The 2022 Winnebago Travato 59G might be one of the most practical vehicles in the jamzDOTnet collection. It isn’t a classic car, a restoration project, or something I bought just because it was interesting. I bought the Travato for one simple reason: adventures.
Built on the Ram ProMaster 3500 chassis, the Travato is essentially a 21-foot camper van that packs an incredible amount of capability into something that can still be driven and parked much more like a large van than a traditional motorhome. For our family, that makes it just about perfect.
It gives us transportation, a kitchen, bathroom, beds, air conditioning, heat, electricity, water, storage and a place to relax, all in one vehicle. Whether we’re heading out on a family road trip, spending a weekend exploring somewhere new, attending a car show, covering an event for jamzDOTnet, or simply need a mobile base camp for the day, the Travato can do it.
The Story Behind Our Travato
Like a lot of RVs from this era, our Travato has an interesting COVID story.
The original owner purchased it during the pandemic, but apparently never ended up using it very much. Eventually, he put it on consignment at Camping World.
That’s where I found it.
When I purchased the Travato, it had only about 12,000 miles on the odometer and an incredible 22 hours on the generator. For a motorhome that was already several years old, it had barely been used.
It was exactly the type of RV I had been looking for.
I didn’t want a giant Class A motorhome or even a traditional Class C. I wanted something small enough that we could jump in and go almost anywhere without turning every trip into a major production.
The Travato 59G checked those boxes.
A Motorhome That Still Feels Like a Van
One of the coolest things about the Travato is its size.
At approximately 21 feet long, 6 feet 9 inches wide and 9 feet 4 inches tall, it packs an impressive amount of living space into a relatively small footprint.
The foundation is a Ram ProMaster 3500 powered by the familiar 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 gasoline engine, producing 280 horsepower and paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission.
The ProMaster is also front-wheel drive, which has some real advantages for a camper van. Without a traditional driveshaft running to the rear wheels, Winnebago can keep the floor relatively low and make better use of the available interior space.
It isn’t a sports car, but that’s not the point.
You can climb into the driver’s seat, hit the highway, pull into a normal gas station, maneuver through towns and cities, and arrive at your destination with your hotel room riding directly behind you.
That’s pretty cool.
The 59G Floorplan
The 59G configuration is especially useful for us because it combines passenger seating with a flexible living and sleeping area.
Up front you have the two cab seats, which swivel around when parked. Behind them is the dinette area with additional automotive-style seating and 3-point seat belts.
The rear portion of the van contains the kitchen, wet bath, storage and the flexible sleeping area.
That versatility is a huge reason this particular floorplan works so well for family adventures. We can travel together comfortably, then transform the same relatively small space once we arrive.
There is a surprising amount of functionality packed inside a van that’s only 21 feet long.
It’s Basically a Mobile jamzDOTnet Headquarters
One of my favorite things about owning the Travato is how useful it has become beyond traditional camping.
For jamzDOTnet events, car shows and road trips, it’s essentially a mobile headquarters.
We can drive to an event, have a refrigerator full of drinks and food, charge cameras and other equipment, run the air conditioning, use the bathroom, work inside the van and have somewhere comfortable to relax between filming.
If an event is several hours away, we can turn the trip itself into part of the adventure.
And when the day is over, we don’t necessarily have to find a hotel.
That’s a pretty great combination for a channel called Cars, DIY, and Adventures.
Power Wherever We Go
Our 59G uses a traditional RV electrical system rather than the lithium system found in the Travato GL.
It came from Winnebago with two Group 31 AGM deep-cycle house batteries, a 1,000-watt pure sine wave inverter, a 45-amp converter/charger and a 30-amp shore power connection.
On the roof, Winnebago equipped the Travato with 215 watts of solar, helping keep the house batteries charged when we’re away from shore power.
And then there’s the generator.
The 59G was equipped with a 2,800-watt Cummins Onan QG gasoline generator. Because it draws from the vehicle’s gasoline supply, we don’t have to carry around a separate fuel source just to run the generator.
When we bought our Travato, that generator had accumulated just 22 hours of operation.
For us, having a generator is extremely useful. It means the Travato can become a self-contained base camp when we’re at an event, traveling or camping somewhere without electrical hookups.
Heat, Air Conditioning and Hot Water
The Travato is designed to be much more than a fair-weather camper.
Up top is a Coleman-Mach air conditioner, while heating and hot water are handled by the Truma Combi Eco Plus system.
The Truma system combines coach heating and water heating into one compact unit and can operate using LP and/or 110-volt electricity.
That’s another part of what makes the Travato so interesting. Every available inch has to perform multiple jobs.
Water and Holding Tanks
Despite its relatively compact dimensions, the 59G carries the basic systems needed for camping away from hookups.
Our 2022 Travato 59G has approximately:
- 18 gallons of fresh water
- 14-gallon gray water tank
- 11-gallon black water tank
- 2.6-gallon water heater
- 25-pound LP capacity
- 24-gallon gasoline tank
Those aren’t giant Class A motorhome capacities, but that’s part of the tradeoff. The Travato is designed around efficiency, mobility and making smart use of a small space.
2022 Winnebago Travato 59G Specifications
Chassis: Ram ProMaster 3500
Engine: 3.6L Pentastar V6 gasoline
Horsepower: 280 hp
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Drivetrain: Front-wheel drive
Wheelbase: 159 inches
Exterior Length: 21 feet
Exterior Width: 6 feet 9 inches
Exterior Height: 9 feet 4 inches
Interior Height: 6 feet 3 inches
Interior Width: 6 feet 2 inches
GVWR: 9,350 lbs.
GCWR: 11,500 lbs.
Trailer Hitch Rating: Up to 3,500 lbs.
Maximum Tongue Weight: 350 lbs.
Fuel Capacity: 24 gallons
Fresh Water: 18 gallons
Gray Water: 14 gallons
Black Water: 11 gallons
LP Capacity: 25 lbs.
Generator: Cummins Onan QG 2,800-watt gasoline generator
Solar: 215 watts
House Batteries: Two Group 31 AGM deep-cycle batteries
Inverter: 1,000-watt pure sine wave
Shore Power: 30 amp
Why It’s Perfect for Us
There are bigger RVs. There are more luxurious RVs. There are certainly RVs with more storage, larger bathrooms and enormous holding tanks.
But that’s not why I wanted a Travato.
The beauty of this thing is that it’s just enough RV without feeling like you’re driving a bus.
We can use it for a weekend family trip, take it to a car show, use it as a base camp while filming a jamzDOTnet event, spend a night at a campground, or point it down the highway and see where we end up.
It combines two things I’ve always enjoyed: vehicles and adventures.
Our Travato isn’t something that sits around waiting for the perfect camping trip. It’s a vehicle we can actually use as part of everything we’re already doing.
At only 12,000 miles and 22 generator hours when we found it, we essentially started with a barely-used Travato that someone else bought during one of the strangest periods in recent history.
Now we’re making up for all those miles it didn’t get during its first few years.
For jamzDOTnet – Cars, DIY, and Adventures, I can’t think of a vehicle that fits the “Adventures” part much better than this one.
