Thinking about buying an RV or going full-time? You NEED this episode in your life.
Kate sits down with RV consultant and podcast host Cathy Conrad, who turned years of research (and a background in construction management!) into a business helping aspiring RVers avoid expensive mistakes. From water damage horror stories to the dangers of buying based on emotion instead of facts, Cathy shares the tips she wishes more people knew before they hit the road.
If youâre dreaming about RV life but donât know where to startâor youâre already living it and worried about protecting your investmentâthis episode is packed with smart, practical advice from someone whoâs been there, researched that, and helps others every day.
Key takeaways:Â
đ§ Buying an RV is not like buying a car
- Most people donât realize RVs arenât built by electricians or plumbersâso if you donât inspect it (even brand new), you're rolling the dice.
đ Avoid the #1 mistake: buying the wrong rig
- Buying a setup that doesnât fit your travel style = wasted money, fast. Cathy breaks down how to get it right the first time.
𧯠Safety first, always
- From blowouts to fishtails, Cathy explains the towing safety tips most people learn too late (yes, trailer brakes are a thing).
đ¸ She's got receipts
- Cathy shares hilarious and cringey real-life stories from RV parksâand why sheâs quietly snapping pics of what not to do.
đ Connect with Cathy Online:
- ⢠Website, Podcast, Social Accounts can be found at https://linktr.ee/rvadvisors
â
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
In my head, OK, well, you're leveling with your stabilizers,
you're twisting your frame, you're flexing your floor and
your toilet leaks. Because now that you know, I
don't want people to have that experience.
He wasn't aware until finally the stabilizer broke, but he
probably never connected that your toilet's leaking because
you've been flexing the frame because you're put.
They're not made to have uneven pressure.
(00:22):
The weight's supposed to be on the tires.
Welcome back to the RV Queens podcast where we're all about
women making money on the road. I'm your host, Kate White, and
today we're diving into a conversation that every aspiring
RV, uh, or anyone looking to buya rig in the near future needs
to hear. Today I'm joined by Kathy
Conrad, RV advisor, podcast hostand queen of the pre trip
(00:47):
checklist. Kathy and her husband researched
RV's for two years before they bought 1, and now she teaches
others the INS and outs of the buying process.
So trust me when I say this episode is a gold mine of
information. If you've ever felt overwhelmed
by the RV buying process or madethe rookie mistake of buying one
(01:09):
off of Craigslist and not havingit inspected like I did, Kathy's
advice will help you avoid the costly missteps so many of us
made in Year 1. Today, we'll talk about the real
reason Kathy started her consulting business, the crazy
things she sees people doing at campgrounds that you should not
do. Why you should rent an RV before
(01:30):
you go all in and how to protectyour rig like the investment it
is. If you're in the early stages of
RV life or want to keep your current rig in tip top shape,
this episode is for you. So grab your coffee and let's
roll. Kathy Conrad, welcome to the RV
(01:52):
Queens podcast. Where in the world are you this
week? Hi Kate, thanks for having me.
I am near outright outside of Boise, ID.
And you've been there for a while.
Yeah, it's too long. We'll get into that story in a
little bit. So I do love to start interviews
back before you were RV years. I mean it's been a few years for
(02:14):
you before becoming full time RVErs.
You and your husband were tent campers.
Props to you. I've never actually been a tent
camper so I I think you're a special type of person that
likes to wake up soggy, but that's fine.
Someday I'll get to that level. But you researched RV's for two
(02:36):
whole years before buying one, and then you guys were weekend
warriors for a couple years before you sold your house and
you went full time in 2021. So first of all, I have to say
Congrats on being the most well researched RV year that I've had
on the show. And second, because you did so
(02:58):
much research, I have to ask what RV model you end up with
and why? Outdoors RV, it's a small
manufacturer in Oregon, in the grand Oregon and people it's
people don't know about their their kind of great hidden gem
of the industry, I think. And so the people who end up
with outdoors RV's are the people who have done a lot of
(03:19):
research because they stumble upon them right and go oh wow.
Oh. My gosh, now I need to go on a
research rabbit hole. Thank you for that.
Now my other question about thisresearch period of your life was
what was that final linchpin that made you shift from being
weekend warriors in your RV to full timers with no house to go
(03:43):
back to? At one point when we we both
worked in the construction industry, which was one of the
first things to go downhill and there was like a three-week
period where we both were laid off and it was super scary and
tried to do a loan modification.We weren't getting anywhere.
You know, it was just a really, and I've always been a planner.
(04:05):
So all of a sudden there was so much unknown.
I just had to like let it go andjust go with it and hope things
worked out. And they did.
They worked out. We did not lose our house, but
so, but we were in the middle ofa remodel.
My husband's a contractor. So our entire downstairs was
torn apart and down to the bonesand the bathroom and the
(04:26):
kitchen. And so it was a bad time to be
remodeling and to be, you know, was just crazy.
So you didn't want to go throughanother recession.
And things were, there's a, you know, a lot of uncertainty in
the last few years and whatever.And like, we should just do it
in April. It was on the market by the
(04:47):
first weekend in May and Mother's Day weekend.
By Tuesday, we had an offer thatwas 63,000 over our asking
offer, which was already crazy. Luckily, we had done some
cleaning out already. But 20 years in the house, even
if you tried not to accumulate, it's like a lot of stuff.
We lived at a Sun RV resort up in the foothills in Northern
(05:08):
California, which is really nice.
It was a fun, fun place, a lot of fun.
We had a great time and met a lot of people.
OK, It was a means to an end forsure.
A lot of us have been there. My original means to an end
didn't end. We haven't ended up at the end
yet, so. You're still going.
(05:29):
You're. In the same, you're in the same
boat, you're like, and when is that end coming?
Well, let's get into the business you run these days.
You run a consultancy called RV Advisors and a part of that is
your podcast called All things RV Podcast.
How long were you a full timer before you decided to become
kind of this RV advisor to others who want to try this
(05:52):
lifestyle? So probably the first two years
we were full time, I was workingfor someone else that I'd worked
with for 10 years. I turned in, you know, my
resignation and there was this breakout moment on the other
side of the Zoom call. I'd had my own business before,
you know, and it's like I'm ready to do that again.
(06:12):
So having a taste of it for thatsix months and it's like, all
right, I have to find something.First of all, I wanted to be
something that I'm really passionate about and that I
love. I'd like to help people, be of
service to people in some way, you know, and make it a small
business. I don't really don't want to
work 50 hours a week still, you know, I'm ready to back off a
little bit and have a more balanced life and to be able to
(06:37):
do something that I could do in the RV so that when we when my
husband does retire, I could still continue to have my
business and do it part time, make some extra money and help
people to have a better RV ING experience.
Tell me, why are you so passionate about RV education to
(06:58):
the point that you started a business all around it?
Because I did all that research and then I also took a boot camp
from our inspector. We did.
We did. We bought our outdoors RV gently
used. We knew the quality because we
researched it. But we still got an inspection
because we wanted to be certain.You know, it's Peace of Mind.
You wouldn't buy a house withouthaving it inspected, you know,
(07:21):
So it was just part of the investment of doing it to make
sure that we weren't, you know, buying someone else's problem,
which then happens. I'm the kind of person who I
value education. You know, I love to learn.
I'm willing to pay for it, you know, and I love taking that
boot camp. And it's like, heck yeah, I'll
do that. I'll pay for that.
(07:42):
Because he went through all the systems with, I mean, it was, it
was great. And so I really feel that doing
all that research and educating myself ahead of time made for a
much smoother experience and a much more enjoyable experience
because we didn't feel like we didn't know what the heck we
were doing. I mean, we, even when we met
Bora, this boot camp, he's like,oh, wow, you guys are already
(08:03):
working really well together. But we had done a lot of,
watched a lot of YouTube videos and a lot of research on the
whole process. You know, the order in which you
do things and all that, all thatstuff.
So it's a lot of money. It's a lot of money.
And it's like I'm going to protect my investment.
I don't want to make any stupid big costly mistakes if I can
avoid, you know? Yes, I do know and man I wish I
(08:28):
would have known you about 3 years ago when we were shopping
around for an RV. Oh Lord, you know, so I wanted,
I wasn't hadn't intended to tow and all that, but I thought, you
know what, if there was an emergency, I would rather
already know how to do it than try to learn in that moment of
stress and whatever. So now granted I have a 24 foot
(08:52):
toe behind, it's not nearly as intimidating as a big fifth
wheel and a dually and all that good stuff.
I'm not sure I would. I probably make myself do it,
but I wouldn't. It would be a lot more talent.
Oh my gosh, yes. OK, now you're starting to speak
to my nightmares. Like literally like the planning
of what if something happened tomy husband and I had to deal
(09:14):
with the RV Like what? Yes, OK, woo, not going to go
down that pathway, but it's real.
Like it's a real concern. I.
AM and it's amazing that you I already have that.
Figured out that's I love to learn, you know what I mean?
And I want to know how to do stuff.
I'm independent, you know, my dad taught me when I got my
(09:37):
first car how to change the tireand do the oil and filter.
Thank God, you know, because I was in San Francisco coming
home, got a flat tire on the BayBridge and I was by myself and I
was, you know, 20 years old. So I had to change my tire.
Nobody stopped. This is before cell phones.
Nobody stopped to help me out. It was like, it's getting to be
(09:58):
dusk. I'm on the freaking bridge in
San Francisco. I got to do it.
And so because he had taught me,I was able to do it.
So Kathy, you mentioned you previously worked in
construction management. Am I assuming correctly that you
are an organized and detailed type person?
Yes. OK.
(10:18):
Yeah, in addition to all the research that you did too.
So how does that trait help you as a coach to aspiring our
viewers? It really helps because it
allows me to be very succinct and to the point, simplify
things, put it in order that makes sense.
There's a lot of details around R ving, setting up, taking down
this particular order you shoulddo things in.
(10:40):
You know, my goal is to save themoney.
You know you short shortens thatlearning curve if you have a
little more instruction and don't have to try to figure it
out all on your own. Save some time, save some money,
and then hopefully some costly mistakes.
So being able to put together comprehensive organized
information simplified. Now, if someone listens to this
(11:03):
podcast, that's an aspiring RV and like me, does not know
anything about RV's, like me three years ago, I should say,
doesn't know anything about RV'sor even where to begin.
How do people work with you? Like if I reach out to you at
your website, what does that kind of coaching look like?
(11:24):
Well, I do one-on-one coaching. That's my favorite, but I've
done some group stuff too. But I think, you know, it's such
a personal journey for people becoming RV ears.
We all do it for different reasons.
Why and where you're going to RVcan help determine what type of
Rev you get, you know, try to meet them where they're at and
(11:44):
guide them through that whole process.
Ideally I catch them before they've bought one.
That's where you can make your first big mistakes is you know,
you don't know what you don't know, right?
So if you don't know anything, you don't even know what
questions to ask, right? So to ask them a lot of
questions to get them thinking about and kind of putting
themselves in that situation andwhat it's like to help them to
(12:10):
answer some the questions themselves, come to those
answers themselves based on, youknow, what their thought
patterns are and what they thinkthey want to do.
Choosing the wrong RV is costly if you're going to have to trade
it in and get another one because you made a big mistake
and what you bought wasn't goingto work for the type of camping
you were going to do. And I think it's still a good
idea to inspect even when they're new because a lot of
(12:33):
them don't really have a thorough they by time they
travel across the country, right?
Because they're towing each one independent, you know, they
don't fit on any kind of flatbedor dragging them across the
country as fast as they can and things fall apart.
And some places are not that great about putting them back
together. So I think we've hardly gotten
(12:53):
on the road now. There's all this stuff that's
already wrong and we got to fix it before we can go out.
And you know what I mean? And it's just, I think it's
important people understand thatit's not like buying a car.
It's important that they understand that.
You know that's quality wise, right?
They're not. Cars are robotically assembled.
RV's are put together with low skilled labor.
(13:14):
There it is not an electrician running your electrical, OK?
It's a spaghetti mess in there. So I know I've told you this
story before that we bought an RV and truck combo off of
Craigslist. We didn't know anything about
them. We didn't know.
We didn't even know you could have an inspector.
Like we just didn't even know this was a thing at all.
(13:36):
Three months in, it was such a hot mess that we sold that
private cell. We fixed all the issues that we
knew about. We sold it and then we bought a
new camper from the dealer. And in both of those processes,
I wish we would have had SomeoneLike You who could have told us
like just what's normal and smart, you know, because there,
(13:59):
there are like so many big overwhelming questions that were
like, I don't know, it seems fine, you know, but it's like
Someone Like You who number one did way more research than us.
And then number 2 was like bought RV's before and you know,
the process and you know, the pitfalls.
I wish even when we bought from a dealer, you go in when you're
(14:21):
signing the paperwork and like the guy across the table who's
like super nice and schmoozy andhe's their finance guy and he's
like, oh, you'll probably want to add on this protection, won't
you? Oh, you probably want the tire
thing in case your tires fall off, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah. You probably want the roof
thing. And then you're like, Oh my God,
this costs us like $10,000 more than we thought it would because
(14:42):
we don't know what to say yes toand what to say no to.
We don't know what's normal. We don't know any of this.
And man, I wish I would have hadsomeone that could just like
hand hold us with us through that process to just help us.
You know, do we need any of those crazy protection thingies
(15:04):
that they get you with at the end, all that stuff, so.
And there are, there's a, yeah, there's a lot of gadgets you do
need that they may not tell you about either.
You know, they send you on theirway, you know, and you have an
electrical system to protect. You have a plumbing system to
protect. Yeah.
It's kind of a hand holding process.
But I make it fun because it is an exciting time.
(15:26):
But it's not a place you want tomake an emotional decision.
You really need to make an informed decision.
To me, I, I think it's such an amazing lifestyle traveling in
an RV and I really want everybody to have a really good
time because you know what, it really sucks when bad stuff
happens and there's some things you're not going to be able to
rent prevent. You can't, you can have a tire
(15:47):
pressure monitoring system on your fifth wheel or your
trailer. It's going to warn you about a
lot of things, but it's not going to warn you that you just
had a freaking blowout. You know, there was no Yeah.
All right, So what are some mistakes that aspiring and new
RV's make that drive you crazy? Oh, gosh, you know, and when
(16:10):
you're in an RV park, you see a lot of stuff.
I'm often out there hiding, taking pictures, things not to
do for educational purposes. Sunglasses.
Yeah, don't do this. When you're hooked up to city
water, well, number one, you should have a water pressure
regulator because you don't knowwhat the water pressure is.
I've been to one RV park that was like more like a campground
(16:33):
but had full hookups. They actually, it was new, had
water pressure built in, you know, like they could control
the water pressure. So you didn't need one.
I mean, we put it on there and couldn't figure out, you know,
man, it's like we're not gettingany water pressure and it was
because we were regulating the regulated water pressure.
So but anyway, but I've, you know, seen rigs with water
(16:56):
pouring out of the door and everywhere because they left the
water, they're hooked up to citywater, they leave it on.
Maybe they didn't have a water pressure regulator and a fitting
brakes. And now you have this constant
flow of water into your rig and it, and this happened to a
friend of mine. Actually.
They were off on a hike, floodedand all they really had to do
was go around and turn the faucet off before they left for
(17:19):
the day. We have an 80 gallon fresh tank.
So we operate out of our fresh tank because that way when I
walk out the door and be gone a while, I just hit the water pump
switch and it's like, you know, the lines aren't going to be
pressurized. So those are things that can
cause a lot of damage. People leaving and leaving their
awning out. Depending on where you are here
(17:39):
in Idaho, never do that because it like just all of a sudden I
don't even take a walk with the dogs and leave the awning out
because you never know when the wind's going to pick up.
And I've seen awnings wrapped upover the top.
No, and that's a really possiblyone.
I saw a lady one time leaving the campground.
She was in a Class C driving by herself.
(18:02):
Her awning was out and I'm driving towards her and I'm
like, Oh my God. I jumped out of my car and I'm
like stop, stop. And she's like, what?
I'm like, your awning is out andshe's like.
Oh my God. You know, so she thought she had
put it in. Yeah.
Have you seen the I don't know if it's a TikTok or an Instagram
(18:23):
reel. Somewhere someone has captured
this video of on the freeway RV driving with the slides out.
Yes, I've, I've seen that. Yeah, I've seen that video.
I haven't seen anybody do that, but I've seen that video those.
Newbies that like don't know anything like come on man.
(18:43):
What I OK, so I'm taking pictures of people using their
stabilizers as leveling. And so he's got a fifth wheel
and he's, you know, it's got thelittle thing on the front, you
know, the little level and he's using the stabilizers, which you
know, they are meant once you'relevel people who are new, once
you're a level and you've chopped your wheels and level
(19:05):
side to side. If you don't have automatic
leveling, if you have auto leveling, good on you because I
what a convenience. I don't have it.
So I have to level manually. We use the Anderson levelers
level side to side and then front to back.
And your jacks you put down justto keep it from moving around
just to stabilize it. So I see them out there raising
(19:26):
one side, then the other and I see it's like it.
So it broke, right? So he broke the stabilizer and
he still was not level. And I'm like, you know, you want
some boards or something? Now I don't even have any, You
know, it was just like, OK, you have, I mean, it's painful to
watch people break stuff running.
And he's he's saying, you know, I the toilet's leaking a bubble
(19:50):
and I'm like in my head, OK, well, you're leveling with your
stabilizers. You're twisting your frame,
you're flexing your floor and your toilet leaks because now
that you know, it's just, it's, it's painful to see.
I don't want people to have thatexperience.
He wasn't aware until finally the stabilizer broke, but he
(20:11):
probably never connected that your toilet's leaking because
you've been flexing the frame because you're put they're not
made to have. Uneven pressure, the weights
supposed to be on the tires. Somebody else who was like
extremely unlevel like this, I said.
So the the kid had rented rentedthe trailer from a friend of his
to go to the linesman school here and I'd come over the hill
(20:31):
to the back of the KOA and I could see the tops of his
slides. You know, his front end was way
up. And again, they were using, I
don't know why they never lowered the tongue Jack, but
they were still. You know, you could tell that
also the jacks are being used, but it's completely unlevel.
Yeah, it's painful to watch. And the dial with dollar signs
are going off in my head like, OK, well, that's going to cost a
(20:54):
lot of money. I will look, I will look forward
to that series releasing. From your maybe?
Like an e-mail, newsletter, something.
That yeah, that was exactly whatI was thinking about.
It was just a newsletter of whatnot to do.
Oh man. OK, so Kathy, what's your number
one piece of advice for someone who comes to you and says I want
(21:16):
to sell it all and be a full time Rvier?
Rent an RV, rent one if it, you know.
So that's the advantage to having tent camped.
I already knew what it was like to camp and what that looked
like to me was a more comfortable way to do it.
Maybe try it out first before you just go full time, like rant
(21:37):
a rig or there's places you can go.
Like we rented. We went to a campground.
They already had a a pop up net trailer setup that you could
rent. I'm like, oh, perfect, we were
going to rent one. We don't even have to tow it.
We'll just rent this one that's in place.
You know, get an idea if you even like it, because that's a
lot of money to spend and everybody's different.
(21:58):
I think you guys knew you wantedthat lifestyle, right?
Kind of. Was the lifestyle appealing to
you? OK, so what's your advice, your
best advice to current RV years on how to protect their
investment? Be an educated consumer, learn
how to set it up and take it down properly near learn what
maintenance needs to be done. And even if you're not going to
(22:20):
do it yourself, at least you know it needs doing and you can
hire somebody to do it because, you know, water penetration is
like your worst enemy. So be an educated consumer.
You want to protect your investment.
It's a lot of money and there's some really costly mistakes, the
maintenance. Piece of it, that's another that
was another big learning of ours.
(22:43):
It's like, well, every six months you had to do this, every
nine months you got to do this, etcetera, etcetera.
There's a lot of little things like that that just kind of help
keep your rig in in good shape so that if you do want to sell
it someday, it's just, well, you've got all this taking care
of it in good shape or just, youknow, if you want to live in it
for a long time. And keep yeah.
(23:05):
And we yeah and we keep I keep amaintenance log so that if one
day we do go to sell it, I can say so here's what we've done
over, you know, all this time. And plus, I don't have to keep
it in my head when it's, I can look back and see when it's time
to do what based on the last time we did it so.
That's a good idea to just keep it all written down.
I think me and my husband use a Google Calendar, so he'll put in
(23:27):
there like, you know, whatever, flush the water heater, like the
little things. What's that that thing in that
water heater, the RN Rod R It's.Anode, rod anode.
Rod yeah, that one, the first. So the, the bad rig that we
bought first, sometime within those first three months,
(23:49):
whenever we owned that thing, someone had mentioned to us that
we need to check that in the water heater.
And I will never forget what that thing looked like.
It was barely there. It barely even exists.
There's like this super skinny little piece of like iron those
like all rusted and like nasty and like so many pieces of
mineral deposits and stuff are like flaked in the water heater.
(24:12):
And my husband showed me, you know, like the new one from Ace
Hardware that he just got the shiny new like thick metal.
And my jaw was on the floor like, Oh my gosh.
And there's like so many little things like that in RV life that
I'm like, and that is why we take care of things.
And if you don't know, you know and you didn't know.
(24:34):
And it's like that's really important because if you don't
change that, then there's nothing collecting those
minerals. And so it deteriorates the
inside of your hot water tank, which is more expensive to.
Well, and like clearly the people that we bought it from
too, I don't think they do, but the the decade or whatever that
they owned the rig. So oh man.
(24:55):
Honestly, I think there's a a relatively small population of
people who really know what needs to be done and make sure
it's done, whether they do it themselves.
Yes I do know what you mean and that is why we need your series
on what not to do. Like, here's another picture for
you. Compare an old nasty crusty
(25:15):
anode rod and a brand new one. Yeah, and one in like, medium
shape. Like here's what it looks like
when you should replace it. No, and it's the safety stuff
too around towing that just and weight and all that.
That probably that's probably the most important thing because
you really do see a lot, you seethe the videos on Instagram and
(25:37):
TikTok and that of accidents that they're totally
preventable. If number one, people have the
correct track truck, the correcttowing system, which would
prevent the fishtailing. But when if you fishtail, you
press the accelerator and you squeeze your trailer brakes.
I mean, that's how you stop it. But most people are not going to
know that. Hopefully you.
(25:57):
Prevent the fishtail but. With the right equipment,
trailer brakes has existed. This is like, I can't believe
I'm admitting this to the Internet.
We didn't know that existed for like the first year of being on
the road. And we only learned it because
we had a friend that was tellinga story about driving through
the mountains in their fifth wheel and like some his truck
(26:20):
brakes like was having problems and like coming down the
mountains. And he said he mentioned he had
to use the trailer. What are they called the?
Yeah, The thing is, you squeeze this trailer brake.
Trailer breaks. Yeah, me and Drew looked at each
other. We're like, what are trailer
breaks? Oh my gosh.
How do we never know this? So many things.
(26:40):
So many things. OK, Kathy, this has been so
helpful. I've learned a lot from you just
in the past. Little bit here, so much more to
learn. Go ahead and share with everyone
where they can connect with you online.
And then I will ask you my finalquestion.
I have a website, rvadvisors.net, so everything's
they have access to everything on there around my program and
(27:05):
even my podcasts and everything or sign up, you know, for
newsletter. I'm on pretty much all the
podcast platforms. That's all things RV podcast.
So I'm on Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio.
And especially for those of you that are thinking about getting
into RV life, Kathy is a great place to start.
So this season I have been ending my interviews with a
(27:26):
round of 1 and one questions where I ask a question and we
both answer it. So my question for you today is
has nothing to do with RV education.
It's just a fun question. What is your favorite easy meal
that you have been cooking lately in your RV?
(27:46):
Well, crock pot recipes are super easy.
It was, and actually it was really good.
It was the fastest meal ever. It's a pot roast.
You throw some mushrooms on there.
You throw in a pack of brown gravy mix.
You put in a cup of water, cook it those slow for 6 to 8 hours.
So anything that cooks that longis going to be yummy, right?
(28:07):
We do. I like to barbecue and make
salads and that sort of thing. That's really my favorite.
I love making salads. But I, I have to say, because
I've kind of lost my cooking inspiration because.
Because you were stationary for too long.
Stationary for too long and I just, we have a rare kitchen and
(28:28):
it's just small and I love coffee and I have a big espresso
machine and that takes half of the small amount of kitchen
counter space that I have. So I got it, you know, like 6
months before we sold our house and I waited for years to get
it, so there was no way I was partying with it.
My answer is funny. Mine is is not roast like that,
(28:51):
but it is using a Chuck roast. You find a nice, you know, pound
and a half or two of Chuck roastand then I have an insta pot and
do you know what? OK, I'm going to.
I am a gringa, so I pronounce itBerea.
It's probably pronounced birria for people that actually speak
(29:14):
Spanish well. Have you ever had those kind of
tacos before? Not that I know of, but.
If you go to a Mexican restaurant with those kind of
tacos, you have to try them. They're it's so good and so
flavorful. And so when we were visiting my
sister in Arizona last fall, we went to this mind blowing
(29:34):
Mexican restaurant because, you know, they have so much good
food in that area. And I fell in love with these
kind of tacos. So then on Christmas Day, I
decided like a crazy person to experiment with a full blown
what is that kind of what's the fancy recipes?
Is it America's Test Kitchen that has like very elaborate
(29:57):
recipes? With like.
Ingredients yes. So I made a birya Taco recipe
from America's Test Kitchen and it took 8 hours.
Not kidding. So the point to me telling you
all this is I found that they sell Birya like seasoning
(30:18):
packets and you just have to throw it in an Instant Pot with
the Chuck roast. And like you said, maybe like a
cup of water or whatever, whatever the packet says, just
do that. And it is it's not as good.
It's not going to be mind blowing like it was in Phoenix,
right? But it is still passable and
(30:40):
delicious for like just another Tuesday dinner.
And then you, yeah, quick dinner.
And then you can still, after you take out the roast, even
though it only cooks for an hour, it's still super duper
tender. And you shred it up and like,
you know, assemble your little tacos and the the remaining
(31:01):
juice is still super yummy as a,as a dip.
So there's my quick RV cooking. Well, Instapot, yeah, I love
Instapot. I use that a lot more I just
recently bought. All right, Kathy, well, that's a
wrap. Thank you for all of your
helpful information today and for being on the show.
(31:22):
I have really enjoyed this conversation and just getting to
know you better. Thank you Kate, it was a
pleasure, really enjoyed it. So and thank you.
We're having such an awesome community.
Yeah. Oh, you're welcome.
I'm so glad you're in RV Queen circles.
It's super fun to have you. All righty.
I will see you on the road. Thank you so much for tuning in
(31:44):
to today's episode and for beingpart of the RV Queens community.
Remember to hit subscribe on whatever platform you're
listening on. And guess what?
You can have conversations like I had on this episode with your
fellow RV women who are living intentionally and making money
on the road. Head to
rvqueenspodcast.com/community tojoin RV Queens circles today.
(32:07):
It's a totally unique online space with a shared prosperity
model that's all about communityover competition.
I'd love to have you be a part. All right guys, I'll see you
next week or hopefully I will see you on the road.
And that is why we take care of things.
In my head, OK, well, you're leveling with your stabilizers,
you're twisting your frame, you're flexing your floor and
your toilet leaks. Because now that you know, I
don't want people to have that experience.
He wasn't aware until finally the stabilizer broke, but he
probably never connected that your toilet's leaking because
you've been flexing the frame because you're put.
They're not made to have uneven pressure.
(00:22):
The weight's supposed to be on the tires.
Welcome back to the RV Queens podcast where we're all about
women making money on the road. I'm your host, Kate White, and
today we're diving into a conversation that every aspiring
RV, uh, or anyone looking to buya rig in the near future needs
to hear. Today I'm joined by Kathy
Conrad, RV advisor, podcast hostand queen of the pre trip
(00:47):
checklist. Kathy and her husband researched
RV's for two years before they bought 1, and now she teaches
others the INS and outs of the buying process.
So trust me when I say this episode is a gold mine of
information. If you've ever felt overwhelmed
by the RV buying process or madethe rookie mistake of buying one
(01:09):
off of Craigslist and not havingit inspected like I did, Kathy's
advice will help you avoid the costly missteps so many of us
made in Year 1. Today, we'll talk about the real
reason Kathy started her consulting business, the crazy
things she sees people doing at campgrounds that you should not
do. Why you should rent an RV before
(01:30):
you go all in and how to protectyour rig like the investment it
is. If you're in the early stages of
RV life or want to keep your current rig in tip top shape,
this episode is for you. So grab your coffee and let's
roll. Kathy Conrad, welcome to the RV
(01:52):
Queens podcast. Where in the world are you this
week? Hi Kate, thanks for having me.
I am near outright outside of Boise, ID.
And you've been there for a while.
Yeah, it's too long. We'll get into that story in a
little bit. So I do love to start interviews
back before you were RV years. I mean it's been a few years for
(02:14):
you before becoming full time RVErs.
You and your husband were tent campers.
Props to you. I've never actually been a tent
camper so I I think you're a special type of person that
likes to wake up soggy, but that's fine.
Someday I'll get to that level. But you researched RV's for two
(02:36):
whole years before buying one, and then you guys were weekend
warriors for a couple years before you sold your house and
you went full time in 2021. So first of all, I have to say
Congrats on being the most well researched RV year that I've had
on the show. And second, because you did so
(02:58):
much research, I have to ask what RV model you end up with
and why? Outdoors RV, it's a small
manufacturer in Oregon, in the grand Oregon and people it's
people don't know about their their kind of great hidden gem
of the industry, I think. And so the people who end up
with outdoors RV's are the people who have done a lot of
(03:19):
research because they stumble upon them right and go oh wow.
Oh. My gosh, now I need to go on a
research rabbit hole. Thank you for that.
Now my other question about thisresearch period of your life was
what was that final linchpin that made you shift from being
weekend warriors in your RV to full timers with no house to go
(03:43):
back to? At one point when we we both
worked in the construction industry, which was one of the
first things to go downhill and there was like a three-week
period where we both were laid off and it was super scary and
tried to do a loan modification.We weren't getting anywhere.
You know, it was just a really, and I've always been a planner.
(04:05):
So all of a sudden there was so much unknown.
I just had to like let it go andjust go with it and hope things
worked out. And they did.
They worked out. We did not lose our house, but
so, but we were in the middle ofa remodel.
My husband's a contractor. So our entire downstairs was
torn apart and down to the bonesand the bathroom and the
(04:26):
kitchen. And so it was a bad time to be
remodeling and to be, you know, was just crazy.
So you didn't want to go throughanother recession.
And things were, there's a, you know, a lot of uncertainty in
the last few years and whatever.And like, we should just do it
in April. It was on the market by the
(04:47):
first weekend in May and Mother's Day weekend.
By Tuesday, we had an offer thatwas 63,000 over our asking
offer, which was already crazy. Luckily, we had done some
cleaning out already. But 20 years in the house, even
if you tried not to accumulate, it's like a lot of stuff.
We lived at a Sun RV resort up in the foothills in Northern
(05:08):
California, which is really nice.
It was a fun, fun place, a lot of fun.
We had a great time and met a lot of people.
OK, It was a means to an end forsure.
A lot of us have been there. My original means to an end
didn't end. We haven't ended up at the end
yet, so. You're still going.
(05:29):
You're. In the same, you're in the same
boat, you're like, and when is that end coming?
Well, let's get into the business you run these days.
You run a consultancy called RV Advisors and a part of that is
your podcast called All things RV Podcast.
How long were you a full timer before you decided to become
kind of this RV advisor to others who want to try this
(05:52):
lifestyle? So probably the first two years
we were full time, I was workingfor someone else that I'd worked
with for 10 years. I turned in, you know, my
resignation and there was this breakout moment on the other
side of the Zoom call. I'd had my own business before,
you know, and it's like I'm ready to do that again.
(06:12):
So having a taste of it for thatsix months and it's like, all
right, I have to find something.First of all, I wanted to be
something that I'm really passionate about and that I
love. I'd like to help people, be of
service to people in some way, you know, and make it a small
business. I don't really don't want to
work 50 hours a week still, you know, I'm ready to back off a
little bit and have a more balanced life and to be able to
(06:37):
do something that I could do in the RV so that when we when my
husband does retire, I could still continue to have my
business and do it part time, make some extra money and help
people to have a better RV ING experience.
Tell me, why are you so passionate about RV education to
(06:58):
the point that you started a business all around it?
Because I did all that research and then I also took a boot camp
from our inspector. We did.
We did. We bought our outdoors RV gently
used. We knew the quality because we
researched it. But we still got an inspection
because we wanted to be certain.You know, it's Peace of Mind.
You wouldn't buy a house withouthaving it inspected, you know,
(07:21):
So it was just part of the investment of doing it to make
sure that we weren't, you know, buying someone else's problem,
which then happens. I'm the kind of person who I
value education. You know, I love to learn.
I'm willing to pay for it, you know, and I love taking that
boot camp. And it's like, heck yeah, I'll
do that. I'll pay for that.
(07:42):
Because he went through all the systems with, I mean, it was, it
was great. And so I really feel that doing
all that research and educating myself ahead of time made for a
much smoother experience and a much more enjoyable experience
because we didn't feel like we didn't know what the heck we
were doing. I mean, we, even when we met
Bora, this boot camp, he's like,oh, wow, you guys are already
(08:03):
working really well together. But we had done a lot of,
watched a lot of YouTube videos and a lot of research on the
whole process. You know, the order in which you
do things and all that, all thatstuff.
So it's a lot of money. It's a lot of money.
And it's like I'm going to protect my investment.
I don't want to make any stupid big costly mistakes if I can
avoid, you know? Yes, I do know and man I wish I
(08:28):
would have known you about 3 years ago when we were shopping
around for an RV. Oh Lord, you know, so I wanted,
I wasn't hadn't intended to tow and all that, but I thought, you
know what, if there was an emergency, I would rather
already know how to do it than try to learn in that moment of
stress and whatever. So now granted I have a 24 foot
(08:52):
toe behind, it's not nearly as intimidating as a big fifth
wheel and a dually and all that good stuff.
I'm not sure I would. I probably make myself do it,
but I wouldn't. It would be a lot more talent.
Oh my gosh, yes. OK, now you're starting to speak
to my nightmares. Like literally like the planning
of what if something happened tomy husband and I had to deal
(09:14):
with the RV Like what? Yes, OK, woo, not going to go
down that pathway, but it's real.
Like it's a real concern. I.
AM and it's amazing that you I already have that.
Figured out that's I love to learn, you know what I mean?
And I want to know how to do stuff.
I'm independent, you know, my dad taught me when I got my
(09:37):
first car how to change the tireand do the oil and filter.
Thank God, you know, because I was in San Francisco coming
home, got a flat tire on the BayBridge and I was by myself and I
was, you know, 20 years old. So I had to change my tire.
Nobody stopped. This is before cell phones.
Nobody stopped to help me out. It was like, it's getting to be
(09:58):
dusk. I'm on the freaking bridge in
San Francisco. I got to do it.
And so because he had taught me,I was able to do it.
So Kathy, you mentioned you previously worked in
construction management. Am I assuming correctly that you
are an organized and detailed type person?
Yes. OK.
(10:18):
Yeah, in addition to all the research that you did too.
So how does that trait help you as a coach to aspiring our
viewers? It really helps because it
allows me to be very succinct and to the point, simplify
things, put it in order that makes sense.
There's a lot of details around R ving, setting up, taking down
this particular order you shoulddo things in.
(10:40):
You know, my goal is to save themoney.
You know you short shortens thatlearning curve if you have a
little more instruction and don't have to try to figure it
out all on your own. Save some time, save some money,
and then hopefully some costly mistakes.
So being able to put together comprehensive organized
information simplified. Now, if someone listens to this
(11:03):
podcast, that's an aspiring RV and like me, does not know
anything about RV's, like me three years ago, I should say,
doesn't know anything about RV'sor even where to begin.
How do people work with you? Like if I reach out to you at
your website, what does that kind of coaching look like?
(11:24):
Well, I do one-on-one coaching. That's my favorite, but I've
done some group stuff too. But I think, you know, it's such
a personal journey for people becoming RV ears.
We all do it for different reasons.
Why and where you're going to RVcan help determine what type of
Rev you get, you know, try to meet them where they're at and
(11:44):
guide them through that whole process.
Ideally I catch them before they've bought one.
That's where you can make your first big mistakes is you know,
you don't know what you don't know, right?
So if you don't know anything, you don't even know what
questions to ask, right? So to ask them a lot of
questions to get them thinking about and kind of putting
themselves in that situation andwhat it's like to help them to
(12:10):
answer some the questions themselves, come to those
answers themselves based on, youknow, what their thought
patterns are and what they thinkthey want to do.
Choosing the wrong RV is costly if you're going to have to trade
it in and get another one because you made a big mistake
and what you bought wasn't goingto work for the type of camping
you were going to do. And I think it's still a good
idea to inspect even when they're new because a lot of
(12:33):
them don't really have a thorough they by time they
travel across the country, right?
Because they're towing each one independent, you know, they
don't fit on any kind of flatbedor dragging them across the
country as fast as they can and things fall apart.
And some places are not that great about putting them back
together. So I think we've hardly gotten
(12:53):
on the road now. There's all this stuff that's
already wrong and we got to fix it before we can go out.
And you know what I mean? And it's just, I think it's
important people understand thatit's not like buying a car.
It's important that they understand that.
You know that's quality wise, right?
They're not. Cars are robotically assembled.
RV's are put together with low skilled labor.
(13:14):
There it is not an electrician running your electrical, OK?
It's a spaghetti mess in there. So I know I've told you this
story before that we bought an RV and truck combo off of
Craigslist. We didn't know anything about
them. We didn't know.
We didn't even know you could have an inspector.
Like we just didn't even know this was a thing at all.
(13:36):
Three months in, it was such a hot mess that we sold that
private cell. We fixed all the issues that we
knew about. We sold it and then we bought a
new camper from the dealer. And in both of those processes,
I wish we would have had SomeoneLike You who could have told us
like just what's normal and smart, you know, because there,
(13:59):
there are like so many big overwhelming questions that were
like, I don't know, it seems fine, you know, but it's like
Someone Like You who number one did way more research than us.
And then number 2 was like bought RV's before and you know,
the process and you know, the pitfalls.
I wish even when we bought from a dealer, you go in when you're
(14:21):
signing the paperwork and like the guy across the table who's
like super nice and schmoozy andhe's their finance guy and he's
like, oh, you'll probably want to add on this protection, won't
you? Oh, you probably want the tire
thing in case your tires fall off, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah. You probably want the roof
thing. And then you're like, Oh my God,
this costs us like $10,000 more than we thought it would because
(14:42):
we don't know what to say yes toand what to say no to.
We don't know what's normal. We don't know any of this.
And man, I wish I would have hadsomeone that could just like
hand hold us with us through that process to just help us.
You know, do we need any of those crazy protection thingies
(15:04):
that they get you with at the end, all that stuff, so.
And there are, there's a, yeah, there's a lot of gadgets you do
need that they may not tell you about either.
You know, they send you on theirway, you know, and you have an
electrical system to protect. You have a plumbing system to
protect. Yeah.
It's kind of a hand holding process.
But I make it fun because it is an exciting time.
(15:26):
But it's not a place you want tomake an emotional decision.
You really need to make an informed decision.
To me, I, I think it's such an amazing lifestyle traveling in
an RV and I really want everybody to have a really good
time because you know what, it really sucks when bad stuff
happens and there's some things you're not going to be able to
rent prevent. You can't, you can have a tire
(15:47):
pressure monitoring system on your fifth wheel or your
trailer. It's going to warn you about a
lot of things, but it's not going to warn you that you just
had a freaking blowout. You know, there was no Yeah.
All right, So what are some mistakes that aspiring and new
RV's make that drive you crazy? Oh, gosh, you know, and when
(16:10):
you're in an RV park, you see a lot of stuff.
I'm often out there hiding, taking pictures, things not to
do for educational purposes. Sunglasses.
Yeah, don't do this. When you're hooked up to city
water, well, number one, you should have a water pressure
regulator because you don't knowwhat the water pressure is.
I've been to one RV park that was like more like a campground
(16:33):
but had full hookups. They actually, it was new, had
water pressure built in, you know, like they could control
the water pressure. So you didn't need one.
I mean, we put it on there and couldn't figure out, you know,
man, it's like we're not gettingany water pressure and it was
because we were regulating the regulated water pressure.
So but anyway, but I've, you know, seen rigs with water
(16:56):
pouring out of the door and everywhere because they left the
water, they're hooked up to citywater, they leave it on.
Maybe they didn't have a water pressure regulator and a fitting
brakes. And now you have this constant
flow of water into your rig and it, and this happened to a
friend of mine. Actually.
They were off on a hike, floodedand all they really had to do
was go around and turn the faucet off before they left for
(17:19):
the day. We have an 80 gallon fresh tank.
So we operate out of our fresh tank because that way when I
walk out the door and be gone a while, I just hit the water pump
switch and it's like, you know, the lines aren't going to be
pressurized. So those are things that can
cause a lot of damage. People leaving and leaving their
awning out. Depending on where you are here
(17:39):
in Idaho, never do that because it like just all of a sudden I
don't even take a walk with the dogs and leave the awning out
because you never know when the wind's going to pick up.
And I've seen awnings wrapped upover the top.
No, and that's a really possiblyone.
I saw a lady one time leaving the campground.
She was in a Class C driving by herself.
(18:02):
Her awning was out and I'm driving towards her and I'm
like, Oh my God. I jumped out of my car and I'm
like stop, stop. And she's like, what?
I'm like, your awning is out andshe's like.
Oh my God. You know, so she thought she had
put it in. Yeah.
Have you seen the I don't know if it's a TikTok or an Instagram
(18:23):
reel. Somewhere someone has captured
this video of on the freeway RV driving with the slides out.
Yes, I've, I've seen that. Yeah, I've seen that video.
I haven't seen anybody do that, but I've seen that video those.
Newbies that like don't know anything like come on man.
(18:43):
What I OK, so I'm taking pictures of people using their
stabilizers as leveling. And so he's got a fifth wheel
and he's, you know, it's got thelittle thing on the front, you
know, the little level and he's using the stabilizers, which you
know, they are meant once you'relevel people who are new, once
you're a level and you've chopped your wheels and level
(19:05):
side to side. If you don't have automatic
leveling, if you have auto leveling, good on you because I
what a convenience. I don't have it.
So I have to level manually. We use the Anderson levelers
level side to side and then front to back.
And your jacks you put down justto keep it from moving around
just to stabilize it. So I see them out there raising
(19:26):
one side, then the other and I see it's like it.
So it broke, right? So he broke the stabilizer and
he still was not level. And I'm like, you know, you want
some boards or something? Now I don't even have any, You
know, it was just like, OK, you have, I mean, it's painful to
watch people break stuff running.
And he's he's saying, you know, I the toilet's leaking a bubble
(19:50):
and I'm like in my head, OK, well, you're leveling with your
stabilizers. You're twisting your frame,
you're flexing your floor and your toilet leaks because now
that you know, it's just, it's, it's painful to see.
I don't want people to have thatexperience.
He wasn't aware until finally the stabilizer broke, but he
(20:11):
probably never connected that your toilet's leaking because
you've been flexing the frame because you're put they're not
made to have. Uneven pressure, the weights
supposed to be on the tires. Somebody else who was like
extremely unlevel like this, I said.
So the the kid had rented rentedthe trailer from a friend of his
to go to the linesman school here and I'd come over the hill
(20:31):
to the back of the KOA and I could see the tops of his
slides. You know, his front end was way
up. And again, they were using, I
don't know why they never lowered the tongue Jack, but
they were still. You know, you could tell that
also the jacks are being used, but it's completely unlevel.
Yeah, it's painful to watch. And the dial with dollar signs
are going off in my head like, OK, well, that's going to cost a
(20:54):
lot of money. I will look, I will look forward
to that series releasing. From your maybe?
Like an e-mail, newsletter, something.
That yeah, that was exactly whatI was thinking about.
It was just a newsletter of whatnot to do.
Oh man. OK, so Kathy, what's your number
one piece of advice for someone who comes to you and says I want
(21:16):
to sell it all and be a full time Rvier?
Rent an RV, rent one if it, you know.
So that's the advantage to having tent camped.
I already knew what it was like to camp and what that looked
like to me was a more comfortable way to do it.
Maybe try it out first before you just go full time, like rant
(21:37):
a rig or there's places you can go.
Like we rented. We went to a campground.
They already had a a pop up net trailer setup that you could
rent. I'm like, oh, perfect, we were
going to rent one. We don't even have to tow it.
We'll just rent this one that's in place.
You know, get an idea if you even like it, because that's a
lot of money to spend and everybody's different.
(21:58):
I think you guys knew you wantedthat lifestyle, right?
Kind of. Was the lifestyle appealing to
you? OK, so what's your advice, your
best advice to current RV years on how to protect their
investment? Be an educated consumer, learn
how to set it up and take it down properly near learn what
maintenance needs to be done. And even if you're not going to
(22:20):
do it yourself, at least you know it needs doing and you can
hire somebody to do it because, you know, water penetration is
like your worst enemy. So be an educated consumer.
You want to protect your investment.
It's a lot of money and there's some really costly mistakes, the
maintenance. Piece of it, that's another that
was another big learning of ours.
(22:43):
It's like, well, every six months you had to do this, every
nine months you got to do this, etcetera, etcetera.
There's a lot of little things like that that just kind of help
keep your rig in in good shape so that if you do want to sell
it someday, it's just, well, you've got all this taking care
of it in good shape or just, youknow, if you want to live in it
for a long time. And keep yeah.
(23:05):
And we yeah and we keep I keep amaintenance log so that if one
day we do go to sell it, I can say so here's what we've done
over, you know, all this time. And plus, I don't have to keep
it in my head when it's, I can look back and see when it's time
to do what based on the last time we did it so.
That's a good idea to just keep it all written down.
I think me and my husband use a Google Calendar, so he'll put in
(23:27):
there like, you know, whatever, flush the water heater, like the
little things. What's that that thing in that
water heater, the RN Rod R It's.Anode, rod anode.
Rod yeah, that one, the first. So the, the bad rig that we
bought first, sometime within those first three months,
(23:49):
whenever we owned that thing, someone had mentioned to us that
we need to check that in the water heater.
And I will never forget what that thing looked like.
It was barely there. It barely even exists.
There's like this super skinny little piece of like iron those
like all rusted and like nasty and like so many pieces of
mineral deposits and stuff are like flaked in the water heater.
(24:12):
And my husband showed me, you know, like the new one from Ace
Hardware that he just got the shiny new like thick metal.
And my jaw was on the floor like, Oh my gosh.
And there's like so many little things like that in RV life that
I'm like, and that is why we take care of things.
And if you don't know, you know and you didn't know.
(24:34):
And it's like that's really important because if you don't
change that, then there's nothing collecting those
minerals. And so it deteriorates the
inside of your hot water tank, which is more expensive to.
Well, and like clearly the people that we bought it from
too, I don't think they do, but the the decade or whatever that
they owned the rig. So oh man.
(24:55):
Honestly, I think there's a a relatively small population of
people who really know what needs to be done and make sure
it's done, whether they do it themselves.
Yes I do know what you mean and that is why we need your series
on what not to do. Like, here's another picture for
you. Compare an old nasty crusty
(25:15):
anode rod and a brand new one. Yeah, and one in like, medium
shape. Like here's what it looks like
when you should replace it. No, and it's the safety stuff
too around towing that just and weight and all that.
That probably that's probably the most important thing because
you really do see a lot, you seethe the videos on Instagram and
(25:37):
TikTok and that of accidents that they're totally
preventable. If number one, people have the
correct track truck, the correcttowing system, which would
prevent the fishtailing. But when if you fishtail, you
press the accelerator and you squeeze your trailer brakes.
I mean, that's how you stop it. But most people are not going to
know that. Hopefully you.
(25:57):
Prevent the fishtail but. With the right equipment,
trailer brakes has existed. This is like, I can't believe
I'm admitting this to the Internet.
We didn't know that existed for like the first year of being on
the road. And we only learned it because
we had a friend that was tellinga story about driving through
the mountains in their fifth wheel and like some his truck
(26:20):
brakes like was having problems and like coming down the
mountains. And he said he mentioned he had
to use the trailer. What are they called the?
Yeah, The thing is, you squeeze this trailer brake.
Trailer breaks. Yeah, me and Drew looked at each
other. We're like, what are trailer
breaks? Oh my gosh.
How do we never know this? So many things.
(26:40):
So many things. OK, Kathy, this has been so
helpful. I've learned a lot from you just
in the past. Little bit here, so much more to
learn. Go ahead and share with everyone
where they can connect with you online.
And then I will ask you my finalquestion.
I have a website, rvadvisors.net, so everything's
they have access to everything on there around my program and
(27:05):
even my podcasts and everything or sign up, you know, for
newsletter. I'm on pretty much all the
podcast platforms. That's all things RV podcast.
So I'm on Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio.
And especially for those of you that are thinking about getting
into RV life, Kathy is a great place to start.
So this season I have been ending my interviews with a
(27:26):
round of 1 and one questions where I ask a question and we
both answer it. So my question for you today is
has nothing to do with RV education.
It's just a fun question. What is your favorite easy meal
that you have been cooking lately in your RV?
(27:46):
Well, crock pot recipes are super easy.
It was, and actually it was really good.
It was the fastest meal ever. It's a pot roast.
You throw some mushrooms on there.
You throw in a pack of brown gravy mix.
You put in a cup of water, cook it those slow for 6 to 8 hours.
So anything that cooks that longis going to be yummy, right?
(28:07):
We do. I like to barbecue and make
salads and that sort of thing. That's really my favorite.
I love making salads. But I, I have to say, because
I've kind of lost my cooking inspiration because.
Because you were stationary for too long.
Stationary for too long and I just, we have a rare kitchen and
(28:28):
it's just small and I love coffee and I have a big espresso
machine and that takes half of the small amount of kitchen
counter space that I have. So I got it, you know, like 6
months before we sold our house and I waited for years to get
it, so there was no way I was partying with it.
My answer is funny. Mine is is not roast like that,
(28:51):
but it is using a Chuck roast. You find a nice, you know, pound
and a half or two of Chuck roastand then I have an insta pot and
do you know what? OK, I'm going to.
I am a gringa, so I pronounce itBerea.
It's probably pronounced birria for people that actually speak
(29:14):
Spanish well. Have you ever had those kind of
tacos before? Not that I know of, but.
If you go to a Mexican restaurant with those kind of
tacos, you have to try them. They're it's so good and so
flavorful. And so when we were visiting my
sister in Arizona last fall, we went to this mind blowing
(29:34):
Mexican restaurant because, you know, they have so much good
food in that area. And I fell in love with these
kind of tacos. So then on Christmas Day, I
decided like a crazy person to experiment with a full blown
what is that kind of what's the fancy recipes?
Is it America's Test Kitchen that has like very elaborate
(29:57):
recipes? With like.
Ingredients yes. So I made a birya Taco recipe
from America's Test Kitchen and it took 8 hours.
Not kidding. So the point to me telling you
all this is I found that they sell Birya like seasoning
(30:18):
packets and you just have to throw it in an Instant Pot with
the Chuck roast. And like you said, maybe like a
cup of water or whatever, whatever the packet says, just
do that. And it is it's not as good.
It's not going to be mind blowing like it was in Phoenix,
right? But it is still passable and
(30:40):
delicious for like just another Tuesday dinner.
And then you, yeah, quick dinner.
And then you can still, after you take out the roast, even
though it only cooks for an hour, it's still super duper
tender. And you shred it up and like,
you know, assemble your little tacos and the the remaining
(31:01):
juice is still super yummy as a,as a dip.
So there's my quick RV cooking. Well, Instapot, yeah, I love
Instapot. I use that a lot more I just
recently bought. All right, Kathy, well, that's a
wrap. Thank you for all of your
helpful information today and for being on the show.
(31:22):
I have really enjoyed this conversation and just getting to
know you better. Thank you Kate, it was a
pleasure, really enjoyed it. So and thank you.
We're having such an awesome community.
Yeah. Oh, you're welcome.
I'm so glad you're in RV Queen circles.
It's super fun to have you. All righty.
I will see you on the road. Thank you so much for tuning in
(31:44):
to today's episode and for beingpart of the RV Queens community.
Remember to hit subscribe on whatever platform you're
listening on. And guess what?
You can have conversations like I had on this episode with your
fellow RV women who are living intentionally and making money
on the road. Head to
rvqueenspodcast.com/community tojoin RV Queens circles today.
(32:07):
It's a totally unique online space with a shared prosperity
model that's all about communityover competition.
I'd love to have you be a part. All right guys, I'll see you
next week or hopefully I will see you on the road.
And that is why we take care of things.
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