couple of weeks around the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Have fun traveling..
I haven’t been to any of those places so we will definitely have to add those to our list 🙂
I’m excited!
Thanks Dan!
Haha I’ll have to do one eventually.
Wow, congrats! We had one when I was a kid and I loved it! I’m curious about them because I have an interest in the Tiny House lifestyle…I know that’s a little different than the reason you bought one, but still very exciting! Looking forward to reading about your adventures!
Thanks Heather!
Congrats! THERV lifestyle is good as long as you have funds to cover it all. I won my RV. I need to pay 20k in taxes on the 85K retail value.
Well seeing as we are a low income family, I need to sell it. 2015 Fleetwood Storm Game Day Edition. Elevate your Tailgate sweepstakes grand prize winner, ME!!!!!! It is an awesome RV, I want 68K for it, thanks for spreading the news. We are in Golden Colorado for Buffalo Bill days, then Parker Colorado to visit family. Then the Great Sand Dunes is calling, lol. This is a new RV with less than 4 thousand
miles on it.
Wow I’m so jealous that you won an RV! I hope you are able to sell it.
Did you sold you RV?
Just got back from a family camping trip and I’m definitely considering buying something to make it easier. I may not go the RV route but I’ve been checking out those teardrop trailers. A great compromise on a budget and it would make our camping trips sooooo much easier.
Love the teardrop trailers as well!
So many great reasons! Congrats on the RV. Now that I’ve read this post, it makes me realize how great this would be for us someday too. We have out of town family we only see once a year. And we would love to take our kids on road trips. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks Laura!