Once we decided to buy an RV, we figured it would take a while to find the right one that worked for us. There are a lot of options in terms of the type of RV and the brand, but each option also has different floor plans so we thought it would take a lot of searching to find one we would be happy living in.

The crazy part of all this was that it only took us a week to find our home!

As I previously mentioned, Ryan and I went to 3 dealerships to find our perfect home. Looking at the different options, we decided a fifth wheel was our best choice. We didn’t want to buy a motorized RV because if we ever had a problem with the engine then we wouldn’t have our house to stay in while it was in the shop. We chose the fifth wheel over a travel trailer because we felt they offered more space that worked better for us. We had also read that fifth wheels are easier to tow than travel trailers, which we thought would be better for us newbies. 

We had discussed whether we wanted to buy new or used. Buying used would obviously be cheaper, but we couldn’t find any that we liked. We decided that we could afford to buy new so that we would get an RV that worked for us. We didn’t want to settle for just any RV because it was cheaper. Obviously, price is important, but we didn’t want to set ourselves up for failure by being overly conservative on the cost and size of the camper. We knew that downsizing would be difficult but getting a camper that wasn’t what we really wanted would have just been setting us up for being unhappy.

We found our fifth wheel at Country Campers in Montpelier, Vermont. It was about a 3-hour drive for us one way, but we liked the options we saw on their website, so it was worth the trip. We looked at different brands, but from our research we knew we wanted a Grand Design. 

We had read great reviews regarding the overall build of the Grand Design. From what we read; people were saying that they are built better, more reliable, and held their value better than most other brands in that price range. They also felt more like home to us than the flimsy weekend getaway RVs. Grand Design also has a great reputation regarding their customer service for when a problem arises.

When discussing what we needed in order to be happy with our living space, we decided that we would need 2 bedrooms so that Ryan could use one of the rooms as an office. We didn’t want him using the living room for his work because we felt he needs to be able to keep his work life separate from his personal life. We also needed extra room for the litter boxes. Along with the must-haves, we knew we needed to have some space for the cats to run. Sammie and Leah love chasing each other so we wanted a floor plan that had a clear runway for them. We also thought we would prefer a kitchen table with chairs opposed to the dinettes that have booths.

We saw a bunch of RV’s and none of them had what we were looking for. Many of them were close, but there was always something missing.

When we walked into our fifth wheel, we both knew it was the one. This 5th wheel has the floor plan we wanted with the color furniture we like. Walking into the RV on the left is the living room, kitchen and dining area. The kitchen has an island with a sink that comes with extra tiles to place over the sink to increase the countertop space. The kitchen is also equipped with a gas stove, oven, microwave/convectional oven and fridge/freezer. It also has a large pantry that allows for lots of storage space.

Across from the kitchen space is the living “room”. It comes with a 3-seat lazy boy sofa. All 3 seats recline and the 2 on both ends have heat and massage options. The middle seat folds down for a small table. This RV has 3 slides and 2 of the slides are the living room and kitchen space. They would slide inward during travel.

The dining room is at the very back of the 5th wheel. It comes with a dinette booth that can transfer into an extra bed. Also in this area are an electric fireplace, TV and stereo system. There are also blue lights on the floors that we can turn on, which I think it kind of fun.

This RV also comes with a nice runway that extends from the dining area at one end of the camper to the main bedroom at the other end. It is a perfect space for the kitties to run. In the main bedroom, there is a queen-sized bed with hidden storage underneath, a closet, drawers and cabinets.

There is also a second bedroom that has a set of bunk beds with the bottom bunk being slightly larger than the top bunk. The bunk beds are the third slide in this RV. They slide inward during travel. There is also a lot of drawers and cabinets in this room. And lastly, there is a bathroom with a surprisingly good- sized shower. There are also 2 cabinets in here as well. 

There is also “basement” storage space that is accessible on the outside of the camper. Also, on the outside, is an awning and a compartment with a mini fridge. Overall, this 5th wheel has a TON of storage space.

When we walked into this particular camper, we fell in love, but we were a bit hesitant that our excitement was getting the best of us at this point. This camper came with a dinette and we had agreed on a kitchen table with chairs. When we saw this camper, we were afraid that we might have been settling for something because we couldn’t find another that fit every criteria we had agreed upon.

We discussed it and decided that we liked the dinette more than we thought we would. When we saw this camper, we actually realized that the dinette would work out better because it comes with much more room for storage. We had seen the dinettes in other campers but we didn’t like the way they looked, which is why we originally didn’t want it. I think the colors of all the furniture in our camper was more to our liking so it helped us change our minds.

Ryan and I had discussed a price range prior to shopping so that we would both be on the same page and we wouldn’t see any RVs that we couldn’t afford. We knew that along with buying a camper, we would also need to purchase a vehicle that could tow it. We made sure to agree on a total price range and we thought that if the total of both big purchases was inside our range, it didn’t matter how we allocated that money.

The RV that we had our hearts set on is a 2021 Grand Design Reflection 31MB. After seeing it and falling in love with it, the salesman told us the value of the camper, which was way over budget. Then, he gave us the good news that they were having a sale on the RVs that week so we were in luck! 

Being a 2021 model, we assumed there would be no way we could afford it. When he told us, it was around our price range, Ryan and I knew that we had to jump at it; it wouldn’t be there much longer! We wanted to make sure it wasn’t just a sales tactic, saying that the value was much higher than the actual cost, making us think we were getting a really good deal so we had to do our homework and fast before someone else snatched it up. 

We looked at the value of the RV on NADAguides.com where we found out that the RV was worth about $15,000 more than the price they were offering it at. 

We decided to jump! This was the first big purchase Ryan and I made together! Now we have ourselves a 36- foot 5th wheel!

Next came looking for a truck that would tow our home.