Leasons Learned

Lessons Learned

Bring plenty of quarters. No matter how many quarters you bring on an RV trip you will need more. Before you leave take every quarter out of every jar, pot or piggy bank in the house. You will need them for laundry, newspapers, water, etc.

Stop often. The journey is the destination. The whole point of having an RV is the freedom to stop and go wherever and whenever you want.

Dry camp. Don’t be afraid to stay overnight at Wallmarts and other shopping centers. Pull up to friends’ houses and use their driveways.

Pick campgrounds wisely. The biggest ones might have too many rules. The smallest ones might not have essential services. Get both the Trailer Life and Woodalls directories

Books. We found “The Next Mile” very helpful. It tells you what to expect at the next interception.

Talk to people. At gas stations, restaurants, campgrounds. Get referrals on the next place to go.

Expect to spend money. RVing is not cheap. We ate all our breakfast and lunches in the RV and still spent about $1000 per week on everything.

Get the Good Same road service plan. We found them helpful in the accidents and problems we had.

Get all the discount cards. Good Same, KOA and others. They will pay for themselves.

Get gas discount cards. Some credit card companies are offering 10 cents or more off of every gallon for the first 90 days. Get that kind of card before a long RV trip but be sure to pre-pay so they don’t hit you will high interest charges and penalties.

Arrange to do all your banking on-line. Have standard bills such as mortgages paid automatically.

Find a good way to connect to the Internet. Many RV parks advertise that they have WiFi but only a few really have it. Check out cellular modems. Satellite direct broadband is very expensive.

Don’t take too many clothes. You will never have the right amount of the right kind and you will find that you wear the same outer clothes day after day until they get dirty. Bring about two weeks of underwear. Make sure that you don’t have anything that needs to be dry cleaned. Buy clothes as you need them from Wallmart or other cheap stores.

Bring lots of tools. Make sure that you have a complete set of mechanics tools as well as carpenters tools. Be ready to fix anything automotive, electrical (12 volt and 110 volt) , plumbing or carpentry. You need a cordless drill and screwdriver.
Bring extra fuses and light bulbs.

Get a mechanic’s toolbox and fit it into the storage department under the RV.
Don’t buy a cheap RV vacuum cleaner from Camping World. Get a real vacuum from Wallmart.

Don’t buy RV toilet paper and chemical from Camping World. They charge too much. Buy it from Wallmart. Camping world has the highest prices anywhere. Try to buy elsewhere when you can.

Share the driving with your partner. Take time to look at the scenery.
Get travel books. The Lonely Planet books and the National Geographic books on various states are great. Go to local museums. Learn the local history and lore.

Get a GPS card for you laptop along with mapping software. We like the DeLoran setup. You can use this to estimate distance and driving time to you next stop.
Eat dinner at the bar at restaurants that have a bar. That way you can get to talk to others at the bar and the bartender. Always order a local beer.

Be prepared for the unexpected. Make sure that you have plenty of propane, water, food and gas.

Keep a journal.

Take lots of pictures.

Go to sleep late. Get up early. Take naps. Dance. Listen to local music.

Have fun.