Popular Travel Trailer Floor Plans
If you’re in the market for a new travel trailer and are starting to look at options for floor plans, we’d love to help! The design team at Bowlus studied a wide variety of floor plans before settling on the two we chose for our final designs, so we’d love to give you insight into which one is the best (although we might be biased).
Hopefully, with knowledge of all of the floor plan choices out there, you can make a decision confident that you have all of the information you need.
What Are We Talking About When We Discuss Floor Plans?
When discussing floor plans today, we’ll hit on a few key points.
Hitch Weight
Also known as tongue weight, a travel trailer’s hitch weight refers to the amount of downward force (weight) that is applied to the towing vehicle’s hitch. Hitch weight really is the key to smooth, safe towing, as it helps to balance out the weight across the entire vehicle and travel trailer. It should always be taken into account in any floor plan.
Weight
The travel trailer’s base weight is what the trailer weighs with empty water tanks and nothing at all loaded into it. It’s an important factor because it plays into the towing vehicle’s towing capacity. If you attempt to tow anything that weighs more than your vehicle can safely haul, you risk damage to the brakes, tires, transmission, and the vehicle as a whole.
A Bowlus travel trailer was designed to be incredibly lightweight, making it one of the easiest RV style vehicles to tow (and to drive). You can use nearly any SUV, and even some standard cars.
Carrying Capacity
This is the number that will be added to the base weight to compare the travel trailer’s final weight against your vehicle’s towing capacity. Many people underestimate their travel trailer’s carrying capacity (or cargo carrying capacity— CCC) and don’t include all of the factors that should be involved.
Most manufacturers list the carrying capacity in the manual, but there is a simple formula to figure it out yourself as well. Start with the travel trailer’s gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), then subtract its base weight. Subtract the trailer’s sleeping capacity weight rating (SCWR, which is 154 x the number of people it can sleep), the propane fuel weight (the amount of gallons x 4.2 pounds), and its fresh water weight (the amount of gallons x 8.3 pounds) to arrive at your final number.
Exterior Measurements
This includes width, length, and height and helps with clearance and deciding where you can park.
Internal Measurements
A measure of the travel trailer’s usable space, which is what the floor plan measurements are based on, as well.
”Rooms” Of The Travel Trailer
Although many travel trailers are essentially one big room, like a studio apartment, a floor plan takes into account the size of all of these areas and how any preinstalled furniture may be set up.
Your Bowlus has a sectioned-off master bedroom so that you can ensure you get some privacy when it comes time to sleep.
Why Is There A Major Difference In Floor Plans?
The main reason that there is such a major difference between floor plans is that there are so many different styles of travel trailers out there.
While most travel trailers average about 20 feet long and 8 feet wide, the smallest comes in around 9 feet long while the longest maxes out around 42 feet. Obviously, that can significantly change the ways that a floor plan can be designed.
At Bowlus, we’ve found the perfect formula. Our floorplan means that you get the most possible usable space in your travel trailer, so you never feel cramped or claustrophobic.
The Bowlus Travel Trailer Floor Plans
Travel trailers have the potential to be absolutely massive, so there is a lot of diversity in how their floor plans are set up. In fact, they can be up to 13 feet tall, 9 feet wide, and 32 feet long! This also means that they can be extremely difficult to maneuver and can require some pretty hefty vehicles to tow them, unless you have a Bowlus travel trailer.
Hitch weights of around 300 pounds and base weights of 3,000 to 4,000 pounds seem to be popular as well, with a total cargo carrying capacity of around 800 to 1000 additional pounds. However, much of this will depend on the type and size of the vehicle that will be doing the towing.
Popular travel trailer floor plans generally include at least one separate bedroom. The bedroom in your Bowlus features a king-sized bed that may be able to be split into two twin-sized beds. Roomy bedrooms are part of what makes these travel trailers so popular and are one of the main things that people look for when purchasing one. With your Bowlus, you can stretch all the way out without ever worrying that you’re going to run out of leg room.
The second factor is usually the size of the bathroom. While all trailers have them, Bowlus travel trailers have larger, more luxurious bathrooms with full showers, storage space, and continuous hot water. We took that into account when designing our travel trailer and even separated the toilet from the shower so that they can both be used simultaneously. We even included teak shower seating and flooring for a touch of extra luxury.
Kitchen space also makes certain floor plans more popular. Generally, campers enjoy more amenities in the kitchen while still having the same amount of storage space that they’re used to. A multiple stovetop burner, lots of space in the refrigerator and freezer for perishable goods, and a microwave can make your Bowlus travel trailer feel like home even when you’re hundreds of miles away.
What If I Can’t Find The Perfect Floor Plan?
There is a floor plan out there perfect for everyone, and the Bowlus travel trailer is the best there is. Don’t worry! The great thing about camping is that it is a spontaneous activity, which means that not everything needs to be perfect or planned out.
There are plenty of ways that you can “amend” your trip and still get everything out of it that you want to. For instance, choosing to park your travel trailer at a luxury RV resort (like Petoskey RV Resort in Petoskey, Michigan) allows you to access facilities like clubhouses and water activities for some added fun.
Even with our versatile kitchen, you can always cook more of your meals outside over the campfire. Not only is this one of the more traditional ways to camp, but it’s also a fun bonding experience with the people you’re traveling with.
You could also try out some of the local restaurants, which not only supports the local community but also introduces you to places and possibly even cuisines that you may not have tried before.
Ultimately, the camper is going to be your home base while you’re out camping. Some days, you’re likely to only come back to fall asleep, so as long as your bed is comfy (and with Bowlus’ memory foam topped mattress, it absolutely is).
To Summarize…
Knowing what you want in a travel trailer can help you sort through the most popular floor plans and find the right one for you. From roomy bathrooms to additional storage space, there is a Bowlus floor plan out there that will provide you with exactly the camping experience you’ve always dreamed up. Here’s to many future adventures!
Sources:
https://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/vehicle/towing-capacity-chart.htm
https://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/vehicle/cargo-carrying-capacity.htm
https://www.sunrvresorts.com/resorts/midwest/michigan/petoskey/