Popuppers who now Hybrid owners

[Used 2B PopUPTimes]

I want to put an article togehter in the next issue that talks about moving on from a pop up to a hybrid. what led you to the decission, was it options, set up, size, features.

What made you do it, would you do again, will you be moving up again in the near future.

Let me know either here or by email - dave@popuptimes.com

Dave

[GeneF]

Age, Dave, Age.

Actually that was one of the reasons that we moved up.

After 4 popups, dw and I were getting a bit tired of all of the cranking, moving around of food boxes, clothing, and late night walks to the bathroom.  

The bones wanted more rest.

Also, we were both retired and wanted to do some travelling. (Two majpr trips were 53 and 62 days that we took plus other one to three week trips)  We felt that the HTT would still allow us to feel like we were camping, we would have an easier set up and take down, more room to move around inside and keep out of each others way, more comfort for longer stays in one place (one month) and our own litter box.

We used the Kiwi 23B for 300 nights of camping and towed over 25,000 miles, either just the two of us, one other person or another couple.  Never felt crowded while on the road.

Enjoyed the htt on the road because it was easy to make a quick lunch from the fridge at a rest area, turtle at a walmart, or use the liter box at our leisure.  Set up and take down got easier the more we travelled. If we pulled into a level site, we could be set up in 15 to 20 minutes.  For an overnight, we could still put the front bunk out and leave the trailer hitched to the truck.

We could also accommodate 6 people easily for sleeping purposes.  Plus we could still camp with our popup friends.

As for moving up, we did that last month to a Jayco Jay Flight 28RSL.  Major reason for this move is that we are now planning on doing the snowbird route of three months in Florida.

Biggest hangups to get over before going to the tt was the thought of towing something 30 feet long and giving up the canvas.  Felt like we would no longer be camping. (Just did a week at Acadia and as long as we were outside, we felt like we were camping.)  We wanted a more comfortable bed, larger living quarters, and larger litter box.

We have used the Jay Flight for about 15 days.  So far, we are enjoying it and trying to get use to the differences between the htt and the tt.  Main difference is the extra length and height when towing and getting into and out of a campsite.

We are appreciating the extra room in the tt when we have had guests in.  Couch and two swivel rockers make for a nice conversation area.

We will really be able to tell if we made the right decision once we live in it for three months.

The popups, htt, and the tt ownerships, all came about as our family grew and our needs changed.  We haven't regretted any of the rigs that we have owned.

Popups gave us a close to camping and nature feel because of the openess of the trailers.

Hybrid still let us feel like we were camping because of the tent ends but we were a bit more closed in.

Opinion on the travel trailer is still out there.  We don't really feel like we are close to camping but our floor plan has a very large rear window and a large window beside the dinette which lets us still enjoy an outdoor view.

[chasd60]

Our decision was based on setup and take down, road use, more room, accessibility at home and ease of use for longer durations.
 
Would I do it again? I most definitely would have gone to something other than the popup. Would I bypass the hybrid? For me, probably. For all that is good about tenting there is as much bad. If you have a light on at night in a popup, people can see in. Most people pull the curtains over all of the openness at night anyway.
 
I am a firm believer that the interior of the camper only needs to be used by us for rainy days, cooking some of the food, bathroom, shower, storage and sleeping. The tent ends aren't really a requirement for sleeping.  In reality having an air conditioner has caused me to be in the camper more than I should be.
 
 
We are contemplating a motorhome. Why? Because my truck is only used as a tow vehicle not a daily driver. When you think about it we pretty much have a motorhome now. The truck is almost a permanent attachment to the hybrid anyway. It is a little crowded being a Quad Cab of the design that is like an extended cab and having 5 of us going. Not sure it makes any sense to upgrade the truck to a larger one when it is only a tow vehicle.
 
I realize I will have to tow another vehicle with a motorhome and that would be my commuter car I use now. This will reduce the total number of vehicles in the driveway by one.

[chasd60]

Actually that was one of the reasons that we moved up.
As for moving up, we did that last month to a Jayco Jay Flight 28RSL.  

I don't think you are supposed to use the words "moving up" or "moved up" on this board. Those are fightin' words here.  
 
Dave was very careful to say "moving on" in his first sentence but I think he is in trouble for that second one "will you be moving up again in the near future?" :yikes:

[brainpause]

Dave, you have my 3500 word essay.  

Larry :sombraro:

[GeneF]

I don't think you are supposed to use the words "moving up" or "moved up" on this board. Those are fightin' words here.  
 
Dave was very careful to say "moving on" in his first sentence but I think he is in trouble for that second one "will you be moving up again in the near future?" :yikes:

AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH

I can only claim innocence because I used Dave's wording.  It's all his fault, it's all his fault, it's all his fault.  (Gee, I sound like a five year old.)

[zamboni]

For us, it was a strange route.  We originally had a 10' Starcraft, and loved it.  It only had a fridge/stove, but we had a porta-potty in it, so it was enough.

My parents wanted to get rid of their Niagara - so in a complicated family swap, I got theirs and gave my Starcraft to my brother.

My wife and I missed the Starcraft.  The Niagara, though "loaded", was finicky.

In our new house, we put in an RV slip, and found that we were only popping the camper down to drive on the road - at home, it sat "up" so we could unload, clean, and reload.

Thus, moving to a hybrid was an easy move - we get a more real bathroom AND A REAL FRIDGE (and freezer) and kitchen.  Much easier to load up & go - and can carry bikes & other big stuff inside it.

With a small child, we can stop on the side of the road to potty  We've "boondocked" easily, since we have the 23B - the big dinette makes a nice & large bed.  We've packed 11 people & 3 dogs inside there for dinner one campout when it snowed (Napa, Feb 2006) or rained.

We'd do it again, and get the same floorplan.

My only beef:  Why can't the manufacturer build in a bike-rack on the outside of the back bunk?  Built in, it would be strong, and the perfect place to carry bikes while going down the road (since the bumper wouldn't handle it and I'd rather not put more hitch weight).

[Azusateach]

I got my PUP when I turned 50 -- something I wanted to do for a long time & decided that this milestone was a good excuse.  I'd been RVing with a friend many, many times in her Class A & knew that I didn't want to go that route.  I wanted to leave the rig in the CG when I wanted to go exploring.  I also didn't want to sink a lot of money into something I wasn't sure I'd use.  

Well I used it & thoroughly enjoyed it (largely because of the SCCampers!).  My non-camping friends were pleasantly surprised that I was going camping as often as I did.  The PUP was manageable on all levels, and stored easily in my garage.  I had it for 2 years before making the decision to switch over to a HTT.

Once I knew that I'd camp enough to justify having some sort of trailer, I wanted something that was "safer" for me to travel in alone.  With the PUP I was limited to campgrounds, even if I just wanted to stop & sleep before moving on.  With the HTT, my hope was that I could do a quick stop & sleep at Wal Marts by turtling, thus giving me greater options for travel.  Also, even though my little PUP had everything (shower/cassette toilet & AC), I wanted a separate sitting space (only had the dinette).  So, when my little Shamrock showed up at the local dealer I jumped on it.  

It's been a great move for me.  I took my first solo trip this summer (with stops to visit friends along the way), going 1600+ miles.  Did 3 nights turtling -- 1 of them in a church parking lot!  I've comfortably slept 5 plus my dog, and can still do all the hitching/hauling by myself.  I've been out at least once a month since I got it, and already have three trips planned for 2008.  The only thing I "lost" was the ability to store it at home.  Living in a townhouse has its limitations, so it's stored at the dealership which is a short drive from home.

With retirement closer than not, I'm leaning toward getting a fifth wheel.  I don't think I'll full-time, but I know that I want to take extended trips & just don't like the idea of having 2 engines to care for.  We'll see, though ...

[byrdr1]

Dave,
If you do an article about going from PU straight to TT let me know.
I looked at HTT and went on to a TT..Jayco 23B was the one we liked.
Randy

[cndlzrus]

Can't wait for this issue to come out... we are looking to eventally moving up to a HTT... need more space and ease of set up... this should help us be more informed....

[Popupper]

I'm looking at hybrids for next year. There seems to be a larger selection of hybrids than pop ups.


Bruce

[geronimo]

I want to put an article togehter in the next issue that talks about moving on from a pop up to a hybrid. what led you to the decission, was it options, set up, size, features.

What made you do it, would you do again, will you be moving up again in the near future.

Let me know either here or by email - dave@popuptimes.com

Dave

Hey Dave,
 Could you also find out what people are using to pull their hybrid?

[LimeJeeeep]

we bought a 04 travelstar 19ck....for all the reasons in prior post ...we tow ours with an 06 jeep commander w/4.7 v8

[vjm1639]

We just moved to a hybrid a few weeks ago. My mom came to live with us after a massive stroke and she is in a wheel chair. The PU was very limited on space inside to move her around (we could only get her to the goucho inside the door)but we loved the openness of the PU. We looked at several options and finally settled on the hybrid. Still have the tent ends we can open up, but yet much more floor space to get around with mom!   I thought I'd really miss the PU but I love being able to just walk into the hybrid to pack and unpack everything before and after a trip.   Set up is much easier now too and I needed things as quickly as possible when traveling with mom.

[dademt]

I switched from the pup straight to a TT with a rear hard slide.  The pros were the following:  Easier with 3 kids to pack in advance, my back was getting tired of setup ( which ironically is why I finally gave up tent camping to help my back ), didn't mind towing something bigger.  The cons were:  my wife will not tow the TT ( which is 25' closed up), we feel more secluded from the rest of the campers now, more gas usage, and now with plumbing and ac, more things to manage, and finally would be making sure we don't start getting away from the camping part.  In that I mean we refuse to take a tv with us or any other electronic stuff like that.  
 
After having it for a year, I still think for us it was the right thing.  Don't get me wrong, I still miss my popup, especially since friends of ours have it now so we go camping with them.  While I do like the bigger coaches, I wouldn't want anything larger as I prefer state campgrounds / sites in the woods without lots of big rigs around.  I have already witnessed quite a few people with bigger rigs have problems putting the slideouts and longer units in the small sites that were originally designed for tents.
 
I do wish we had the TT when our house got flooded out last year.  It would have really been nice to have that as a backup.