Sigh....
.....This is **forever** going to be a question that truly has no definitive answer. And that will have equal amounts of both "I made the right choice!" confidence and also "the grass does look kinda greener...." sentiments in both camps.
The "grass is greener" sentiments are worth pondering for sure. Which set of regrets would bother you the most? To wit:
People with penthouse roofs (which includes myself) will always have a bit of secret "fixed-roof envy":
- "Man, I wish I had the sheer volume of awesome cupboards and storage like those fixed-roof guys all seem to have..."
- "Jeez, I wish our penthouse van was better at keeping outside noises out...."
- "It must be nice to be able to camp/boondock so stealthily....without drawing attention like we do whenever we pop the penthouse top up...."
- "Dude! Your fixed roof van stays SO nice and warm when it's cold out!!!"
- "Dang! Your fixed roof doesn't make noises every time the van hits a big bump?? Wow...yeah, we just kinda get used to hearing the penthouse roof frequently shift around....yep, it "talks to us" a lot when the van is off-road for sure...."
And of course I imagine that the fixed-roof guys have their own secret "penthouse roof envy" thoughts.....
- "Man, every time I tell someone I have a Sportsmobile, they ALWAYS look bummed when I tell them it's not a pop-top...."
- "Holy crap....that penthouse roof van stays SUPER comfortable even on a hot day in direct sun!!! Amazing how opening all those zipper windows makes it perfect temperature inside....man, I wish we could get that amount of flow-through breezes on our fixed-roof...."
- "Yeah, we're not going to be able to drive up that trail and follow you under those tree branches...."
- "Jeez, for just a little bit more sunlight inside this cave of a van...."
- "Okay, yeah, for sure....sleeping up top in that penthouse just looks freakin' rad...."
Clearly the only solution is to own more than one Sportsmobile.