Our camper is well-worn. We purchased it in 2016 as an upgrade from our pop-up camper. We made the rookie mistake of purchasing it from Camping World, which we now know has horrendous customer service. We had done some research and knew what layout we thought we wanted. Looking back, we probably should’ve purchased something different (a bunk room instead of a bunk house, for example).
A few times each year, we walk through local RV shows and search online for something that would better suit our needs. We’ve even found it a couple of times. But we’ve held off upgrading for several reasons.
OUR CAMPER IS PAID OFF
We got a decent deal on our travel trailer, as it was a pretty basic, no-frills model. But the loan period was 12 years! Surprisingly, this is a standard loan structure for RVs. Fortunately, the monthly payments were low, so we could pay extra each month, paying it off in only a few years and saving a ton on interest.
Having the title in hand and no monthly payment has given us peace of mind that we wouldn’t have if we were still paying off the loan. The idea of taking on another loan for an upgrade isn’t appealing.
OUR FAMILY IS IN TRANSITION
When we purchased the camper, our kids were really small. Two could easily share one of the double mattresses in the bunkhouse. That worked for a while, and then they got bigger. We made adjustments so they each had their own space, but it’s been a little tight for the past few years. With our oldest getting ready to go to college, we are back to needing less room. It doesn’t make sense to buy something bigger now, but we still need room for four people, so we can’t purchase anything smaller yet.
WE’D RATHER WRECK THIS ONE
This summer, we plan to travel over 10,000 miles in our RV. While a new RV could provide additional comfort on such a long journey, every dent and scratch would break my heart. I’d rather worry less about the state of my old camper than work to preserve a new one.
WE’VE CUSTOMIZED IT TO MEET OUR NEEDS
You can look back at this post to get a closer look at our remodel. Over the years, we have added large and small modifications to make our RV work for our family. Even if we found a new RV in which some of those modifications come standard, there would be other elements we would have to change to meet our needs. That’s a lot of time and money to invest when we already have something we’ve already altered to fit our needs.
Our camper isn’t perfect, but it is as close as we will get to it. I see a new camper in our future, but it’s not quite the right time for us.
