LaReine.

How I Found Lareine.

This is my second RV since I began the nomad life. I bought this baby, Lareine, used outside of Albany, NY from a “con-man” named Gus in late 2024―I believe it was from a rvtrader.com listing. I won’t get into it about Gus, but I’ll give him a shout-out in the places where my disdain accrued against him. I had my eyes on a few different search filters for several weeks. Ended up getting in touch with the owner, and I was able to draft a bill of sale and close on it from New Hampshire. Got it plated and insured before driving out to pick it up. I financed it through my credit union, who preapproved me for a 15-year loan. So payments are low, allowing me to focus more of my finances into the increasingly torturous price of gas. She gets about 10 mpg.

Key Considerations.

Lareine used to be a rental unit (and it’s technically a “rental package” VIN), so she was missing a few things that I really wanted to dial in before moving in. I spent about a month fixing her up for a couple reasons: part preference, and part neglect from the prior owner. I’ll write an article about my fix-up journey at some point. But all-in-all this was exactly the unit that I was looking for.

The primary description I sought after was the smallest full RV I could find, with the least amount of moving parts. So the only thing motorized is the awning; there isn’t even a slide-out. She makes for a great low-profile street-sleeper. I can usually navigate downtown areas easily, and even find on-street parking in many low-key places. Having a bicycle makes it easy to get into congested areas as needed without having to fuss about.

Interior.

The interior space makes for a comfortable living zone―but definitely just for one person. The cab-over bunk is nice for some additional storage―though I’m always careful about minimizing the weight in it. There’s a dinette with 2 benches, which is always ready for seating, and makes a good sit-down work table. The bed is a queen size, but 6 inches narrower (side-to-side). The bathroom is a full dry bath, with separate shower, sink, and toilet. I ripped the microwave out to make a new cupboard space for my cast iron pans, storage jars, and French press. I almost never use microwaves, and besides the 3-burner stove also has a small oven! There is a double-door wardrobe across from the fridge which lets me store a lot of clothes. It’s just a phenomenal floor plan for the space.

Lights.

In my world, lighting is everything―right on par with sound (yes, I’m an audiophile). Do y’all know what the standard ceiling lighting in a manufactured RV looks like? It’s trash. They’re ceiling-mounted pucks with a high concentration of LEDs in each one, and no dimming. So your lumen options are: darkness or department store. The kelvins are in the 7K range. So basically the default lights are starch white in color, bright as fuck, and either on or off. They had to go. Immediately. So I installed Bluetooth-controlled LED strips instead.

These are the GE Cync LED strips, which are all configurable into zones, and fully customizable from the full color spectrum to their brightness. I tend to keep things on low-kelvin, low-lumen ambiance to simulate good, strong candle light. There is a separate set of LED pucks mounted in the kitchen zone over the sink and stove, which use a simple RF remote control with limited colors.

Note to self: write a full light configuration article.

Exterior.

Aside from fixing the actual fuckery caused by poor manufacturing, combined with the neglect of prior owners, I haven’t really done much customizing on Lareine’s exterior. There was a multi-episode drama with my 40-gallon water tank that was kinda wild (thanks, Gus!). But now, it’s great! So I’ll get into that in an article some other time.

I did install a roof-mounted 200-watt solar panel. While Lareine came with solar pre-wiring, the connectors on the roof lead through the unit to some unknown “drop zone” nearby the back of the switch board panel. I never really did find those wires… but that whole situation assumes that I wanted to charge my house batteries with the solar juice. And I actually don’t. (For those of you who don’t know, “house batteries” are the lead-acid batteries that power the 12V home circuitry, primarily the lights and fans.)

Instead, I wanted a solar panel that charged a 1000W Jackery unit (holy shit these have come down in price!), so that I could have long-lasting 120V power to charge my laptop, power my dinette lamp, maybe a box fan on hot nights, my coffee grinder, toaster, and so on. Things that my house batteries can’t power while I’m boondocked, and that would otherwise require running my 4000-watt generator (loud, smelly, no thanks). So instead of hooking my solar up to the pre-wiring, I got solar cable extenders and routed them through an existing hole (not standard) in the rear top-round corner of the outside wall above my bed (thanks, Gus!) and from there, they come through to rest in the rear-side overhead cabinet over my bed. The cabinet is the perfect size for mounting the Jackery, so I can plug the solar cables into the Jackery and charge it while I’m driving, or boondocking, or wherever there’s sunlight on my roof, really.

Chassis Mechanics.

Lareine drives almost like a car. Well, I guess more like how a small U-Haul feels. Obviously, it depends on the state of my holding tanks as well. If my water tank is full, that’s an extra 340 pounds. If my gas tank is full, that’s an extra 330 pounds. Between the two, they take up a considerable portion of the delta between the Lareine’s dry weight and her Gross Vehicle Weight Capacity (GVWC). To make my riding smoother, and to ease the effort on my transmission, I always keep it in “haul mode”―this is a toggle on the steering column that enables downshifting during breaking. It helps by pushing the weight payload into the engine block instead of the transmission, which adds some relief to the overall drivetrain.

Overall, she’s a beautiful machine and a wonderful road companion. She gets me around, keeps me warm, safe, and comfortable. I always love having my bed right where I parked her last.