Temporarily Downsizing
(Our New Travel Trailer)

We’re (temporarily) downsizing into our new Grand Design Transcend XPLOR 240ML travel trailer while our 5th wheel is in the shop for repairs.

What Happened

The story starts back in July 2024 when we came out on the wrong side of an encounter with a particularly stout gatepost at the Grandview National Forest Campground in Ashton, Idaho. We had some fairly major damage to one side of the 5th wheel, but fortunately we were still able to live-in and tow it, albeit with a broken refrigerator and one non-functioning slide-out.

The 5th wheel needed to be repaired, and we learned that the repairs could take some time (possibly months), so we were faced with the dilemma of where to live while our full-time home is in the shop for repairs. We had been thinking about getting a smaller trailer to allow us to visit some of the national parks and other areas where our 42-foot long 5th wheel is just too long to fit. Although we hadn’t planned to buy one just yet, we decided to go ahead and purchase this 30-foot 2024 Grand Design Transcend XPLOR 240ML travel trailer for our temporary home, and for future use in the many parks that have a 30-foot trailer size limit.

We scheduled our 5th wheel repairs at Trailer Hitch RV in Nipomo, California, the dealer where we made the original purchase in 2020. At the same time, we purchased the new trailer from Trailer Hitch RV so that we could pick it up and transfer our belongings immediately prior to dropping off the 5th wheel for repairs. As we got nearer to the scheduled repairs in early November 2024, Trailer Hitch decided they couldn’t handle the needed repairs and referred us to a nearby RV repair shop in Arroyo Grande.

We had a busy few days in early November when we picked up the new trailer, transferred selected belongings from the 5th wheel, and then dropped off the 5th wheel for repair. We were able to secure two adjacent sites at the Pacific Dunes Ranch Campground in nearby Oceano to make the transfer of belongings as painless as possible.

Why we chose our Grand Design Transcend XPLOR 240ML Travel Trailer

We had several criteria to meet in choosing our new trailer in addition to a target budget, including:

• Between 25 and 30-ft length
• Separate bedroom area (with door)
• No bunks (we don’t need them, and many trailers come with them)
• No walk-through bathroom (bathroom between living area and bedroom)
• Relatively good size living space
• Preference for a Grand Design unit based on our positive experience with our 5th wheel

Based on our target budget and criteria, we settled on Grand Design’s Transcend XPLOR model line (this is their lowest cost travel trailer model) and looked at both the 221RB and 240ML models. In the end we decided the 25-ft 221RB was just a bit too small for us and settled on the 240ML which gives us pretty much everything we were looking for in a smaller travel trailer. The unit comes with two recliner chairs, a dinette area, and a floor plan that suits our needs nicely. One big difference from the 5th wheel is that we have way less storage space, so we had to be very selective in choosing belongings to bring with us. One plus with the travel trailer, however, is that we now have the full bed of our pick-up truck available for storage, which was not the case when towing the 5th wheel due to the bed-mounted 5th wheel hitch.

As of the time of this posting, we are about a week into living in the new travel trailer and we are about to hit the road with it as we travel south for the winter. So far, so good. We haven’t had too much trouble adjusting to the smaller space, and all of the trailer appliances and features have been working as expected.