Choosing the Right RV for full time living
We were not new to the rv lifestyle. We had been weekend warriors for a number of years. We spent our weekends in the summer and fall traveling the midwest. In the spring we would escape south to warm up after the long Illinois winter. Neither of us grew up rving, we enjoyed camping as a couple and it slowly progressed over the years.
As our family grew, our rigs grew with us. We started with a pop up trailer, and then upgraded to a travel trailer with bunks in the living area, and then moved to a mid bunk fifth wheel. We considered keeping our mid bunk fifth wheel for full time rv living, but there were a number of reasons why it just wasn’t going to work for us.
We began researching the only logical way, by watching a lot of Youtube videos. We saw families that were living in toy haulers and converting the garage into the master bedroom/office. This set up seemed to make the most sense for what we needed. It would give Malvin an office space where he could be on his zoom meetings and close the door if needed. We also knew we wanted a dining space for meals and homeschool. We narrowed down the search to the Grand Design Momentum and the Keystone Fuzion.
As we looked at rigs and talked to dealerships, we came across a video tour at the Tampa RV show of the Alliance Valor 42 v 13. That was the rig. It checked all of our boxes and it had a side deck, and we were sold. We called a dealership that we have been talking about a Keystone Fuzion and told them we were going another direction. He asked what rig we were going with. When I shared about Alliance he told us that we were making a poor decision because he had never heard of them. This same big name dealership that was cautioning us had failed to complete simple warranty work on our previous two rigs. We went with our gut and proceeded anyway. We contacted Alliance directly and they shared with us dealerships that we could go to in our area. We loved how Alliance themselves responded to our calls and emails in a timely manner. Little did we know that this was how they conducted business all the time. We built our rig in April of 2021 and it was delivered to our house in July of 2021, giving us just a few weeks to prep it for when we would move out of our house.
We have now been in our Alliance Valor 42 v 13 for almost one year. Here 6 things we love about it:
Alliance Customer Service. All rigs will have issues, but Alliance has been so responsive in helping and solving our problems!
The toy hauler. We are able to tow our workout gear, bikes and outdoor items with not problem.
The garage. We are able to have our own master with a half bath that converts to an office in the daytime. Malvin can close the door and have a meeting without all the noise from the kids.
The dining space. We use it ALL the time. The kids do crafts or play with playdough. We use it for school. We eat all our meals there.
The master turned the kids room. The closet is perfect for all the kids' clothes, shoes and toys. At night they have their own space so that we can close the door and relax in the living room without disturbing them.
Two bathrooms. We didn’t know this would be a plus, but it definitely is! Especially with a potty training three year old.
