I do have a particular interest in the various rv motorhomes that can be found. They may not exactly fit my family’s needs, but what I really like about them is the fact that we can move around and make coffee, play cards, do homework, etc while travelling. (Of course, the driver is preoccupied!)

I really love that fact. You don’t have to pack up and sit in a truck all day while driving. Another factor is the view. The larger windshields on a rv motorhome offer a much better and unobstructed view of the up and coming scenery. That’s something that I really like as well.

Finally, one other advantage that I can see from a rv motorhome is the fact that if you want to just pull over in a neighborhood later at night and boondock for the night. You will arouse very little suspicion from neighbours. Basically, one neighbour thinks that the other neighbor has relatives from out of town.

The big trick that I’ve heard is just make sure you pull out of the neighbourhood sooner then later in the morning. Don’t make it obvious that you’re there to stay!

Here are some listings of interesting rv motorhomes that I’ve come across below!

[wordbay]motorhome -cover[/wordbay]

I’ve started to look at Coachman RV models to broaden my scope of possible RV to choose from. I like the Coachman line mainly for its popularity. I’ve yet to see any in person, but I’m starting to search for a dealer local to myself to see some.

But in the meanwhile, I’ve started hunting for good deals on Coachman RV’s online. Take a peek at what I’ve found to date.

[wordbay]coachman -creamer -rod -light -lantern -farms -doorstop -reel -victorian -plate -rooster -outfit -hinges -olympic[/wordbay]

I’m always on the hunt for a good deal when it comes to looking for an RV for my family. Maybe the right deal has been under my nose forever. I was hunting on ebay the other day for something totally unrelated and it popped into my head, why not RV’s?

Well, it didn’t take me long to start searching for different brands of RV through ebay. Here are some great listing that I found while searching for Jayco RV’s. But the deal is, don’t bid on the RV’s I bid on. Deal?

Read the rest of this entry

My family and I have really started to search in earnest for the right vehicle to pull our future 5th wheel RV. When we started to look, I didn’t think that it would be much of an issue to find a vehicle. I’ve owned several cars and vans in the past, so how can this be difficult.

To my astonishment, this is the furtherest from the truth! There are many things to look out for when finding the right vehicle to pull your RV. And the truck manufacturers don’t want to make it seasy for you. For this comparison, I’m looking at trucks manufactured by Dodge and Ford.

Both the Dodge and Ford sites use a lot of flash to make their sites ‘glossy’. I didn’t say usable did I. I said glossy! Very pretty sites and gives you a feeling of being impressed, but try to dig out the facts for either vehicles! Good luck my friend. I don’t want to have to take a tutorial on their website to be able to use it. Ok, enough about my rant.

In comparing these two manufacturers, I heard a lot of ‘things’ from various people that I talked too. It all came down to talking to owners of these two vehicles to get the best story. One thing is for sure, both of my friends, who own a dodge and a Ford both said, that I need to consider a diesel engine.

I’ve owned a Diesel Jetta in the past and I can easily agree with that. But one thing that I did find out was that both these major truck manufacturers put a lot more into the design of the truck when it has a diesel engine in it. From drivetrain to suspension, the diesels seem to be much better made.

From here, it gets just a bit cloudy. Both my friends believe that their trucks, (Dodge 3500 and Ford 350) can pull a large 5th wheel trailer like the Glendale that I’ve been looking at. But can it really? I’ve also been fortunate enough to have my friends to either let me drive or drive with them in their trucks. Fundamentally, I can’t feel a difference. Both feel very robust.

The Ford model may be just a bit beefer though. I’ve not been a Ford fan in the past, but from other owners of Ford trucks, they are almost religious about their ownership of these trucks. So, that does say something. As I mentioned, I did have the opportunity to give the Ford a run with my friend’s truck. It’s exactly what I think I’d be looking for.

What I liked about the Ford was:

• Lot’s of leg room in the front and back seats. My son is trying to challenge 6ft, his shoe size is 13 and he’s only 15, so I need to be prepared. A grumpy teenager can ruin your trip very quickly.
• It feels like a truck. No doubt about it being a truck. It feels like a truck but I does steer very smoothly.
• Lot’s of get up and go. When pulling a 5th wheel, it hardly hesitates on hills.
• The diesels can go and go and go. Both my friends tell me that I should see 500,000 kms at least.

What I didn’t like about the Ford was:

• Much wider than I’m used too.
• I didn’t care to much for the side mirrors. Seems to be more looks then functionality.
• The price of a new one. Ouch!

So, I’d love to hear your comments in regards to finding the right truck for pulling an RV!

Looking for RV work is definitely a concern of mine. About 95% of the common working world needs to be in one place to attend to the needs of their job. To be able to RV and earn the needed funds at the same time takes quite a bit of creative thinking!

One thing though, that I believe will help is the advantages that the Internet offers. I’ve been working hard to fully understand the power of the Internet and how to flex that power to provide a way to RV work anywhere I decide to be.

But to be honest, this is just one way to cover your expenses while actively full-time rving. One option we are also looking at is taking our carnval vending business onto the road. With the proper permits, we could arrange our booking dates and locations with our own personal interests.

Another idea for RV work is to perform seminars in the towns, cities and even campsites (that permit it) on topics that would interest other camping vacationers. Simple ideas here could be seminars on the current area, or other places in the state that you are in to visit that would be interesting.

One just has to be creative and willing to take on some risk. My wife and I are considering all of these venues right now. Who knows, it could very well be a combination of some or many options that provide us and possibly you to with the ability to full-time RV.

I did a bit of searching with Google, and came across the following site: http://www.rvbookstore.com/support.html. They are offering a book called “Support your RV LifeStyle”. I believe that I’m going to personally pick it up to review it’s contents. At a price tag of just $20, I see little risk involved and who knows, out of the 300 money making opportunities it mentions, my answers may just lie there. I’ll keep you posted after I pick it up.

I wish you luck to finding good RV work to support and allow you to enjoy your roaming passions!

In looking at RV’s I couldn’t be help notice the feature of RV slides in an RV. You can really grow the room available in an RV with the rv slide. My wife and I have been looking at various used RV’s and found that the slides really make a big difference. This is pretty apparant.

But when you look at the type of RV slides, that can be important. One RV we looked at recently had two slides but the way that the slides folded into the RV made the RV completely unusable. But in other RV’s, the RV can still be used when the slides are in. This can be important if you arrive to your campsite late after dark or if you are boondocking. I’ve heard that it is considered inappropiate to pull the slides out at some locales when boondocking.

Pretty much another given is the amount of slides in an RV will directly increase the cost of the RV plus the room available. I particularly like the units that will slide out both sides of a living room/kitchen area and/or the back bedroom, if it has it. The amount of room is really something with dual sides slides.

Also when considering an RV slide unit, make sure you see the unit with the slides in and out. Both states are important. You cannot imagine how a unit will feel if the person selling the unit will not pull out the slides. Plus make sure you see how the sides are with the slides are in.

Good luck when looking into RV slides. I’d like to hear your experiences in regards to slides to find out the potential problems that can be an issue.

In my Internet travels to find more information about boondocking tips, I came across a really great article written by Norm and Linda Payne. I couldn’t help but reprint it here as I thought that the info was just so good. 

Please enjoy and thanks to Norm for his permission to reprint his original works!

 Some boondocking tips:
(These tips are for serious boondocking of a week or more and not for overnighting.)

* Do “G.I.” showers every other day. Turn on water, get wet, turn water off, soap up, turn water on to rinse. Takes two gallons or less. Wash using a sink or small plastic tub the next day.

* While waiting for hot water to reach the faucet save water in a container and use it later for coffee or washing dishes.

* Brush your teeth with water in a small cup and then rinse your mouth with another small cup of fresh water.

* Wash dishes and utensils in small plastic tub to save water. Pour water outside if possible.

* For people with long hair wash your hair in a small plastic tub in the galley sink using one quart of water to wet hair and rinse. Then use about one quart fresh water for the final rinse.

* Use a five gallon collapsible fresh water bottle to store extra water.

* Turn on water heater 5-10 minutes before you need hot water and turn it off immediately after water warms.

* If your toilet has a sprayer use it to quickly rinse the toilet instead of holding down the foot pedal.

* When possible use restrooms in stores, restaurants, service stations, etc.

* Use restroom facilities in campground if available.

* Use disposable paper plates, bowls and cups and plastic forks, spoons and knives.

* Use only one light at a time and it should be the smallest light to do the job.

* Use fluorescent lights instead of incandescent lights.

* Limit use of large electrical loads like TVs, microwave and hair dryer.

* Turn inverter off when not using it.

* Turn off all 12 volt loads that are not being used – clock, radio, TV antenna booster, plug-in cubes for cell phones, printers, computers, etc.

* Before boondocking cook meat and freeze meat with broth in plastic zip lock bags. This will cut down on cooking and cleanup.

* During cooler weather close bedroom door at night to keep bedroom warmer. This will save LP.

* In cool weather face the sun and let solar warm the RV. In hot weather face away from the sun and open your awnings.

Compliments of Norm Payne, http://www.seeya-downtheroad.com/ for his boondocking tips.

Boondocking when it comes to RV’ing, means to make camp without any external hookups. No electricity, water or sewage. With the rising costs of nightly camping, boondocking can be a viable option when you are on route to your destination but just need to stop for the night. Or just to save a couple of bucks.

To be honest, I just heard of the term boondocking and I’ll be sure to post more as I learn more. But here’s a rundown of what I’ve discovered with a bit of searching on the Internet.

Always the biggest problem is getting enough water and electrical power to cover your needs while unhooked. Fortunately electrical can be covered by the fact that if you have a generator in your unit and it has the right capacity, then your are covered. I’ve been told that a general rule of thumb when boondocking with air conditioning, you will want to have at least a 3,000 watt generator. Or else you could burn out the air unit or the generator or both.

With using a generator, you have to realize that you are using diesel to run the generator and one writer mentioned that you can eat up $10 of diesel overnight running the generator to run the air conditioning. Good point. I’ll add more here when I find out more details.

Second, is the water. That is an issue. You only have a finite amount of water and you have to conserve it. You can make use of facilities that allow you to replenish like the Flying J’s in the states. So, I guess one could over come this problem. But if you are in the bush far away from replenishments, that could become an issue very quickly.

I’ve read that you can normally boondock for up to four or five days without getting water. So, that’s a good point to remember for remote travelling. But I’m thinking of keeping to civilization, so I’ll just have to plan out the replenishment points while boondocking every three or four days.

Where to boondock?

I’ve also read that most have never been turned away from any place they’ve wanted to boondock. Stores such as WalMarts and Targets as well as truck stops like Flying J’s welcome overnight camping. (It’s recommended that you don’t say 24 hours. You’ll surely get a knock if you try to stay more then that.)

Many have boondocked in church parking lots. Driveways and side yards of relatives are another great idea for boondocking. They take our home to visit their homes while they visit their families.

Out west many have found many “safety rest areas” just off main highways and even stayed at visitor centers. Some membership campgrounds offer boondocking sites and we always use them. Some of the best boondocking areas are state and national parks and national forests where camping is often free.

So, boondocking looks like quite the viable option. I’d love to hear your experience good and bad regarding boondocking! Thanks!