We’re selling our Lifestyle Reconn R2

After 5 years, and more than 1000 nights in our 2018 Lifestyle Reconn R2, we’ve made a big decision; its going up for sale shortly, when we finish our Lap of Australia! This Hybrid Camper has been our home for the last two years on a Lap of Australia (and many trips before that), has covered most of the country and has seen just about every terrain and weather you can throw at it, and to be honest I never thought we’d sell it so soon.

Reconn R2 and Dmax at the Northern Territory Border
We’re selling our 2018 Lifestyle Reconn R2

I guess the first thing I should point out is that we are absolutely wrapped with this product. I have zero commercial relationship with Lifestyle, but can hand on heart say that this unit has been everything we’d hoped for, and more.

To this day, I still haven’t seen a single hybrid that is as light, compact, cheap and well constructed as the Lifestyle Reconn R2, and that’s without looking at the insane water capacity, protection underneath, massive storage hatches, beautiful kitchen, air flow up top and the list just keeps going.

If you’re interested in the unit, we’ll have a formal ad up when we return to Perth, sometime in September (probably!).

Lifestyle Reconn R2
We’ve had so much fun in this thing

Why are we selling the Reconn R2?

Beyond that though, I know we’ll get questions about why, so I thought I’d try and express the thought pattern that has led us down this path.

It’s not going to be used as much

When we purchased the Reconn R2, it was second hand and we wanted to continue camping as much as possible, with ease, with our two young boys. It was our escape from a hectic daily grind, and we used it on as many weekends as we could. Every single hour of annual leave (and more) was used on short trips all over WA, and we used every single public holiday to our advantage, to get as much time out and about as we could.

After two years on the road though, having seen so much incredible country, and having to return to a full time role with limited annual leave again, I can see its not going to get used nearly as much as it has been so far.

We intend on doing some different holidays with the kids; international, cruises and maybe some holiday homes too, and that doesn’t give you much time left to camp! We also intend on spending more time at home, working on growing fruit and vegetables, having chooks and hopefully tinkering in the shed.

If I’m honest, the idea of camping around Perth has lost some of its appeal, for two reasons. The first, is because we’ve done virtually everything there is to do. The second, is because the cost of camping is ludicrous, and I’m so sad to see it go this way. We’re paying $45 a night to camp at Windjana Gorge in the Kimberley, and $40 a night for many national parks (many with zero amenities), and that is just insane.

Amazing sunset at Corella Dam
Never have free camps been more appreciated than today; camping fees are getting ludicrous

If we had the Victorian High Country in our backyard, it’d be a different story, as we’d love to explore more of it, and its all free camping, virtually anywhere. Perth is a long shot from that, and whilst we have some great free camping (and magic places), they’re few and far between.

Either way, the primary reason for us to camp now will be to get away with friends and family, or to have a short break, and we don’t need a Reconn R2 for that (its a nice to have, not a necessity!)

It’s a large chunk of money to have sitting around

We paid a good chunk of money for our Reconn R2, and did quite a few upgrades to suit our style of travel. I’m hoping we’ll recover a good chunk of that, and not have it tied up. We are looking at a property with a bit more land, and could do with having it available, given how the Perth property market has gone!

At the very least, it costs the below to hold onto:

50k at 6.5% interest (mortgage rate), Insurance, Registration and Maintenance

In total then, that’s about 4- 5k a year, and that’s ignoring depreciation, which might be quite high, depending on whether Lifestyle bring out a new model, and what the economy does.

I did some rough figures, and you can rent a nice holiday house out for a couple of weeks each year for the same cost of keeping the camper, which is an interesting consideration when you only have limited annual leave. I’m not saying this is what we’ll do, but there’s always an opportunity cost to consider.

I have considered keeping it and renting it out, but that brings its own issues, and I’m not sure I want to deal with it. This camper is built for off road use, and I figure it won’t be treated well enough to hand over to random people.

The Crooked River at Talbotville
This unit is built for being used off road, and I’m not keen on random people hiring it

It will be too small for our oldest boy soon

Our boys are shooting up like weeds, and I can see that its not going to be more than a few years before Oliver no longer fits on his bed. Yes, we could put him outside in a swag, but I’m not ready to cross that bridge just yet, and there’s really no other sleeping option for him. He’s certainly not coming in our bed!

Oliver smiling
Oliver is getting tall, and will soon struggle to fit on his bunk

It feels right

We never make decisions on a whim, and have thought about this for a long time. It feels like the right thing to do for our stage in life, and so that’s a pretty good summary.

Are we going to replace it with something else?

Inevitably, yes. You won’t keep us from travelling, but I just don’t feel like we really need a Lifestyle Reconn R2 anymore, for the handful of weekends that we might do each year, and the occasional 1 – 2 week trip away with family.

We started off talking about swags, and a gazebo, just to keep it simple, cheap and easy. Yes, it will never be as easy as the Reconn R2, but we’re OK with that.

However, one day I jumped on Facebook Marketplace to see what camper trailers were available, and nearly died. The prices of traditional camper trailers has died so badly that I really feel sorry for some businesses, and owners.

You can pick up reasonable soft floors for under 4 grand (and some under 2k!), and some really nice Aussie made hard floors (like Cub, Kimberley Kamper, Swag, Pioneer etc) for less than 15k, and that is mental, considering their quality and what they were new.

Given the pricing, and the fact that a camper trailer offers so much more than trying to camp out of a 4WD (which I admire anyone doing with kids), I think that is what we’ll do, on a simple, and small scale. You might see us in a 3 grand soft floor yet; who knows.

Soft Floor Camper batteries
Maybe we’ll be back in something like our old soft floor!

All good things come to an end

It’s going to be a sad day to see our Reconn R2 drive away. The stories that thing could tell are virtually unlimited, and its been part of us in a big way. We could not have had nearly the same level of fun, confidence off road and comfort without it. I can only hope that the new owners have a fraction of the fun we’ve had with it!

If you’re interested, feel free to reach out to us!

Sharing is caring!

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

4 Comments

  1. Hey Malcolm,

    Thanks for the comment. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and had a chuckle a few times.

    The Reconn is a great option, and there are lots of other alternatives that are also worth considering.

    We will be back in Perth in a month or so, will tidy this one up and then it will be on the market.

    All the best in your future adventures, wherever they take you!
    Aaron

  2. Malcolm Mortimer says:

    Hi my name is Malcolm…, I have a small 8 acre hobby farm on Caves Rd. Hamelin Bay where every Spring, Summer and part of Autumn I host self contained campers. I feel sure you know the area. I have been dreaming(pre-planning?) of buying an off-road camper(prefer Aussie Made) for quite awhile…, that means I’ve arrived at seriously considering a Lifestyle “Recon” of some description. Since discovering your very thoughtful reviews I have devoured all of your posts in order to inform myself more completely.

    My camping holiday history stretches way back to the mid 70’s when I would camp out along the Ningaloo coast on the way up to, or returning from construction work stints in the Pilbara(pre FIFO)…., every year for too long. As with everyone doing this(there weren’t many back then) things evolved for me every year.., and our camps became more fine tuned and sophisticated.., and by extension more comfortable. Great memories…, and they have directly informed my lived life here today on this small acreage where I produce most of my own food needs.

    Now moving forward.., I am dreaming(considering) going to what my friends and I almost jokingly call “the dark side” ! Getting a caravan ! That is not entirely correct as I consider that the ‘dark side’ is a big heavy 4X4 towing a duel axel “gin palace” caravan…, and I just couldn’t go there. Highway 1 has now become crazy crowded with Grey Nomads(in Gin Palaces?) not just at the beginnings of every West Australian winters, but all year round. And then there’s the boats on trailers and B doubles ! Also, prices for everything are also heading North way too quickly.., coastal camp sites everywhere are full up way to soon.., and indeed booked out 6 months in advance(at the stroke of midnight). It’s over the top…, hardly seems sufficient to describe the revolution that has occurred. However, things are not all doom and gloom.

    It seems to me that my future ‘get aways’ will continue to be off-road in nature, away from the masses with gen sets and yappy little dogs ! As it is now possible to travel comparatively light, to less frequented locations and still have some extra creature comforts – without compromising the weight factor too much, I am(as stated) looking very favourably at a Recon of some description. In the meantime I will continue searching for all the info I think is relative and relevant.

    I am not ready to jump just yet, but between now and the point when I’ll dip into the market, I’ll be reading your posts. I appreciate your well considered appraisals…, Thank you.

  3. Hey Allan,

    Very true. We were looking at an Ultimate the other day on the Gibb River Road. They’re the perfect trailer in many regards!

    If it does what you need right now, and for the next few years you’re onto a winner!

    All the best
    Aaron

  4. Allan Bromwich says:

    Always different life cycles as you and the family grow. What works now will change with time and experience and family needs. We have an Ultimate camper and have had it for years, loving it to death. Luckily I was retired when we got it, so could make good use of it, rather than having it sit around for long periods in the driveway. We can see that in some future time we will need to sell it and get something that requires less set up, eventhough it is minimal now. Don’t think a big van would be us, but looking at all we see when out using it.