April 13, 2025 • 26 mins
Exploring the RV Lifestyle with Patrick Buchanan
In this episode of Peaceful Life Radio, hosts David Lowry and Don Drew sit down with Patrick Buchanan, the Director of Partnerships at RV Life, to discuss the ins and outs of RV living. Patrick shares his extensive experience, including the common saying 'buy your third RV first,' and provides practical advice on choosing the right RV, the benefits of RVing, and tips for handling life on the road. Whether you're a seasoned RVer or just dreaming of the open road, this episode offers valuable insights into the RV lifestyle.
00:00 Introduction and Opening Remarks
01:00 Meet Patrick Buchanan, RV Life Enthusiast
02:04 The Popularity of RVing
03:24 Traveling with Pets in an RV
04:31 The Allure of RV Life
06:08 Modern RV Technology
07:44 Cost Considerations of RVing
09:53 Renting vs. Buying an RV
15:43 Choosing the Right RV
20:30 Popular RV Destinations
22:59 Lessons Learned from RVing
25:30 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Patrick Buchanan (00:00):
There's a saying in the RV industry.
Buy your third RV first.
The first RV is always the basiccheapest you can tolerate.
If you don't like the hobby, yousell it.
But if you like the hobby, yourealize oh, I need bigger, I
need more features.
And then you get that one.
And after a year or two ofunderstanding the lifestyle
(00:22):
you've got a finer point on whatyou actually like and desire.
And that third RV ends up beingthe perfect marriage of
understanding and experience.
David Lowry (00:31):
Those were the opening remarks from Patrick
Buchanan, our guest on today'sprogram.
You're listening to PeacefulLife Radio, and we're happy you
found your way to our corner ofthe internet dedicated to
navigating the second half oflife with purpose, wisdom, and
grace.
I'm David Lowry.
And as always, I'm thrilled tobe joined by my good friend and
co-host Don Drew.
Don Drew (00:53):
Hello David, and a huge hello to all our listeners.
We are absolutely delighted tohave you join us here on
Peaceful Life Radio.
David, I bet you know, peoplewho have loaded all their
earthly belongings on arecreational vehicle and taken
off to see the world.
Today, we have a fantasticconversation lined up with
Patrick Buchanan, the directorof Partnerships over at RV Life.
(01:16):
You can find RV Life online atRVlife.com.
He's been living the RV life forover a decade.
Now in his sixth year with theRV Life family, he's involved in
just about everything they do.
Based in Dallas-Fort Worth,Patrick is a true enthusiast who
loves driving and taking care ofhis diesel motor home.
They managed to rack up over20,000 miles with their adorable
(01:37):
crew of miniature dachshunds.
David Lowry (01:40):
That sounds like a lot of fun.
Patrick has a wealth ofexperience, a genuine love of
RVing, and that makes him theperfect person to talk about all
those wonderful things, andmaybe a few quirks about living
on the road.
So, whether you're a seasonedRVer or with miles under your
belt, or dreaming about the openroad the first time, Patrick's
(02:01):
insight are gonna be reallyvaluable to us.
Don Drew (02:04):
Patrick, is RVing still popular and why?
Patrick Buchanan (02:07):
Hi Don, and David thanks for having me.
I appreciate you guys.
Yes, RVing is very popular.
It's more popular than it's everbeen.
Whereas before, perhaps maybe wesaw it as that second half of
life hobby or lifestyle.
Now the median age has come downalmost 20 years, and people are
in their forties and obviouslyyoung people, and we say a
(02:30):
median age so of course thespread is quite wide but
incredibly popular.
It was already on a trajectoryof improving that popularity
before COVID.
And then of course, when COVIDhit, it was the only thing you
could do and it went absolutelybonkers and bananas at that
time.
But there was a reawakening towhat RVs could do with the
(02:55):
changes in technology, justlittle things like flat TVs that
only weighed, five poundsinstead of 50 or 60 pounds and
could be crammed anywhere in anRV.
Internet anywhere on your phone,hotspots 5G, wifi.
It some of the things that weretying people back to their homes
suddenly weren't doing thatanymore.
(03:17):
So, RVing is very popular.
And there's a lot of differentthings drawing them to the
lifestyle.
Don Drew (03:24):
Patrick, almost everywhere I go these days I see
people taking their pets withthem.
Is that facilitated by RV Life?
Patrick Buchanan (03:30):
Absolutely.
I think that number's in the 65%range of our viewers that take
pets with them.
Certainly the majority are dogs,but lots of cat folks and bird
people and I don't know how manyturtles and things like that,
but but certainly animals thatwould normally need care or
boarding don't, when you have anRV.
(03:51):
You're rolling'em in that little400 or so square foot, rolling
home, and there's no boardingfees.
And you can usually have alittle pen or something outside
or take'em to the dog park ifthey're that sort of animal.
It's a huge part of why peoplegravitate towards RVing.
It's one of the reasons I endedup getting in as well.
David Lowry (04:31):
Patrick, when I see RVs going down the road,
sometimes I get this wonderlustfeeling thinking, it must be
really wonderful just to load upyour gear, see something you
haven't seen before, hang out,just take it in.
What are some things that makeRV life so attractive to you and
others that you talk with?
Patrick Buchanan (04:51):
You know, that 14-year-old kid that was
listening to rubber Duck andBreaker one nine back in those
days, that, well, that thoughtbeing a trucker was gonna be the
greatest job on the planet.
That sort of comes out and I'mdriving along, I'm an eye level
with the 18 wheelers, and thereis that feeling.
There's also that, gosh! Thetrue wonder of seeing things
(05:12):
you've never seen before, seeingparts of the country you've only
seen on TV.
For myself, I always tend tomention growing up as a young
person watching Close Encountersof the Third Kind, and then to
drive up and pull up next toDevil's Tower, that first time
in the RV was really oddlyemotional.
(05:34):
And that is a big a draw ofcourse.
Simple things like not having topark your car and go through
security and get on the airplaneand get off the airplane and
rent a car and go through allthose motions.
If I can go somewhere in five orsix hours, what takes five or
six hours to go on a plane, ifyou count all the stops and
(05:54):
starts and airports and allthat, I might could get there
in, in one day in an RV-- maybetwo, right?
I get to stay somewhere and I'mtaking my home with me.
Those are some of the thingsthat are a huge draw for the RV
life.
David Lowry (06:08):
Patrick, back in the day, my family and I used to
go to the New Mexico Mountainsall the time.
And we would go up these windingpasses and steep hills.
Getting behind a long RV used tobe our nemesis but I must tell
you the last several years thatI've been up to New Mexico,
that's not a problem anymore.
Those RVs got a lot of power.
(06:29):
Tell us how are they differenttoday than they used to be?
Patrick Buchanan (06:33):
I think if we look beyond RVs, we can find our
answer.
And as a sidebar, if you watchsomething like Barrett Jackson
and you see those great old carsfrom the sixties and the
seventies that are going forhundreds of thousands of
dollars, and yet, I can walkoutta my driveway in a modern
SUV and every single feature onthat vehicle is better than
those hot rods, right?
(06:53):
The technology is so muchbetter.
Everything from the engines andobviously fuel injection and
suspensions and all of that,ultimately ends up applying to
RVs as well.
Certainly there are still thegas RVs and there's a Ford
chassis that is quite prevalent.
But you see tons of theseMercedes Sprinter vans, the
(07:14):
diesel pushers are all farbetter than they were decades
ago.
So, from a standpoint ofautomotive technology they're
far more capable now.
Don Drew (07:25):
My wife and I travel quite a bit, Patrick, and I
guess we do the math on this,and you mentioned flying, and of
course, the time that it takesto fly, we do that.
We look at my, my daughter livesin Colorado and we can drive
there nine hours or we can flythere in about, seven or eight,
depending on how long we have tospend at the airport and all
that kind of stuff.
And then there's other factors.
My question is, if I go shoppingfor RVs, I'm looking at pretty
(07:46):
big price tag.
Okay, so what are some of thethings to think about when it
comes to expenses for RV andcomparing that to other forms of
travel and so on.
What have you found that to be?
Patrick Buchanan (07:59):
I don't think you can look at as a different
form of travel because, I think,it would lose everytime.
At the end of the day, if I canget an Uber to the airport or
leave my car in long-termparking and get a good deal on a
flight and a good deal on ahotel, that's gonna come out
ahead every time.
It's gotta be a, anothercomponent to it, right?
(08:19):
It's gotta be the other factorsof camping and staying somewhere
different and having differentexperiences and spending time
together in the RV and justhaving a different experience
that offsets what is more thanlikely gonna be a loss leader
when it comes to the cost.
It's a little bit moreexpensive, but if it's, what is
it today?
Tuesday.
If I decide I wanna flysomewhere Friday morning.
(08:42):
That ticket's a lot moreexpensive, right?
Whereas if I just wanna hop inthe RV Friday morning, there's
nothing stopping me.
Weighed together, if we add intothat formula of the airplane,
the car, and all that stuff,we've gotta add the boarding
costs for the pets, and we'vegotta add some of those things.
And so there's a balance of allof those experiences.
(09:02):
RVing, can be expensive.
It ultimately depends on whatkind of RV you buy, right?
Think of it in the lines ofowning a boat perhaps.
It is a luxury item, and it'ssimply how much luxury can you
afford?
Is it a 20 foot little camper totake out on the weekends?
Is it a$300,000 diesel pusher?
Like a boat, you've got the costof the product, you've got
(09:24):
storage, you've got insurance,you've got maintenance.
It's not without its costs.
So, you never wanna go in blind.
I think the difference thoughwith the boat is, eh, look, I'm
gonna take it.
I'm gonna go on a lake and I'mgonna come home.
It's a pretty finite experience,whereas the RVing is the home.
It's traveling.
It's going somewhere.
(09:45):
It's staying somewhere.
I'm having an adventure, butstill sleeping in my own bed.
It's a very unique experience.
Don Drew (09:53):
So, not everyone is going to know necessarily what
kind of RV or motor home theywant.
How does somebody figure thisout without spending a lot of
money before they know what theywant?
Would you recommend renting somefirst?
Patrick Buchanan (10:06):
I would advocate for renting 99 times
out of a hundred if possible.
`There are nuances you justmight not imagine.
Number one, it's a great way tolearn about what it feels like
to RV, what does it actuallyfeel like to drive for six
hours.
Or those that have never had anRV think, well, I usually drive
(10:28):
12 hours in my car.
It should be just the same.
And eight hours in they areburnt to a crisp, exhausted and
mentally fried.
You need to learn the smallnuances of what kind of RV?
We opted to try out some motorhomes.
I actually rented a Class Cmotor home, which, for those
that don't know is that one thathas the section hanging over the
(10:49):
roof of the driver area.
Inside those RVs, 99 times outof a hundred, that's a bed area.
If you don't have a bunch oflittle kids running around, that
could be some storage.
And we took one of these threeYellowstone when we were going
down a slope, I could not lookup at what was on those
mountains'cause that roof wasright over my head, and that was
(11:09):
a big detractor for me althoughI think the Class C is probably
the smartest, best RV for mostpeople to get started with, and
I would not have realized itwithout renting.
We also realized, the noise ofthe engine in the front of a gas
motor home.
It's not terrible, especially ifyou're talking to the person
(11:30):
sitting next to you in thepassenger seat.
But if that person is sitting inthe back, on the couch or at the
table, or hanging out with thedogs and not near you, they're
not gonna hear you.
And that was our case.
So, we ended up going withwhat's called a diesel pusher,
meaning the diesel engine wasway in the back of the rig.
So it was nice and quiet upfront.
So we could have conversationswithout my wife being next to
(11:53):
me.
And again, another nuance Inever would've known without
renting.
So there was two things rightthere that I learned.
Obviously there's others.
There could be this simpleexperience of, wait a minute, I
have to cook?
Unless you're gonna eat outevery night, it's like being at
home.
You do have a kitchen, you dohave to account for your meals,
and maybe that's not your ideaof a vacation.
(12:14):
So, you can learn a lot fromrenting.
David Lowry (12:17):
You mentioned the RV experience and thinking of it
as an experience.
My parents did this.
One of the things they lovedabout it was they did like to
cook.
They did like their own bed.
They were fussy about motels andhotels.
In fact, they were a turnoff tothem.
They loved having their ownspace that was clean the way
(12:39):
they like it.
So, for some people that is areally great experience.
Patrick Buchanan (12:44):
There's quite a variety of types of
experiences.
And this is something you'llthink about early in the process
when you're renting or buying orsearching.
First of all, where do you wannago?
Right?
If you are the type that says,look, I just wanna go to nice
campgrounds and sit outside andhave a cocktail, and maybe
there's a pool, there's ashuffleboard or there's a pickle
(13:05):
ball or perhaps you would rathergo to a base camp somewhere in
Colorado and spend the dayhiking and mountaineering and
whatever.
Maybe you're pulling a Jeep andyou wanna hit the Jeep trails.
So what you need could varydramatically depending on what
type of camper you are.
If you are a cyclist, you justwanna find a place to go and
(13:27):
find great trails.
The core of what it is youexpect to do defines what you
need.
So, whether you need kayaks or aboat or a Jeep or just good
hiking shoes or perhaps strongcocktail glasses depends on
where you're going and what youintend to do.
We know most RVers want to getout on the road, see America,
(13:50):
and check out a couple of thebig national parks.
After that you have to askyourself.
But then what are we gonna do?
Are we gonna join an RVcommunity where we spend a month
in Florida or Arizona meetpeople and hang out and do
socials?
Are we gonna go boondocking inthe desert, which means no
hookups and run off solar power?
(14:12):
Are we gonna be in the desertand, look for snakes, or
whatever.
Watch sunsets, right?
Everything you're going to dodefines what you need to buy
depending on what type ofexperience you wanna have.
David Lowry (14:28):
What about internet?
A lot of people wanna know aboutthat.
Patrick Buchanan (14:32):
Internet is one of the most important
things.
It's also one of the primarydrivers why RVing is even more
popular now.
Because without doing anythingdifferent, everybody walks out
of the house with a 4G or 5Gphone in their pocket.
And so they've already got goodinternet.
In fact, that internet is betterthan what most RV parks end up
(14:55):
having during peak times.
But not withstanding, most RVparks do have wifi.
Obviously we've said that we'vegot the major cell networks that
permeate almost every squareinch of the country, outside of
perhaps, the death valley insome of the rocky areas or
wherever.
And with the advent of starlink,you can be in the middle of
(15:16):
nowhere and point up to the skyand get internet.
So, internet is crucial to mostRVs existence now, whether it be
for work or homeschooling, orwhat we now call road schooling,
or simply paying the bills orchecking doctor's appointments,
whatever it may be, internet iscrucial and critical.
(15:36):
But the amount of solutions isvast and varied and pretty
strong out there.
Don Drew (15:42):
So, Patrick, let's go back to this.
Idea of what type of RV to buy.
You've mentioned severalfactors, and one was the Class C
and the restricted viewing thatyou found, and you could only
discover that when you wereactually out there and so on.
What are some of the otherthings a person would want to
consider, for instance, weightor the need to have a big truck,
that kind of thing?
Patrick Buchanan (16:01):
Yeah, definitely for those that want
to pull an RV and that'sultimately your first big
decision, right?
Is do I get a drivable or do Iget a towable?
From the drivable standpoint, Ijust think it's one of those
things where that's your visionof an RV.
That's what you're gonna dowhether it's you don't have a
truck, or you just simply seeyourself driving a motorized RV.
(16:26):
And then at that point it justcomes down to cost, comfort in
driving, depending on how big ofsomething you feel comfortable
driving, what your goals are formaintenance.
Do you wanna do it yourself?
Do you wanna have it done?
Do you wanna have a mix of thosetypes of things?
The drivable aspect is notterribly difficult to discern,
(16:47):
right?
I mean, you've got your threetypes, which are.
The camper van style, whichwe'll call the Class B.
And then you have that class C Imentioned and the Class A, which
is the big window looks like abus type of a thing.
And easy enough to just, todetermine what your budget and
your sensibilities of drivingwill allow.
The towable folks, which is themajority, have a lot more to
(17:10):
think about and it's very easyto get roped in or convinced
that the truck you have issufficient.
Very often it is not.
And so you've gotta say, well,look, if we want this RV, I need
to go buy a brand new$60,000dually to drive it.
So, that's a big factor.
Now look, if you already haveone of those or you were hoping
(17:32):
to buy one someday, then allright.
That's not a, that's a goodreason.
But you have to just think.
How many people are going to bein the RV, and for how long, and
how close can you stand to benear those people for that long?
We know as gentlemen on thatsecond half of life that when
you're younger you think in amore minimalistic fashion and
(17:54):
you think you can get by withless, and you usually do, in
most cases you have to.
But there's also a bit ofresistance to buying something
quite as gaudy or over the topwhen you're 30 or 20 or
whatever.
And so there's a lot of folksenjoying real small campers that
maybe the kitchen is outside thecamper and they're pulling it
(18:15):
with a jeep.
And then you move up to let'ssay a 15 or 20 footer maybe that
can be pulled with a more orless regular truck.
And then as you're looking intothose big fifth wheels and
things that are, you know, 70grand and 40 foot long, and you
need a$60,000 truck it comesback again, how do I know which
of those to buy?
(18:35):
It comes down to what do youwanna do?
Do you wanna spend the majorityof your day sitting with the
dogs.
Watching a little TV, maybeenjoying the fireplace?
Or do you gonna go outside andspend nine hours a day outside
and the RV is just for showeringand sleeping?
(18:57):
That dictates how much you wantor need to spend on various
features of the RV and it's notthat hard to dictate.
Then you narrow that down anddetermine what kind of vehicle
you need to pull it.
And then that helps narrow thefocus.
And it might swing you one wayor the other if the truck you
have forces you to buy aslightly lesser version and
(19:20):
perhaps you desire, or perhapsit's the impetus to trigger you
to replace the truck.
There's a saying in the RVindustry, which is buy your
third RV first.
The logic behind that is yourfirst RV is always the basic
cheapest that you can tolerate.
And then you, if you don't likethe hobby, you sell it.
(19:43):
But if you like the hobby, yourealize right away, oh, I need
bigger, I need more features.
And then you get that one.
And then after a year or two ofunderstanding the lifestyle a
little bit more, now you've gota finer point on what you
actually like and desire.
And that third RV ends up beingthe perfect marriage of
understanding and experience.
(20:04):
If you managed to buy that thirdone first, you've saved yourself
two purchases and a lot ofdepreciation.
And that's where perhaps rentingcomes in or borrowing, or if the
cases of renting and borrowingare not possible there's enough
information on the internetbetween articles and YouTube.
You could research till youreyes bleed and you will be able
(20:27):
to narrow down what you needpretty well.
David Lowry (20:30):
What are some of the more popular RV places to go
in America?
Patrick Buchanan (20:34):
Well, we certainly mentioned the national
parks, the big ones obviously.
The Yosemite Yellowstone anddevil's Tower, Mount Rushmore
certainly all of those types ofnational parks.
On the East coast you've gotGettysburg and those types of
things.
State parks are very popular aswell as are what they call Corp
(20:57):
of Engineers Parks.
They kinda lump those into stateparks.
They're essentially statefunded, providing campgrounds.
They're low on amenities, butthey're also pretty low on
restrictions and rules.
And they're a little more laidback.
You don't have to worry so muchabout what other people are
doing.
Conversely you've got luxury RVparks with a lot of those
(21:18):
amenities we talked aboutbefore, and full hookups and
wifi and pools and clubhousesand pickleballs and socials and
all of those types of things.
In the middle of those two arethe regular campground or public
chains, right?
The Passport Americas and theCampgrounds of America and the
Good Sams and those types ofparks that are basically not
(21:41):
always destinations withinthemselves, they're a means to a
destination.
Sometimes it's a skipping pointor a skipping stone to that
grand location you're trying toget to Crater Lake or Death
Valley or somewhere where you'retrying to go.
They're just nice casual placesout in the woods or on the
desert or by the beach orwherever that you can just hang
(22:04):
out for a few days.
We talked a little bit aboutearlier about people going what
we call boondocking, or I'llcall it off grid now is the more
common term, especially with theadvent of so much solar and
lithium batteries.
It's much, much easier for aneophyte RV is to get out there
and stay in the middle of afield or the desert or the woods
(22:25):
somewhere for a few days withoutany sort of hookups or
jurisdiction per se.
And again, very often they'revery active folks.
We see this a lot with race cardrivers or maybe traveling
baseball teams and those typesof things that the RV is just a
base camp.
It's just an alternative to ahotel that goes with them that
(22:47):
they can take anywhere.
Quite a diverse.
Group of locations.
I think I've done just about allof those and everybody finds
their favorite niche andfrequents that as much as they
can.
Don Drew (22:59):
Patrick in your 20,000 plus miles of travel.
Surely you've learned somelessons that you can share with
us today that would save us alot of pain and agony.
Patrick Buchanan (23:12):
Yeah, there really are some lessons to
learn, I can relate a fewdifferent ones, but it's
important to remember that theRV buying experience really it's
not like buying a car.
You buy a brand new Ford orbrand new Toyota, there's a
certain level of expectation ofthe fit and finish and quality
of the vehicle, as well as thedealer's service.
(23:34):
RVs are a little bit of athrowback back to those 1930s
where you had a chassismanufacturer and a body coach
builder and they threw, thisbody on this chassis and it was
custom and, getting it fixed orworked on was quite a bit more
challenging.
If you buy something like aMercedes Sprinter van, you have
that Mercedes label behind youand certainly a lot of the
(23:56):
vehicles have that Ford chasisbehind them.
But very often it's well, theydid the chassis and they did the
RV and the heater was thosepeople.
And there's a lot of fingerpointing that can go on there.
So you have to be prepared forthat.
You're gonna be an RV owner,you've gotta be handy, wealthy,
(24:16):
or both.
You can't be none of'em.
If you're not wealthy, youbetter sure be handy'cause
you're gonna need to know alittle bit about automotive, a
little bit about plumbing, alittle bit about electrical, or
you just got a whole lot ofmoney you can throw at the
problem.
Everything you do with RVs takesmore time.
You are driving a two to 400square foot living room down the
(24:38):
road, and that means driving isslower.
Stops are more frequent, andplanning is quite a bit more
intense.
You can't just grab your phoneand press a button and tell
Google where you want to gobecause you might not get there
in one piece.
There are overpasses and weightrestrictions and sharp turns and
(24:59):
just the aspect of driving.
My eye opening foray into thisindustry came from a trip from
Flagstaff to Amarillo, which onthe map, Google says, yeah,
dude, that's six hours, noproblem.
Well, behind the wheel of a 36foot RV with a apparently a 40
mile an hour wind blowingcrossways that's a nine hour
(25:21):
drive.
It's not one I would ever wantto repeat.
And so, there are nuances thatmust be taken into
consideration.
David Lowry (25:30):
Patrick, what a fantastic conversation it's been
today.
I wanna thank you for yourincredible experiences, your
insights.
It's truly inspiring to hearabout the freedom and joy that
RVs can bring, but also learnabout the things we need to know
so that we make really wisedecisions.
Don Drew (25:48):
Absolutely, David.
Patrick, thank you.
We are so grateful you took timeto join us on Peaceful Life
Radio.
Your passion for RVing and yourpractical advice has been
invaluable to us.
So, thank you for being such awonderful guest.
David Lowry (26:00):
A big thank you to all of our wonderful listeners
for tuning in to Peaceful LifeRadio, and we hope you found
today's conversation withPatrick encouraging and maybe it
sparked a little bit of thatdesire for Wonderlust.
Don Drew (26:12):
And remember to join us next time for more
conversations focused onnavigating the second half of
life with purpose, wisdom, andgrace.
There's a saying in the RV industry.
Buy your third RV first.
The first RV is always the basiccheapest you can tolerate.
If you don't like the hobby, yousell it.
But if you like the hobby, yourealize oh, I need bigger, I
need more features.
And then you get that one.
And after a year or two ofunderstanding the lifestyle
(00:22):
you've got a finer point on whatyou actually like and desire.
And that third RV ends up beingthe perfect marriage of
understanding and experience.
David Lowry (00:31):
Those were the opening remarks from Patrick
Buchanan, our guest on today'sprogram.
You're listening to PeacefulLife Radio, and we're happy you
found your way to our corner ofthe internet dedicated to
navigating the second half oflife with purpose, wisdom, and
grace.
I'm David Lowry.
And as always, I'm thrilled tobe joined by my good friend and
co-host Don Drew.
Don Drew (00:53):
Hello David, and a huge hello to all our listeners.
We are absolutely delighted tohave you join us here on
Peaceful Life Radio.
David, I bet you know, peoplewho have loaded all their
earthly belongings on arecreational vehicle and taken
off to see the world.
Today, we have a fantasticconversation lined up with
Patrick Buchanan, the directorof Partnerships over at RV Life.
(01:16):
You can find RV Life online atRVlife.com.
He's been living the RV life forover a decade.
Now in his sixth year with theRV Life family, he's involved in
just about everything they do.
Based in Dallas-Fort Worth,Patrick is a true enthusiast who
loves driving and taking care ofhis diesel motor home.
They managed to rack up over20,000 miles with their adorable
(01:37):
crew of miniature dachshunds.
David Lowry (01:40):
That sounds like a lot of fun.
Patrick has a wealth ofexperience, a genuine love of
RVing, and that makes him theperfect person to talk about all
those wonderful things, andmaybe a few quirks about living
on the road.
So, whether you're a seasonedRVer or with miles under your
belt, or dreaming about the openroad the first time, Patrick's
(02:01):
insight are gonna be reallyvaluable to us.
Don Drew (02:04):
Patrick, is RVing still popular and why?
Patrick Buchanan (02:07):
Hi Don, and David thanks for having me.
I appreciate you guys.
Yes, RVing is very popular.
It's more popular than it's everbeen.
Whereas before, perhaps maybe wesaw it as that second half of
life hobby or lifestyle.
Now the median age has come downalmost 20 years, and people are
in their forties and obviouslyyoung people, and we say a
(02:30):
median age so of course thespread is quite wide but
incredibly popular.
It was already on a trajectoryof improving that popularity
before COVID.
And then of course, when COVIDhit, it was the only thing you
could do and it went absolutelybonkers and bananas at that
time.
But there was a reawakening towhat RVs could do with the
(02:55):
changes in technology, justlittle things like flat TVs that
only weighed, five poundsinstead of 50 or 60 pounds and
could be crammed anywhere in anRV.
Internet anywhere on your phone,hotspots 5G, wifi.
It some of the things that weretying people back to their homes
suddenly weren't doing thatanymore.
(03:17):
So, RVing is very popular.
And there's a lot of differentthings drawing them to the
lifestyle.
Don Drew (03:24):
Patrick, almost everywhere I go these days I see
people taking their pets withthem.
Is that facilitated by RV Life?
Patrick Buchanan (03:30):
Absolutely.
I think that number's in the 65%range of our viewers that take
pets with them.
Certainly the majority are dogs,but lots of cat folks and bird
people and I don't know how manyturtles and things like that,
but but certainly animals thatwould normally need care or
boarding don't, when you have anRV.
(03:51):
You're rolling'em in that little400 or so square foot, rolling
home, and there's no boardingfees.
And you can usually have alittle pen or something outside
or take'em to the dog park ifthey're that sort of animal.
It's a huge part of why peoplegravitate towards RVing.
It's one of the reasons I endedup getting in as well.
David Lowry (04:31):
Patrick, when I see RVs going down the road,
sometimes I get this wonderlustfeeling thinking, it must be
really wonderful just to load upyour gear, see something you
haven't seen before, hang out,just take it in.
What are some things that makeRV life so attractive to you and
others that you talk with?
Patrick Buchanan (04:51):
You know, that 14-year-old kid that was
listening to rubber Duck andBreaker one nine back in those
days, that, well, that thoughtbeing a trucker was gonna be the
greatest job on the planet.
That sort of comes out and I'mdriving along, I'm an eye level
with the 18 wheelers, and thereis that feeling.
There's also that, gosh! Thetrue wonder of seeing things
(05:12):
you've never seen before, seeingparts of the country you've only
seen on TV.
For myself, I always tend tomention growing up as a young
person watching Close Encountersof the Third Kind, and then to
drive up and pull up next toDevil's Tower, that first time
in the RV was really oddlyemotional.
(05:34):
And that is a big a draw ofcourse.
Simple things like not having topark your car and go through
security and get on the airplaneand get off the airplane and
rent a car and go through allthose motions.
If I can go somewhere in five orsix hours, what takes five or
six hours to go on a plane, ifyou count all the stops and
(05:54):
starts and airports and allthat, I might could get there
in, in one day in an RV-- maybetwo, right?
I get to stay somewhere and I'mtaking my home with me.
Those are some of the thingsthat are a huge draw for the RV
life.
David Lowry (06:08):
Patrick, back in the day, my family and I used to
go to the New Mexico Mountainsall the time.
And we would go up these windingpasses and steep hills.
Getting behind a long RV used tobe our nemesis but I must tell
you the last several years thatI've been up to New Mexico,
that's not a problem anymore.
Those RVs got a lot of power.
(06:29):
Tell us how are they differenttoday than they used to be?
Patrick Buchanan (06:33):
I think if we look beyond RVs, we can find our
answer.
And as a sidebar, if you watchsomething like Barrett Jackson
and you see those great old carsfrom the sixties and the
seventies that are going forhundreds of thousands of
dollars, and yet, I can walkoutta my driveway in a modern
SUV and every single feature onthat vehicle is better than
those hot rods, right?
(06:53):
The technology is so muchbetter.
Everything from the engines andobviously fuel injection and
suspensions and all of that,ultimately ends up applying to
RVs as well.
Certainly there are still thegas RVs and there's a Ford
chassis that is quite prevalent.
But you see tons of theseMercedes Sprinter vans, the
(07:14):
diesel pushers are all farbetter than they were decades
ago.
So, from a standpoint ofautomotive technology they're
far more capable now.
Don Drew (07:25):
My wife and I travel quite a bit, Patrick, and I
guess we do the math on this,and you mentioned flying, and of
course, the time that it takesto fly, we do that.
We look at my, my daughter livesin Colorado and we can drive
there nine hours or we can flythere in about, seven or eight,
depending on how long we have tospend at the airport and all
that kind of stuff.
And then there's other factors.
My question is, if I go shoppingfor RVs, I'm looking at pretty
(07:46):
big price tag.
Okay, so what are some of thethings to think about when it
comes to expenses for RV andcomparing that to other forms of
travel and so on.
What have you found that to be?
Patrick Buchanan (07:59):
I don't think you can look at as a different
form of travel because, I think,it would lose everytime.
At the end of the day, if I canget an Uber to the airport or
leave my car in long-termparking and get a good deal on a
flight and a good deal on ahotel, that's gonna come out
ahead every time.
It's gotta be a, anothercomponent to it, right?
(08:19):
It's gotta be the other factorsof camping and staying somewhere
different and having differentexperiences and spending time
together in the RV and justhaving a different experience
that offsets what is more thanlikely gonna be a loss leader
when it comes to the cost.
It's a little bit moreexpensive, but if it's, what is
it today?
Tuesday.
If I decide I wanna flysomewhere Friday morning.
(08:42):
That ticket's a lot moreexpensive, right?
Whereas if I just wanna hop inthe RV Friday morning, there's
nothing stopping me.
Weighed together, if we add intothat formula of the airplane,
the car, and all that stuff,we've gotta add the boarding
costs for the pets, and we'vegotta add some of those things.
And so there's a balance of allof those experiences.
(09:02):
RVing, can be expensive.
It ultimately depends on whatkind of RV you buy, right?
Think of it in the lines ofowning a boat perhaps.
It is a luxury item, and it'ssimply how much luxury can you
afford?
Is it a 20 foot little camper totake out on the weekends?
Is it a$300,000 diesel pusher?
Like a boat, you've got the costof the product, you've got
(09:24):
storage, you've got insurance,you've got maintenance.
It's not without its costs.
So, you never wanna go in blind.
I think the difference thoughwith the boat is, eh, look, I'm
gonna take it.
I'm gonna go on a lake and I'mgonna come home.
It's a pretty finite experience,whereas the RVing is the home.
It's traveling.
It's going somewhere.
(09:45):
It's staying somewhere.
I'm having an adventure, butstill sleeping in my own bed.
It's a very unique experience.
Don Drew (09:53):
So, not everyone is going to know necessarily what
kind of RV or motor home theywant.
How does somebody figure thisout without spending a lot of
money before they know what theywant?
Would you recommend renting somefirst?
Patrick Buchanan (10:06):
I would advocate for renting 99 times
out of a hundred if possible.
`There are nuances you justmight not imagine.
Number one, it's a great way tolearn about what it feels like
to RV, what does it actuallyfeel like to drive for six
hours.
Or those that have never had anRV think, well, I usually drive
(10:28):
12 hours in my car.
It should be just the same.
And eight hours in they areburnt to a crisp, exhausted and
mentally fried.
You need to learn the smallnuances of what kind of RV?
We opted to try out some motorhomes.
I actually rented a Class Cmotor home, which, for those
that don't know is that one thathas the section hanging over the
(10:49):
roof of the driver area.
Inside those RVs, 99 times outof a hundred, that's a bed area.
If you don't have a bunch oflittle kids running around, that
could be some storage.
And we took one of these threeYellowstone when we were going
down a slope, I could not lookup at what was on those
mountains'cause that roof wasright over my head, and that was
(11:09):
a big detractor for me althoughI think the Class C is probably
the smartest, best RV for mostpeople to get started with, and
I would not have realized itwithout renting.
We also realized, the noise ofthe engine in the front of a gas
motor home.
It's not terrible, especially ifyou're talking to the person
(11:30):
sitting next to you in thepassenger seat.
But if that person is sitting inthe back, on the couch or at the
table, or hanging out with thedogs and not near you, they're
not gonna hear you.
And that was our case.
So, we ended up going withwhat's called a diesel pusher,
meaning the diesel engine wasway in the back of the rig.
So it was nice and quiet upfront.
So we could have conversationswithout my wife being next to
(11:53):
me.
And again, another nuance Inever would've known without
renting.
So there was two things rightthere that I learned.
Obviously there's others.
There could be this simpleexperience of, wait a minute, I
have to cook?
Unless you're gonna eat outevery night, it's like being at
home.
You do have a kitchen, you dohave to account for your meals,
and maybe that's not your ideaof a vacation.
(12:14):
So, you can learn a lot fromrenting.
David Lowry (12:17):
You mentioned the RV experience and thinking of it
as an experience.
My parents did this.
One of the things they lovedabout it was they did like to
cook.
They did like their own bed.
They were fussy about motels andhotels.
In fact, they were a turnoff tothem.
They loved having their ownspace that was clean the way
(12:39):
they like it.
So, for some people that is areally great experience.
Patrick Buchanan (12:44):
There's quite a variety of types of
experiences.
And this is something you'llthink about early in the process
when you're renting or buying orsearching.
First of all, where do you wannago?
Right?
If you are the type that says,look, I just wanna go to nice
campgrounds and sit outside andhave a cocktail, and maybe
there's a pool, there's ashuffleboard or there's a pickle
(13:05):
ball or perhaps you would rathergo to a base camp somewhere in
Colorado and spend the dayhiking and mountaineering and
whatever.
Maybe you're pulling a Jeep andyou wanna hit the Jeep trails.
So what you need could varydramatically depending on what
type of camper you are.
If you are a cyclist, you justwanna find a place to go and
(13:27):
find great trails.
The core of what it is youexpect to do defines what you
need.
So, whether you need kayaks or aboat or a Jeep or just good
hiking shoes or perhaps strongcocktail glasses depends on
where you're going and what youintend to do.
We know most RVers want to getout on the road, see America,
(13:50):
and check out a couple of thebig national parks.
After that you have to askyourself.
But then what are we gonna do?
Are we gonna join an RVcommunity where we spend a month
in Florida or Arizona meetpeople and hang out and do
socials?
Are we gonna go boondocking inthe desert, which means no
hookups and run off solar power?
(14:12):
Are we gonna be in the desertand, look for snakes, or
whatever.
Watch sunsets, right?
Everything you're going to dodefines what you need to buy
depending on what type ofexperience you wanna have.
David Lowry (14:28):
What about internet?
A lot of people wanna know aboutthat.
Patrick Buchanan (14:32):
Internet is one of the most important
things.
It's also one of the primarydrivers why RVing is even more
popular now.
Because without doing anythingdifferent, everybody walks out
of the house with a 4G or 5Gphone in their pocket.
And so they've already got goodinternet.
In fact, that internet is betterthan what most RV parks end up
(14:55):
having during peak times.
But not withstanding, most RVparks do have wifi.
Obviously we've said that we'vegot the major cell networks that
permeate almost every squareinch of the country, outside of
perhaps, the death valley insome of the rocky areas or
wherever.
And with the advent of starlink,you can be in the middle of
(15:16):
nowhere and point up to the skyand get internet.
So, internet is crucial to mostRVs existence now, whether it be
for work or homeschooling, orwhat we now call road schooling,
or simply paying the bills orchecking doctor's appointments,
whatever it may be, internet iscrucial and critical.
(15:36):
But the amount of solutions isvast and varied and pretty
strong out there.
Don Drew (15:42):
So, Patrick, let's go back to this.
Idea of what type of RV to buy.
You've mentioned severalfactors, and one was the Class C
and the restricted viewing thatyou found, and you could only
discover that when you wereactually out there and so on.
What are some of the otherthings a person would want to
consider, for instance, weightor the need to have a big truck,
that kind of thing?
Patrick Buchanan (16:01):
Yeah, definitely for those that want
to pull an RV and that'sultimately your first big
decision, right?
Is do I get a drivable or do Iget a towable?
From the drivable standpoint, Ijust think it's one of those
things where that's your visionof an RV.
That's what you're gonna dowhether it's you don't have a
truck, or you just simply seeyourself driving a motorized RV.
(16:26):
And then at that point it justcomes down to cost, comfort in
driving, depending on how big ofsomething you feel comfortable
driving, what your goals are formaintenance.
Do you wanna do it yourself?
Do you wanna have it done?
Do you wanna have a mix of thosetypes of things?
The drivable aspect is notterribly difficult to discern,
(16:47):
right?
I mean, you've got your threetypes, which are.
The camper van style, whichwe'll call the Class B.
And then you have that class C Imentioned and the Class A, which
is the big window looks like abus type of a thing.
And easy enough to just, todetermine what your budget and
your sensibilities of drivingwill allow.
The towable folks, which is themajority, have a lot more to
(17:10):
think about and it's very easyto get roped in or convinced
that the truck you have issufficient.
Very often it is not.
And so you've gotta say, well,look, if we want this RV, I need
to go buy a brand new$60,000dually to drive it.
So, that's a big factor.
Now look, if you already haveone of those or you were hoping
(17:32):
to buy one someday, then allright.
That's not a, that's a goodreason.
But you have to just think.
How many people are going to bein the RV, and for how long, and
how close can you stand to benear those people for that long?
We know as gentlemen on thatsecond half of life that when
you're younger you think in amore minimalistic fashion and
(17:54):
you think you can get by withless, and you usually do, in
most cases you have to.
But there's also a bit ofresistance to buying something
quite as gaudy or over the topwhen you're 30 or 20 or
whatever.
And so there's a lot of folksenjoying real small campers that
maybe the kitchen is outside thecamper and they're pulling it
(18:15):
with a jeep.
And then you move up to let'ssay a 15 or 20 footer maybe that
can be pulled with a more orless regular truck.
And then as you're looking intothose big fifth wheels and
things that are, you know, 70grand and 40 foot long, and you
need a$60,000 truck it comesback again, how do I know which
of those to buy?
(18:35):
It comes down to what do youwanna do?
Do you wanna spend the majorityof your day sitting with the
dogs.
Watching a little TV, maybeenjoying the fireplace?
Or do you gonna go outside andspend nine hours a day outside
and the RV is just for showeringand sleeping?
(18:57):
That dictates how much you wantor need to spend on various
features of the RV and it's notthat hard to dictate.
Then you narrow that down anddetermine what kind of vehicle
you need to pull it.
And then that helps narrow thefocus.
And it might swing you one wayor the other if the truck you
have forces you to buy aslightly lesser version and
(19:20):
perhaps you desire, or perhapsit's the impetus to trigger you
to replace the truck.
There's a saying in the RVindustry, which is buy your
third RV first.
The logic behind that is yourfirst RV is always the basic
cheapest that you can tolerate.
And then you, if you don't likethe hobby, you sell it.
(19:43):
But if you like the hobby, yourealize right away, oh, I need
bigger, I need more features.
And then you get that one.
And then after a year or two ofunderstanding the lifestyle a
little bit more, now you've gota finer point on what you
actually like and desire.
And that third RV ends up beingthe perfect marriage of
understanding and experience.
(20:04):
If you managed to buy that thirdone first, you've saved yourself
two purchases and a lot ofdepreciation.
And that's where perhaps rentingcomes in or borrowing, or if the
cases of renting and borrowingare not possible there's enough
information on the internetbetween articles and YouTube.
You could research till youreyes bleed and you will be able
(20:27):
to narrow down what you needpretty well.
David Lowry (20:30):
What are some of the more popular RV places to go
in America?
Patrick Buchanan (20:34):
Well, we certainly mentioned the national
parks, the big ones obviously.
The Yosemite Yellowstone anddevil's Tower, Mount Rushmore
certainly all of those types ofnational parks.
On the East coast you've gotGettysburg and those types of
things.
State parks are very popular aswell as are what they call Corp
(20:57):
of Engineers Parks.
They kinda lump those into stateparks.
They're essentially statefunded, providing campgrounds.
They're low on amenities, butthey're also pretty low on
restrictions and rules.
And they're a little more laidback.
You don't have to worry so muchabout what other people are
doing.
Conversely you've got luxury RVparks with a lot of those
(21:18):
amenities we talked aboutbefore, and full hookups and
wifi and pools and clubhousesand pickleballs and socials and
all of those types of things.
In the middle of those two arethe regular campground or public
chains, right?
The Passport Americas and theCampgrounds of America and the
Good Sams and those types ofparks that are basically not
(21:41):
always destinations withinthemselves, they're a means to a
destination.
Sometimes it's a skipping pointor a skipping stone to that
grand location you're trying toget to Crater Lake or Death
Valley or somewhere where you'retrying to go.
They're just nice casual placesout in the woods or on the
desert or by the beach orwherever that you can just hang
(22:04):
out for a few days.
We talked a little bit aboutearlier about people going what
we call boondocking, or I'llcall it off grid now is the more
common term, especially with theadvent of so much solar and
lithium batteries.
It's much, much easier for aneophyte RV is to get out there
and stay in the middle of afield or the desert or the woods
(22:25):
somewhere for a few days withoutany sort of hookups or
jurisdiction per se.
And again, very often they'revery active folks.
We see this a lot with race cardrivers or maybe traveling
baseball teams and those typesof things that the RV is just a
base camp.
It's just an alternative to ahotel that goes with them that
(22:47):
they can take anywhere.
Quite a diverse.
Group of locations.
I think I've done just about allof those and everybody finds
their favorite niche andfrequents that as much as they
can.
Don Drew (22:59):
Patrick in your 20,000 plus miles of travel.
Surely you've learned somelessons that you can share with
us today that would save us alot of pain and agony.
Patrick Buchanan (23:12):
Yeah, there really are some lessons to
learn, I can relate a fewdifferent ones, but it's
important to remember that theRV buying experience really it's
not like buying a car.
You buy a brand new Ford orbrand new Toyota, there's a
certain level of expectation ofthe fit and finish and quality
of the vehicle, as well as thedealer's service.
(23:34):
RVs are a little bit of athrowback back to those 1930s
where you had a chassismanufacturer and a body coach
builder and they threw, thisbody on this chassis and it was
custom and, getting it fixed orworked on was quite a bit more
challenging.
If you buy something like aMercedes Sprinter van, you have
that Mercedes label behind youand certainly a lot of the
(23:56):
vehicles have that Ford chasisbehind them.
But very often it's well, theydid the chassis and they did the
RV and the heater was thosepeople.
And there's a lot of fingerpointing that can go on there.
So you have to be prepared forthat.
You're gonna be an RV owner,you've gotta be handy, wealthy,
(24:16):
or both.
You can't be none of'em.
If you're not wealthy, youbetter sure be handy'cause
you're gonna need to know alittle bit about automotive, a
little bit about plumbing, alittle bit about electrical, or
you just got a whole lot ofmoney you can throw at the
problem.
Everything you do with RVs takesmore time.
You are driving a two to 400square foot living room down the
(24:38):
road, and that means driving isslower.
Stops are more frequent, andplanning is quite a bit more
intense.
You can't just grab your phoneand press a button and tell
Google where you want to gobecause you might not get there
in one piece.
There are overpasses and weightrestrictions and sharp turns and
(24:59):
just the aspect of driving.
My eye opening foray into thisindustry came from a trip from
Flagstaff to Amarillo, which onthe map, Google says, yeah,
dude, that's six hours, noproblem.
Well, behind the wheel of a 36foot RV with a apparently a 40
mile an hour wind blowingcrossways that's a nine hour
(25:21):
drive.
It's not one I would ever wantto repeat.
And so, there are nuances thatmust be taken into
consideration.
David Lowry (25:30):
Patrick, what a fantastic conversation it's been
today.
I wanna thank you for yourincredible experiences, your
insights.
It's truly inspiring to hearabout the freedom and joy that
RVs can bring, but also learnabout the things we need to know
so that we make really wisedecisions.
Don Drew (25:48):
Absolutely, David.
Patrick, thank you.
We are so grateful you took timeto join us on Peaceful Life
Radio.
Your passion for RVing and yourpractical advice has been
invaluable to us.
So, thank you for being such awonderful guest.
David Lowry (26:00):
A big thank you to all of our wonderful listeners
for tuning in to Peaceful LifeRadio, and we hope you found
today's conversation withPatrick encouraging and maybe it
sparked a little bit of thatdesire for Wonderlust.
Don Drew (26:12):
And remember to join us next time for more
conversations focused onnavigating the second half of
life with purpose, wisdom, andgrace.
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