Why we chose a Class B Motorhome!
We are a family of 5 and chose for our first motorhome a 2020 Coachmen Beyond 22D Class B. No I’m not crazy, just legally blind. Three decisions led us to the purchase of this motorhome.
First was a decision to invest time into our family. The moment your kids are born, you have 18 short summers with which to spend quality time with them. The outdoors provides a well needed escape from screen time we dedicate to our phones, tablets and gaming systems. It forces us to interact with each other in an environment of exploration that can’t be appreciated on the sofa at home.
Second was the need to find something my wife was comfortable driving. My wife is the sole driver in our family and a vacation is not a multi-hour, white knuckle experience on the road getting to your ultimate destination. We focused our search on a Class B Motorhome because of the driving experience. My wife can easily drive and park the van and pulling into a driveway or parking lot is a piece of cake. It is certainly not the anxiety inducing experience it could have been with a much larger style RV. It also fits in our driveway which saves on storage costs, and gets better fuel economy than other larger motorhomes like the Class A or Class C.
Finally we had to decide on which Class B specifically. With every RV purchase comes a lot of research and information to determine what RV would be best for you and your family. Being in the RV industry, I am very well educated in Class B Motorhomes including different floorplans and manufactures. One of the main reasons we decided on Coachmen Beyond was because it was built on the Ford Transit. This model is in the middle of available length options. It was small enough that it is easy to drive, but long enough to accommodate a family my size. The Ford also has more leg space in the passenger seat than the Dodge to accommodate my 6’2” frame, has more horsepower and torque, and was easier on the budget than a Mercedes which was also a factor for our young family. The Coachmen Beyond offers a great balance between high quality construction, with things like real wood cabinets, great features like solar and an inverter system, and cost (mine was just under $100k).
Our first trip was to Rollins Lake which was an easy 45 minute drive from our home in Rocklin CA. Below are some pictures of our adventure. We did not take a lot of pictures, we will have to work on that, we were pretty excited to be out exploring. Between the nature walks and trails, playing and kayaking at the lake, the kids exploring their surroundings and the campfire, the kids did not want to come home. This is easily one of the best decisions we have ever made!
