Motor Home Mantras You MUST Learn

Are you trained in the art of motor homing? Do you know what goes into the making of a great RV trip? Are you aware of the little things that can make a regular RVing experience outstanding? If you are wondering whether there is some kind of secret that you must know about RVing, you are right. Thankfully, this secret isn’t protected by fire-breathing dragons or mysterious ancient gods. We, the time-tested RVers, are the guardians. Sit back as we open the doors that lead to awesome RVing:

Be Open to Change
Not everything will go according to your plan during a motor home trip. No matter how well you plan, be it your packing list or travel schedule, there will be something unexpected to come up. So, be open to change. Adapt to new plans and travel routes on the go. The number one rule of RVing is -- have fun.

Pack Less
A motor home is not your home in the traditional sense of the term. You must remember that when packing for your next trip. ‘Pack light, travel right’ must be your mantra. Hence, pack just the essentials. Remember, it’s the travel experience that matters more than the material possessions you carry.

Prepare Yourself
Take some time out to prepare and make your motor home vacation more enjoyable. Make sure you have enough time to fish by a scenic lake or shoot a video of the spectacular waterfalls rather than spending all of your time cooking meals in your RV kitchen. Precook meals, store them in your RV refrigerator, and heat them later on. Keep medicines and a first aid kit handy to save hassles on the road.

Stop Along
The key attractions of a motor home trip include stopping by breathtaking spots, exploring the scenic mountain trails or staying overnight at a particularly appealing campsite. An RV trip gives you a lot of freedom. Therefore, avoid rushing from one spot to the other. Take your own time to explore a few of the stunning locales of America.

Try Something New
Do things that you’ve never tried before. For example, visit a place that you’ve never seen or try some activities that you have always been scared to try. Seize this opportunity to taste the unknown.

There is so much to do and see when RVing. All you need is your motor home and you are all set to drive on. RVing is all about living in the present, and we have just told you how to do it.

What is the Right Type of RV for YOU?

RV Meal Planning Tips

Looking forward to traveling in your motor home with your family and kids? Great! Then, do you have the on-road meal plans all figured out? The secret to healthy eating on the road is simplicity. The other secret of good eating is planning. Though it means a lot of work, it’s actually fun tossing up some delicious lunch and dinner. Here are five simple tips for RV meal planning:

Plan Ahead
When you plan your RV meals, you’ll have more room in your refrigerator and less wastage of food. No matter what you eat during the trip, you should be prepared ahead of time. Even your favorite baked items must be baked, packed and frozen in advance.

Consider Cereals
Cereals are a great option when you are hitting the roads in your motor home. They are easy to pack and carry. You can use them as a snack. Packing a few varieties of the cereals will also make for a tasty and healthy breakfast daily.

Pre-Marinated Meat for Camping
Pre-marinated meat is the best for your RV camping needs. You can look for brands that will freeze easily. It also ensures fast thawing. Opt for varieties like chicken breasts, beef kebabs or pork tenderloin. Get airtight packaging to ensure quick stacking in your freezer. Feeling hungry? Serve up a lip-smacking salad with corn on the cob or quinoa.

Explore Local Finds
What about some local finds? Delicious blueberries at the local market may only cost a throwaway price of around $2. The same blueberries would cost you much more at home. If you are traveling in a fruit country, hit the local farmers markets. Fill your baskets with the fresh produce of apples, cherries, or local wine. Buy homemade jams and jellies from the locals and natural honey from the beekeepers.

Pre-Made Pancakes and Waffles
Why not pack a bag full of homemade waffles and pancakes before the trip? While cruising down the country roads simply unpack them and put them in your RV toaster. They are ready to eat without any mixing or measuring. Savor your favorite waffles and pancakes with maple syrup. Yum!

Try these RV meal-planning ideas whenever you are on a fun-trip with your family or friends. Enjoy the adventure!

Essential RV Pre-Trip Checklist

Checklists are an easy way to make sure nothing is overlooked or forgotten. RV pre-trip checks are one of the most important checklists to have on-hand and follow. It happens more often than not that a damaged RV steps, TV antennas, power cords and awnings are found simply because an owner forgot to check things prior to leaving. 

Here are the top 5 essential RV pre-trip checks to make prior to driving the RV:

Tires
Two major problems with RV tires are over-inflation and under-inflation and both can result in tire failure. When your RV sits in storage the tires lose air pressure at a rate of 2 to 3 psi per month. It is extremely important you check and inflate the tires to the proper pressure before leaving on a trip. The most accurate method to determine inflation pressure is to have the RV weighed and use the tire manufacturer’s load and inflation tables for inflation pressure based on actual loads. The next best method is to check and inflate the tires according to the pressure listed on the federal certification label posted on the RV. Always check tire inflation when the tires are cold, before traveling more than one mile.

Check All Fluid Levels
This applies to motorized RVs or the tow vehicle if you are towing a trailer. Nothing will leave you stranded on the side of the road faster than a low or empty fluid level in a component like the engine or transmission. Driving a heavy motorhome or towing a heavy trailer places added strain on a vehicle’s drive-train components. The fluids in the engine and transmission are designed to help lubricate and keep these components cool. If a fluid level is low or empty, you might not make it to your destination. Look under the vehicle for signs of leaks. Check the engine oil, transmission fluid, radiator coolant reservoir, power steering fluid and brake fluid levels. Consult your owner’s manual for information on how and where to check these fluid levels. If a fluid level is low, try to determine why and correct the problem before leaving on your trip. 

Hitch-Work, Brakes & Lights
It doesn’t matter if it’s a motorhome towing a car or a truck towing a trailer; the important thing is to check all of the hitch-work, the brakes and the lights. It’s easy to forget a step when you install hitch components. This is why you should have a checklist, and double check your work prior to leaving. When everything is securely fastened and you’ve checked all the lights, perform a brake test. Pull the vehicle forward slightly and tap the brakes. You should feel the trailer brakes or dinghy brakes engage and slow the vehicle down.

Interior of the RV
Prior to leaving, it is quite possible you will find something that wasn’t secured or a latch that isn’t locked. Check all the cabinet doors, the refrigerator, sliding doors, and make sure things like computers and TVs are secured. Check all appliances to make sure they are turned off.

Final Walk Around
After everything on the list is completed, and you are ready to leave, walk around the RV one more time. Look on top the RV and under the RV. Physically touch the storage doors to make sure they are secure. Make sure everything is disconnected from the RV and properly stowed. Are the stabilizer jacks stowed? Is the awning in the travel position with all latches secured? Are the steps retracted? Is all the hitch-work properly connected? This final walk-around can be the difference between a trouble-free trip and an accident waiting to happen, so take your time and look closely at everything in, on and around the RV.

Hot Weather Tips to Keep Your RV Cool

There is no doubt summertime is prime time for RV camping. The weather is great, the kids are out of school and exciting new adventures await you around the next bend. What more could an RVer ask for? How about a nice cool RV to beat some of the heat? It can be challenging to keep your RV cool when the mercury is rising, but following these simple tips is a good start:

The first thing you should do is make sure the RV air conditioner is operating properly. Lots of folks don’t know this, but an air conditioner that is working efficiently will condition the air 16 to 22 degrees lower than the ambient temperature. This simply means if it is 90 degrees in the RV, a properly operating air conditioner will cool the interior space somewhere between 68 to 74 degrees.

The next step to staying cool is inspecting and cleaning the air conditioner filters. Clean filters will improve the efficiency considerably. There are a couple options for cleaning the filters. You can wash them in warm soapy water, rinse thoroughly and let them dry, or you can clean them using a vacuum cleaner attachment. It’s a good idea to keep a new set of filters in the RV in the event the old filters have seen better days.

When it’s hot outside and you make campground reservations or check in at the campground office, be sure to ask for a shady campsite. The shade helps keep the RV cool and helps the RV refrigerator and air conditioner operate more efficiently.

After you get set-up and settled in, use our patio awning and window awning to provide additional shade and assist in keeping the RV cool. Closing window blinds or day/night shades help keep the cooler air in and the heat out.

Your RV refrigerator is directly affected by outside temperatures. Parking in the shade will help the refrigerator work more efficiently. Another thing that helps is a thermostatically controlled refrigerator vent fan. These fans dissipate heat from behind the refrigerator moving it up and out of the vent. If you are mechanically inclined, refrigerator vent fans are fairly easy to install, or you can have your local RV dealer install one for you. Either way it’s worth it! A properly installed vent fan can improve the refrigerator’s performance by up to 40 percent.

Another element in keeping the RV cool is proper ventilation. Proper ventilation helps prevent excess heat from building up in your RV. You can install vent covers over the RV roof vents to allow for ventilation. They are inexpensive, easy to install and they let the fresh air in (even when it’s raining) while the heat escapes. You can use vent covers on each end of our RV to help promote cross ventilation.

Fans are another way to promote ventilation in the RV. There are roof mounted high powered 12-volt ventilation fans with intake and exhaust functions, or you can take some portable fans with you.
A few other tips are to start and run the air conditioner early in the morning when it is cooler outside, try to avoid opening the entry door as much as possible, and to cook outside rather than inside whenever possible.

Necessities to RV Traveling

Space is always a factor when you are RVing. It doesn’t matter if you have a tiny RV or a monstrous behemoth, all RVers struggle with the question of what to take and what to leave behind. Here are a few suggestions of things to make sure you have when traveling:

Roadside Assistance Card
When you need a tow, you’ll be thankful to have roadside assistance. We’ve had to use our membership three times in the past year and it has paid for itself at least 10 times over. There are many companies to choose from: Good Sam, Coach-Net, AAA, insurance carriers, etc.

Folding Table
You can purchase folding tables practically everywhere. What you won’t find everywhere is a table at your campsite. The nice thing is that folding tables are lightweight and can serve a variety of purposes. You’ll probably end up using your folding table at nearly every campsite, even if there’s already a table there. They are great for meals, games, hobbies and to help hold down your outdoor rug to boot.

Internet Connectivity
Whether you are working on the road or like to stream movies in our downtime, internet connection is important. But unlike conventional stick and brick homes, RVs don’t have the luxury of unlimited Internet. So if you want to stay connected on the go, sign up with a reputable carrier before you hit the road.
 
Brass Y Valve
Many campsites have a water connection with only one spigot. It’s easy to double the functionality of this connection with a brass Y valve. Whether you need an extra line for washing your hands, your rig, your car, or just too wet down your traveling partner for fun, this is an indispensable item!

A Great Vacuum
Remember that you are staying at campsites. This means dirt, mud, grass and bugs. So having a top-of-the-line vacuum is a must. But your vacuum should have a small footprint and be rechargeable and cordless for maximum functionality.

Ways to Make Money on the Road

More and more people are becoming interested in RVing, whether that is full-time or traditional traveling. However, one of the factors that often holding people back is the ability to earn money to support their traveling dreams. While this may seem difficult to fathom at first, it is possible to earn a living and travel in an RV. You may have to put some sweat into it, but there are many RVers who work while traveling.

Plus, if you are able to make money while in your RV, you may not be as bound by having limited vacation days at your current job. This means more time to travel and explore new places in your RV! Here are several ways to make money on the road:

Sell Products or Services
Surprisingly, there are many RVers who make a living by selling products or services either online or from their RV. Products or services that you may be able to sell include becoming an Amazon FBA seller, crafts, photography, antiques, RV products, repairing RVs, writing, virtual assisting, and more. The list is endless when it comes to what you can sell from your RV.

Work for Amazon CamperForce
Amazon has an interesting program where you can help them in their warehouses by picking, packing, and coordinating details for packages. You are given hourly pay, bonuses, and paid campsites when participating in their CamperForce program.

Work Remotely
An increasing number of employers are allowing their employees to work remote jobs. This means instead of going into the office each day, you may be able to work from wherever, as long as you have a laptop and an internet connection.

Some jobs may be remote from the very beginning, whereas others may be able to be switched to location independent, by asking your employer if it is allowed. Some employers will say yes, so don’t think you have no hope!

Jobs and tasks that you may be able to telecommute to include:

• Software engineering
• Entering data and typing
• Customer service
• Bookkeeping
• Programming
• Transcribing
• Editing
• Purchasing
• Web developing
• Managing social media
• Graphic designing

Nowadays, more RVers are able to telecommute to their jobs Monday through Friday from their RV. This allows them to travel full-time while earning a good living at the same time.

Travel Slowly and Work “Normal” Jobs
If you would rather take your time and stay longer at each location you can also find jobs in the places you are visiting. Many RVers find temporary jobs in order to support their travel, and save money at each stop to fund future trips.

Possible jobs that you may be able to work while traveling slowly include: working at a restaurant, hotel, farm, school, retail store, construction sites, consultant positions, travel nursing, and so on.

Work at a Campground or RV Park
Many campgrounds and RV parks need help and are looking to hire workers. Usually, you work at an RV park in exchange for a free stay, but there are cases in which you may receive an hourly pay as well.

Hours and work can vary. You may only work 5 hours a week at some RV parks and campgrounds, whereas others may be full-time jobs where you put in 40-hour weeks. Some of the tasks you may be responsible for include handling reservations, cleaning RV sites and bathrooms, working in a shop, and more.

As you can see, there are many jobs and businesses that you may be able to work while traveling in an RV. Choices range from working online, telecommuting, working RV-related positions, finding jobs while you travel, and more.