Every once in a while, I’ll stumble upon a page on another blog that talks about tips on full time rv living. And sometimes, they are pretty good tips!

Well, today was one of those days. The whole post might not be for you, but I do love the tips presented on this post.

Here’s a sampler of the post,

Top five tips for living in an RV:

1. “Only do it with someone you love to be around.”

2. “Always fill your water and propane, charge your batteries and, especially, dump your sewage when you get the chance.”

3. “Stay away from the northeast in winter because step two is impossible.”

If you’ll like to read the whole post, head on over to Noise Creep to read it all. Here’s the link: Jucifer Live in RV Full-Time, Offer Top Five Tips for RV Lifestyle

On a secondary note, I know that the warm weather is just making us RV’ers itch so much that we want to scratch the RVing itch! My wife and I are started to get quite jealous as we have a pretty popular camp ground close to use and some RVer’s are already dropping their 5th wheels for a nice holiday stay!

Luck dogs!

Exciting news all. I’ve decided to test having a forum available to members who wish to register and submit information.

Things are pretty new on this, and it will take me a couple of weeks to put together the forum into appropiate sections.

But as things progress, I’m looking forward to creating categories for you to comment on different aspects of full time rving.

But hold on temporarily, I hope to have all done shortly!

Cheers!

Frank

If you’re one among the millions of folks who fancy camping then you are doing not need to be told regarding the attract of open spaces, contemporary air, and time removed from the frenzy of civilization. You also do not would like to be told about the chilly nights, biting bugs, dirty tents, and makeshift bathroom facilities that campers must endure. For people who relish camping but can do while not the down-and-dirty experience that roughing it entails, campers usually bridge the gap for them.

Campers are available in several totally different shapes and sizes. From gigantic RVs (recreational vehicles) to smaller camper vans, there is a vehicle that may suit nearly any sized family with nearly any amenity you’ll be able to imagine. However what about those people who do not wish to get a vehicle that is only suitable for camping? It is not shocking to find out that the majority people possess neither the area nor resources to store and maintain a large RV that’s solely used a few times per year. For those for whom a RV is not an choice there’s another possibility, and that is the pop up camper.

A pop up camper is a collapsible camper that is towed behind your regular vehicle. When not it in use the camper is detached from your automobile or truck and can cut back in size so that it can be stored easily in an exceedingly garage, or inconspicuously in your backyard. Unlike their RV counterparts, pop up campers are essentially out of sight till you need them. However when it is time to move to the campground, the camper involves life, and when properly outfitted they will provide all the comforts of home.

Those folks who have childhood memories of campers from years past may think of pop up camping as a rather spartan experience. Early pop up campers were a simple shell that folded out to provide sleeping area, but very little else. In essence, they were a massive tent that sat off the bottom and offered more space and protection from the weather than a typical tent, but in the tip they were a lot of like tents than a mobile home. Oh, how things have changed!

Late model pop up campers use trendy materials and technology to cut back their weight, allowing for more amenities and options. Whereas a rest room could be a rare convenience, many other comforts of home can be found in nowadays pop up camper designs.

* Propane tanks for cooking
* hot water
* stove, oven
* refrigerator
* air-con
* heating
* space for storing and
* batteries

Along all of those will let you camp way removed from a hardwired campground. In alternative words, these campers offer just about something you’d ever need to fancy a weekend within the woods.

And do not worry, fashionable pop up campers are straightforward to fold and unfold as well. With minimal apply you’ll be able to have your pop up camper ready for use in less time than it takes to test in to a hotel!

If the thrill of a pop up attractiveness to you and you’re inquisitive about trying it out, make sure to tell yourself further before creating a purchase. Check the specifications of your car or truck to see how a lot of weight it can safely pull, and try to not be skeptical when your camper salesman tries to sell you an upgraded anti-sway trailer hitch.

A smart quality hitch can eliminate dangerous swaying and shaking that can happen when towing your camper at higher speeds, and it is price every penny as a result of it not solely protects your investment, it protects your passengers and different motorists as well.

Once you discover a pop up camper that suits your desires, destinations, family, and automobile, then all that’s left to try and do is pick out where you want to camp and hit the road! A pop up camper provides your family with a home away from home at a fraction of the price of an RV – creating them as standard as ever.

I just wanted to post my sorry’s for the confusion that may have been caused by a hacker who had successfully compromised www.bestrvliving.com between the 14 and 17th of Feb.

This individual had attacked many web sites, mine being one of them. Fortunately though, I’ve been able to reverse the damage to the site and restore it with more security in place.

Please feel rest assured that I care for this site to be available for those who come to visit. I know that you love RVing and I love RVing, but this hacker doesn’t seem too?

As always I continue to welcome your comments and enjoy when we can share good RV information together.

Thanks!

Frank Thomas
www.bestrvliving.com

Whenever you are thinking of rv living, the question of money will come up. Let’s face it, we need money to survive.

With that in mind, I did a bit of hunting for other families who are forging the trail before my wife and I and possibly you, who can offer us some perspective.

Below you will find some links to other articles on this topic plus a few videos on the idea of full time rv living and how much it costs. Enjoy!

Living Frugal in an RV…it is a Lot of Fun | Senior Housing and …

Living frugal in an RV is not about depriving yourself. You will have lots of company with people who find this lifestyle fun and rewarding as well.

Publish Date: 02/08/2010 13:55

http://senior.infonex.us/

Living Full Time In My RV

Hello everyone, I am 59 years old and I just retired from the US national guard. I had some money saved in for retirement so I decided to splurge and.

Publish Date: 01/27/2010 9:14

http://www.frugal-retirement-living.com/Frugal-living-blog.html

Plus here’s some videos that I found on Youtube. Truly a great story.

bnf on nightline Part I of II

Two parts (for YouTube limits). Segment was ~10 minutes and ran without a break. … barenakedfamily barenaked family abc nightline …

Here’s part 2:

bnf on nightline part II

Two parts (for YouTube limits). Segment was ~10 minutes and ran without a break.

When considering purchasing an RV unit, I’ve begun to look at the RV insurance needs to cover my family and I against things like damage or loss.

After looking around, I’ve come up with some good to know points when you are looking at RV insurance.

I did find that most auto insurance policy insurers will allow you to add your RV or motor home directly to the normal personal automobile policy. But I did find some flies in the ointment, so to speak with this approach.

Since an RV can be a huge investment, your personal auto policy may have places where things are not covered or there is too low a replacement value for loss or damage.

When talking with your personal insurer, make sure your rv insurance also covers the following items:

Many Personal Auto Insurance policies will allow an insured to add their motor home or RV to the personal auto policy and some estimates indicate that as many as half of the RV owners do just that. It’s important however, to understand that an RV is a huge investment and instead of insuring with the same coverage’s as your family car it might be wise to consider specialty insurance specifically designed to cover RV’s.

Every RV owner should consider these insurance needs:

Extended Road Side Assistance and Towing

 Many standard policies will either offer limit or no coverage for this situation. Even when you consider 3^rd party road side assistance from places like AAA or CAA, you need to ensure your RV is covered too.

Nothing is worst then discovering that your coverage will tow your truck but not the attached RV when you are stranded on the side of the road.

Also, temporary lodging when in concert to a break down will fall into this category. Again, it’s prudent of you to be sure. Especially when inexpensive RV insurance can save you $100’s for a night’s stay.

Making an Accident Claim

I’ve read on other forums that normal car adjusters are not experienced at adjusting RV claims. Be sure that your insurer is knowledgeable when it comes to handling a high RV unit claim. Nobody likes hassle or being left in the cold when trying to replace an RV unit because their RV insurance was inadequate or the adjuster isn’t knowledgeable.

Insurance Against Theft or Replacement

If you find yourself in the situation where you have to have your RV replaced because of theft or it’s been totaled in an accident, then you need to know now, not then, what you’ll be getting for it in replacement value.

Are you going to be remunerated at the actual cash value or at a total loss replacement value? This could be a big difference in how much you’ll receive in a settlement.

Items Stolen From The Recreational Vehicle

Here’s a real ouch to look out for. Did you know that many personal auto insurers will not pay for the replacement of stolen, lost or damaged personal property?

Normally you will need a special policy to cover the loss of personal effects. Again, be sure, as having your flat screen stolen from your RV can be quite sickening. Think about the latest 5^th wheelers that can have up to five of these in one unit.

I chatted with a dealer, who had a ton of the TVs stolen from the lot overnight, told me it takes good thefts about 15 minutes to take them all from one unit!

Personal Liability in Regards to Your RV

Did you realize that you could be liable for the area where your RV is parked when in a campground? If someone hurts themselves, you as the RV owner could be sued. We live in a crazy world and you don’t need your year messed up with a personal liability claim. Make sure your RV insurance covers you against this liability.

To conclude, make sure your RV insurance is covering your needs before you hit the road. Paying that extra bit can save you a lot. When it comes to RV insurance, don’t be sorry, be sure!

If you’ve been reading any of the posts here at Best RV Living, you’ll know that my family and I are trying to migrate to a full time rving lifestyle.

I can honestly say that I’ve just had an experience that has wet my appetite. My son and I went for a week long father son RV trip with a bit of a twist. We planned a route with very specific things to see and treated like we did have an RV.

Well, we don’t yet have a RV, but we do have a van that we gutted and built in sleeping quarters. And I must say, that it was an experience. I decided that we had to test some of the things I’ve read about, such as boondocking and planned travels.

What an experience it was. It was definitely something that tells me about the flavor of full time rving! We boondocked two night in Walmart parking lots and it wasn’t an entirely bad experience. Actually, what I did learn is we will definitely need to make sure our future RV has adequate shower and toilet facilities.

Running for the can at 2am is not fun. Otherwise, it wasn’t that bad at all. Not the scenery that I’d want, but it was a cheap night’s stay!

Second, we tested some off the beaten path camping sites plus some state run camping sites. These experiences too were quite good. We did learn that if we are hauling a larger 5th wheel or travel trailer, we will have to consider the road and campsite restrictions for campsites.

But we can always have the standby KOA’s. But KOA’s do suffer from one drawback – cost. They definitely are the most expensive overall for camping facilities. But to be fair, they are normally the most feature filled.

So, in terms of cost, what would full time rving cost when just considering night parking fees. If you took at 30 day month and say decided to boondock 10 nights, spend 10 night in average priced full service lots and 10 nights in KOA style lots, the cost would work out to roughly $750 per month.

That’s not too bad when considering that this is your water, electricity, sewage and rent bill. I would consider tossing in another $200 just to cover costs like usage of propane to run heaters, stoves, fridge and the such while boondocking. So, that would bring costs up to $950 per month.

Still under a $1,000. Not too bad. From the point of view of costs, I can see why this is interesting. And I’ve not even considered the option of longer term parking with an RV. This can help increase the experience while reducing costs further.

Now consider planned holidays. Now, we’ve planned most of our holidays in the past, but this time, it had a slightly different twist. We planned our holidays to do certain activities and to accomplish specific goals that are both pleasure and business related.

Our results were mixed. First off, we did complete some of what we had planned. But things did take a lot longer to get done (or not get done!). So, this will have to be added into the equation. You simply have a bit more to do to live while fulltime rving.

Overall our results were quite gratifying. In the end, we just wanted to keep going. I can see getting an RV will be the way to go. So, if you have an adventurous heart, don’t limit yourself to a street address. Consider joining the ranks of full time rving enthusiasts!

My family and I have been searching extensively for the right used RV for us. We’ve zeroed in on a couple of models, but to date, haven’t found the right deal.

I was just down in the USA and looked at a bunch of them from afar. You really do have to take the time and check out a used RV before you decide to purchase. On many occasions I would check out a used 5th wheel to find the advertising to be not the same as the actual unit.

I don’t believe that people will falsely advertise, but I think it’s more a matter of just not seeing things in a unit after owning it for some time.

The second problem I’ve come across on many occasions is the actual cost of the used RV for sale. On many, many occasions, the price is much too high. I feel for the owners, but unfortunately, the depreciation on a RV is pretty drastic in the first five years.

Back to the problems I have found and look for now.

The number one thing I look for is water damage. I’ve done a fair bit of research and the one thing that is almost impossible to fix on a used RV is water damage. Once it starts to show, the real damage is done.

It’s very hard to fix an rv that suffers from water damage. It’s not impossible, but from what I’ve read, it’s pretty near. The trouble is when you see mild water damage, underneath the surface, is normally a ton of damage that just isn’t seen.

Second thing I look for is easy to find damage. I’ll normally inspect the inside and outside pretty closely. If the owner is hovering over me, then I’ll normally tell them thanks but no thanks. Hovering is normally a sign of something not been told.

If I’m pretty satisfied with what I find or don’t find and the price is in the right ball park, then I’ll ask to see it connected to electricity and water. I’ll want to test both of these systems out in conjunction to the waste systems.

I’ll normally ask where the unit has been stored. Specifically, I’m looking to see if the unit has sat in a field or next to a field for some time. This will normally turn me off too. Many people will put their used RV up for sale at the edge of a major road, sitting in a farmer’s field.

One thing I do know is farmer’s fields and RV’s just don’t get along for one reason. Mice. If you leave an RV sitting dormant in a farmer’s field or close to a farmer’s field, the unit can become infested with field mice. And they can cause havoc.

To be honest with you, no used RV has made it this far. Either there is damage that I wish not to own, or the price has been just a little too steep for me. So, I’ll keep hunting. I’d like to hear your stories about you buying or selling a used RV. Please leave your comments below.

When considering the best RV layouts that could work for you and your family, you have to first consider what your needs are.

We’ve personally struggled to find a layout that works for us. But I’ve stuck to my guns and felt that when we find the best layout, we would know it. Well, I’ve found out that this it is a bit true and a bit false.

I would recommend that you walk through several of the best rv layouts that you can find. Even ones you may not like, will show you things you may like or dislike in the long run. For example, we were looking at the toy hauler layouts.

Now, I feel that the toy hauler layouts waste a ton of space, especially when you want to maximize your living space and don’t need to haul around things like dirt bikes or quads. But what I did find out was that it was nice to have the flexible storage available in the rear of the toy hauler.

This added in a new wrinkle to our search when looking for best rv layouts for our needs.

We looked extensively at motorhomes, even though they do not fit our purposes at all at this time. But when our oldest son heads off to university, that situation can completely change. Motorhome manufacturers have recognized that more and more middle aged couples have enough disposable income to afford the more expensive motorhomes.

And they’ve stepped up to the plate offering some of the best rv layouts I’ve seen that contain a double bunk unit for two children. I think the only downfall to this design is that the children are literally a couple of feet away from your bedroom. That could be an intimacy killer right there.

You also have to really look at the features offered by the layout you’ve selected. You may find with careful scrutiny, that this really isn’t the best option for you. One example I can offer was on a Jayco unit.

It contained a double bunk unit plus the extra bed for our third child. Fantastic! But because the unit was only about 34 feet long, there was loss of storage space for this bunk unit. In the long run, the lack of storage was a bit of a killer for us. Especially if we decide to rv full time.

But some of the best rv layouts that we’ve found to date have been simply by looking at rv after rv. Only through comprehensive examination and asking a ton of questions, have we been able to weed out the layouts that would have been unsuitable for us as a family at this time.

In closing remarks, you need to do a ton of searching to find the best rv layouts that would suit you and your circumstances. It may take a bit of time, but if you consider that you could be spending more then $20,000 on a rv unit, I think that this is time well spent!

Basically an RV refrigerator is a little different from your standard home refrigerator. An RV refrigerator works on the principle not of pressure differences with a compressor, but absorption by creating heat with either a propane flame or an electric heating element.

Unfortunately, I cannot give you any more dynamics of an RV refrigerator, but I did come across a great video on caring for your fridge unit.

To recap from the video, things to keep watch for when caring for your rv refrigerator are:

• Ventilation is critical – we need to ensure that the area around the refrigerator is clear of cobwebs and squirrel’s nests.
• Don’t over pack your fridge. Air has to be able to circulate around the food for it to keep the food cool.
• To assist with air circulation, consider purchasing a small battery powered fan that will move air around in your rv refrigerator.
• Check the drain tube on the back of the fridge. Ensure that there are obstructions.
• Regularly have the refrigerator flue cleaned and serviced.
• Be sure to test the rv refrigerator in AC and LP (propane) modes. Ensure that the RV is level as the refrigerant will not circulate properly otherwise.

I would recommend viewing this video just to be sure you are properly caring for your rv refrigerator. I found it quite enlightening, as I am not experienced with this type of appliance just yet.