Our new travel trailer

Ever since I was a child, I have always wanted a camping trailer, and now, at the age of 65, I finally have one.

It was difficult to decide what we wanted most, so I narrowed it down by taking out what it would be impractical for us to buy.

That beautiful rear living room Winnebago fifth wheel was my all time favorite, but it also would need a much larger truck, and was very, very tall,so we would have to watch bridges and trees when we are out in the boondocks, which will probably be most of the time.

The Winnebago was out, more because of needing a bigger truck and the cost of that, than for any other reason.

I love the idea of a truck camper, so we would be able to easily take it into the woods of Maine. It also would be very handy for stealth camping when we are in a pinch, and would mean we would be able to tow a boat or something. The trouble with that, is that probably more than half the time, we would be in places where we would want a comfortable camper with a nice dry bathroom, and some place comfortable to sit. The truck camper was out too.

I absolutely love rear living rooms, but for lots of reasons, the camper we finally chose didn't have one. Our truck is a GMC Sierra, Z71, double cab, 1500, with towing package and 5.3l engine. I can't remember the exact weight limits for towing, but the camper we decided on is less than half of what the truck is capable of, so we don't have to worry about over loading it with the few things two adults will be carrying. Also, even though a fifth wheel is easier to tow, the travel trailer is less expensive, and means we can leave the cap on the truck. I would hate to have to take the cap off, since we use it all the time.

This camper also has an outside kitchen. I wasn't looking for that when I looked at campers, but now that I have a camper with one, I am really glad! I go camping to spend my time outdoors, so I really don't want to spend all my time cooking inside when we are in places where we can't have an outdoor fire. It will also be much cleaner inside if I make a rule that there is no messy frying inside the camper! After all, I'm not going camping so I can spend hours scrubbing grease off the walls and ceilings!

Another reason we chose this camper besides the weight, is the size is manageable. The box is 22' with a total length of 26', so even at state and national parks, it should be small enough to find campsites, but it's large enough to be comfortable. It is also 10' something high, so it will fit under bridges. Then, there is the Murphy bed, and couch. There is room to walk on both sides of the bed, so we won't be climbing over each other, and it will be easy to make the bed. It can also be closed up while the bed is still made, so we won't have to worry about making up a bed every night. During the day, there is a couch there, for comfortable seating.

I know a lot of people don't like slides, because they can be problematic, but I really like the extra room of the dinette slide in ours. I would rather have a couch there, or even better, two recliners, but we have three grandchildren. They and their parents will be camping with us sometimes, so it will be nicer to have the seating room for playing board games in the evening when we aren't sitting around a campfire. It also turns into a double bed for when the kids want to sleep in our camper.

Another thing that sold me on this one is the bathroom. At campgrounds I will probably use the campground shower, but when I'm not, it's a dry bath. I definitely didn't want a wet bath. Besides, there are two really big closets in the bathroom, one with a hanging rod, and the other side has shelves. (In addition to the smaller closets in the bedroom, and pantry in the kitchen). I love the amount of storage in this camper, for the size of it! It also has a fairly large refrigerator. The rear bath made it so I can't have a rear living room, but I think I gained more by having that wonderful storage and the outdoor kitchen there!

Our Venture Sonic 220VRB isn't the biggest and most luxurious camper in the world, but for a light weight camper, it's pretty comfortable, and has a ton of options!