RV – Tips For Newbies

Some of these RVing subjects could be covered in a whole, long article, and they will perhaps be discussed some day in a blog article, but for the sake of brevity on this page they are hopefully short and to the point.

Are you thinking of buying and RV and full-timing?

Living full-time in an RV is a strain, nothing is easy, everything must have a place and when you need something, well it can be hard to get to, because it is behind other stuff. You can no longer have all of your stuff! Only the necessities can travel with you. You will be living in close quarters with your family and pets, and that cat box will not longer be hidden away to avoid the smell. Biggest of all, that freedom you dream of it not a total reality, you still have to stay in places controlled by other people, some good, some not so good. But it can be a great life! You just have to be ready to accept that it is what it is, an adventure in every respect. LOL

All of that said, I hear from many people and they get started full-timing in different ways. Some plan for years and other just throw caution to the wind and jump in feet first.How ever you do it, it will be an interesting life. 🙂

It is hard to get rid of our stuff in preparation to full-time RV, and here in America we highly value our stuff. Some people can go cold turkey and chunk it all, but for others it is hard to let go. Something to think about if you are just starting out. If your finances allow, perhaps you would do well to have a small residence where you can keep your "stuff" and have a home to return to in an emergency or just if you need a "home" break. Or something like a garage on a family's property. Other wise you might consider a enclosed trailer that you could keep at a family or friends home. Storage lockers can work, but in time you will have paid enough to buy that cargo trailer or build that garage.

Buying a RV

When you find a RV model you are interested in, go to forums and read what other people are saying about that brand. Go to dealers, RV shows if there is one around, and look online at places like RVTrader and Craigslist, to get an idea of best prices in negotiating. But the biggest thing is to make a list of what is most important to you. Earning an income, better have a place for a desk or a work area. Bike riding, need the spare tire or ladder placed so it does not interfere with a bike rack. Love to watch TV, best have the RV across from the seating area and not up too high. Need a vehicle to drive when you get where you are going, then either a truck-rv set up, or you will need to tow a car (not all cars can be towed) and if your can not be towed, then you may need a towing unit to keep the wheels off of the ground. You get the idea. Living in a small space is all about compromise. It's a wonderful life, but different!

Go to RV shows, your local RV dealerships, and check out marketplaces, like Craigslist, eBay, and Facebook. On Facebook Marketplace.

RV Traveling Tips

Campground Reservation Log - You can download your free copy.
RV Departure Checklist - Checklist for beginners, motorhome noted, but guideline for other styles.
RV Travel Planning Made Easy - Streets Wander.

Cooking

Cooking in an RV is more challenging than you might imagine, due to both the limited space, small ovens, and the outside temperatures. The heat of the summers months can have you serving up cold sandwiches and the cold of winter may have you avoiding range top cooking that might require running the range vent and sucking all your warm air out. Some small cooking appliances might come in handy. With limited space you need to consider your temperature locations and what types of food you will mostly likely be preparing. But here are some considerations.

Interesting Cooking and Recipes

Recipes From Heaven - The Best New Recipes Daily! Easy Home Cooked Comfort meals. Household tips & The Best crafts!

Easy-Fast Cooking

Corn-on-the-cob can easily be cooked in the husk in the microwave and by cutting off the bottom the husk can be pulled off along with the silk.

Necessities

  • Fresh water hose that is safe for drinking water.
  • Sewer hose with donut (most RV parks will not allow connecting to their sewer without the donut). Some sewer hose kits include an adapter to act as the donut.
  • Lock for the hitch, but don't lose the key!
  • Maxx Air Vents are a basic must in most of the United States to prevent damage and flooding inside an RV during a hail storm. Ask any seasoned RVer who has endured a bad storm.

Maintenance

Re-caulk outside RV seals every few years, especially around windows and roof attachments, such as the TV antenna and vents.

Pets

Pets, especially cats, can get into unexpected spaces in RVs, consider using a flash light to check everywhere. Some pets get anxious in a new environment, so be conscious of everything. A big danger to pets are bags, including chip bags and other wrappings that have a food smell. In the small quarters of a RV your pets can get board and get into thing they might not normally get into in your home. Writers on the subject of bags and food wrapping say that it only take 3 minutes for a pet to either chock to death or actually inhale to the point of clinging a bag to their head and suffocating. Some of the mechanics of fancy sleeper sofas and recliners can be dangerous to pets. Pets can be dangerous to you by the things they might unwittingly do. An important example is the range and oven. While you may have your cats trained at home to not get on the counters, the small space of an RV may tempt them into disobeying and climbing onto the kitchen counter to look out the window. The hazard is that cats can easily turn oven/range knobs and leak propane into your RV. One solution is to remove the knobs.

RV Parts - Where To Buy

Toilet

The toilet is not something we usually want to talk about, but be forewarned, better to think about it now then when it plugs up and that is something you really don't want to talk about. There are two areas to consider, going in and coming out. For coming out there are tools to back-flush or grinders that can be used. For the going in, well that is up to you to use toilet paper sparingly, to add sufficient water to flush the toilet paper down, and use a more degradable toilet paper. At one time, if my memory is correct, there was a Consumers Report that sited Cottonelle Ultra as the most degradable of toilet papers, but I have no current information on that.

Weight

When towing with a lighter weight truck, like a half-ton pickup, weigh can be a major consideration, both tongue/hitch weight and gross weight. It is amazing how quickly the weight adds up, so here are a couple of places to cut back. Water is a huge weight, over 8 pounds a gallon, so every 10 gallons of water is over 80 pounds (8.34lbs X 10 = 83.4 lbs). Groceries are another area to look at, the same water weight above also applies to juices and drinks. Canned good are also heavy, usually about a pound a can, so 20 cans, around 20 pounds.

Wintering in a RV

Wintering in an RV requires some careful attention, here in the United States most states will have some freezing weather during winter months, and the northern states can have severe freezes. Many RV parks in northern states will close in the winter because their water lines are not deep enough to withstand prolonged freezes. Each situation is different but in mild freezes it may be possible to avoid your RV lines freezing by simply leaving a slow trickle of water running during the freeze, but be sure to leave your gray water tank open so that you do not flood your RV. And it might be a good idea to close the black tank to avoid both tanks being open at the same time, but that will depend on conditions and how long and hard the freeze will be. Often in a light freeze the problem is external having to do with the metal connectors coming into the RV and the metal hydrant. A Bed Buddy can sometimes tackle these light freeze situations, the Bed Buddy can be heated in the microwave and it is flexible and can be wrapped around fittings to help thaw them. And if the water hose freezes, if possible, detach the hose and lay it in the sun to thaw.

Flame Heater

Mr Heater

Articles for Newbies

11 Things to Leave Behind When You Hit the Road - Fulltime RVing & Boondocking.