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So a couple of weeks ago we drove up to Tampa. Hello everybody, today we are going to Tampa,
to the Tampa RV Supershow so we'll be there in four hours.
We have arrived at the Florida RV Supershow, taking place right here at the Florida State
Fairgrounds in Tampa. Let me give you a little bit of a background on this. Ever since we
rented a Class C motor home back in 2011 we've had this crazy idea about buying one. Actually
we thought about it even earlier when we drove on the Dalton highway, in Alaska, and saw
lots of RVs and thought it would be nice to make that trip in our own home on wheels.
Back to the present we are here in Tampa and although we have a pretty good idea of what
we want, lets browse around on the way to where our preferred unit sits.
At the entrance they have the Airstreams which have this iconic aluminum frames. They also
have the Prevost bus conversions, which are so luxurious that they are by appointment
only. We also check out this Class B unit by Roadtrek, since we are in the area. Supershow
special. They are very maneuverable and great for a weekend escapade, and it has almost
everything a real RV has, but it feels kind of claustrophobic, and no storage, and really,
not what we are looking for. This is the perfect time because as you can
see there's very few people at the show and we can se everything more calmly.
What we want is something in which we can fulltime, which in RV lingo means living in
the unit all the time, and we want something short enough for good maneuverability and
to be able to stay in many national parks, so we are going to have to compromise somewhere,
and the best compromise we've found so far is this: The Itasca Sunstar 27N, Even the
name sounds nice. Let's climb inside of what I believe will be our next home.
Ever since we saw this floor plan online we fell in love with it, so we are already kind
of biased. It has a computer workstation on the passenger side. We like the dinette, with
storage underneath and the kitchen with all the counter space, and storage above and below,
huge drawers. It has a standard gas and electric fridge. The bathroom is adequate, with more
storage and even a water pump switch. Hello, I'm here getting used to the facilities,
and as you can see if you come this way I fit in the shower, which is awesome.
Moving along to the bedroom, we like all the drawers underneath... and the closet... and more storage under the
bed, and the pantry, and all the controls, which are organized in one place.
We want to keep an open mind and out of curiosity we also go into other units, even if they
don't exactly meet our need, or fit out budgets for that matter, like this Itasca Meridian
Diesel pusher. I like mine better.
Another meridian, these are nice. We continue here at the RV show, there's a
bunch of fifth wheels and we are not really interested in this type of RV so... we're
just looking for something to eat. Look at that!
We are inside a monster of an RV. This is huge. It has this buck beds here to the left,
the bathroom. This is a Forest River, which is almost $300,000,
way, way over budget for us. Even with the Sunstar we are pushing the limit of our budget.
Here we have this fifth wheel which is practically... huh. Look at that, doesn't feel like an RV.
It is huge. It even has a fireplace. Yeah, some of these 5th wheels are very luxurious;
it feels like a condo in here. We get briefly enticed by the lower prices
and great features of the Thor motorhomes. I mean look at all this storage in the bedroom,
and in the pantry. However after posting our feelings about it on the Living The RV Dream
Facebook group we got discouraged really quick. Apparently it is not a quality product. Oh
well. We still decide to check it out but now we know.
Itasca Sunova 30A. Moving right along we go back to the Itascas. ...it has that table
there which I don't if I'm going to like it. It could be a pain in the *** to get back
there. The kitchen, lots of room. This is another possibility.
There is something about the bed being sideways that I don't particularly like, I don't know
why, but this one also has pretty ample storage in the bedroom. I'm really starting to like
these Itasca units also their Winnebago cousins. Let's see if I fit in here. I guess, actually,
quite nicely We are having such a great time, and there
is some outdoor entertainment too.
I'm so glad we came early. The fairgrounds are getting packed, and it is not even noon.
They even have this tram ferrying people around.
Monaco's are supposed to be nice, but by this time of the day all the RVs are full of people,
so it is almost impossible to explore. The show is way too crowded at this time of the
day so we are going to take a break pretty soon but this 28 footer by Fleetwood looks
really nice so lets check it out. Lets see if I fit. Yeah, it is not, elbow
wise the most comfortable position, but it's not bad. More closet space and our bed. Actually
not bad at all, it is another possible candidate for sure unless we find out something bad
about it. By the way I would like to hear your comments
and opinions about all this so please don't be shy. Send your comments.
It has pretty decent storage I think for a unit of its size. It is he Fleetwood Storm
28F. And we see more outdoor entertainment. Perhaps
it's something I can do when I retire.
Talking about retirement, they also have a small area featuring vintage RVs. Pretty cool.
1961 Airstream. This is a 1994 classic.
Here we have a very flashy Newmar King Aire, with induction stove, very luxurious, fully
electric, which is something I hear is not very practical. You really depend on that
electrical connection at the campground all the time. It has washer and dryer, actually
this is way too luxurious for my taste, I don't like them when they look so much like
a real home. Besides this is way up there, almost a million dollars.
I love the cockpit though. Moving right along.
Let's keep an open mind and take a look at some travel trailers. Let's check out this
Prowler. I don't really care for travel trailers. This one is not bad. Feelsroomy, even though
it is not. For 13,950, not bad. Another travel trailer. Pretty cool, I'll check out the name
now. BaƱito, little batroom. I can't open this, here we go. A shower.
Oh by the way they also have some park models, which are these more permanent units.
Lets see what these little things are. Ten grand, for this.
We have a delicious Cuban sandwich, which, little known fact, was invented here in Tampa.
The show is very exhausting, and after a while all the RVs start to look alike.
It's very good that we have this video to remember what we saw.
Last but not least we visit the vendors area. They have all kinds of cool stuff for your
RV. Many campgrounds also have booths advertising their facilities.
Time to go.
And this is it for the RV show, as we have shown you what some of our options are as
we continue dreaming of the RV life. Sometime in the future you'll see us cruising down
the road in our Itasca Sunstar 27N or something similar. This is the plan, that was actually
the original idea for roadnomad.com. To roam the roads of this great country of ours and
hopefully other countries as well. Meanwhile I hope you continue to enjoy my
travel videos right here. We've got some great adventures coming up soon so stay tuned, and
please do check out some of our past trips. We've got some great road trips in the archives
such as our California Road Trip, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, Canada and also Puerto
Rico. Meanwhile we are taking the scenic route back to Miami, where we still have our sticks
and bricks home. I hope you have enjoyed our brief visit to
the RV Supershow. We only scratched the surface here but had we explored every possibility
this would have been feature film long, not to mention boring. Remember to subscribe to
the channel so you don't miss out on our future videos.
As always, thank you so much for watching and see you on the road. Ciao!