Are you new to RV LIFE and wondering how to start your journey? In this episode I (Patti Hunt) share invaluable advice for first-time RVers. From choosing the right RV to mastering setup and road safety, I will cover everything you need to hit the road with confidence. With three years of full-time RV experience, I traveled across 32 states, visited 72+ campgrounds, and learned countless lessons—often the hard way! Tune in for practical tips, must-know safety precautions, and insider advice on planning stress-free RV adventures.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Are you new to the RV lifestyle, Excited, but maybe a
little overwhelmed?
You have come to the rightplace.
I'm Patti Hunt and you'relistening to the RV Life Podcast
.
There is so much to learn whenyou start the RV lifestyle and I
(00:24):
have resources that I hope isgoing to help you get started.
I started my full-time journeyfour years ago and put a lot of
miles on my RV, crossing thecountry three and a half times.
I made a lot of mistakes andlearned from other people and
from my mistakes, and I'm hopingto share what I learned with
(00:46):
you today.
The RV Life podcast was createdto educate, entertain and
explore the RV lifestyle, and itis my mission to inspire you to
live life to the fullest OpenRoads Resorts.
They have five incredible parksthat are located in Idaho,
(01:07):
Nebraska, New Mexico, and two ofthem are in Texas.
They are all highly favoredparks, which means the RVers
went to RV Life Campgrounds andput their reviews in for these
parks, and you can check out allabout these parks from other
(01:27):
RVers by going tocampgroundsrvlifecom, or you
could go to openroadresortscomto find out all about these
incredible campgrounds.
Now today I am flying solo andproviding first-time RVers with
(01:47):
things I believe you need toknow, but we have to go easy on
ourselves.
We are always learning, Evenafter four years.
There are things I am certainlystill learning.
So let's dive into the tipsthat will make your RV travels
less stressful and, as I oftensay, I hope, will help you enjoy
(02:10):
the journey.
So, like I said, journeyedacross the country Four years
ago.
I started out in Las Vegas andone of the things that I decided
to do after making the choiceto go RVing, which happened
during the pandemic Everythingwas shut down and you know,
(02:32):
business was shut down.
So at the time my husband said,hey, let's sell everything and
buy an RV and travel the country.
And I was pretty travel thecountry and I was pretty
uncertain.
Actually, I laughed when hesaid it.
I had no idea what this wouldpossibly look at, as I had only
(02:52):
been in an RV for seven nightsprior to going full-time RVing.
So not a lot of experience, butfor whatever reason, it was
scary.
But I said what the heck, let'sdo it.
And to date we have traveled toover 32 states and 72 plus
campgrounds and national parksvisited zero.
(03:16):
People often ask why nonational parks?
And for us that was because wealways found the hidden gems,
the little towns that peopledidn't often talk about, the
cool places that we just decidedto stop and we just never made
it to those national parks.
They are on my bucket list.
(03:37):
I do want to visit some of thenational parks.
We'll see where we go with that.
So now, if you're thinking aboutthe RV lifestyle and maybe you
don't even have the RV yet,trying to find the RV that's
right for you will be a wholeepisode in itself.
(03:59):
But just to give you a fewquick tips, for those of you
that are looking either for yournext RV or for that first RV,
One of the tips that I wouldsuggest is everybody that's
going to be in the RV writingdown everything they want in an
RV.
Don't stop yourself and think,well, heated floors are
(04:21):
expensive or you know the sizeof it would be more expensive.
Just write down everything youwould want.
Write down how many people willbe traveling with you, Will you
have pets, and also trying tofigure out the type of camping
you want to do.
It's going to be reallyimportant for choosing the RV
(04:43):
that's right for you Now.
On February 12th, I did anepisode how to choose the best
campground and in that episodewe talked about different types
of camping and that includedmooch, docking and boondocking,
those types of things.
So you could kind of figure outwhat type of camping might be
right for you, which willdetermine the type of RV that's
(05:06):
going to be right for you.
Then my suggestion is to gocheck out some dealerships.
Go into the dealership, makesure the feeling is right.
The salesperson, you know, isnot just trying to sell you,
they're really hearing you.
And another option is to go tosome of the RV shows.
There are some smaller local RVshows and then there are bigger
(05:30):
RV shows, Like in January I wasat the Tampa RV show.
In September I'll be at theHershey RV show, and those are
the largest RV shows.
But they give you theopportunity to check out
different types of RVs, to checkout different dealerships,
different types of manufacturers, to talk to people, to
(05:52):
experience a lot of what thoseRV shows have to offer.
Choosing the right RV for you isreally a personal decision.
You could ask people why theychose the RV they chose, but at
the end of the day, what worksfor you?
We are, like I said, I am, likeI said, going to have more
(06:14):
information on this topic.
I'm gonna bring an expert on totalk all things RVs to help you
decide what the best RV for youmight be.
Now, for those of you that havethe RV and you're just starting
out, or you're new to the wholeRVing thing, this is what I
(06:35):
hoped to share with you todayTips that'll help you to make
the RV journey, like I said,less stressful and so that you
can enjoy the journey more.
First of all, when you purchaseyour rig whether it's a brand
new rig or a used rig, whetheryou purchase from a dealership
(06:57):
or from someone you want to tryto get as much information as
possible about your rig.
Each camper RV, whatever theyare, is different.
Each model is slightlydifferent.
Whether you are towing a car atoad, as it's called or you're
(07:21):
pulling a fifth wheel or atravel trailer, or you're in a
van, it's very different.
What and how you set up yourrig, how you drive it, how you
back it in all of those thingsare very different.
So you want to learn as much aspossible from the person you're
buying it from.
For me, buying an RV from adealership, I want to be able to
(07:46):
stay and have the dealershipteach me about my RV.
I want to know that I couldcall them if I can't figure
something out.
For me, that's very importantand one of the things you want
to do with your RV is reallyknow as much about it as
(08:06):
possible.
One of the important things isgoing to be knowing the height
of the RV.
Now keep in mind that theposted height of the RV may be
different from the actual height.
Let me explain.
The height of the RV is usuallystated somewhere on the RV or
(08:27):
in the manuals, but if somebodyadded something to the top of
the RV, you want to make surethat you have measured to
whatever the highest point is.
For instance, on our RV we hadsome type of Wi-Fi or internet
type thing.
I don't even know what it was,we didn't use it, but it was on
(08:50):
the top of the RV and it addedmaybe three or four or five
extra inches.
But you want to know that.
You want to know the weight ofyour RV.
Rv weights are given.
They're the listed load thatthe RV is.
There's a word for it and I'mmissing that word right now.
(09:10):
Once you load up your RV, youwant to know the weight so you
could go to a truck stop and goto what's called a CAT scale
that's C-A-T scale to know whatyour RV weighs loaded and you
want to know what its towingcapacity is to make sure that
(09:31):
you're not overweight.
You want to know the length ofyour RV.
I know people say, yeah, ofcourse we want to know that
length, but you want to knowincluding the hitch and whether
you're pulling a toad or youhave a truck and then a trailer.
So you want to learn everythingthere is to know about your RV.
(09:53):
You also want to know ifthere's propane on board.
Those kinds of things areimportant before you start out.
You start out.
The next thing I think that isimportant to understand about
your RV before you really takeoff, and that is learning about
(10:14):
setup and teardown and masteringthe hookups, so all the systems
that need to be hooked up.
Now, one of the things that Idid when I started RVing,
because I had little to noexperience at all.
We lived in Las Vegas, like Isaid, and I wanted to be close
to where we had lived and spendsome time with the RV getting
(10:38):
used to it.
So we actually went it was 15minutes away to Lake Mead and
learned about set excuse me setup of the RV.
We practiced setting it up, wepracticed breaking it down the
hookups, we learned as much aswe possibly could about the RV
and we actually stayed in LakeMead for 30 days, which was the
(11:01):
max, but we stayed there for 30days.
I, you know, stored stuff, Ifigured out how to store stuff,
I organized stuff, I unorganizedit, I reorganized it.
It was a work in progress.
One of the things that happenedwith our RV which really worked
well in the end we were, like Isaid, at Lake Mead.
(11:23):
There wasn't sewer there andour rig had been winterized, so
there was a lot of this pinkstuff poured into all of the
tanks and to rinse it through wehad to keep going to the dump
station.
So we had to pack the whole RVup, secure everything, take it
to the dump station, dump, comeback, reset up and in the end
(11:46):
that was actually great practice.
May not have been the bestsituation, because every like
five days we had to do this, butit was certainly great practice
.
We broke a couple dishes in theprocess because they were not
stored properly.
So it was a learning lesson,but these are good things to
learn.
The other really important thingthat we learned was backing in,
(12:09):
parking the RV, so backing itin how to communicate with each
other.
That's one of the things that Iwant to talk about.
My husband drove the RV.
I had never driven it.
I was the one that was behindthe RV guiding him, which is not
something he was accustomed tolistening to somebody direct him
(12:31):
in how to drive or park youknow, not his thing.
So we were backing in and outof this space and it became
stressful at times.
People have seen, you know, onFacebook or Instagram.
It can become very stressfuland you could avoid that.
One of the things we decided todo instead of using a cell phone
(12:54):
, we decided to use walkietalkies.
I think that's a preference.
People like their cell phone.
They could put their headset inor you could do the same with
the walkie talkies.
So, totally a preference.
But one of the things I'verealized is when I was outside
the RV and I would say left andright, that could be confusing,
Because if I was standing infront of the RV, is it my left
(13:17):
or left, Like it just gotconfusing.
So the answer was we would saydriver's side or passenger side.
That was quick, easy way forboth of us to communicate.
And again, with practice, therewas some yelling, there were
some you know hostile words, andwe got to the point where we
learned that sometimes we justneed to take a breath, slow down
(13:38):
, stop.
Sometimes there were times Iwould say stop.
You need to come out of the RVand look at what I'm seeing so
that you know we can trulycommunicate with each other.
I know now with newer RVs,there are great backup cameras
and 360 cameras and so maybethat helps people.
I'm sure that helps people alot, but something to consider.
(14:02):
The other thing is setting up.
So one of the things you wantto learn about your RV before
you get out on the road is, onceyou pull in, each different
type of rig has a system forwhat you need to do with the RV,
how to level it, those kinds ofthings.
(14:24):
So hours took time till theairbags deflated.
So the airbags had to deflate.
When we were starting it up,they had to inflate.
The time it took to do that, aswell as the leveling system,
all of those types of systemsyou want to be aware of with
your RV once you are startingout or you park it.
(14:49):
So be very aware of that.
The next thing you want to knowabout and you want to practice
is hookups.
So we're talking.
When we say hookups, we'retalking water sewer, and sewer
is gray tanks and black tanks.
That gray tank is your showerand your sink water.
(15:10):
Black tank is your toilet water, for those of you who aren't
familiar as well as yourfreshwater tank, where you're
going to hook a hose up andbring the water in, and there's
different hookups and differentsystems.
So you want to learn what worksfor your RV, as well as hooking
(15:31):
up the electricity Withelectric hookups.
Their equipment people want touse, like surge protectors,
those kinds of things.
I'm not getting into detailabout that because, honestly, I
didn't handle that part of it.
I'm not getting into detailabout that because, honestly, I
didn't handle that part of it.
I don't have a lot of thatinformation, but it is something
you can easily Google.
(15:53):
Look at some other YouTubechannels and podcasts to find
out about electric hookup.
One of the suggestions,especially if you're going into
an older campground, especiallyif you're going into an older
campground is to check that theelectricity is working before
you start backing the RV in.
We one time parked the RV, gotit set up just the way we wanted
(16:15):
, went to plug in thatelectricity wasn't working and
we had to move.
So it is definitely somethingyou want to check before you
pull in.
So these are all the hookups.
It takes time to learn how tohook these things up, how to
deal with your system, yourwater, your fresh water.
(16:37):
We had clear 2-0 filter systems, so we had a filter that we
connected to our water.
There's a water regulator.
All of these things are thingsyou want to research for what
your needs are, the types of youknow if you're using a filter
system, if you're using a waterregulator all of those things,
for you want to find out foryour RV specifically.
(17:01):
So we would get parked, wewould get our RV set up, and
then one of the other things.
And, as well as learning how tobreak those things down, One of
the things I do with dumping mytanks.
I learned the hard way aboutdumping the black tank.
(17:21):
It's a geeky story but to helpyou not make the same mistake,
I'm going to tell it.
I did all the hookups, justabout all the hookups, all the
time.
Dan drove, he parked and I didthe hookups and I would take
them down and, in betweendumping the tank, so you have to
(17:44):
dump the gray and the blacktanks.
From time to time there's debateon whether or not to leave
those tanks opened.
It's still being debatable.
I would say the overall trendfrom experts is do not leave
your black tank opened.
Do not leave it open unlessyou're dumping the gray tank.
Some people leave them opened.
(18:04):
What I learned as open unlessyou're dumping the gray tank.
Some people leave them open.
What I learned as far asdumping the tank I went out, I
dumped the, I started dumpingthe gray tank.
Then I went to dump the blacktank and the hose was going
uphill a little bit so it wasn'tflowing, and I went to lift the
(18:26):
hose and there were two hosesconnected to each other, which
is okay.
Just have to make sure thoseconnections are secure, because
when I went to lift it they cameapart and, yes, I got stuff on
me that I don't even want tothink about.
Luckily, the black tank waspretty much emptied, so there
(18:48):
wasn't a lot of stuff, but therewas a lot of cleanup.
I think I took three showersafter that.
One of the things, one of thelearning lessons here, is a
making sure that all of yourconnections are securely on and
even every time you go out, makesure they are secure so they
don't come loose.
(19:09):
The other suggestion is startby opening the gray tank.
Do it just for four or fiveseconds.
You could see that it's flowingwithout any leaks or anything.
Close the gray tank, then dumpyour black tank.
Once your black tank is totallydumped, then finish dumping
your gray tank, which will helppush everything through your
(19:32):
hoses and wash out the blacktank, as well as taking a hose
that can rinse that out.
So that is some of the basicsand important things that you
need for setup.
Again, I'm going to say thisrepeatedly each RV is a little
different in how these even thetanks work and the hookups work.
(19:56):
So learning that from theperson you're buying the RV from
, from the dealership you'rebuying the RV from those are all
important from from thedealership you're buying the RV
from those are all important.
The other next step, I think, islearning how your RV works, All
of the things in the RV.
So when you get into an RV,everything is so different,
(20:17):
including flushing the toilet.
So if you've ever been in an RV, flushing the toilet is a lever
that you stand on to that youput your foot on to, you know,
make everything wash through.
So it's important that you knowhow to do this before you take
out, take off on your plannedtrip.
(20:38):
I'm suggesting doing thesethings before you say, OK, we're
getting out on the road, we'regoing to go on our summer
vacation for two weeks.
We got this.
Do a test run, Try these thingsbefore you make that trip and
potentially ruin your vacation.
The more you know, the easierit is.
(20:58):
You know, you've practiced.
Now it's easier to do thesethings.
That is really helpful.
Then you're ready to go out onthe road.
Something may go wrong.
I mean, this is RVing.
Things may go wrong, they maynot work like you planned, but
if you have most of the basicsset up, then it's easier to deal
with other stuff that mightcome up.
The next thing I suggest isknowing how everything in the RV
(21:24):
works, Like I said, the toilet,knowing how to flush the toilet
.
A lot, a lot of debate onwhether to put anything that
doesn't come out of your body inthe toilet.
There is debate on whether ornot to put toilet paper in the
toilet.
You could read the discussionson both sides.
You could read the discussionson both sides.
For me personally, if Icouldn't use our toilet and put
(21:47):
toilet paper in it, the RVingwasn't going to work for me.
I personally used the Costcotoilet paper and the only time I
(22:09):
ever had an issue is because Ididn't use enough water to flush
.
The important part is makingsure you flush that toilet paper
with enough water to get itthrough the system.
I think I was worried aboutconserving water because we were
somewhere that we didn't havethe ability to dump tanks or get
more water.
So in trying to conserve, I didback up the toilet, and that is
one of the big things.
So learning how to use thetoilet, learning how to use the
(22:31):
heater and the air conditionerand while it might be warm
weather and you're thinking I'mjust going to use the air
conditioner, you also shouldknow how to use the heater, turn
it on, make sure it's workingproperly.
If there's any buttons or knobsor adjustments, making sure you
understand how to do that, thesame as making the water work.
(22:52):
So if you're hooked up, makingyour water in your RV worked,
when you're hooked up to aspigot, to the city water is
very different than if you're inthe RV and you're using your
onboard tanks for those of uswho have them.
So again, you may not havethese things, but everything
that you have in your rig youshould know how to use.
(23:14):
Also, knowing how to turn onthe water heater that is a whole
separate in my RV.
That was a whole separatebutton.
That is a whole separate in myRV.
That was a whole separatebutton.
Depending on how I was hooked up, there were two different ways
that the water heater would workand again, every RV is
different.
So make sure you understandyour RV.
(23:36):
Look at your RV on the inside.
Any button, any gadget,anything in there you should
know what it is, what it's forand how to use it.
Then I would go to the outside.
Again.
We talked about hooking up sewerhoses, water hoses, electricity
(23:56):
, surge protectors, waterpressure regulators.
Those are things once you getto the outside, knowing how to
hook everything up, knowing howto work everything and deciding
which things you need.
Do I need the surge protector,Do I need a water pressure
(24:18):
regulator and those kinds ofthings?
Personally, I wouldn't run outand buy everything all at once.
These are probably goodquestions to ask your dealership
.
If you're buying it from adealer.
There are lots of forums thatyou could find your particular
RV so you could decide whatwould work best for you.
(24:42):
The other thing you should knowabout is a generator.
If you have a generator onboard, how to use it.
If you have solar and you havean inverter or a battery, if you
have a lithium battery, it'svery different than if you have
a lead acid battery what to doin those cases?
You want to learn about that.
(25:03):
So this is where I say take atest drive before that big plan.
Even if you take the RV out ofyour driveway, drive it and
drive it back.
If you could go somewhere local, if you go to a local
campground, practice hooking itup, practice jumping, practice
all of these things.
That is a great way to go.
(25:26):
When you're an RVer, you wantto know someone is with you
every mile, Whether it's salesor service.
That someone is Blue Compass RV.
With over 100 locations coastto coast, featuring more than
15,000 new and used RVs and overa thousand service bays, with
(25:48):
more certified RV techniciansthan any other dealer.
Blue Compass is with you today,tomorrow and the road ahead.
Visit your local Blue CompassRV dealer or go to
bluecompasscom today.
Now, one of the things I want toshare with people because I've
gotten a lot of questions andthat's what actually inspired
(26:10):
this episode.
I have been out a lot, I'vebeen talking to a lot of people
and I, you know, listen topeople on social media.
People reach out and a lot ofpeople are looking for these
types of tips for the newer RVer.
One of the things I've beenasked a lot is about what
(26:32):
certain words mean and what theabbreviations mean.
Fhu is full hookups and you'llsee that a lot if you're going
to book at a campground andyou'll see that a lot if you're
going to book at a campground.
So what I'm going to do is inthe show notes, because there's
a lot of words and a lot tolearn.
In the show notes I'm going toput two articles and one is for
(26:55):
Harvest Host and it's the RVersGlossary.
So it gives you a lot of thewords that you might come across
and you need to know what theyare as well as RV.
Life has an article talkingabout abbreviations.
They're great to kind of, youknow, breeze through.
You don't have to try andmemorize all of it and at the
end of the day, you could justGoogle it on your phone, figure
(27:18):
out what it means, but it's goodto be familiar with some of
these things.
But it's good to be familiarwith some of these things.
Okay, you've taken your testdrive and now it's time for that
trip and this is your big trip.
Sometimes you know, people aregoing out on that camping trip,
maybe for three days a week, twoweeks, and maybe this is the
(27:40):
only trip you're going to takethis summer and you wanna make
it special.
And one of the things tripyou're going to take this summer
and you want to make it special, and one of the things that I'm
going to suggest is that youdon't put so much pressure on
yourself.
Make it enjoyable.
But it's not the end.
All be all, Prepare, expect theunexpected Things happen.
(28:00):
Planning your trip from point Ato point B Traffic, weather
happens, there's a lot of thingsthat could happen.
So you want to plan and beflexible.
Let's talk a little bit aboutplanning.
I did an episode on RV planningand I'll put it in the show.
(28:22):
Notes was just a couple weeksago and in that episode we
talked about the idea ofplanning those trips, being
flexible, and when we sayplanning, we're not always
talking about people that wanteverything exactly like this is
exactly what I want to do eachday.
(28:43):
Sometimes you're still planning.
Even though you're winging it,there's still some things that
you want to do that are part ofthe planning process, so keep
that in mind.
The episode where we talkedabout planning was with Mike and
Susan from RV Blogger.
They have a lot of experience,a lot of great information that
(29:05):
they shared on that episode, soI highly recommend that.
One of the things that bothMike and Susan and I use is the
RV Life Pro suite of products,which includes Trip Wizard, and
that is the best planning toolSeriously the best planning tool
.
You go on, you plan your trip,no matter how far away it is
(29:29):
from your location.
If you're only going 20, 30miles, it is still good to use,
because it then gives you RVsafe GPS, and what this does is
it takes into consideration yourRV measurements height, weight,
length and whether or not youhave propane on board is very
(29:51):
important that you know theroads that you should be on,
Something that happened to me.
I live in Pennsylvania.
I was going down to Virginia.
It was before we had our RV andwe didn't have the RV life we
just went on a road We've drivenon many, many times and we felt
like, okay, we could go fromPennsylvania down to Virginia on
(30:15):
95, no problem.
Well, we get to the tunnel inBaltimore and you're not allowed
to have propane when you gothrough that.
Now, that said, you could havethe small barbecue propane tank,
you could have that smallertank, but if you have a big
propane tank on board, youshould not be going through the
(30:36):
tunnel.
Luckily, we weren't stopped, wedid not know and there was no
time for us to turn around.
So this is why some planning isimportant, and certainly RV
safe GPS is incredibly important.
The other thing that RV safe GPSwill do is help you navigate
(30:56):
detours, road closures andunexpected stops.
You can then decide well, Ihave to go to a gas station and
make those changes, because itis easy to add a stop along the
way.
I just had somebody on the showthat they were using Google
Maps or Apple Maps, whicheverone it was Actually it was Waze
(31:20):
and they were going through aroad that they've been on many
times.
They get to an underpass, anoverpass.
They went to go under, theyknew they weren't going to make
it and they are tying up trafficin both directions.
Luckily somebody stopped whowas a fellow RVer and helped
them to navigate around, thatthey were on the show and told
(31:42):
the story.
But it's important to hearabout these things and why you
know, RV safe GPS is important.
The other story I had done,Indiana on from Cool RV, which
is an amazing product that helpsreduce, helps your AC work 40
(32:03):
plus percent more efficient.
You might want to check themout.
Cool it's called Cool RV, K-O-L, K-O-O-L RV and what is great
that they talked about was theyactually went under an overpass
(32:25):
and hit the AC and broke it andfrom that they developed CoolRV.
But again, it's not the bestway to try to, you know, and
then they've invented anincredible product and started a
business, but this isn't theway.
So now, as we're travelingaround, let me talk about Open
Roads fuel card.
(32:45):
This is an amazing fuel cardthat could save you money if you
use diesel fuel and you couldsave anywhere from 40 cents to
60 cents.
I've saved even more 40, 60cents or more a gallon by going
to the truck stops that arelisted on my app.
The card is absolutely free toget.
(33:07):
Just go to the show notes,click on the link, sign up for
the fuel card.
They'll send you your card andyou can get started saving money
.
Let's talk about safe drivingand parking.
We've talked about this alittle bit.
As far as safe driving goes,one thing I'm going to say is
(33:28):
there are some RV schools.
So if you're now driving a40-foot Class A and you've never
driven one, you might want toconsider an RV school and they
will train you.
I'm not going to dive into this.
I am looking for an RV schooland I'll have them on the show
(33:49):
so they can give us some tipsand what to look for, type of
things.
But learning how to drive yourspecific type of rig obviously
is important.
I think it's kind of obvious.
I'm not going to dive into thattoo terribly much.
We already talked about theidea of safety and parking and
(34:10):
having that person spot you whenyou're parking, especially when
you're new.
Again, if in a newer RV withall the cameras just want to get
used to those, Getting used tothose backup cameras and the 360
camera takes some doing so,again, it's all about practice.
(34:30):
Let me talk a little bit aboutcampground etiquette and there
are things you would thinkpeople know what to do and not
to do.
You would think there are rulesthat are kind of you know,
obvious, but we need to at leastaddress it a little bit,
because there are people thatjust don't know and there are
(34:51):
things that I learned along theway just don't know, and there
are things that I learned alongthe way.
One of the things you want todo when you're going into a
campground is make sure to readthrough those rules.
I know some of them you mightbe like, okay, this seems
obvious, I have to pick up mydog's poop, or, you know, my
kids shouldn't just run aroundin other people's campgrounds.
But there are other things thatmaybe you don't know, and one
(35:12):
of those things that just aboutevery campground will have are
quiet hours, and they'll tellyou from what hour to what hour
it is quiet time, and thatsometimes even includes a
generator, and they will statethat.
So I don't think we need todive into this and me sit and
(35:33):
say, you know, don't let yourkids just run through somebody
else's campsite.
But there are some things thattake learning in.
What campground etiquette is,you know?
Obviously, clean up afteryourself, leave your space
cleaner than you found it, kindof thing, and the whole thing
(35:54):
with wandering throughsomebody's campground.
I choose to believe people justdon't know, because you hear
about it happening a lot, and Ithink of it this way if you're
living in a house and you haveproperty around your house, you
wouldn't just walk through theproperty.
I mean, most people would justwalk through somebody else's
(36:15):
property.
It works the same for aperson's campground space.
So just keep that in mind.
Check out the rules.
Sometimes different campgroundshave different type rules, so
just take some time, check themout.
That's a good idea as we startwrapping up some other
suggestions is expecting theunexpected.
(36:38):
Rving is incredibly enjoyable.
It is a lot of fun.
It is something I've neverreally done before and in that
and in all the fun, things aregoing to go wrong, Stuff's going
to break, Lens are going to getmessed up, Weather sometimes is
(37:00):
going to be an issue.
Maybe there's mechanical issues, Maybe there's health issues,
and you have to be as preparedas you can and be flexible.
That's what I'm going tosuggest.
Expecting the unexpected.
Flexible that's what I'm goingto suggest.
Expecting the unexpected, notwaiting for the other shoe to
drop, so to speak, but knowingthat it's something of a plan.
Knowing that if you'retraveling with your kids and you
(37:24):
know it's going to startraining, maybe have some indoor
activities or games, or know ifthe campground has indoor
activities, just to kind of geta little bit of you know a
little bit of a plan.
You can't plan for everything.
The other thing to as a cautionemergencies happen when you're
(37:46):
on the road, whether it'smedical emergencies, RV issues,
whatever.
That is one of the suggestionsthat I have is to have, whether
it's a wipe-off or a laminatedsomething, but there should be
something in the RV that hasemergency contact numbers.
(38:09):
When you get to a campground,you want to know where you're
located, as funny as that sounds.
When we would travel a lot,sometimes I couldn't even think
about what state we were in, letalone the city name, my RV site
.
So you want to know what siteyou're in and I would write that
on like a wipe off.
I had a laminated paper thatyou could wipe off because in an
(38:31):
emergency situation, if youhave to call 911, which I
experienced while traveling youwant to be able to give that
information quickly and not haveto fumble for it.
So knowing the address of thecampground, the name of the
campground, the site you're in,all of those things are
important, as well as everybodythat is in the RV having access
(38:54):
to that.
Also, a medical emergency plan.
If you're traveling, you're awayfrom home a lot of times.
First of all, if it's a majoremergency, you're calling 911.
That's obviously universal, youknow.
Maybe there's knowing ifthere's an urgent care.
I have a grandson that hasasthma and has had to go to an
(39:17):
emergency room, so knowing wherethey are when you're out
camping is important.
As far as RV issues, you wantto know who you should call
what's covered to some degree.
You want to understand if youhave a policy that covers
certain things, where to accessthat, whether you're calling
(39:39):
your dealership, and so thereare RV issues that you know.
You just want those things thatmight be a more urgent
situation handy.
Okay, so let's leave this on ahappier note and talk about
knowing that there are thingsthat, while there are things
(40:04):
that will go wrong, RVing can befor me.
Let me just say for me it wasand has been and will continue
to be the most amazingexperiences that I've had, and
those are the things that I wantpeople to focus on.
(40:25):
So when you're talking aboutyour first time out, you're
making that plan.
Think about those things.
You know everybody that'straveling wants to do.
What do you want to see?
What kind of activities do youwant to have?
You know whether you want to goto a national park.
I wanted to go to a nationalpark.
Haven't been to one yet, butthat's still on the list.
(40:46):
So what kinds of things do youwant to do?
What kinds of things would youenjoy?
Are you more the mountains?
Are you more the water?
Are you more the mountains?
Are you more the water?
Sitting down and really kind ofputting together something of
an idea of what everybody'slooking to do, that is something
I highly suggest.
As you're planning, you'remaking plans for that.
(41:10):
First time out, I'm going to sayand this is a cliche knowledge
is key.
Well, I would say, the more youknow, the better.
There are things that you justcan't learn at all.
There will be things you'regoing to learn as you go.
There will be mistakes you'regoing to make and you just have
to embrace the mistakes, learnfrom them and move on.
(41:31):
There is so much moreinformation I could give.
I am going to ask that peopleplease share your thoughts, your
comments, your suggestions.
Do you have suggestions of moredetailed information that you'd
want that I could bring anexpert on.
If you've been traveling, youknow what can you suggest for
(41:54):
that new person, and you coulddo that by making a comment on
the podcast platform that you'relistening to this on, or you
could go to social media at RVLife Podcast on Instagram or
Facebook, make a comment, sendme a private message.
I truly want to hear from you,but it's now time to talk about
(42:17):
the OpenRoads Innovative TollSolutions, and that is one of
those things that I've had tolearn the hard way as I've
traveled across the country.
I've gone through tolls that mytoll transponder did not work,
was not the right transponder,and I had over $240 in fines.
Openroads Innovative TollSolutions takes care of all of
(42:41):
this.
There's a link in the shownotes.
Click on that link.
The toll transponder is $24 ayear and it covers all 48 states
, so you are covered.
This is something that Ibelieve every RVer traveling
should have.
It's now time for the FeatureCampground of the Week, and it's
(43:03):
brought to you by RV Life, andthis week's Feature Campground
is Victoria Palms RV Resort inDonna, Texas.
In Donna, Texas, this is anencore resort and you do not
need to be a member, but it is a55 and older, so you do need to
have at least one person thatis 55 or older.
(43:24):
Victoria Palms RV Resort is apremier RV resort in tropical
Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.
They feature a tropical pooland spa.
They have a full restaurant,two-story craft center and they
have so much more.
They offer pull-through sitesand back-in sites with FHU full
(43:47):
hookups.
And if you don't have an RV, noproblem, they have fully
furnished rentals.
They have a solid 8.4 rating onthe RV Life Campground site
with 77 reviews, and you can goto campgroundsrvlifecom and
search Victoria Palms RV Resortto learn more about this
property, everything about thisproperty, all of the photos, the
(44:17):
amenities, everything you needto know about this property, and
then, if you decide you want tobook your stay, there's a great
big book now button so youcould easily book your stay.
Rv Life Campgrounds is part ofthe RV Life suite of products
and it is the most comprehensivesource of RV parks, campgrounds
, resorts, most comprehensivesource of RV parks, campgrounds,
(44:37):
resorts and city, state andnational parks, corpse of
engineer properties and so muchmore.
If you are not yet a member,there is a link in the show
notes to get 25% off forfirst-time users and just go to
that link.
Once you get to checkout, it's25% off.
As I said, I would love to hearfrom new RVers, people thinking
(45:00):
about RVing, and my RVers thathave been on the road.
Please share your comments,your suggestions, your thoughts,
your ideas, items here thatyou've used, things that you've
done, things that you've seen.
Please share at RV Life Podcaston Instagram or Facebook.
(45:20):
I want to thank you, mylisteners, so very much for
listening and I want to remindyou life's a journey.
Live each day to the fullest,without regrets.
I'm Patty Hunt and you havebeen listening to the RV Life
Podcast.
Are you new to the RV lifestyle, Excited, but maybe a
little overwhelmed?
You have come to the rightplace.
I'm Patti Hunt and you'relistening to the RV Life Podcast
.
There is so much to learn whenyou start the RV lifestyle and I
(00:24):
have resources that I hope isgoing to help you get started.
I started my full-time journeyfour years ago and put a lot of
miles on my RV, crossing thecountry three and a half times.
I made a lot of mistakes andlearned from other people and
from my mistakes, and I'm hopingto share what I learned with
(00:46):
you today.
The RV Life podcast was createdto educate, entertain and
explore the RV lifestyle, and itis my mission to inspire you to
live life to the fullest OpenRoads Resorts.
They have five incredible parksthat are located in Idaho,
(01:07):
Nebraska, New Mexico, and two ofthem are in Texas.
They are all highly favoredparks, which means the RVers
went to RV Life Campgrounds andput their reviews in for these
parks, and you can check out allabout these parks from other
(01:27):
RVers by going tocampgroundsrvlifecom, or you
could go to openroadresortscomto find out all about these
incredible campgrounds.
Now today I am flying solo andproviding first-time RVers with
(01:47):
things I believe you need toknow, but we have to go easy on
ourselves.
We are always learning, Evenafter four years.
There are things I am certainlystill learning.
So let's dive into the tipsthat will make your RV travels
less stressful and, as I oftensay, I hope, will help you enjoy
(02:10):
the journey.
So, like I said, journeyedacross the country Four years
ago.
I started out in Las Vegas andone of the things that I decided
to do after making the choiceto go RVing, which happened
during the pandemic Everythingwas shut down and you know,
(02:32):
business was shut down.
So at the time my husband said,hey, let's sell everything and
buy an RV and travel the country.
And I was pretty travel thecountry and I was pretty
uncertain.
Actually, I laughed when hesaid it.
I had no idea what this wouldpossibly look at, as I had only
(02:52):
been in an RV for seven nightsprior to going full-time RVing.
So not a lot of experience, butfor whatever reason, it was
scary.
But I said what the heck, let'sdo it.
And to date we have traveled toover 32 states and 72 plus
campgrounds and national parksvisited zero.
(03:16):
People often ask why nonational parks?
And for us that was because wealways found the hidden gems,
the little towns that peopledidn't often talk about, the
cool places that we just decidedto stop and we just never made
it to those national parks.
They are on my bucket list.
(03:37):
I do want to visit some of thenational parks.
We'll see where we go with that.
So now, if you're thinking aboutthe RV lifestyle and maybe you
don't even have the RV yet,trying to find the RV that's
right for you will be a wholeepisode in itself.
(03:59):
But just to give you a fewquick tips, for those of you
that are looking either for yournext RV or for that first RV,
One of the tips that I wouldsuggest is everybody that's
going to be in the RV writingdown everything they want in an
RV.
Don't stop yourself and think,well, heated floors are
(04:21):
expensive or you know the sizeof it would be more expensive.
Just write down everything youwould want.
Write down how many people willbe traveling with you, Will you
have pets, and also trying tofigure out the type of camping
you want to do.
It's going to be reallyimportant for choosing the RV
(04:43):
that's right for you Now.
On February 12th, I did anepisode how to choose the best
campground and in that episodewe talked about different types
of camping and that includedmooch, docking and boondocking,
those types of things.
So you could kind of figure outwhat type of camping might be
right for you, which willdetermine the type of RV that's
(05:06):
going to be right for you.
Then my suggestion is to gocheck out some dealerships.
Go into the dealership, makesure the feeling is right.
The salesperson, you know, isnot just trying to sell you,
they're really hearing you.
And another option is to go tosome of the RV shows.
There are some smaller local RVshows and then there are bigger
(05:30):
RV shows, Like in January I wasat the Tampa RV show.
In September I'll be at theHershey RV show, and those are
the largest RV shows.
But they give you theopportunity to check out
different types of RVs, to checkout different dealerships,
different types of manufacturers, to talk to people, to
(05:52):
experience a lot of what thoseRV shows have to offer.
Choosing the right RV for you isreally a personal decision.
You could ask people why theychose the RV they chose, but at
the end of the day, what worksfor you?
We are, like I said, I am, likeI said, going to have more
(06:14):
information on this topic.
I'm gonna bring an expert on totalk all things RVs to help you
decide what the best RV for youmight be.
Now, for those of you that havethe RV and you're just starting
out, or you're new to the wholeRVing thing, this is what I
(06:35):
hoped to share with you todayTips that'll help you to make
the RV journey, like I said,less stressful and so that you
can enjoy the journey more.
First of all, when you purchaseyour rig whether it's a brand
new rig or a used rig, whetheryou purchase from a dealership
(06:57):
or from someone you want to tryto get as much information as
possible about your rig.
Each camper RV, whatever theyare, is different.
Each model is slightlydifferent.
Whether you are towing a car atoad, as it's called or you're
(07:21):
pulling a fifth wheel or atravel trailer, or you're in a
van, it's very different.
What and how you set up yourrig, how you drive it, how you
back it in all of those thingsare very different.
So you want to learn as much aspossible from the person you're
buying it from.
For me, buying an RV from adealership, I want to be able to
(07:46):
stay and have the dealershipteach me about my RV.
I want to know that I couldcall them if I can't figure
something out.
For me, that's very importantand one of the things you want
to do with your RV is reallyknow as much about it as
(08:06):
possible.
One of the important things isgoing to be knowing the height
of the RV.
Now keep in mind that theposted height of the RV may be
different from the actual height.
Let me explain.
The height of the RV is usuallystated somewhere on the RV or
(08:27):
in the manuals, but if somebodyadded something to the top of
the RV, you want to make surethat you have measured to
whatever the highest point is.
For instance, on our RV we hadsome type of Wi-Fi or internet
type thing.
I don't even know what it was,we didn't use it, but it was on
(08:50):
the top of the RV and it addedmaybe three or four or five
extra inches.
But you want to know that.
You want to know the weight ofyour RV.
Rv weights are given.
They're the listed load thatthe RV is.
There's a word for it and I'mmissing that word right now.
(09:10):
Once you load up your RV, youwant to know the weight so you
could go to a truck stop and goto what's called a CAT scale
that's C-A-T scale to know whatyour RV weighs loaded and you
want to know what its towingcapacity is to make sure that
(09:31):
you're not overweight.
You want to know the length ofyour RV.
I know people say, yeah, ofcourse we want to know that
length, but you want to knowincluding the hitch and whether
you're pulling a toad or youhave a truck and then a trailer.
So you want to learn everythingthere is to know about your RV.
(09:53):
You also want to know ifthere's propane on board.
Those kinds of things areimportant before you start out.
You start out.
The next thing I think that isimportant to understand about
your RV before you really takeoff, and that is learning about
(10:14):
setup and teardown and masteringthe hookups, so all the systems
that need to be hooked up.
Now, one of the things that Idid when I started RVing,
because I had little to noexperience at all.
We lived in Las Vegas, like Isaid, and I wanted to be close
to where we had lived and spendsome time with the RV getting
(10:38):
used to it.
So we actually went it was 15minutes away to Lake Mead and
learned about set excuse me setup of the RV.
We practiced setting it up, wepracticed breaking it down the
hookups, we learned as much aswe possibly could about the RV
and we actually stayed in LakeMead for 30 days, which was the
(11:01):
max, but we stayed there for 30days.
I, you know, stored stuff, Ifigured out how to store stuff,
I organized stuff, I unorganizedit, I reorganized it.
It was a work in progress.
One of the things that happenedwith our RV which really worked
well in the end we were, like Isaid, at Lake Mead.
(11:23):
There wasn't sewer there andour rig had been winterized, so
there was a lot of this pinkstuff poured into all of the
tanks and to rinse it through wehad to keep going to the dump
station.
So we had to pack the whole RVup, secure everything, take it
to the dump station, dump, comeback, reset up and in the end
(11:46):
that was actually great practice.
May not have been the bestsituation, because every like
five days we had to do this, butit was certainly great practice
.
We broke a couple dishes in theprocess because they were not
stored properly.
So it was a learning lesson,but these are good things to
learn.
The other really important thingthat we learned was backing in,
(12:09):
parking the RV, so backing itin how to communicate with each
other.
That's one of the things that Iwant to talk about.
My husband drove the RV.
I had never driven it.
I was the one that was behindthe RV guiding him, which is not
something he was accustomed tolistening to somebody direct him
(12:31):
in how to drive or park youknow, not his thing.
So we were backing in and outof this space and it became
stressful at times.
People have seen, you know, onFacebook or Instagram.
It can become very stressfuland you could avoid that.
One of the things we decided todo instead of using a cell phone
(12:54):
, we decided to use walkietalkies.
I think that's a preference.
People like their cell phone.
They could put their headset inor you could do the same with
the walkie talkies.
So, totally a preference.
But one of the things I'verealized is when I was outside
the RV and I would say left andright, that could be confusing,
Because if I was standing infront of the RV, is it my left
(13:17):
or left, Like it just gotconfusing.
So the answer was we would saydriver's side or passenger side.
That was quick, easy way forboth of us to communicate.
And again, with practice, therewas some yelling, there were
some you know hostile words, andwe got to the point where we
learned that sometimes we justneed to take a breath, slow down
(13:38):
, stop.
Sometimes there were times Iwould say stop.
You need to come out of the RVand look at what I'm seeing so
that you know we can trulycommunicate with each other.
I know now with newer RVs,there are great backup cameras
and 360 cameras and so maybethat helps people.
I'm sure that helps people alot, but something to consider.
(14:02):
The other thing is setting up.
So one of the things you wantto learn about your RV before
you get out on the road is, onceyou pull in, each different
type of rig has a system forwhat you need to do with the RV,
how to level it, those kinds ofthings.
(14:24):
So hours took time till theairbags deflated.
So the airbags had to deflate.
When we were starting it up,they had to inflate.
The time it took to do that, aswell as the leveling system,
all of those types of systemsyou want to be aware of with
your RV once you are startingout or you park it.
(14:49):
So be very aware of that.
The next thing you want to knowabout and you want to practice
is hookups.
So we're talking.
When we say hookups, we'retalking water sewer, and sewer
is gray tanks and black tanks.
That gray tank is your showerand your sink water.
(15:10):
Black tank is your toilet water, for those of you who aren't
familiar as well as yourfreshwater tank, where you're
going to hook a hose up andbring the water in, and there's
different hookups and differentsystems.
So you want to learn what worksfor your RV, as well as hooking
(15:31):
up the electricity Withelectric hookups.
Their equipment people want touse, like surge protectors,
those kinds of things.
I'm not getting into detailabout that because, honestly, I
didn't handle that part of it.
I'm not getting into detailabout that because, honestly, I
didn't handle that part of it.
I don't have a lot of thatinformation, but it is something
you can easily Google.
(15:53):
Look at some other YouTubechannels and podcasts to find
out about electric hookup.
One of the suggestions,especially if you're going into
an older campground, especiallyif you're going into an older
campground is to check that theelectricity is working before
you start backing the RV in.
We one time parked the RV, gotit set up just the way we wanted
(16:15):
, went to plug in thatelectricity wasn't working and
we had to move.
So it is definitely somethingyou want to check before you
pull in.
So these are all the hookups.
It takes time to learn how tohook these things up, how to
deal with your system, yourwater, your fresh water.
(16:37):
We had clear 2-0 filter systems, so we had a filter that we
connected to our water.
There's a water regulator.
All of these things are thingsyou want to research for what
your needs are, the types of youknow if you're using a filter
system, if you're using a waterregulator all of those things,
for you want to find out foryour RV specifically.
(17:01):
So we would get parked, wewould get our RV set up, and
then one of the other things.
And, as well as learning how tobreak those things down, One of
the things I do with dumping mytanks.
I learned the hard way aboutdumping the black tank.
(17:21):
It's a geeky story but to helpyou not make the same mistake,
I'm going to tell it.
I did all the hookups, justabout all the hookups, all the
time.
Dan drove, he parked and I didthe hookups and I would take
them down and, in betweendumping the tank, so you have to
(17:44):
dump the gray and the blacktanks.
From time to time there's debateon whether or not to leave
those tanks opened.
It's still being debatable.
I would say the overall trendfrom experts is do not leave
your black tank opened.
Do not leave it open unlessyou're dumping the gray tank.
Some people leave them opened.
(18:04):
What I learned as open unlessyou're dumping the gray tank.
Some people leave them open.
What I learned as far asdumping the tank I went out, I
dumped the, I started dumpingthe gray tank.
Then I went to dump the blacktank and the hose was going
uphill a little bit so it wasn'tflowing, and I went to lift the
(18:26):
hose and there were two hosesconnected to each other, which
is okay.
Just have to make sure thoseconnections are secure, because
when I went to lift it they cameapart and, yes, I got stuff on
me that I don't even want tothink about.
Luckily, the black tank waspretty much emptied, so there
(18:48):
wasn't a lot of stuff, but therewas a lot of cleanup.
I think I took three showersafter that.
One of the things, one of thelearning lessons here, is a
making sure that all of yourconnections are securely on and
even every time you go out, makesure they are secure so they
don't come loose.
(19:09):
The other suggestion is startby opening the gray tank.
Do it just for four or fiveseconds.
You could see that it's flowingwithout any leaks or anything.
Close the gray tank, then dumpyour black tank.
Once your black tank is totallydumped, then finish dumping
your gray tank, which will helppush everything through your
(19:32):
hoses and wash out the blacktank, as well as taking a hose
that can rinse that out.
So that is some of the basicsand important things that you
need for setup.
Again, I'm going to say thisrepeatedly each RV is a little
different in how these even thetanks work and the hookups work.
(19:56):
So learning that from theperson you're buying the RV from
, from the dealership you'rebuying the RV from those are all
important from from thedealership you're buying the RV
from those are all important.
The other next step, I think, islearning how your RV works, All
of the things in the RV.
So when you get into an RV,everything is so different,
(20:17):
including flushing the toilet.
So if you've ever been in an RV, flushing the toilet is a lever
that you stand on to that youput your foot on to, you know,
make everything wash through.
So it's important that you knowhow to do this before you take
out, take off on your plannedtrip.
(20:38):
I'm suggesting doing thesethings before you say, OK, we're
getting out on the road, we'regoing to go on our summer
vacation for two weeks.
We got this.
Do a test run, Try these thingsbefore you make that trip and
potentially ruin your vacation.
The more you know, the easierit is.
(20:58):
You know, you've practiced.
Now it's easier to do thesethings.
That is really helpful.
Then you're ready to go out onthe road.
Something may go wrong.
I mean, this is RVing.
Things may go wrong, they maynot work like you planned, but
if you have most of the basicsset up, then it's easier to deal
with other stuff that mightcome up.
The next thing I suggest isknowing how everything in the RV
(21:24):
works, Like I said, the toilet,knowing how to flush the toilet
.
A lot, a lot of debate onwhether to put anything that
doesn't come out of your body inthe toilet.
There is debate on whether ornot to put toilet paper in the
toilet.
You could read the discussionson both sides.
You could read the discussionson both sides.
For me personally, if Icouldn't use our toilet and put
(21:47):
toilet paper in it, the RVingwasn't going to work for me.
I personally used the Costcotoilet paper and the only time I
(22:09):
ever had an issue is because Ididn't use enough water to flush
.
The important part is makingsure you flush that toilet paper
with enough water to get itthrough the system.
I think I was worried aboutconserving water because we were
somewhere that we didn't havethe ability to dump tanks or get
more water.
So in trying to conserve, I didback up the toilet, and that is
one of the big things.
So learning how to use thetoilet, learning how to use the
(22:31):
heater and the air conditionerand while it might be warm
weather and you're thinking I'mjust going to use the air
conditioner, you also shouldknow how to use the heater, turn
it on, make sure it's workingproperly.
If there's any buttons or knobsor adjustments, making sure you
understand how to do that, thesame as making the water work.
(22:52):
So if you're hooked up, makingyour water in your RV worked,
when you're hooked up to aspigot, to the city water is
very different than if you're inthe RV and you're using your
onboard tanks for those of uswho have them.
So again, you may not havethese things, but everything
that you have in your rig youshould know how to use.
(23:14):
Also, knowing how to turn onthe water heater that is a whole
separate in my RV.
That was a whole separatebutton.
That is a whole separate in myRV.
That was a whole separatebutton.
Depending on how I was hooked up, there were two different ways
that the water heater would workand again, every RV is
different.
So make sure you understandyour RV.
(23:36):
Look at your RV on the inside.
Any button, any gadget,anything in there you should
know what it is, what it's forand how to use it.
Then I would go to the outside.
Again.
We talked about hooking up sewerhoses, water hoses, electricity
(23:56):
, surge protectors, waterpressure regulators.
Those are things once you getto the outside, knowing how to
hook everything up, knowing howto work everything and deciding
which things you need.
Do I need the surge protector,Do I need a water pressure
(24:18):
regulator and those kinds ofthings?
Personally, I wouldn't run outand buy everything all at once.
These are probably goodquestions to ask your dealership
.
If you're buying it from adealer.
There are lots of forums thatyou could find your particular
RV so you could decide whatwould work best for you.
(24:42):
The other thing you should knowabout is a generator.
If you have a generator onboard, how to use it.
If you have solar and you havean inverter or a battery, if you
have a lithium battery, it'svery different than if you have
a lead acid battery what to doin those cases?
You want to learn about that.
(25:03):
So this is where I say take atest drive before that big plan.
Even if you take the RV out ofyour driveway, drive it and
drive it back.
If you could go somewhere local, if you go to a local
campground, practice hooking itup, practice jumping, practice
all of these things.
That is a great way to go.
(25:26):
When you're an RVer, you wantto know someone is with you
every mile, Whether it's salesor service.
That someone is Blue Compass RV.
With over 100 locations coastto coast, featuring more than
15,000 new and used RVs and overa thousand service bays, with
(25:48):
more certified RV techniciansthan any other dealer.
Blue Compass is with you today,tomorrow and the road ahead.
Visit your local Blue CompassRV dealer or go to
bluecompasscom today.
Now, one of the things I want toshare with people because I've
gotten a lot of questions andthat's what actually inspired
(26:10):
this episode.
I have been out a lot, I'vebeen talking to a lot of people
and I, you know, listen topeople on social media.
People reach out and a lot ofpeople are looking for these
types of tips for the newer RVer.
One of the things I've beenasked a lot is about what
(26:32):
certain words mean and what theabbreviations mean.
Fhu is full hookups and you'llsee that a lot if you're going
to book at a campground andyou'll see that a lot if you're
going to book at a campground.
So what I'm going to do is inthe show notes, because there's
a lot of words and a lot tolearn.
In the show notes I'm going toput two articles and one is for
(26:55):
Harvest Host and it's the RVersGlossary.
So it gives you a lot of thewords that you might come across
and you need to know what theyare as well as RV.
Life has an article talkingabout abbreviations.
They're great to kind of, youknow, breeze through.
You don't have to try andmemorize all of it and at the
end of the day, you could justGoogle it on your phone, figure
(27:18):
out what it means, but it's goodto be familiar with some of
these things.
But it's good to be familiarwith some of these things.
Okay, you've taken your testdrive and now it's time for that
trip and this is your big trip.
Sometimes you know, people aregoing out on that camping trip,
maybe for three days a week, twoweeks, and maybe this is the
(27:40):
only trip you're going to takethis summer and you wanna make
it special.
And one of the things tripyou're going to take this summer
and you want to make it special, and one of the things that I'm
going to suggest is that youdon't put so much pressure on
yourself.
Make it enjoyable.
But it's not the end.
All be all, Prepare, expect theunexpected Things happen.
(28:00):
Planning your trip from point Ato point B Traffic, weather
happens, there's a lot of thingsthat could happen.
So you want to plan and beflexible.
Let's talk a little bit aboutplanning.
I did an episode on RV planningand I'll put it in the show.
(28:22):
Notes was just a couple weeksago and in that episode we
talked about the idea ofplanning those trips, being
flexible, and when we sayplanning, we're not always
talking about people that wanteverything exactly like this is
exactly what I want to do eachday.
(28:43):
Sometimes you're still planning.
Even though you're winging it,there's still some things that
you want to do that are part ofthe planning process, so keep
that in mind.
The episode where we talkedabout planning was with Mike and
Susan from RV Blogger.
They have a lot of experience,a lot of great information that
(29:05):
they shared on that episode, soI highly recommend that.
One of the things that bothMike and Susan and I use is the
RV Life Pro suite of products,which includes Trip Wizard, and
that is the best planning toolSeriously the best planning tool
.
You go on, you plan your trip,no matter how far away it is
(29:29):
from your location.
If you're only going 20, 30miles, it is still good to use,
because it then gives you RVsafe GPS, and what this does is
it takes into consideration yourRV measurements height, weight,
length and whether or not youhave propane on board is very
(29:51):
important that you know theroads that you should be on,
Something that happened to me.
I live in Pennsylvania.
I was going down to Virginia.
It was before we had our RV andwe didn't have the RV life we
just went on a road We've drivenon many, many times and we felt
like, okay, we could go fromPennsylvania down to Virginia on
(30:15):
95, no problem.
Well, we get to the tunnel inBaltimore and you're not allowed
to have propane when you gothrough that.
Now, that said, you could havethe small barbecue propane tank,
you could have that smallertank, but if you have a big
propane tank on board, youshould not be going through the
(30:36):
tunnel.
Luckily, we weren't stopped, wedid not know and there was no
time for us to turn around.
So this is why some planning isimportant, and certainly RV
safe GPS is incredibly important.
The other thing that RV safe GPSwill do is help you navigate
(30:56):
detours, road closures andunexpected stops.
You can then decide well, Ihave to go to a gas station and
make those changes, because itis easy to add a stop along the
way.
I just had somebody on the showthat they were using Google
Maps or Apple Maps, whicheverone it was Actually it was Waze
(31:20):
and they were going through aroad that they've been on many
times.
They get to an underpass, anoverpass.
They went to go under, theyknew they weren't going to make
it and they are tying up trafficin both directions.
Luckily somebody stopped whowas a fellow RVer and helped
them to navigate around, thatthey were on the show and told
(31:42):
the story.
But it's important to hearabout these things and why you
know, RV safe GPS is important.
The other story I had done,Indiana on from Cool RV, which
is an amazing product that helpsreduce, helps your AC work 40
(32:03):
plus percent more efficient.
You might want to check themout.
Cool it's called Cool RV, K-O-L, K-O-O-L RV and what is great
that they talked about was theyactually went under an overpass
(32:25):
and hit the AC and broke it andfrom that they developed CoolRV.
But again, it's not the bestway to try to, you know, and
then they've invented anincredible product and started a
business, but this isn't theway.
So now, as we're travelingaround, let me talk about Open
Roads fuel card.
(32:45):
This is an amazing fuel cardthat could save you money if you
use diesel fuel and you couldsave anywhere from 40 cents to
60 cents.
I've saved even more 40, 60cents or more a gallon by going
to the truck stops that arelisted on my app.
The card is absolutely free toget.
(33:07):
Just go to the show notes,click on the link, sign up for
the fuel card.
They'll send you your card andyou can get started saving money
.
Let's talk about safe drivingand parking.
We've talked about this alittle bit.
As far as safe driving goes,one thing I'm going to say is
(33:28):
there are some RV schools.
So if you're now driving a40-foot Class A and you've never
driven one, you might want toconsider an RV school and they
will train you.
I'm not going to dive into this.
I am looking for an RV schooland I'll have them on the show
(33:49):
so they can give us some tipsand what to look for, type of
things.
But learning how to drive yourspecific type of rig obviously
is important.
I think it's kind of obvious.
I'm not going to dive into thattoo terribly much.
We already talked about theidea of safety and parking and
(34:10):
having that person spot you whenyou're parking, especially when
you're new.
Again, if in a newer RV withall the cameras just want to get
used to those, Getting used tothose backup cameras and the 360
camera takes some doing so,again, it's all about practice.
(34:30):
Let me talk a little bit aboutcampground etiquette and there
are things you would thinkpeople know what to do and not
to do.
You would think there are rulesthat are kind of you know,
obvious, but we need to at leastaddress it a little bit,
because there are people thatjust don't know and there are
(34:51):
things that I learned along theway just don't know, and there
are things that I learned alongthe way.
One of the things you want todo when you're going into a
campground is make sure to readthrough those rules.
I know some of them you mightbe like, okay, this seems
obvious, I have to pick up mydog's poop, or, you know, my
kids shouldn't just run aroundin other people's campgrounds.
But there are other things thatmaybe you don't know, and one
(35:12):
of those things that just aboutevery campground will have are
quiet hours, and they'll tellyou from what hour to what hour
it is quiet time, and thatsometimes even includes a
generator, and they will statethat.
So I don't think we need todive into this and me sit and
(35:33):
say, you know, don't let yourkids just run through somebody
else's campsite.
But there are some things thattake learning in.
What campground etiquette is,you know?
Obviously, clean up afteryourself, leave your space
cleaner than you found it, kindof thing, and the whole thing
(35:54):
with wandering throughsomebody's campground.
I choose to believe people justdon't know, because you hear
about it happening a lot, and Ithink of it this way if you're
living in a house and you haveproperty around your house, you
wouldn't just walk through theproperty.
I mean, most people would justwalk through somebody else's
(36:15):
property.
It works the same for aperson's campground space.
So just keep that in mind.
Check out the rules.
Sometimes different campgroundshave different type rules, so
just take some time, check themout.
That's a good idea as we startwrapping up some other
suggestions is expecting theunexpected.
(36:38):
Rving is incredibly enjoyable.
It is a lot of fun.
It is something I've neverreally done before and in that
and in all the fun, things aregoing to go wrong, Stuff's going
to break, Lens are going to getmessed up, Weather sometimes is
(37:00):
going to be an issue.
Maybe there's mechanical issues, Maybe there's health issues,
and you have to be as preparedas you can and be flexible.
That's what I'm going tosuggest.
Expecting the unexpected.
Flexible that's what I'm goingto suggest.
Expecting the unexpected, notwaiting for the other shoe to
drop, so to speak, but knowingthat it's something of a plan.
Knowing that if you'retraveling with your kids and you
(37:24):
know it's going to startraining, maybe have some indoor
activities or games, or know ifthe campground has indoor
activities, just to kind of geta little bit of you know a
little bit of a plan.
You can't plan for everything.
The other thing to as a cautionemergencies happen when you're
(37:46):
on the road, whether it'smedical emergencies, RV issues,
whatever.
That is one of the suggestionsthat I have is to have, whether
it's a wipe-off or a laminatedsomething, but there should be
something in the RV that hasemergency contact numbers.
(38:09):
When you get to a campground,you want to know where you're
located, as funny as that sounds.
When we would travel a lot,sometimes I couldn't even think
about what state we were in, letalone the city name, my RV site
.
So you want to know what siteyou're in and I would write that
on like a wipe off.
I had a laminated paper thatyou could wipe off because in an
(38:31):
emergency situation, if youhave to call 911, which I
experienced while traveling youwant to be able to give that
information quickly and not haveto fumble for it.
So knowing the address of thecampground, the name of the
campground, the site you're in,all of those things are
important, as well as everybodythat is in the RV having access
(38:54):
to that.
Also, a medical emergency plan.
If you're traveling, you're awayfrom home a lot of times.
First of all, if it's a majoremergency, you're calling 911.
That's obviously universal, youknow.
Maybe there's knowing ifthere's an urgent care.
I have a grandson that hasasthma and has had to go to an
(39:17):
emergency room, so knowing wherethey are when you're out
camping is important.
As far as RV issues, you wantto know who you should call
what's covered to some degree.
You want to understand if youhave a policy that covers
certain things, where to accessthat, whether you're calling
(39:39):
your dealership, and so thereare RV issues that you know.
You just want those things thatmight be a more urgent
situation handy.
Okay, so let's leave this on ahappier note and talk about
knowing that there are thingsthat, while there are things
(40:04):
that will go wrong, RVing can befor me.
Let me just say for me it wasand has been and will continue
to be the most amazingexperiences that I've had, and
those are the things that I wantpeople to focus on.
(40:25):
So when you're talking aboutyour first time out, you're
making that plan.
Think about those things.
You know everybody that'straveling wants to do.
What do you want to see?
What kind of activities do youwant to have?
You know whether you want to goto a national park.
I wanted to go to a nationalpark.
Haven't been to one yet, butthat's still on the list.
(40:46):
So what kinds of things do youwant to do?
What kinds of things would youenjoy?
Are you more the mountains?
Are you more the water?
Are you more the mountains?
Are you more the water?
Sitting down and really kind ofputting together something of
an idea of what everybody'slooking to do, that is something
I highly suggest.
As you're planning, you'remaking plans for that.
(41:10):
First time out, I'm going to sayand this is a cliche knowledge
is key.
Well, I would say, the more youknow, the better.
There are things that you justcan't learn at all.
There will be things you'regoing to learn as you go.
There will be mistakes you'regoing to make and you just have
to embrace the mistakes, learnfrom them and move on.
(41:31):
There is so much moreinformation I could give.
I am going to ask that peopleplease share your thoughts, your
comments, your suggestions.
Do you have suggestions of moredetailed information that you'd
want that I could bring anexpert on.
If you've been traveling, youknow what can you suggest for
(41:54):
that new person, and you coulddo that by making a comment on
the podcast platform that you'relistening to this on, or you
could go to social media at RVLife Podcast on Instagram or
Facebook, make a comment, sendme a private message.
I truly want to hear from you,but it's now time to talk about
(42:17):
the OpenRoads Innovative TollSolutions, and that is one of
those things that I've had tolearn the hard way as I've
traveled across the country.
I've gone through tolls that mytoll transponder did not work,
was not the right transponder,and I had over $240 in fines.
Openroads Innovative TollSolutions takes care of all of
(42:41):
this.
There's a link in the shownotes.
Click on that link.
The toll transponder is $24 ayear and it covers all 48 states
, so you are covered.
This is something that Ibelieve every RVer traveling
should have.
It's now time for the FeatureCampground of the Week, and it's
(43:03):
brought to you by RV Life, andthis week's Feature Campground
is Victoria Palms RV Resort inDonna, Texas.
In Donna, Texas, this is anencore resort and you do not
need to be a member, but it is a55 and older, so you do need to
have at least one person thatis 55 or older.
(43:24):
Victoria Palms RV Resort is apremier RV resort in tropical
Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.
They feature a tropical pooland spa.
They have a full restaurant,two-story craft center and they
have so much more.
They offer pull-through sitesand back-in sites with FHU full
(43:47):
hookups.
And if you don't have an RV, noproblem, they have fully
furnished rentals.
They have a solid 8.4 rating onthe RV Life Campground site
with 77 reviews, and you can goto campgroundsrvlifecom and
search Victoria Palms RV Resortto learn more about this
property, everything about thisproperty, all of the photos, the
(44:17):
amenities, everything you needto know about this property, and
then, if you decide you want tobook your stay, there's a great
big book now button so youcould easily book your stay.
Rv Life Campgrounds is part ofthe RV Life suite of products
and it is the most comprehensivesource of RV parks, campgrounds
, resorts, most comprehensivesource of RV parks, campgrounds,
(44:37):
resorts and city, state andnational parks, corpse of
engineer properties and so muchmore.
If you are not yet a member,there is a link in the show
notes to get 25% off forfirst-time users and just go to
that link.
Once you get to checkout, it's25% off.
As I said, I would love to hearfrom new RVers, people thinking
(45:00):
about RVing, and my RVers thathave been on the road.
Please share your comments,your suggestions, your thoughts,
your ideas, items here thatyou've used, things that you've
done, things that you've seen.
Please share at RV Life Podcaston Instagram or Facebook.
(45:20):
I want to thank you, mylisteners, so very much for
listening and I want to remindyou life's a journey.
Live each day to the fullest,without regrets.
I'm Patty Hunt and you havebeen listening to the RV Life
Podcast.
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