Holiday Travel Insurance Center

Over the summer my girlfriend and her step-daughter left Baltimore, Maryland and headed for Texas. After Texas they headed to California. From there it was on to Mount Rushmore and home. Well, you get it - she drove all over the country. In fact over 7,000 miles.

What she drove was a 31 foot Coachman RV. She did 99% of the driving; her step-daughter did do a little. But they did work like a team and watch each other when they had to park in the camp sites. We all know how tight some camp sites are, but with a little faness anybody can drive a large RV. Lori is only 5ft 2in tall and weights 110lbs. She has gotten really good driving the RV.

The reason I’m telling you all this is because when we are on the road we always have someone ask if she drives the RV. When they hear that she does the next question is always how well she does.

So we were wondering, what is the deal with driving the RV. For all those not used to driving an RV and think that it is hard to do, we want to share some tips. The trick about driving any size vehicle or towing is the way you set your vehicle up. What I mean by that is getting your head on straight and setting your mirrors properly because that is all you have to work with. Know that when you make a right hand turn you need more room than a car does. Therefore allow for it every time.

Most accidents are caused by not watching how much room you have. One thing you can do to practice how much room you have when you use your mirrors is to have some one drive down the road in the right hand lane and you practice moving to the right. They can use their lights if you do not have enough room to move over. This way you can learn without hurting anything.

You can also do this at night. Practicing at night is a very good thing. A school parking lot is a good place to practice backing up and turning or even parallel parking. Yes you can parallel park a motorhome. My girl had to parallel park the 31 foot RV at a restaurant where they had stopped to eat. You do not have to be afraid of driving a large RV or trailer or even a 5th wheel.

If you take the time to do a little practice, you will be fine. Plus your partner will appreciate this. It is always nice to have that extra driver or second pair of eyes. I have all the faith in the world in my girl when it is her turn to drive. We love to travel a lot and wanted to share a little bit of information on our experiences. I hope this article helps you. Maybe we will see you on the road some where.

Happy RV’ing and Blue Skies

The author and his girlfriend are avid RV’ers who love traveling in their motorhome and seeing the beautiful sights all across the United States.
http://www.1RVdirectory.com

Share This

Vacationing with a recreational vehicle or RV is the ultimate experience in freedom. You are literally in control of your every travel movement. You are the king of the road.

There are many recreational vehicles to choose from, including the truck camper, the folding camping trailer, the travel trailer, the motorhome, the motorcoach, or the campervan. You can rent or buy your RV, or if you are very passionate about it, you can fashion your own.

The perfect RV

An RV should, at the very minimum, contain beds, a table, and kitchen benches and cupboards. But you can also get an RV with fully-functional bathrooms, refrigerators, larger living areas and bedrooms. In fact, some RVs are truly like a home away home with satellite TV and internet connections. An RV vacation can be as simple or as elaborately luxurious as you like.

The advantages of RV vacations

There are so many advantages to RV travel, it’s hard to imagine an RV vacation could be anything less than great. With so many in-vehicle features, you can hit the road whenever you like and wherever you like without carrying luggage around and saving money on meals by preparing your own. RV vacations are also the perfect vacations for kids.

How to organize an RV vacation

Organizing a great RV vacation is easy. At the very minimum you need to stock up on road maps, and ideally use the Internet to research the places your wish to visit. You’ll need to locate where the RV parks and camping grounds are situated. You can plan as much or as little of your itinerary as you want, but always let people back home know what direction you are traveling in. Once you’ve bought or rented your RV spend some time learning how to operate the various equipment. Take a few practice driving (and parking) rounds to get a feel for the peculiarities of driving an RV. And then, get ready, get set, and go!

Dylan Miles, journalist, and website builder, lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of http://www.rvoutdoors.info on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.

Share This

Many people purchase RVs because they will have a kitchen on the road. This saves money on food since you are preparing and cooking in the comfort of your RV, not having to go out to eat or even grill over a campfire. Most RVs have a sink, refrigerator, stove/cook top, and other miscellaneous kitchen tools you would find in your home kitchen. If you are new to RVs, you may not be aware of what you need to do to ensure your kitchen runs efficiently when living on the road. The following are helpful suggestions to guide the new RV owner in and around the kitchen.

Pots, pans, cups, etc: When choosing such items for most types of RVs, make sure they are able to stack easily. Storage space in RVs is typically slim to nell, so the least amount of room your cookware takes up, the better for you. Also, check to see what the cooking items are made of. Don’t pick stoneware, but choose lightweight metal or plastic plates. RVs continuously shift and what is in storage, such as your dinnerware, will inevitable adjust some. A lightweight material will not be as damaged during the drive.

Prioritize your meals: Most RVs do not come with large kitchen storage spaces. This means you should prioritize foods for the road. Steer away from canned foods because of their weight. Think of spices and herbs you can pack, also think of potatoes, onions, or other durable foods. You can always buy fresh produce on the road.

Take care of the refrigerator: Different RVs come with different size, shape, style of refrigerators, but the important factor is that you will need to give it extra care. Turn on the fridge about one hour before you are ready to load it. Make sure you keep the refrigerator as level as possible when you have the motor home parked, and make sure there is approximately one inch of air circulation surrounding it.

Heating water: You can heat water easily in your RV by using the engine heat or the RV water heater. When you have the recreational vehicle parked, you should use the engine heat, and while driving, use the water heater. Be cautious, especially if you have young children traveling with you. Watch the thermostat.

Miscellaneous kitchen tools: There are other kitchen items you may want to consider when traveling in your motor home, such as a deep sink, a crock pot with space to let it sit, a coffee pot, microwave, etc. Make your RV a home away from home.

Author Julie Jacobs. Find RV resources for recreational vehicles at pedatarvcenter.com.

Share This