Ok, we’re in the market for a camper, and it’ll be our first. So far, it doesn’t look like the thing that we want exists, but I’m hopeful that I’m missing it and someone can recommend something to look into.
Requirements:
Total loaded weight < 5000 lbs
Sleeping for 4, 2 adults, 2 kids (ideally 2 bunks for the kids)
Very important, but not actual dealbreakers
Outdoor kitchen. We want to be camping in a rigid tent that requires no setup, not living inside.
Interior height of 6’ or more. I’m 5’11" and I would like to be able to stand.
Interior bathroom/shower (can be small)
Other than that, smaller is better, and less expensive is better. I can’t find anything like this so far. There are teardrops that have the rear exterior kitchen, but they don’t have enough height inside. Anything big enough to stand in and with bunks has the kitchen inside.
Look up the Winnebago Minnie Drop 190BH. It sleeps 4, with bunk bed, has an outdoor galley, and is 6’5" inside. They have nice features, and the quality seems good.
We have one a different floorplan, and it works great. Light, easy to tow and set up.
This does not meet with all your requirements, but we got a used pop-up tent trailer for a song and used it for a few years when the kids were younger. High points:
Cheap. $900 from a friend so low-risk investment. Sold it for double that!
Lightweight - able to be pulled just fine by our Honda Odyssey minivan.
Small enuf to be stored in our garage, as opposed to paying someone to store it.
Slept 4 or 5: one kid/one adult in each end bed. When the kids got bigger one kid would go to the folding bed where the table was.
Indoor kitchen, but was more like just a camp stove and small sink. We still cooked mostly outside on a portable stove. It had electric and water hookup, but we never used that.
Overall it was perfect for us at the time (Yosemite, Yellowstone, Sierras, CA coast), but eventually we grew out of it, and someone was sleeping outside (by choice), and everyone but me was sort-of done with camping. I know that there are various pop-ups that have shower/toilet inside, but we always scoffed at the idea of a toilet in such a small space - you’d be able to hear EVERYTHING someone was doing in there. There may be some hard-sided pop-ups now - I recall seeing one that is sort-of like an A-frame. Anyway, my 2 cents.
Along the pop up idea this is the pop up trailer we’re looking at getting though probably a smaller version. I like being able to load up snowmobiles or quads on my trailer and then having a tent available once I unload them.
They are tall enough that I can stand comfortably and we can load up several men for a fishing trip weekend. It’s also reasonably priced if more than a normal pop up tent.
Other than the outdoor kitchen (you could always just get a Coleman stove and cook on a picnic table), you requirements don’t seem unusual. The issue is is that COVID has caused a surge in demand for RVs so they are harder to find or at least harder to get a deal on.
Yeah, but it’s nice to have the water and the dishes and things right there too. We have two young kids so trying to minimize work to do anything and minimize trips in and out (they track dirt everywhere).
There are lots of RVs that have an indoor kitchen, but since space is at such a premium, I’d rather not waste interior space on a kitchen we don’t want to use and then also not have the sink and things outside where we want to use them. There are a lot of things we can make work, but we’re hoping for an optimal setup for us.
That looks sweet but is probably out of our budget.
Yeah, I don’t think we’d use it often, but with a 4 year old and a 2 year old, it’s real nice to not have to get up and trudge down to the campground toilet in the middle of the night when they say they have to pee.
I couldn’t get onto the US site but you’re looking at roughly $30k new depending on how you kit it out. Look around and you can likely find used for a bit less. Or finance it for 10 years at negligible interest.