On to Tampa and a second look! This is Part 3 of our “Fit Test” series. If you haven’t read previous installments, Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 can be found here.

Feeding our new obsession, we quickly made plans to attend the 2018 Tampa RV Super Show held annually in January.  We flew down, rented an Airbnb carriage home in the historic district, and made our way to the show.

Our plan was to investigate two “classes” of RVs: Class B (campervans) and Class C (RVs constructed with a van frame and an attached “box” behind the driver’s seat).  Our search placed an emphasis on slightly larger options than the smallest Hymer we had rented. We really liked the Hymer’s layout so that helped to focus our investigations. When you go to one of these giant RV shows, a game plan equates to a reasonable shot at satiating your curiosity vs a definite shot at nursing a migraine amidst the carnival like chaos. Our early arrival and carefully mapped out plan kept us sane. We were methodical mapping out and then reviewing the offerings of each manufacturer in the campervan categories.

I was strongly leaning towards a Leisure Travel Van (a Class C RV) – the Unity Island Bed seemed perfect to me – more space, great layout and not too much larger.  Rob felt it was too big for travel into National Parks and was more the type of vehicle we would want once we had actual grandkids and were more deliberate and settled in our travels. He felt the Hymer Aktiv or its 2.0 larger version would be best, given all that we had seen and experienced. I was caving but only if we would try an LTV at some future point.

Then pure dumb luck struck!

We were nearing the end of our second day at the show.  We just happened to cross paths with Stefany Adinaro of FitRV fame (their popular website is here). She is a delight! When we introduced ourselves, she asked about what we had seen and our impressions.  I told her about our trip and the shortcomings of the Hymer and my preference for something larger as a result – our mission was to find that layout with a little more space. She pointed out that the Travato G layout allowed for two people to pass by each other in its central hall and the kitchen and the bath layout would not have the same issues as we had in the Hymer and the back bed could be tucked away or down, but did not require being taken apart to do so.

Hmmm.

Based on Stefany’s advice, we gave the Travato 59G a second look. I would be remiss if I did not note that in doing so, we observed that there was a large contingent of Travato owners there. Honestly, they intimidated us at first and I think in part we just gave a quick glance at the Travatos as a result. They were just hanging out in the Travatos, having a great time together. They had just been told by Winnebago that WGO was going to buy them all dinner the next night. Interesting.  No other manufacturers elicited such loyalty to or from their owners that we had seen.

Anyway, we got over our shyness and thank goodness. The devil is in the details! 

The Travato held a lot of answers to my questions. First of all, the refrigerator was off of the floor with a separate two shelf freezer below! The microwave was above the refrigerator, up high but still I could see into it and reach it. It was not convection style, but I had never had that, so no loss to me. The propane cooktop was nearer the big slider door – capturing fewer odors inside. A new flip up counter-top extension had been added. The kitchen faucet was not as lovely – a typical RV fold down style- but it would keep me from watering the sink cover accidentally and allowed for a nice prep area with all of the glass covers down. I could slide in and sit comfortably at the bench and the table was generous and high enough that it did not rest low on our legs. The passenger seat did not wheel around fully, as it stops an angle to the then freshwater tank holding-ottoman. But I could lean back in the seat and put my feet up on the ottoman! Plus, I liked how the ottoman extended the lounge seating all around the table. I missed the skylight and was not as happy with the look of the various system readouts on the wall area above the bench, but you could peak at them while driving so that was good. The TV seemed not as flexible or well-placed for movie nights, but we had work arounds for that. The bathroom was long enough and just wide enough that showering seemed like it could be accomplished standing up, not tripping around a toilet. Plus, it was not in the kitchen! But the icing on the cake was the back murphy bed that enabled easy access to the garage and lower storage when lifted up without deconstructing the bed.

Game changers!!

This new knowledge was going to require further fit testing. No investigation is complete without a real-world trip. Onward!

Part 4 of this series, the finale, will be published soon. Below are a few photos of our walk through nearby Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin, Florida during our long weekend in Tampa.

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