With a few months behind us in the Travato, and over 15K miles on the odometer and 23 states visited, it’s time for our overall review of it as our mobile office and base camp for our outdoor adven…
Our last vacation of 2015 was a trip to visit friends in Hawaii for Christmas. During this trip, we had a lot of fun, but were also disgruntled with the amount that we had to pack into our trip due…
Wondering how the Mercedes Sprinter compares to the Ram ProMaster as a camper van? Well, when Winnebago is turning both into upscale camper vans for the adventurous, outdoorsy types, it gets a little harder to decide. Here's an overview of both models and a look at what's coming for 2019.
We really enjoyed leasing the Trek motorhome for our voyage to Alaska last summer. There was plenty of storage space for bringing all the supplies we needed, more living area to entertain or stay indoors in bad weather (and we experienced quite a bit of it that year!), great ground clearance for rough backroads, lots of roof space for solar panels to keep us powered up, the ability to tow a 4×4 vehicle for further exploration off-the-beaten-path, and a spare bed for having guests spend the night. It was nomadic living with most of the comforts of a house, and…
We really enjoyed leasing the Trek motorhome for our voyage to Alaska last summer. There was plenty of storage space for bringing all the supplies we needed, more living area to entertain or stay indoors in bad weather (and we experienced quite a bit of it that year!), great ground clearance for rough backroads, lots of roof space for solar panels to keep us powered up, the ability to tow a 4×4 vehicle for further exploration off-the-beaten-path, and a spare bed for having guests spend the night. It was nomadic living with most of the comforts of a house, and…
Well, my new Travato was delivered. This is a 2016 model 59K Winnebago Travato. This is replacing my 2015 59G. As you will see, the floorplan is completely different and has many additional features. It's certainly a different type of van, and I hope, fits my traveling style a little better. I'm certainly not going to say that one floorplan is superior to another. It's kinda like which ice cream is better - strawberry or vanilla? They are both delicious! This van I ordered. Got it exactly as I wanted and didn't have to pay for items I didn't want. Also, since it was delivered to me 1 day after arrival, there was no sitting on the dealer's lot with people fooling with things and the batteries getting run down and damaged. This blog entry is only to highlight some of the more interesting features and some of the customizing I've done so far. A more thorough review of all the aspects of this model will be forthcoming in a video I'll be shooting very soon. The color is called Granite. It's a dark gray with a tiny metal flake in it. I think the dark colors help you blend in better if you plan to "stealth" camp. I have some trip ideas where that may be advantageous. I fitted my chrome plated RAM front license tag for a little "bling". Overall, I think the exterior fitment, smoothness of the panels and around the windows is better than what I've seen on the G's. The paint work on the bumper covers and wheel trim is pretty good, but not perfection, but better than on my last one. I did have some overspray on the light gray grill. I removed that with some dish soap and a clay bar, so now it's perfect. These painted items and the stainless trim on the sides is called the "deluxe package" and costs extra. But it's a better look than the plain black plastic on the standard van. I ordered the 100 watt solar package. You get a 100 watt panel on the roof, a combiner box on the roof that will take a total of 3 wiring connection, an additional input on the side of the van for a portable panel and a 30 amp controller inside the van to control it all. Below, you see the extra 80 watt panel I ordered from Zamp and installed myself. It's feet are mounted to the roof with a VHB tape (3M 5952 VHB Tape). It's the highest grade I could find and it appears really tough to pull off. I still have to apply the black dicor sealant over the feet and the wiring anchors I also stuck down. I have another 80 watt panel to install between the awning and the air conditioner, but I had to order taller feet so it would clear some items on that side of the van. I'll post more on that later after I get the parts. Now to look at the interior. One of the nice features of this model is the wide and clear main entry. It's really an inviting view. The kitchen is compact, but has everything you'd need - 4.3 cf 12v/110v refrigerator (really deep), convection microwave, deep sink with accessories (dishpan, drainer, cutting board, hanging utensil drainer), extra counter space and pull out extender. Nice big work space with the stove and sink covers closed. Note the stainless steel paper towel holder I mounted with VHB tape. View towards the front. Very open. I planned to set this up with one bed made up and the other bed made into a sofa. For the bed, I put on a twin mattress cover and used a standard twin sheet set and a microfiber blanket of a medium weight. I can upgrade to a comforter for winter trips. Most of my trips are traveling alone (with just the dog). But I always have the option to take someone along and have a decent bed for them. Note the bolsters I bought on Amazon (Wedge Bolsters). They are a dense foam with a microfiber velour covering. They come in a variety of colors, or you can buy individual covers and change them out if you get bored with the color. There must be a standard size for these things - these are 36" wide, 15" at the base, 9" at the top. I think the size is pretty perfect and they fit snuggly so they aren't going to move around when underway. I'm a sofa person. I sit on a sofa at home most of the time, so this suits me well. Much more storage for kitchen stuff above than in the G. I was able to add a few cookware items. But the drawer space is alittle more limited. Mostly all my utensils fit in the large top drawer. Note I had to add a knife block, as there is no place for the knife rack I was using inside the cabinet on the G. In the bottom drawer, I keep pot holders and all my grilling tools, lighters, and tablecloth clamps. This is the refrigerator temp sensors I added. Note below, the fridge is at the mid-point to get these temps. It seems to hold temperature really well. No more worrying about be level, or flames being blown out like I did on the 3 way. This is the extent of the controls on the fridge - a simple dial - off to max cold. There is a long, tube type light on the forward bulkhead. Appears to be LED. Has two settings on a switch - high and low. It's very bright. Storage over the bed. Some of the stuff that I was putting in the outside storage box will now go in here - electrical odds and ends, lanterns, outside lights, lp bottles, extention cords, etc. This is the compartment in the floor in the front of the van. It's around 4" deep. Great place for dog stuff and shoes, sandals, etc. This area extended off under the kitchen cabinet in the older vans, but does not in the new ones. It isn't any wider than what you see in the picture. Above the cab is a cubby I use for soft goods - the window covers (these are also new and improved on the 2016 models), blankets, hats, bike helmet, etc. In the back of the van, I stuck on this utility hook set. I had to cut it down a few inches for it to fit as that rear bulkhead was wider on the G. But only took a few seconds on the chop saw. Great place for those items like the washing brush, window squeegee, broom and umbrella. Note I also hung the shower curtain full time and hold it back with a tie-back attached to one of these hooks. Less to fumble with. Still not thrilled with the shower curtain, but it will do until I figure out something better. This is the wet storage under the bathroom cabinet. It's fairly deep - here is a list of everything I have in there: PD power protector, shore power cord, sewer solution with extra 10' hose, 25' coil water hose, end connector for "stinky slinky" hose, tire inflator and tire iron/jack kit. That is a lot! This is the area under the bed. That space is 11" wide, 19" deep and 54" long. I have all my outside stuff in there: grill stove, 2 pico chairs, grill table, side table, level blocks, wheel chocks, lantern pole, campsite 5' x 9' rug, & collapsible trash can. This is the electronic "control center". This is the heart of alot of new features that I wanted. The One Place control system is alot nicer than the old system with the dummy lights. It controls the generator and water pump, gives you tank levels and battery voltages. The tank levels are minimal - you get E, 1/3, 2/3 or F. Gives you status on both the chassis battery, and the combined voltage on the two group 31 AGM house batteries. Turning on the water pump is just one soft touch button. Generator control is just one push - either stop, start or you can check the hours meter. It also gives you a status statement - like Running, Stopped, etc. I also installed my EC-30W wireless Onan remote control/autostart unit. It works perfectly with the One-Place and gives additional statements on the diplay like Auto-Start, Auto-Stop, etc. This is the solar controller. The display is quite bright, so it didn't photograph well. It gives you voltage, charging amps and amp-hours put in the batteries. It's basically a status display and you really don't need to do anything with it, other than enjoy free power from the sun. This is the primary improvement over my old van. The Truma Combi system. It's a highly efficient, combination unit that does both the van heating and water heating. You have alot of control over these functions and it will run on either LP gas, two modes of 110v operation, or a combination where it will primarily use 110v and switch to gas if power is interrrupted. Above is the primary display. There is a control wheel button (kinda like on an ipod) that you scroll thru these icons to set various aspects of the system. The first stop is the van heating/furnace function. You set this to whatever degree you prefer. In the picture above, you see various icons telling you system status - OFF would be a number of whatever temperature you would set. The flame indicates the furnace is on. The lighting bolt indicates the power source selected. The fan blade is the fan speed selected. The power plug icon on the right side indicates that shore power is connected and available. The next stop is water heating function. You select either off, 104 degrees or 140 degrees. Not as precise as furnace function, but it doesn't need to be. The third stop is power source. Here you either select gas, mixed power low, mixed power high, 110v only low (850 watts), 110v only high (1700 watts). The forth stop is fan speed. You have off, low and high. The other stops (icons along the bottom of the first display are timers you can set and the system settings menu. It's actually a pretty easy system to use once you fool with it for a few minutes. It works very well in 110v mode, which I did for several days plugged in on a drop cord in my garage. Another great feature is the power management system. The intent of this system is to shed loads so you don't trip breakers. You can set the system to respect a 20 amp power source (like on a drop cord in your garage) or a 30 amp power source like at a campground and using your shore power cord. But it also will work with your generator engaged to protect it from being overloaded. Note in the example above, I have some lights running and the Truma heating to 70 degrees in the 700 watt 110v mode. System is drawing 7 amps. On the status lights to the right, you see the big loads that would be shed if we were facing an overload situation - water heater first, then refrigerator, then air conditioner last. Here is where I mounted the EC-30W remote unit. There is a nice outlet on this end of the kitchen counter so I could plug it in (for charging it's rechargeable battery, but also for power sensing the 110v is active. To the right, I also mounted the charging unit for my LED flashlight - just pop in the battery in there every now and then. The nice thing about this location for the remote is that it is right behind the driver's seat. I can easily grab the remote and start the generator while underway. Some other things I added like a thermometer (outside sensor is mounted under the retractable step) and 3M Command hooks. I put several hooks up - one outside the bathroom, one inside the bathroom, one here in the picture, and one near the grab handle at the entry. This model also has nice, bright, articulating LED reading lights. These will really be useful. Last, but not least, the entertainment system. The stereo has some nice features and has some open ports for digital audio. In the cubby below, you can see there is plenty of space for some additional equipment. What you see here is an HDMI switch and a Blu-Ray player. There is still room for my Dish Tailgater decoder box. One of my next projects is to wire all this up using the HDMI switch for both items plus a Chromecast I like to use to project my laptop on the TV. To run these wires the backing panel on this cubby will have to come out - but that is easy as it's held in with 4 visible screws. More on that later!
James and I took a break from our national parks tour to attend Winnebago’s annual rally in Forest City, Iowa, the “Grand National Rally,” or GNR. We were there camping in ‘Parky’, the very first o…
Learn our trials and tribulations with our 2022 Winnebago Travato 59g including van modifications, warranty issues, favorite products, & more
We really enjoyed leasing the Trek motorhome for our voyage to Alaska last summer. There was plenty of storage space for bringing all the supplies we needed, more living area to entertain or stay indoors in bad weather (and we experienced quite a bit of it that year!), great ground clearance for rough backroads, lots of roof space for solar panels to keep us powered up, the ability to tow a 4×4 vehicle for further exploration off-the-beaten-path, and a spare bed for having guests spend the night. It was nomadic living with most of the comforts of a house, and…
Our last vacation of 2015 was a trip to visit friends in Hawaii for Christmas. During this trip, we had a lot of fun, but were also disgruntled with the amount that we had to pack into our trip due…
With a few months behind us in the Travato, and over 15K miles on the odometer and 23 states visited, it’s time for our overall review of it as our mobile office and base camp for our outdoor adven…
Figuring out how you’re going to fit everything into your tiny home on wheels can be overwhelming, but lucky for you, we’ve got tons of campervan storage ideas just for you!
We really enjoyed leasing the Trek motorhome for our voyage to Alaska last summer. There was plenty of storage space for bringing all the supplies we needed, more living area to entertain or stay indoors in bad weather (and we experienced quite a bit of it that year!), great ground clearance for rough backroads, lots of roof space for solar panels to keep us powered up, the ability to tow a 4×4 vehicle for further exploration off-the-beaten-path, and a spare bed for having guests spend the night. It was nomadic living with most of the comforts of a house, and…
Rear view of the bike rack folded up against the van
Chasing Minimalism writer Alan Heyman answers the question, "What does it feel like to rent out your RV?" He shares a step-by-step guide to renting.
We’ve seen some pretty cool vehicle concepts from Jeep and Toyota before, but this one is my favorite so far. Improving quite a bit upon…
Learn our trials and tribulations with our 2022 Winnebago Travato 59g including van modifications, warranty issues, favorite products, & more
We really enjoyed leasing the Trek motorhome for our voyage to Alaska last summer. There was plenty of storage space for bringing all the supplies we needed, more living area to entertain or stay indoors in bad weather (and we experienced quite a bit of it that year!), great ground clearance for rough backroads, lots of roof space for solar panels to keep us powered up, the ability to tow a 4×4 vehicle for further exploration off-the-beaten-path, and a spare bed for having guests spend the night. It was nomadic living with most of the comforts of a house, and…
It's hard to believe - we have been in our 2016 Winnebago Travato 59G for nearly 3 months as our home base. It all started with wanting to be with my mom back in early August for her surgery and then evacuating for Hurricane Dorian. Since the boat was already hauled out, we decided to
We’ve seen some pretty cool vehicle concepts from Jeep and Toyota before, but this one is my favorite so far. Improving quite a bit upon…
OK, this is the last of the mods for awhile. Got thru my list, so now the rest of the year is for traveling and adventures. A long while ...
Wondering how the Mercedes Sprinter compares to the Ram ProMaster as a camper van? Well, when Winnebago is turning both into upscale camper vans for the adventurous, outdoorsy types, it gets a little harder to decide. Here's an overview of both models and a look at what's coming for 2019.
