If you would have told me that one day Daddy D and I would be attending the biggest RV show in California, I would have never believed you! We love to travel, but our sights have always been on international adventures…. until recently.
After experiencing the wonders of my first national park this summer (Sequoia National Park), I have become obsessed with visiting more of our national wonders. Exposing our multiracial children to National Parks is, not only important according to research, but a less expensive form of family travel.
This realization got Daddy D and I talking more about eventually buying a RV or travel trailer. We decided to visit the California RV Show in Ponoma for the first time this year and had a BLAST! Here are a few things we learned on our visit…
I would recommend going to the California RV Show for any family that love to (or is curious about) traveling with an RV or travel trailer. Especially for families that aren’t quite sure if this way of life is for them, attending an industry show like this is the perfect opportunity to feel it out.
Some general tips for attending your first RV show:
- Walk all the way into all the trailers and RVs. Have everyone squeeze into various sizes of trailers/RVs so that you can get an idea of what you’d need to feel comfortable. Lay on the beds. Squeeze into the bathrooms. My husband is super tall, and my two kids are big for their ages, so we learned a lot about what our needs are. I wanted something super small (like 13-foot trailer), but with a big family, that might not be feasible. When we buy, we’ll be looking for trailers around 18 feet long.
- Talk to the sales people. They really are super nice and full of knowledge. I was embarrassed at first because of how obviously novice and, yes, some of them were shocked of how little we actually knew about RV life, but many of the sales associates at the show were quite accommodating. Big shout out to the sales guy at Airstream (hi Jerry!) who was super friendly with the kids and took his time explaining everything to us. It made Daddy D feel more confident about this adventure, too! Nice people are the best people.
- Throw out all expectations. For us, this was easy since attending the RV show was a new experience altogether and we had little expectations going in. The RV show had everything you could image all within reach… it was cool that, though we thought we’d want a small van or sprinter, realizing that a travel trailer might be a better fit for us. So go into the show open to anything and any type of travel!
Are we buying an RV?
The honest and simple answer: not right now…. but ask us again in a couple years After going to the RV show, Daddy D is now super interested too. Going in, I thought I wanted something super small and compact. D was leaning towards an RV and not a trailer. After the show, we figured out a travel trailer was more our speed but that we couldn’t go as small as I anticipated.
The show was SO fun and gave us the opportunity to spend family time together. The hubs and I have had many conversations since the show – from the styles and sizes to features we’d love to have it our future RV – but ultimately decided now is not the right time to buy.
Taking Our Travels Outdoors
We might be getting ahead of ourselves right now, but the California RV Show has definitely lit a fire inside me. Something in my bones wants to be outdoors, on a journey, always. And I’m not alone…. so many of families were at the RV show who are excited to explore the world with their babies in tow. I can’t wait to go back to the show next year!
We might not be buying an RV anytime soon, but we are ABSOLUTELY renting one next summer for some great family adventure time.
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