He wants a bigger boat. He has been looking at powerboats for many many years but hasn’t made the leap. We charter sailboats every few years instead.
He knows all about the cost of boat ownership. His parents have had boats since my husband was a kid so he is very comfortable on the water. All sailboats until the last which is a 60 ft powerboat. The cost of the boat is very minor, it’s purchasing a slip, monthly fee and maintenance not to mention the price of diesel to run one.
Back to RVs- we have friends who have Sprinter vans. Some are homebuilt and others are from companies like Winnebago. I’ve told my husband I’d want both a sprinter and a trailer for different trips. I like the trailer for regular camping. Where we head to one location. We disconnect the vehicle and have our vehicle to go explore. I wouldn’t want to pull a trailer on a cross country trip. I think a sprinter van would be nice as we could both camp and also mix in hotels if we were on a longer trip.
Aluminum is lighter than fiberglass, so I’m not sure why a fiberglass exterior would be lighter than an aluminum one. There must be something else going on with these RV’s to make the fiberglass lighter.
The fiberglass is structural. The aluminum is not.
What is the “structure” for the Airstream? And what structure is being referred to?
I googled my answer. 
I know which structure that I would choose. 
FWIW, I’m very familiar with ladder-frame steel construction and an aluminum body/skin and while aluminum can ding/dent, often easily, repairs aren’t difficult for someone experienced working with it.
OTOH, fiberglass, which I’m also very familiar with as well, chips, cracks, spider webs and turns into straw with even a minor accident.
I’m not familiar with RV’s, or a future buyer, but I’d speculate that the Airstream’s hold value better? But just a guess.
Casita isn’t a fair comparison. They’re cheaper and lighter. The right comparison is Oliver. Oliver and Airstream are both nice, but I prefer the Oliver.
I’m not going to do a deep dive here, since I honestly don’t really want to waste more time 
, but here’s the Oliver’s structure:
Just based on structural materials, and the aluminum exterior, I’ll take the Airstream. But maybe the Oliver is still cheaper, has all sorts of nicer options and/or bigger. And I know if you prefer it, then I know it’s extremely nice.
Carry on everyone. My apologies for the thread drift.
Lightweight is relative, teardrops are considerably lighter. The main difference is that the small end of the teardrop will have a permanent bed, as opposed to converting the dining area to a bed each night. We’ve found that to be more convenient when there are only two of us (eg for an afternoon nap), although the dining area only seats 2-3, so it would be less good if you take additional family members (sleeping in a tent) and want to seat everyone together for meals inside.
Like many others, Teardrop is a wide ranging category. Some you can barely sit up in, but they weigh nearly nothing.
Both Oliver and Escape make models that have dedicated beds.
I’m interested in a camper van, to purchase in a few years when my youngest is out of college and my older kids are more settled, so we can visit and park it in their driveway or on the street. I like the idea of the rear bed that elevates to the ceiling, leaving room underneath for couches or storage. The Winnebago Revel has that design. Anyone know of another?
Parking an RV in the driveway is against our HOA. Doesn’t mean that people don’t do it but it is against the rules and we could complain.
No on the Revel, but Class B RVs are hideously expensive compared to Class C rigs.
One of the overlooked expenses of an RV can be storage fees. They are ridiculous in our area. We park ours in the driveway, which is permitted. At first we paid storage fees because we didn’t want to be “those neighbors “ but then we decided we didn’t care enough about it to throw away all that money. We did plant a row of green giant arborvitae to keep it hidden from our neighbor.
The Revel has a murphy bed that can have a topper. The Airstream (19) equivalent is a fixed bed- not as adventure van but more luxurious. The Storyteller has a two part bed that flips up on the sides when not in use. It has a bed that needs to be made each night. It also has a bath/shower that is not fixed.
Have thought about this for years as we love camping, but the sleeping on the ground has grown old. When we bought our last car, really thought about getting a car that was big enough to tow something. However, the 2500 lb limit for things like the RAV4 ruled out a lot of options and decided to go for good gas mileage since we weren’t ready. Friends have the Mercedes sprinter campervan and love it, but the cost is more than I want to spend, at least at this point. As a second car, seems really big and hard to park around town.
At this point, thinking of a longer campervan rental to do a couple months long cross-country trip. That would allow camping but also be parkable enough to spend some nights in motels along the way. However, worrying about space inside and also the full size bed for two of us!
Glad to read the different choices you have made in this thread.
Is their last name Jones by any chance? 
One thing that I should point out about Outdoorsy (and probably other sites where you rent RV from owner) is that they may or may rack up mileage charges. As I recall, many do include 100 miles per day in the daily rate. Some trailers I think didn’t have mileage fees(?)
Spot checking quickly today I only saw one motorhome that listed the extra fee (beyond 100 miles/day) clearly - extra .75/mile. And of course gas costs too.
How would you even know how many miles a trailer had traveled, since it doesn’t have an odometer?
The biggest complication we found was that it’s not always obvious if your vehicle will be able to tow the trailer right away, especially if you are a complete novice at it. For example are your mirrors going to give enough visibility? Is your hitch at the right height?
If any of you are looking for a fun time (not!) find an RV forum and ask what you can tow with the vehicle you have. When the vehicle mfr says it has 2,500 of payload, you have to deduct the weight of the driver, passengers, any of the stuff you’re bringing along (food, clothes, beer). There are online calculators that will give you the right answer. Probably not the answer you want, but it will be the one that will keep you from an unsafe situation.
What a dealer says you can tow is very, very likely wrong.
The Vintages Trailer Resort in McMinnville, OR rents out trailers in their park for a static camping experience.
When we lived in NY, any trailer over 1000lb required trailer brakes.