When we first started looking at travel trailers, we weren’t sure that using one would be something that our family would enjoy and might wind up being more money and trouble than it would be worth.
Perhaps we did it the wrong way. It is possible to rent travel trailers, motorhomes, and the like and decide for yourselves before dropping tens of thousands of dollars on an item that has storage for sewage, but we did not go this route.
Fortunately for us, the travel trailer life has exceeded all of our expectations and brought us closer together as a family. So why buy a travel trailer?
Cole already had a half-ton pickup truck, which was a 2018 Ford F150 with the 5.0L engine and a transmission cooler. Gail had some patience and didn’t mind sitting in the passenger seat and playing flight attendant to two very loud and needy children. The kids did not have much say in the matter.
We first started looking around online at travel trailers on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and dealer websites, and learning what we could from blogs, trailer forums and social media pages like Facebook and Reddit.
When we finally went to a very large and notable dealership which shall remain nameless, we were very underwhelmed. The salesman (who was just doing his job and trying to earn a living) showed us many things that were far out of the realm of what we had decided for our budget but was very up front about the numerous fees that they charge such as cleaning fees, destination fees, fee fees, and the like.
They had fees for everything that jacked up the prices by thousands of dollars for no benefit to us that we could see. After all, if you spend too much on the trailer when you’re a working family, you may not have any money to take it anywhere.
We then went to a smaller, locally owned dealership (that is no longer locally owned, sadly) where the salesman actually listened to us and our needs, showed us things that suited our budget and family, and was safe for our tow vehicle.
The key things we wanted in a trailer were bunks for the kids and air conditioning. Everything else was just extra. We landed on a 2022 Highland Ridge Olympia 26BHS which had both of those things, and some other stuff as well. We also bought a weight distribution hitch, which is necessary for a half-ton truck and, despite being a pain to deal with sometimes, is still useful even with a larger truck.
It’s not all easy, and every single trip has drawbacks and frustrations. That said, they’ve all been absolutely worth it. Even our kids adore traveling now, in spite of the long driving days in the truck.
We have enjoyed it so much that using our travel trailer has become a major part of our family life, and we look forward to planning trips during so many of our work and school breaks. This is why we’ve decided to share this information online, in case other people and families have the same questions and concerns that we did.
You may not agree with all of our decisions, findings, and opinions. That’s perfectly fine, because life works out differently for every person. Start your own website if you feel so moved. That said, we’re here to share what we’ve learned and hopefully help others to have fun and become a more close-knit family along the way.
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