When we started looking at trailers, we made a wishlist of all the possible trailer options. After looking at dozens of floor plans and thinking of the way we like to camp, a few things rose to the top of our list.

• Walk-around bed – Crawling over each other in the middle of the night is not for us. We need to be able to use the bathroom without waking each other.
• Full queen bed – Most RV queen beds are only 74″ long; not ideal when you are 71″ long.
• Enclosed or large shower – Tiny corner showers with a shower curtain seem like a constant battle to keep the bathroom dry.
• Full freezer  – Many smaller trailers feature a dorm-size fridge. We would like to be able to travel with a week’s worth of food, including some frozen meals.
• Plenty of storage – So many RV owners’ groups are full of modifications to increase storage. It makes more sense to me to buy a model with lots of existing storage.
• Large water tanks – Most of our favorite campgrounds are without sewer. The larger the tanks, the longer the trips.
• Short and lightweight as possible – For ease of towing and maneuverability. Some campgrounds also have restrictions on the size of allowable trailers.
• Sofa seating – We don’t use our table at home nearly as often as we use our couch. We decided we would be much happier without a dinette.
• Dual axles – Two axles seemed like the safer way to go in case of a flat. And it felt much more stable when walking around inside the trailer.
• Accessibility with the slide in – We wanted to be able to pop in the trailer for quick meals and bathroom breaks without having to extend the slide.

The Forest River Rockwood Mini Lite hit all of the items on our wishlist except for the full queen bed. Additionally, after a year of living with the trailer we have found several features that we absolutely love.

• Deep, double bowl sink – We love having plenty of space to wash dishes.
• Extending counter – The 2109s has a lot of counter space to begin, but the ability to add more space for long trips or more elaborate meal preparation has been very helpful.
• Fridge by the door – It is wonderful to be able to reach into the trailer to grab a cold drink without tracking dirt. It is the next-best-thing to having an outdoor fridge.

Nevertheless, we have made the home our own. Feel free to read more about that here and here.