It’s been six years since Jenn Grover moved from using a rooftop tent to becoming a true RV-er. While her attraction to the camping lifestyle was triggered by her growing interest in photography, her shift from tent to TAB was generated by a desire for a more expansive home-away-from-home.
Jenn’s Camping Experience
“I didn’t become a camper until I became serious about landscape photography,” Jenn recalls. “I found that to reach the locations that I wanted to shoot at sunrise, it was far easier and actually safer to be closer, which meant I needed to camp.”
As she traveled the American West, retracing the steps of greats like Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, and Ansel Adams, Jenn was captivated by the interplay of light across a landscape that changed with each mile. She also fell in love with the peace and quiet that RV-ing afforded her and her four-legged Shih Tzu companion, Rocky—quite different from the noise and congestion found in the city.
And the RV community loved her back—something she wasn’t expecting but that came as a pleasant surprise. “I didn’t realize when I bought my TAB that the purchase included a whole community,” she says, adding, “I love meeting other TAB owners as I travel. On last year’s trip, I ‘moochdocked’ with Chuck and Kathy Dowe—new friends that I met at uCamp, and while at Banff National Park in Canada, met up with a new friend and Canadian TAB owner Jennifer Paulin.”
The concept of being part of the RV “family” took on a new twist when Jenn met her second cousin Mary Darrow for the first time, who is also a TAB owner.
“Mary had connected with my mom, who sells sunshades for the TAB,” Jenn says. “Mary reached out to me on Facebook and I stopped and had coffee with her on my way west last year.”
The TAB also gave Jenn a chance to have some quality time with her sister-in-law, Nina, who started joining her on her trips in 2016.
“We have hit a lot of the iconic locations,” she says. “Last year we traveled to Montana, Banff, and Jasper—all stunning—and our hope is to return to some of those areas this year. But I enjoy the lesser-known National Forest and Bureau of Land Management areas just as much, and have also spent a lot of time in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.”
Home is Where You Park It
As for her preference for where to park her camper on her journeys, Jenn says she mixes it up: from boondocking and stops at forest service locations to stays at commercial, state, or national park campgrounds and overnight stops at Walmart or Cracker Barrel.
“In 2016, I was fortunate to spend close to three months full-time living in and working from my TAB and most of that was boondocking, with some National Forest and National Park camping thrown in. But if it’s hot and humid, I’ll always seek out a campground with electric so that I can run the AC!”
Upgrading to the 2021 TAB 320
With no plans to give up camping any time soon, Jenn had decided to move up from her current TAB to the 2021 TAB 320—a choice she made after watching PJ from Princess Craft conduct a walkthrough video of the new model on YouTube.
“I thought, ‘Wow! They have solved all of the pain points!’ I responded to the Facebook post, ‘Scott Hubble, take my money!! What an amazing new 320. I love every part of it!’” she says, adding, “After seeing it in person, I am just as enthusiastic. nuCamp knocked it out of the park with the 2021 TAB 320! I wouldn’t say it was any one thing, but more the sum of all of the improvements that swayed my decision.”
She ticks off the features that caught her eye: the modern look of the newly designed trim, the flush keder rail, and the newly designed exterior backend. “It all leads to an overall cleaner exterior look,” she notes.
The inside of the camper also earned kudos from Jenn. “It has a very modern, clean look with white walls and stylish cabinets—all with the same high-quality craftsmanship we have all come to know and love from nuCamp.”
As for how her new TAB compares to its older “brother,” Jenn lists some of the improvements, from the streamlined plumbing thanks to the Nautilus water system that also creates a cleaner exterior look on the driver side, to a freshwater tank with four times the capacity of her current TAB.
Increased storage was also a plus: the larger front storage tub, larger rear cabinets, storage below the rear shelf and cubbies above the door and along the sidewalls, and a storage drawer below the fridge.
“There’s also a privacy door for the wetbath, and a new split-back rear bench and innovative bed slats integrated into the side benches,” she adds. As for appliances, she praises the more efficient DC powered refrigerator that cools much quicker, while the microwave is definitely her sister-in-law’s favorite, she says.
Jenn also liked that the Boondock package was available since those features are very important to her. “That wasn’t available when I bought my first TAB and had more or less added them afterward. I love having the extra clearance and the clean install of the solar. The front storage rack on the Boondock is a huge help on long-distance trips.”
A New Adventure Awaits
Once the TAB is ready for delivery (the pandemic has delayed production a bit), Jenn is looking forward to putting it through its paces while she pursues her photography career. “In 2017, I began exploring aerial photography and video via unmanned UAV (drone) photography and obtained my FAA Part 107 license,” she says. “I’m looking forward to developing my portfolio of aerial imagery and spending time on the road—just me, Rocky, and my new TAB!”
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