I travel in 28 feet without a car. I have a ton of fun! I always thought I would rent a car when I wanted to, but so far in 3 years, I haven't rented a car. When I wanted to, I was too far away to get one sorted out, I guess because I choose small parks off the beaten paths in the heart of nature where car rental companies refuse to deliver. I can break camp pretty fast to go shopping and sightseeing. Matter of fact I love sightseeing in my RV as the dog goes along, the kitchen and bath go along and so on. For me it makes a sightseeing day loads of fun.
For those that scream and shout I should be towing a car to "save gas" it's just not true. What I spend on gas for my RV doing shopping, errands and sightseeing, is way cheaper than owning and maintaining a car. I am not one of those that has to be on the crowded roads each and every day to feel good about myself. I can happily park my rig all week or longer with a pantry and fridge full of food and do a lot of sightseeing right on foot with my dog. I never lose a ton of time hooking and unhooking a tow vehicle. For me this works beautifully. If anything, not having a car, keeps me from frittering away money and time, I have to do a bit of planning not just hop in the car and drive 20 miles to spend $5 and come back home again.
But not towing a car means I can stop anywhere I want to, as all I need is 2 parking spaces or 1 parking spot in an out of the way place. Naturally I shop and provision between campsites. Because I am not towing, I am not terrified of reversing in and out of parking spots. It does mean you do not get front row parking, as I park further away so as to have 2 spots and not bother anybody. I need the exercise anyhow, so recently when my friend asked me to drive them in their car to the store, they were dismayed when I parked far away, out of sheer habit. I had to unpark and get them as close to the front door as possible before they were happy. In the time it took us to hunt down a close spot that suited them, we could have parked and walked to and from the store 5 times, but hey, I didn't point that out to them. Some folks just gotta be right next to the door or they aren't happy.
As for the best RV, with your budget, you should get out and look at EVERYTHING that is 30 feet under $125,00 and settle for one that feels like home that you just love and can imagine yourself having many happy years in it. The layout inside varies widely, so find one that appeals to you and your lifestyle. The more you LOOK the more you will come up with your list of "must haves" and list of "wishful haves". You can't just take someone else's advice that a certain RV will be perfect for you.
If I were in your shoes, I would spend LESS and save the extra for future upgrades. Once you get an RV there is more stuff to buy and the ongoing maintenance and so on. If you love the outdoors like I do, then you end up buying patio mats, chairs, table, umbrealla and so on. Plus the RV you buy may seem perfect then after you use it awhile you realize the kitchen faucet drives you insane so you upgrade to a nicer one. Or maybe the carpet vacuuming drives you insane so you add a basement built-in vacuum cleaner. So, you may want to spend less up front and set the rest aside for "wait and see" money.
Your budget is generous so there are numerous new and used ones on the market that willeasily fit your budget. I would suggest you look at 50 or more new and used RV's for starters. It will give you a great education as you discover they come with great layouts or lousy ones, beautiful decor or an interior that makes you gag.
For instance I like a nice kitchen because I cook at home rather than dine out. I like lots of big windows and willing to forego storage to have those big nice windows. But I don't care for TV, so whether it has small or large or no TV doesn't matter to me. But you might need or want a huge built-in TV and big recliners to watch it with and may not care whether it has big or small windows.
You really can't rely on us to tell you THIS is the exact RV you need to buy or this is the best RV to buy. You buy an RV to enjoy, it makes a lousy investment, rarely can you actually make money on one as in almost NEVER.
You buy an RV to ENJOY so pick one that appeals to your personal lifestyle.
Someone else might eat out all the time and therefore a cramped kitchen is fine with them where as someone else might want a kitchen with a workable layout for entertaining. My rear bed is a full size enclosed by walls or built-ins on 2.5 sides which suits me fine and leaves me room for my treasured compact washing machine. But someone else might prefer a walk around bigger queen bed.
Most all RV's come with multiple bed conversions... the dinette often converts to a bed, the couch converts and so on. I preferred a Class C because it had a spare queen bunk over the cab for company. In 3 years, I have had one friend who has shown up maybe 2-3 times a year for trips of 1-2 weeks each time. One other family spent a weekend at the beach with me, but mostly everyone else is "all talk" and no show.
So having company travel with you can be over rated. Plenty of people say they want to go on a trip with me... but when I start to nail them down with dates, they seem to back out or no-show other than my one friend who loves to travel in the RV with me and my silly dog.
I have often rendezvoused with friends in parks that had cabins, they got the cabin, I got the RV spot. Sometimes we day tripped in the RV by day but at night they went back to their cabin and I went to the RV campground.
So whatever you get, will have spare sleeping, I wouldn't worry too much about that, just get something you love the layout and can picture yourself having years of good times in it.
Buying an RV is easier than trying to sell one.... so it pays to look at LOTS of RV's before you make a decision. Trying to sell one 6 months later because you bought in haste... well that can be a financial disaster.
RV salesman will try to sell you anything on their lot and even bad mouth anything not on their lot, so don't rely on them for trusted info. They might be right they might be just trying to close a deal and will say anything to get you to part with your money.
Once you go out and look at 50 RV's without buying, you will start making that little list of "must haves" and feel more confident about ultimately choosing one.
