Technomadia v2 – Oliver Alternatives

It is looking pretty certain that by this time tomorrow, we will have placed an order for a custom-built Oliver Travel Trailer.

We’ve considered a lot of alternatives, and it really feels like this is the best choice for our next home.

Here are my thoughts on the other options we’ve considered:

Stop Nomading: I often get asked when I intend to stop living nomadically. My answer has always been that I would stop when it felt right, and right now it still feels like I am just getting started. I am looking forward to exploring slower paced travel, building a home jointly with Cherie, and crafting a truly sustainable and very livable life on the road. At the moment – there is no end in sight!

International Adventuring: At some point however, I would like to park the trailer and head out for some extended international travel. But not yet. Certainly not until Cherie’s house is sold. And maybe a year from now the US dollar will be worth a bit more…

Cruising: Someday I would also like to do some extended live-aboard sailing, but again – the time doesn’t feel right yet for me to (literally) get my feet wet sailing off into the sunset.

Stay in Tab: The cheapest and simplest option for us would be to stay in Tab, my home for the past two years. Cherie and I were amazingly compatible living in such a small space last year, but we knew from the beginning that it really wasn’t suitable for two people living longer term on the road. To make our life on the road more sustainable – we would really like to have a refrigerator, a shower, a table separate from the bed, an air conditioner, and other little niceties…

Exotic Options: It is fun to fantasize about an Earth Roamer expedition vehicle, or cruising across the Australian Outback in the massive Wothahellizat (Winnebago meets Mad Max!), or living in a fantastical House Truck or House Bus. (Follow these links for some amazing pictures!)

We actually even found an intriguing bus conversion with a rooftop patio for sale cheap locally on Craigslist. Tempting….

But, while fun to think about, none of these options would be particularly practical. Parking issues, maintenance, and fuel economy would be just the start of the list of issues…

Bigger RV’s: We also have looked at a few big motor homes over the past year. Some were bigger inside than some apartments – with three slideout sections, giant kitchens, and even washers and dryers! But they are hugely expensive, limited to freeways and major roads, and not city friendly. Also not fuel efficient, and they would require us to tow around with us some sort of other vehicle for actually getting around once we got somewhere. No thanks.

Roadtrek / Class B: The Roadtrek Class B (van style) motor homes on the other hand are a bit more of a practical size, and many people rave about them online. The van sizing allows you to blend in with neighborhoods – and parking and driving is a breeze. The diesel Roadtreks even manage to get better than 20 MPG. But when we actually spent some time looking inside a few Roadtrek models, we felt cramped and claustrophobic. Definitely not something suitable for long term living. And we would still be stuck needing some sort of local transport if we wanted to set up in one place for a while.

The Sportsmobile on the other hand is a bit more rugged, offering 4×4 options and a pop-up camper roof. I would love to see one of these in person. They seem to allow an incredible amount of customizations.

Class B+ / C-: The so called “Class B+” motorhomes (technically – they are smaller and more streamlined Class C’s) strike a balance between the overly large RV’s and cramped camper vans. The R-Vision Town & Country Touring Sedan and the Phoenix Cruiser are both rather compelling examples of this category. They seem small enough to provide practical transportation, but large enough to provide plenty of living space. But they still leave us lacking local transport once we arrive anyplace without carting along a scooter, or towing a car. *ugh*

A trailer just seems to be a better fit for our needs. I really like being able to unhitch and leave home behind, while still having our fabulous and fuel efficient Jeep for both local urban transportation and off road exploration. But what sort of trailer should we get?

Bigger Trailers: There are seemingly thousands of larger trailers out there, and most of them upon closer look prove to be poorly designed, cheap, and boxy. Most of them are also too big and heavy for practical cross-country towing behind our Jeep. No thank you. I like a trailer that is easy to pull, even off road and to out of the way places. A big trailer is just not a good fit for a full-time life in motion.

The Tada: This past year Thor came out with an oversized version of the Tab called the Tada. I have yet to see one of these in person, but the design really disappoints me. For one – they kept the same ceiling height as the Tab. 5’9″ is fine when you only need to walk a step or two before sitting. But with the extra interior space of the Tada, I imagine that this will be a constant annoyance. Also – while the Tada does have a separate bed and seating area, it only seats two. The bed can not convert to a table! At least in the small Tab, we can have guests over with four around the table! Clearly the Tada is not a good fit.

Airstream: Airstream has an undeniably classic look. And there are models (new and old) that are small enough for us to tow. The so-called “Design Within Reach” model though really illustrates how Airstream has evolved to be style over substance – with more focus on a designer “ball wall clock” and a “Tom Dixon Designer Coat Rack” than on practical features. And the Airstream Basecamp actually requires you to crawl over the bed to get to the kitchen, but it sure looks cool from outside.

Egads – I can’t believe I just read this on the “Airstream Ocean Breeze” model page: “Even when you’re parked in the Black Rock desert, experiencing your first “Burning Man,” you’ll swear you can still faintly hear the surf pounding and smell a little salt on the breeze.” *groan*

And of course, you pay through the nose for all those cheesy designer “ocean breeze” touches… No thank you.

Small Trailers: There are some very cleverly designed ultra-lightweight travel trailers on the market, but most of them are not enough of an upgrade from our Tab Clamshell. Great for a weekend getaway, but not much more. There are however several larger and amazingly well designed Lightweight Fiberglass RV’s on the market, and these have always impressed me whenever I have seen them on the road. The 17′ size seems like the sweet spot. Large enough to live in, but small enough and light enough to take anywhere. Most of these fiberglass RV’s have proven to be amazingly durable as well, with plenty of them surviving a decade or more of regular use. Some popular fiberglass models include The Escape, Scamp, and Trillium. But in my opinion, two stand out above the rest…

Casita: When we first saw a Casita while touring the factory last year, we immediately began to imagine that a 17′ Casita Spirit Deluxe would be our next home. The floorplan is great, and the Casita’s are incredibly well built (compared with most other RV’s we have seen). Everyone who owns a Casita loves it, there is a vibrant online community, and there are many awesome tweaks and upgrades and modifications to eventually implement. I find it to be an incredibly encouraging sign that even ten year old Casita’s are selling used for nearly the price they sold new.

The Oliver Travel Trailer:
But then a few weeks ago I ran across the Oliver while starting to shop around for used Casita’s online. The Oliver has the exact same floorplan as the Casista Spirit Deluxe, but it has been upgraded in almost every possible way. Sure, it costs more. But this is going to be our full time home, so it seems silly to skimp and then immediately need to dive into upgrades and projects to get a Casita even halfway to the level of an Oliver. The only downside of the Oliver is that the design is unproven — it has only been on the market for a few months, and the factory is still tweaking things as they go. The Casita design has been proven (and mostly unchanged) for decades now.

But I really don’t mind being a beta tester – particularly since the Oliver factory seems to be taking great care of all their early customers. As a current Casita owner wrote to me in the Oliver Forums: “Casita owners entertain themselves at night planning their next “mods”! If there had been an Oliver on the market when I bought my Casita….. well…. I wouldn’t be camping in this Casita!”

I think we’ve considered all our options, and after seeing the Oliver in person this week – it just feels like the right choice for us.

Now it is time to spec out the electrical system and all the various upgrades we will want. Fun!!