Do you sleep in your Class B or use it as a travel vehicle?

jerrysimps@aol.com · 02-02-2022, 01:13 PM

I was wondering if most Class B owners actually sleep in their RV's or if they use them for traveling vehicles and stay in hotels? I really like my 19 foot Class B to travel down the road with the refrigerator and bathroom, get relatively good gas mileage, and visit sites and towns because I can park it anywhere. However, I think it is a bit too small to actually live in for many nights. So, fellow Class B forum members, do you wish you would have bought a bigger RV, like a Class A, B+, C, or Super C?

mkguitar · 02-02-2022, 01:29 PM

the advantages of a B are ease of driving, parking and MPG

the large RV's loose those

the driving experience changes from "i'm driving a big van" to "i'm driving a ryder truck"
and the fuels costs double ( or worse)
and municipal parking regs may limit where you can go

we sleep in our van with yearly trips of a month or so and occasional trips of a few days or a week during the year

In my work life- RocknRoll touring, I travel on a 45' Prevost with 7 or 10 others- I know what it's like to have a full on RV. That's why I choose a B

mike

MsNomer · 02-02-2022, 02:52 PM

We live in our 136” PM DIY for months at a time—longest trip so far was 4 months, but sometimes we spend only days at home before heading out again. We can’t even remember the last time we slept in a hotel/motel, and now with COVID, we sleep in relatives'/friends' driveways rather than their beds. The van is more my home than the house at our address.

rowiebowie · 02-02-2022, 02:54 PM

Whenever we travel, we sleep in our 20 ft. class "b" exclusively. That is one of the main points we bought it for. Adding Hotel expense to the cost of gas/maintenance/purchase expense would be a huge negative.

Since we travel in mild Spring & Fall weather, we can comfortably boon dock most nights. If it gets too hot, we'll seek a campsite with electric hook-ups so we can run the roof top ac.

folivier · 02-02-2022, 03:02 PM

I've had a 26' C, a 39' A, 45' A, 36' A and just bought a Roadtrek C210P so we can travel comfortably, faster, and stay out of hotels. The spontaneity of fitting in any campground spot and park almost anywhere is why we bought it. So it is a travel van we'll sleep in and also use for short camping trips.

mumkin · 02-02-2022, 03:42 PM

I own a B for two main reasons. The first is so that I never have to pay and stay in any hotel/motel.

The second is that I never have to use a public bathroom.

The fridge and cooking facilities are just an added extra that allows me to also avoid restaurants.

My B is my only vehicle and the only disadvantage is that it won't fit in my garage.

MsNomer · 02-02-2022, 07:17 PM

What dimension of the 118” PM makes it not fit? That surprises me. That baby is cute as a bug and amazingly roomy inside.

Jon in AZ · 02-02-2022, 07:36 PM

Absolutely yes, we do sleep in our 21' Chevy Roadtrek. It's the most spacious part of the camper! But our limit is about 10-14 days continuously. That means shorter trips for us or breaking up longer trips with hotels or family.

A larger RV would not help- compared to home even a Class A is confining- and neither of us has the slightest desire to own, drive, store, or maintain anything larger.

We both like our space. My wife finds it lounging on the large rear bed with the back doors open wide. I find it sitting outside or puttering around the campsite. We both like to take walks, rain or shine.

ArtDeco · 02-02-2022, 07:50 PM

I just returned from a trip: where we spent 4 nights in motels, 12 nights at a relative's house , and 25 nights in campgrounds, so yeah, we can sleep in our class B ... a ERA sprinter van.

jrobe · 02-02-2022, 09:43 PM

We are probably outliers but we do about 50% hotels and 50% in the van. When my wife isn't traveling with me, it is about 20% hotels and 80% van.

Even on the hotel days, it is very nice to have a refrigerator, bathroom and the opportunity for the non-driver to move around while traveling. If we did 100% hotels, I would have still bought the van.

TomF · 02-02-2022, 11:06 PM

We do sleep in our class B for extended periods. When we visit friends or relatives, they always offer their guest bedroom, but we explain that we are comfortable in our little home. We don't want to spend good money on hotel/motels, and nowadays, we don't want to use the restrooms at the rest stops.
In 2018, we made a 10,000 mile loop of the US mainland. We slept in the Roadtrek for all but 5 nights, and those were in Tucson, Arizona at my brother's house where the van was too hot to sleep in, even with the A/C running.
We find the Roadtrek comfortable and cozy.

MsNomer · 02-03-2022, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrobe

…and the opportunity for the non-driver to move around while traveling.

I'm guessing you've never been in a major accident. I've been in three. My belt stays fastened.

Urlauber · 02-03-2022, 01:22 AM

After 45 years roughing it with tent camping (even sleeping in the station wagon seemed luxurious) we are not planning to stay in any hotels while on the road with the little van.
It is very tight in there, but not having to pitch the tent and roll out the mats is fantastic. I wanted a short (<18ft) camper for several reasons, and so far I love how efficiently the space is used.
I've traveled in my BIL's 37ft bus and find all the space (slide-outs, bedrooms, bathrooms) ridiculous.
Of course, there is a difference if you go full time or just use it for travel/camping part of the year.

booster · 02-03-2022, 01:34 AM

We have done 50 days straight in our 190 Roadtrek without issue and without sleeping anywhere else. The longer you are on the road, the easier it gets we find. Way better than any hotel.

mumkin · 02-03-2022, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MsNomer

What dimension of the 118” PM makes it not fit? That surprises me. That baby is cute as a bug and amazingly roomy inside.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but yes it is... I call her cupcake.

My garage door is just 7 ft or 84in. I have never actually measured the van, but the specs say that it is 91.7" + 5" for the Maxfan + 1" for the sumos = 97.7" So I'm a bit over 8' . No way to raise the garage door enough as the ceiling of my garage is my bedroom floor. lol

I had Colorado Campers do the interior. The interior height is only 5'4"... and so am I. If I wear shoes my head touches the ceiling.

PleasantonMac · 02-03-2022, 07:45 AM

We just got our Pleasure-Way ascent, a 19' sprinter based van, last year. I think a critical difference for us is that we still have our fifteen-year-old daughter who we travel with. In addition, we also sometimes travel with my 87 year old father in law. So, for that reason, it is mostly hotels/airbnb for us, but I am always grateful for the kitchen and bathroom on the road.

Having said that, when it has been just my wife and I, we do enjoy sleeping in the van. But we are only good for about two nights in the van before we want a real shower. We will have to see if that changes when the weather warms up.

I suspect, when my daughter goes off to college, there will be more sleeping in the van for us.

pawn · 02-03-2022, 02:51 PM

We just got our B last November/December, and got back from our first road trip (3400 miles round trip). We sleep in our B while traveling, and will likely do so while camping in it as well. It's comfortable, and you don't waste travel time checking in,etc... at a hotel, much less the money.

Davydd · 02-03-2022, 08:02 PM

On our current trip, we stayed in a hotel in Willoughby, OH and Louisville, KY. The first because we had some upgrades and fixes and the van was in the garage overnight. The second was when we traveled through Louisville there was a 4”dump of snow so boondocking was temporarily out and possibly in the way of snow plows. Now I get incessant emails to rate our experience in the hotels.

The one plus is I tried different pillows and I think I will buy a new pillow for the van, maybe.

I have a Fitbit that tracks my sleep quality. My sleeping in the van got a higher quality score than the hotels.

Bud · 02-03-2022, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davydd

On our current trip, we stayed in a hotel in Willoughby, OH and Louisville, KY. The first because we had some upgrades and fixes and the van was in the garage overnight. The second was when we traveled through Louisville there was a 4”dump of snow so boondocking was temporarily out and possibly in the way of snow plows. Now I get incessant emails to rate our experience in the hotels.

The one plus is I tried different pillows and I think I will buy a new pillow for the van, maybe.

I have a Fitbit that tracks my sleep quality. My sleeping in the van got a higher quality score than the hotels.

You parked that B somewhere. You could not have been in it?

Davydd · 02-03-2022, 09:34 PM

It was in the hotel parking lot. They couldn’t roust their guest. The usual boondocking spots like Walmart and Cracker Barrel were iffy as I know in the very early morning they plow before the places open.

BTW, I wanted to make one last test of our battery heaters overnight when the temperature got down to 5F and with no heat on for ourselves. It passed.

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