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RV travel requires planning and preparation

 

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A great deal of planning and preparation are required on the front end of a long-distance adventure by RV. I call our trips adventures because that’s what they feel like to me. Out there is the whole of America, from sea to shining sea. Gone is the monotony of driving to work and back home with an occasional night out at the same old haunts. Whether you want to see the exact spot in the Deadwood, Dakota saloon where Bill Cody was shot dead by Jack McCall, study the magnificent grandeurs of the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, or travel the back roads and stay in small-town America, RV travel allows you to linger longer and experience more of what you came for. Airports, train stations, rental cars, cruise ports and bus stations do not allow for the cross-culturalization of travelers to outlying regions. Conversely, they are useful modes for mass transportation; some more personalized than others, but still just people-movers placing travelers in long commercial hallways before dumping them at distinct destinations.   

To that end, traveling by RV is a lifestyle that requires far more planning than emailing the airlines and packing a quick bag. Road safety, a comprehensive check list, personal organization skills, and proper routing are four top priorities for serious RV travelers. Before Leigh and I hit the road, you can be sure that our motor-home is mechanically sound. We don’t intend to wind up south of El Paso with a flat tire and no spare. In fact, with ten wheels on the road, I carry an air compressor and tire plugs in case we incur more than one flat. Being able to temporarily plug some leaks and inflate a couple of tires myself is far less trouble than attempting to call AAA-RV service from fifty miles east of Salton Sea, California where there is no cell-phone service.

My check list is always inferior to my wife’s whose reads like a dictionary, but I’m just a guy. Generally, I concern myself with mechanical things. For example, when the next oil change is due; tire pressures; insuring GPS is onboard; securing the toad car; checking the generator oil level; cleaning battery connections, and making sure there’s a couple of beers in the fridge in case we land in a dry county on a Saturday evening during a football game. Leigh’s list, much longer, is more domesticated and  departmentalized, using headers like: food supplies; dog toys; RV directory book; clothing details; kitchen supplies; medications/prescriptions; adventure itinerary; RV chemicals, and on and on. I do however get to play an active role in the loading of all items on both lists onto the Magic Bus.

Personal organization skills are my weak suit; however my wife is usually able to cover our bet as long as I agree to do most of the driving. Rule number one is to store items for convenience. For example, our television is located in a compartment over the cab, and to each side are cabinets. All entertainment electronics and DVDs are stored in those cabinets. We have a certified junk drawer in the kitchen area; luggage goes in the large hold under the rear of RV; fire extinguishers are conspicuously mounted on walls – in other words, everything has a place where it belongs. Rule number two is that if one removes an item, he must put it back where it belongs. I use “he” as an example in rule two because apparently for me this practice may be more difficult than docking a space shuttle during a meteor shower; it is a work in progress.

Knowing where you are going and having reservations to stay there is paramount to good travel planning. Pulling into a cozy RV park that advertises hot showers and cable TV hook-up on a freezing winter night only to find that they have no space for your rig is a stressful way to end a day on the road. Just as important is to make sure the RV park and space that you reserved includes all of the amenities and features that are needed and desired. For example, if you are a writer and intend to write a travel story about your two-day layover in a Grand Canyon Park while in route to Modesto California, be sure that the quaint little RV park outside of Fresno where you reserved an overnight stopover in route to Modesto offers WIFI or has a cell signal if you intend to email or publish on-line. To some of us, traveling is our business, and Internet service is still spotty.

Subscribe to the RV Travel Examiner site free and follow our cross-country adventures.Today, we charted our course for Arizona and decided on what towns and parks to stay in along the way. Most parks have websites that advertise features. Trailer Life (RV Parks, Campgrounds, & Services) Directory is the Bible for RV travelers. It has approximately 900 pages loaded with annually updated information on RV parks and campgrounds. Some don’t leave home without their American Express Card. I won’t leave home without a current issue of Trailer Life. Tacky cliche? Sure, but also good advice for RV Travelers.