Why I bought the 2020 Winnebago Outlook 31N

Welcome to the Traveling Tall and Small Blog. My name is Aaron Rose and I’ll be bringing you along on my journey as I travel around exploring new places and trying new things. Originally this was going to be an Internationally focused travel blog, but due to Covid my plans had to adapt to the new world we find ourselves in and it will now focus on my full time RV travel around the United States. While most will call what I am doing solo traveling, and in many ways I do as well, I am traveling with my cat Isabelle and will try to include her in not just photo’s but in giving her perspective feelings about the places we go.

So, you now know I am traveling around the US in an RV, but what kind of RV do I have and why did I choose this particular one? Well, I am driving and living in a 2020 Winnebago Outlook 31N that is 31’ 11” in length. Being under 32’ was important to me as that is the cutoff at most National Parks allowing me to go almost anywhere I’d want to go without a problem, however it is important to note that some national parks set the cap around 26’ in length for entry as the roads are tight and curvy. I had four important criteria that my motorhome needed to meet in order for me to consider purchasing it.

1) Do I fit comfortably in the driver’s seat? This is important as I will be the only one driving it and because I am 6’ 3” my long legs and low back get sore on long drives and if I don’t fit well in the seat those issues will only get worse for me the longer I’m on the road. The Outlook fit this at about a 7/10 as the wheel mount does take up space where my leg foot sits, but as I am usually stopping every 1 ½ to 2 hours, I am able to work around the bit of discomfort.

2) Am I able to sit at the dinette table comfortably? The reason this criteria is so important is that this is not only where I will be eating, but also the sole place inside the RV I will likely be working. Having a table my legs fit under comfortably is therefore super important. It was also important that, as a guy with a bigger belly, I am able to fit my gut comfortably between me and the table edge. Lastly, the height of the table needed to be low enough for my to type on my keyboard, but heigh enough that my legs fit underneath it. I would give the Outlook an 8/10 for meeting this need. There is a table leg at the front that comes down to add stability and I do have to work my legs around it to get into the seat, but otherwise its not an issue. The only other downside is the cushions use a cheaper foam and will likely wear out fairly quickly and need to be replaced to keep sitting there comfy.

3) Am I able to fit in the bed? I think it’s kind of a no brainer that this would be important, but remember I am 6’ 3” and therefore beds in general aren’t always big enough to sleep in at hotels and here I am trying to have a comfortable place to sleep in a motorhome. Well, the Outlook meets this with a 9/10. I am only knocking off one point because it’s an RV Queen and not a King bed, but even should I be sharing it with a partner, it will be large enough to fit us both. The mattress though thin, is quite comfortable and because the bed is on a slide out, when it’s in the out position you can even walk around the bed giving the bedroom a much more spacious feel to it.

4) Lastly, and you may laugh a bit at this, but it was important to me. Would I be able to sit comfortably on the toilet? Yes, you may not think you’ll be spending much time in there sitting on it, but since it’s coming with you wherever you go and it cleaner and safer to use than public toilets, it would be nice if you could actually fit on it comfortably if you had to take a #2. Well, the Outlook scores a 8/10 for this. The bathroom is actually split with the shower being on one side of the hall and the toilet and sink being in a room across from it. This room is quite large and there is plenty of room for you to sit comfortably on the toilet….except Winnebago should have angled it just a little bit to the left to give a bit of extra leg room to the right leg (it brushes slightly against the wall). The only other complain I have about it, is that it’s a plastic toilet, which creeks every time you use it and feels a bit flimsy. There is more than enough cargo carrying capacity (CCC) to have added a porcelain toilet, but they don’t because this is an entry level motorhome.

As a bit of a recap, I had four important criteria that I needed a motorhome to meet and the lowest score the Winnebago Outlook 31N scored was a 7/10, with two 8/10 and one 9/10. But if I am being honest, there was more to it on why I choose this RV. There were two more main reasons. One availability, there were only two Outlook 31N’s on sale near where I lived. Secondly, was the price. There were several Jayco Red Hawk & Grey Hawk motorhomes that scored as well as the Winnebago Outlook, but the Outlook was 30k cheaper. Yes, it didn’t have any bells and whistles or even any upgrades, but I didn’t need that and I certainly wasn’t willing to spend $30,000 more just to get them. Then there was the mistake I caught that the dealership missed. They priced the 2020 model I wanted at the same price as they listed their 2019 models and had to honor it as it hadn’t been caught until after I came in asking about it. The result? An extra savings of $9,000! My model had also be optioned with a spare tire and left/right side cameras, so it made it a no brainer that I would choose this motorhome for myself.

I have now been traveling in it for 3 months and I still love it and am happy that I made it my home, vehicle, motorhome to travel around in. If you would like to learn more about Winnebago RV’s or in particular the Class C Outlook series, click these links.

Winnebago Website

Winnebago Outlook Series (Entry Level Class C)

Take care and remember to Travel Tall and Small

~Aaron