Going From 40' Down To 25' Questions

[RikR]

We want to do a lot of back country boondocking and ordered a 25' class C - one problem we cant figure out is it only has a bed and dinette.

I get up around 5:00 and my wife sleeps to 7:00 or 8:00 and I dont know what to do to stay quiet for her and not go insane with nothing to do but sit at the dinette - not fun as I am over 6'3" and 240 pounds.

Thanks

[HighDesert]

Originally Posted by RikR

We want to do a lot of back country boondocking and ordered a 25' class C - one problem we cant figure out is it only has a bed and dinette.

I get up around 5:00 and my wife sleeps to 7:00 or 8:00 and I dont know what to do to stay quiet for her and not go insane with nothing to do but sit at the dinette - not fun as I am over 6'3" and 240 pounds.

Thanks

Guess why we just went from a Sprinter class C to a Tiffin Class A 35'. This is an issue I always ran into as I am an early riser and she is not. There is basically no room, to sit and do anything without bothering the sleeping person. I'm a big guy too, and it just always drove me nuts in the mornings. The other issue I had was no place to relax. We upgraded, because - well, there is just not enough space for us as we were bumping our heads on cabinets, bumping into each other, and the split bed design was a real PITA for us. My wife hated it after a while. Plus, at 6' 3", I don't know how you are going to be comfortable on a short queen bed. If you haven't already pulled the trigger, you may want to either rent one for a few days, or go and sit in one for a while to sort through your concerns.

[grindstone01]

You could always get a headset so you can watch TV and/or listen to music. I bought these Artiste headphones so I can watch late night TV while the wife sleeps.

[Dave1956]

We went from 35 to 25, but usually get up together. When not, I pull the curtain across and have my coffee outside or quietly.

[BirchyBoy]

Originally Posted by grindstone01

You could always get a headset so you can watch TV and/or listen to music. I bought these Artiste headphones so I can watch late night TV while the wife sleeps.

Great idea!

[Winterbagoal]

We upsized too much and backed off to a 26.5' Navion. It has 2 separate living areas separated by the bathroom, which works out perfectly for us. TVs in both areas, and a thick curtain that acts as a light/sound baffle. Each to his own, budget permitting.

[Kraken]

Originally Posted by RikR

We want to do a lot of back country boondocking and ordered a 25' class C - one problem we cant figure out is it only has a bed and dinette.

I get up around 5:00 and my wife sleeps to 7:00 or 8:00 and I dont know what to do to stay quiet for her and not go insane with nothing to do but sit at the dinette - not fun as I am over 6'3" and 240 pounds.

Thanks

You hit on the exact reason we went from a 22 to a 32 footer. The dinette gets very uncomfortable after sitting any length of time. If you want a couch, you need to go at least 30 foot, and even at that it's just a 2 seater couch. My Jayco has wooden pocket doors so the queen bed can be walled off from noise. I can sit on the couch with coffee while she sleeps in. I want to kindly suggest that I think you went too small. I still would like a rig with opposing couches, but that puts me at 38 to 40 foot.

[kjburns]

I couldn't live with just a bed and dinette. We have an Isata 3 24FW with the theater seats. Between the reclining seats is a deep console with cupholders plus small tables that swivel in the outside armrests. It's a very comfortable place to relax with a cup of coffee.

[LandKO]

We went from a 26ft TT to a 32 Ft Class C.
I’m 6’3”, 200lbs. I built a bed extension on both. Replaced the jackknife sofa with a couple of recliners.
DW sleeps in while I get up with the fur babies. I then sit in a recliner or sit outside with my coffee until DW awakes.

[luvlabs]

You have bigger problems going from 40' to 25' then the lack of a separate bedroom and only a dinette. The real question will be how well can you do without the storage space, water capacity, lower electrical capacities, and so on.

We went from a 36' Phaeton that we fulltimed in to a 25' Navion. Still have the dog, the cat, and the wife but our travel changed substantially. We are now weekenders and maybe only a long trip in the summer. We can easily cope on weekend trips with a variety of different living styles ranging from dry camping to full hookups.

[stevemoores]

Our old motorhome used to have a passenger seat swivel, made a nice nook at the front, could sit and read or look out at the world.


The new one doesn't, I kind of miss it.

[Phil G.]

Originally Posted by RikR

We want to do a lot of back country boondocking and ordered a 25' class C - one problem we cant figure out is it only has a bed and dinette.

I get up around 5:00 and my wife sleeps to 7:00 or 8:00 and I dont know what to do to stay quiet for her and not go insane with nothing to do but sit at the dinette - not fun as I am over 6'3" and 240 pounds.

Thanks

Hmmmm ... our 24 foot Class C has a dinette plus a swiveling and sliding lounge chair. These are in addition to it's queen corner bed in the rear and the queen bed in the cabover.

I'm 6'2"/225 lbs. and use the dinette just fine in the evenings. My wife gets the loung chair. For what it's worth if we wanted, we could temporarily in the evenings set up a folding lounge chair in the galley area if we wanted and remove it when going to bed.

To us, having a small Class C is way more important than not being able to "lounge in luxury" in an RV. Our longest RV trips to date have been one of 9 weeks and one of 10 weeks. Each trip covered greater than 6000 miles.

[GoneToTheDog]

This was one reason we 'split the difference' and went with our Class C Winnebago 25B floorplan. It has a comfortable 67" sofa. No way we could live with just a dinette. Especially for TV watching.

[Gordon Dewald]

Originally Posted by RikR

We want to do a lot of back country boondocking and ordered a 25' class C - one problem we cant figure out is it only has a bed and dinette.

I get up around 5:00 and my wife sleeps to 7:00 or 8:00 and I dont know what to do to stay quiet for her and not go insane with nothing to do but sit at the dinette - not fun as I am over 6'3" and 240 pounds.

Thanks

May not have been the best decision. You can always find a place to boon dock with a larger coach. I have seen 45' out in the desert.