RV LIFE Podcast
The RV LIFE Podcast, created by one of the premier companies in the RV industry, is for the RV Community with a mission to Educate, Entertain and Explore the RV Lifestyle. The Podcast will explore all things RV Life: living, working, exploring, learning. With hosts Dan & Patti Hunt, full time RVers, content creators, educators and explorers.
RV LIFE Podcast
RV Tips for First-Time RVers: Avoid Mistakes with Setup, Driving, Hookups, and Camping Etiquette
Are you new to RV LIFE and wondering how to start your journey? In this episode I (Patti Hunt) share invaluable advice for first-time RVers. From choosing the right RV to mastering setup and road safety, I will cover everything you need to hit the road with confidence. With three years of full-time RV experience, I traveled across 32 states, visited 72+ campgrounds, and learned countless lessons—often the hard way! Tune in for practical tips, must-know safety precautions, and insider advice on planning stress-free RV adventures.
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Are you new to the RV lifestyle, Excited, but maybe a little overwhelmed? You have come to the right place. I'm Patti Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast. There is so much to learn when you start the RV lifestyle and I have resources that I hope is going to help you get started. I started my full-time journey four years ago and put a lot of miles on my RV, crossing the country three and a half times. I made a lot of mistakes and learned from other people and from my mistakes, and I'm hoping to share what I learned with you today.
Speaker 1:The RV Life podcast was created to educate, entertain and explore the RV lifestyle, and it is my mission to inspire you to live life to the fullest Open Roads Resorts. They have five incredible parks that are located in Idaho, Nebraska, New Mexico, and two of them are in Texas. They are all highly favored parks, which means the RVers went to RV Life Campgrounds and put their reviews in for these parks, and you can check out all about these parks from other RVers by going to campgroundsrvlifecom, or you could go to openroadresortscom to find out all about these incredible campgrounds. Now today I am flying solo and providing first-time RVers with things I believe you need to know, but we have to go easy on ourselves. We are always learning, Even after four years. There are things I am certainly still learning. So let's dive into the tips that will make your RV travels less stressful and, as I often say, I hope, will help you enjoy the journey.
Speaker 1:So, like I said, journeyed across the country Four years ago. I started out in Las Vegas and one of the things that I decided to do after making the choice to go RVing, which happened during the pandemic Everything was shut down and you know, business was shut down. So at the time my husband said, hey, let's sell everything and buy an RV and travel the country. And I was pretty travel the country and I was pretty uncertain. Actually, I laughed when he said it. I had no idea what this would possibly look at, as I had only been in an RV for seven nights prior to going full-time RVing. So not a lot of experience, but for whatever reason, it was scary. But I said what the heck, let's do it. And to date we have traveled to over 32 states and 72 plus campgrounds and national parks visited zero. People often ask why no national parks? And for us that was because we always found the hidden gems, the little towns that people didn't often talk about, the cool places that we just decided to stop and we just never made it to those national parks. They are on my bucket list. I do want to visit some of the national parks. We'll see where we go with that.
Speaker 1:So now, if you're thinking about the RV lifestyle and maybe you don't even have the RV yet, trying to find the RV that's right for you will be a whole episode in itself. But just to give you a few quick tips, for those of you that are looking either for your next RV or for that first RV, One of the tips that I would suggest is everybody that's going to be in the RV writing down everything they want in an RV. Don't stop yourself and think, well, heated floors are expensive or you know the size of it would be more expensive. Just write down everything you would want. Write down how many people will be traveling with you, Will you have pets, and also trying to figure out the type of camping you want to do. It's going to be really important for choosing the RV that's right for you Now.
Speaker 1:On February 12th, I did an episode how to choose the best campground and in that episode we talked about different types of camping and that included mooch, docking and boondocking, those types of things. So you could kind of figure out what type of camping might be right for you, which will determine the type of RV that's going to be right for you. Then my suggestion is to go check out some dealerships. Go into the dealership, make sure the feeling is right. The salesperson, you know, is not just trying to sell you, they're really hearing you. And another option is to go to some of the RV shows. There are some smaller local RV shows and then there are bigger RV shows, Like in January I was at the Tampa RV show. In September I'll be at the Hershey RV show, and those are the largest RV shows. But they give you the opportunity to check out different types of RVs, to check out different dealerships, different types of manufacturers, to talk to people, to experience a lot of what those RV shows have to offer.
Speaker 1:Choosing the right RV for you is really a personal decision. You could ask people why they chose the RV they chose, but at the end of the day, what works for you? We are, like I said, I am, like I said, going to have more information on this topic. I'm gonna bring an expert on to talk all things RVs to help you decide what the best RV for you might be. Now, for those of you that have the RV and you're just starting out, or you're new to the whole RVing thing, this is what I hoped to share with you today Tips that'll help you to make the RV journey, like I said, less stressful and so that you can enjoy the journey more.
Speaker 1:First of all, when you purchase your rig whether it's a brand new rig or a used rig, whether you purchase from a dealership or from someone you want to try to get as much information as possible about your rig. Each camper RV, whatever they are, is different. Each model is slightly different. Whether you are towing a car a toad, as it's called or you're pulling a fifth wheel or a travel trailer, or you're in a van, it's very different. What and how you set up your rig, how you drive it, how you back it in all of those things are very different. So you want to learn as much as possible from the person you're buying it from.
Speaker 1:For me, buying an RV from a dealership, I want to be able to stay and have the dealership teach me about my RV. I want to know that I could call them if I can't figure something out. For me, that's very important and one of the things you want to do with your RV is really know as much about it as possible. One of the important things is going to be knowing the height of the RV. Now keep in mind that the posted height of the RV may be different from the actual height. Let me explain. The height of the RV is usually stated somewhere on the RV or in the manuals, but if somebody added something to the top of the RV, you want to make sure that you have measured to whatever the highest point is. For instance, on our RV we had some type of Wi-Fi or internet type thing. I don't even know what it was, we didn't use it, but it was on the top of the RV and it added maybe three or four or five extra inches.
Speaker 1:But you want to know that. You want to know the weight of your RV. Rv weights are given. They're the listed load that the RV is. There's a word for it and I'm missing that word right now. Once you load up your RV, you want to know the weight so you could go to a truck stop and go to what's called a CAT scale that's C-A-T scale to know what your RV weighs loaded and you want to know what its towing capacity is to make sure that you're not overweight. You want to know the length of your RV. I know people say, yeah, of course we want to know that length, but you want to know including the hitch and whether you're pulling a toad or you have a truck and then a trailer. So you want to learn everything there is to know about your RV. You also want to know if there's propane on board. Those kinds of things are important before you start out. You start out. The next thing I think that is important to understand about your RV before you really take off, and that is learning about setup and teardown and mastering the hookups, so all the systems that need to be hooked up.
Speaker 1:Now, one of the things that I did when I started RVing, because I had little to no experience at all. We lived in Las Vegas, like I said, and I wanted to be close to where we had lived and spend some time with the RV getting used to it. So we actually went it was 15 minutes away to Lake Mead and learned about set excuse me set up of the RV. We practiced setting it up, we practiced breaking it down the hookups, we learned as much as we possibly could about the RV and we actually stayed in Lake Mead for 30 days, which was the max, but we stayed there for 30 days. I, you know, stored stuff, I figured out how to store stuff, I organized stuff, I unorganized it, I reorganized it. It was a work in progress.
Speaker 1:One of the things that happened with our RV which really worked well in the end we were, like I said, at Lake Mead. There wasn't sewer there and our rig had been winterized, so there was a lot of this pink stuff poured into all of the tanks and to rinse it through we had to keep going to the dump station. So we had to pack the whole RV up, secure everything, take it to the dump station, dump, come back, reset up and in the end that was actually great practice. May not have been the best situation, because every like five days we had to do this, but it was certainly great practice. We broke a couple dishes in the process because they were not stored properly. So it was a learning lesson, but these are good things to learn.
Speaker 1:The other really important thing that we learned was backing in, parking the RV, so backing it in how to communicate with each other. That's one of the things that I want to talk about. My husband drove the RV. I had never driven it. I was the one that was behind the RV guiding him, which is not something he was accustomed to listening to somebody direct him in how to drive or park you know, not his thing. So we were backing in and out of this space and it became stressful at times. People have seen, you know, on Facebook or Instagram. It can become very stressful and you could avoid that.
Speaker 1:One of the things we decided to do instead of using a cell phone, we decided to use walkie talkies. I think that's a preference. People like their cell phone. They could put their headset in or you could do the same with the walkie talkies. So, totally a preference.
Speaker 1:But one of the things I've realized is when I was outside the RV and I would say left and right, that could be confusing, Because if I was standing in front of the RV, is it my left or left, Like it just got confusing. So the answer was we would say driver's side or passenger side. That was quick, easy way for both of us to communicate. And again, with practice, there was some yelling, there were some you know hostile words, and we got to the point where we learned that sometimes we just need to take a breath, slow down, stop. Sometimes there were times I would say stop. You need to come out of the RV and look at what I'm seeing so that you know we can truly communicate with each other. I know now with newer RVs, there are great backup cameras and 360 cameras and so maybe that helps people. I'm sure that helps people a lot, but something to consider.
Speaker 1:The other thing is setting up. So one of the things you want to learn about your RV before you get out on the road is, once you pull in, each different type of rig has a system for what you need to do with the RV, how to level it, those kinds of things. So hours took time till the airbags deflated. So the airbags had to deflate. When we were starting it up, they had to inflate. The time it took to do that, as well as the leveling system, all of those types of systems you want to be aware of with your RV once you are starting out or you park it. So be very aware of that.
Speaker 1:The next thing you want to know about and you want to practice is hookups. So we're talking. When we say hookups, we're talking water sewer, and sewer is gray tanks and black tanks. That gray tank is your shower and your sink water. Black tank is your toilet water, for those of you who aren't familiar as well as your freshwater tank, where you're going to hook a hose up and bring the water in, and there's different hookups and different systems. So you want to learn what works for your RV, as well as hooking up the electricity With electric hookups. Their equipment people want to use, like surge protectors, those kinds of things.
Speaker 1:I'm not getting into detail about that because, honestly, I didn't handle that part of it. I'm not getting into detail about that because, honestly, I didn't handle that part of it. I don't have a lot of that information, but it is something you can easily Google. Look at some other YouTube channels and podcasts to find out about electric hookup. One of the suggestions, especially if you're going into an older campground, especially if you're going into an older campground is to check that the electricity is working before you start backing the RV in. We one time parked the RV, got it set up just the way we wanted, went to plug in that electricity wasn't working and we had to move. So it is definitely something you want to check before you pull in. So these are all the hookups. It takes time to learn how to hook these things up, how to deal with your system, your water, your fresh water. We had clear 2-0 filter systems, so we had a filter that we connected to our water. There's a water regulator. All of these things are things you want to research for what your needs are, the types of you know if you're using a filter system, if you're using a water regulator all of those things, for you want to find out for your RV specifically. So we would get parked, we would get our RV set up, and then one of the other things. And, as well as learning how to break those things down, One of the things I do with dumping my tanks.
Speaker 1:I learned the hard way about dumping the black tank. It's a geeky story but to help you not make the same mistake, I'm going to tell it. I did all the hookups, just about all the hookups, all the time. Dan drove, he parked and I did the hookups and I would take them down and, in between dumping the tank, so you have to dump the gray and the black tanks.
Speaker 1:From time to time there's debate on whether or not to leave those tanks opened. It's still being debatable. I would say the overall trend from experts is do not leave your black tank opened. Do not leave it open unless you're dumping the gray tank. Some people leave them opened. What I learned as open unless you're dumping the gray tank. Some people leave them open. What I learned as far as dumping the tank I went out, I dumped the, I started dumping the gray tank.
Speaker 1:Then I went to dump the black tank and the hose was going uphill a little bit so it wasn't flowing, and I went to lift the hose and there were two hoses connected to each other, which is okay. Just have to make sure those connections are secure, because when I went to lift it they came apart and, yes, I got stuff on me that I don't even want to think about. Luckily, the black tank was pretty much emptied, so there wasn't a lot of stuff, but there was a lot of cleanup. I think I took three showers after that.
Speaker 1:One of the things, one of the learning lessons here, is a making sure that all of your connections are securely on and even every time you go out, make sure they are secure so they don't come loose. The other suggestion is start by opening the gray tank. Do it just for four or five seconds. You could see that it's flowing without any leaks or anything. Close the gray tank, then dump your black tank. Once your black tank is totally dumped, then finish dumping your gray tank, which will help push everything through your hoses and wash out the black tank, as well as taking a hose that can rinse that out. So that is some of the basics and important things that you need for setup. Again, I'm going to say this repeatedly each RV is a little different in how these even the tanks work and the hookups work. So learning that from the person you're buying the RV from, from the dealership you're buying the RV from those are all important from from the dealership you're buying the RV from those are all important.
Speaker 1:The other next step, I think, is learning how your RV works, All of the things in the RV. So when you get into an RV, everything is so different, including flushing the toilet. So if you've ever been in an RV, flushing the toilet is a lever that you stand on to that you put your foot on to, you know, make everything wash through. So it's important that you know how to do this before you take out, take off on your planned trip. I'm suggesting doing these things before you say, OK, we're getting out on the road, we're going to go on our summer vacation for two weeks. We got this. Do a test run, Try these things before you make that trip and potentially ruin your vacation. The more you know, the easier it is. You know, you've practiced. Now it's easier to do these things. That is really helpful. Then you're ready to go out on the road. Something may go wrong. I mean, this is RVing. Things may go wrong, they may not work like you planned, but if you have most of the basics set up, then it's easier to deal with other stuff that might come up. The next thing I suggest is knowing how everything in the RV works, Like I said, the toilet, knowing how to flush the toilet.
Speaker 1:A lot, a lot of debate on whether to put anything that doesn't come out of your body in the toilet. There is debate on whether or not to put toilet paper in the toilet. You could read the discussions on both sides. You could read the discussions on both sides. For me personally, if I couldn't use our toilet and put toilet paper in it, the RVing wasn't going to work for me. I personally used the Costco toilet paper and the only time I ever had an issue is because I didn't use enough water to flush. The important part is making sure you flush that toilet paper with enough water to get it through the system. I think I was worried about conserving water because we were somewhere that we didn't have the ability to dump tanks or get more water. So in trying to conserve, I did back up the toilet, and that is one of the big things.
Speaker 1:So learning how to use the toilet, learning how to use the heater and the air conditioner and while it might be warm weather and you're thinking I'm just going to use the air conditioner, you also should know how to use the heater, turn it on, make sure it's working properly. If there's any buttons or knobs or adjustments, making sure you understand how to do that, the same as making the water work. So if you're hooked up, making your water in your RV worked, when you're hooked up to a spigot, to the city water is very different than if you're in the RV and you're using your onboard tanks for those of us who have them. So again, you may not have these things, but everything that you have in your rig you should know how to use. Also, knowing how to turn on the water heater that is a whole separate in my RV. That was a whole separate button. That is a whole separate in my RV. That was a whole separate button.
Speaker 1:Depending on how I was hooked up, there were two different ways that the water heater would work and again, every RV is different. So make sure you understand your RV. Look at your RV on the inside. Any button, any gadget, anything in there you should know what it is, what it's for and how to use it. Then I would go to the outside. Again.
Speaker 1:We talked about hooking up sewer hoses, water hoses, electricity, surge protectors, water pressure regulators. Those are things once you get to the outside, knowing how to hook everything up, knowing how to work everything and deciding which things you need. Do I need the surge protector, Do I need a water pressure regulator and those kinds of things? Personally, I wouldn't run out and buy everything all at once. These are probably good questions to ask your dealership. If you're buying it from a dealer. There are lots of forums that you could find your particular RV so you could decide what would work best for you.
Speaker 1:The other thing you should know about is a generator. If you have a generator on board, how to use it. If you have solar and you have an inverter or a battery, if you have a lithium battery, it's very different than if you have a lead acid battery what to do in those cases? You want to learn about that. So this is where I say take a test drive before that big plan. Even if you take the RV out of your driveway, drive it and drive it back. If you could go somewhere local, if you go to a local campground, practice hooking it up, practice jumping, practice all of these things. That is a great way to go. When you're an RVer, you want to know someone is with you every mile, Whether it's sales or service. That someone is Blue Compass RV. With over 100 locations coast to coast, featuring more than 15,000 new and used RVs and over a thousand service bays, with more certified RV technicians than any other dealer. Blue Compass is with you today, tomorrow and the road ahead. Visit your local Blue Compass RV dealer or go to bluecompasscom today.
Speaker 1:Now, one of the things I want to share with people because I've gotten a lot of questions and that's what actually inspired this episode. I have been out a lot, I've been talking to a lot of people and I, you know, listen to people on social media. People reach out and a lot of people are looking for these types of tips for the newer RVer. One of the things I've been asked a lot is about what certain words mean and what the abbreviations mean. Fhu is full hookups and you'll see that a lot if you're going to book at a campground and you'll see that a lot if you're going to book at a campground. So what I'm going to do is in the show notes, because there's a lot of words and a lot to learn. In the show notes I'm going to put two articles and one is for Harvest Host and it's the RVers Glossary. So it gives you a lot of the words that you might come across and you need to know what they are as well as RV.
Speaker 1:Life has an article talking about abbreviations. They're great to kind of, you know, breeze through. You don't have to try and memorize all of it and at the end of the day, you could just Google it on your phone, figure out what it means, but it's good to be familiar with some of these things. But it's good to be familiar with some of these things. Okay, you've taken your test drive and now it's time for that trip and this is your big trip. Sometimes you know, people are going out on that camping trip, maybe for three days a week, two weeks, and maybe this is the only trip you're going to take this summer and you wanna make it special. And one of the things trip you're going to take this summer and you want to make it special, and one of the things that I'm going to suggest is that you don't put so much pressure on yourself. Make it enjoyable. But it's not the end. All be all, Prepare, expect the unexpected Things happen. Planning your trip from point A to point B Traffic, weather happens, there's a lot of things that could happen. So you want to plan and be flexible. Let's talk a little bit about planning.
Speaker 1:I did an episode on RV planning and I'll put it in the show. Notes was just a couple weeks ago and in that episode we talked about the idea of planning those trips, being flexible, and when we say planning, we're not always talking about people that want everything exactly like this is exactly what I want to do each day. Sometimes you're still planning. Even though you're winging it, there's still some things that you want to do that are part of the planning process, so keep that in mind. The episode where we talked about planning was with Mike and Susan from RV Blogger. They have a lot of experience, a lot of great information that they shared on that episode, so I highly recommend that. One of the things that both Mike and Susan and I use is the RV Life Pro suite of products, which includes Trip Wizard, and that is the best planning tool Seriously the best planning tool.
Speaker 1:You go on, you plan your trip, no matter how far away it is from your location. If you're only going 20, 30 miles, it is still good to use, because it then gives you RV safe GPS, and what this does is it takes into consideration your RV measurements height, weight, length and whether or not you have propane on board is very important that you know the roads that you should be on, Something that happened to me. I live in Pennsylvania. I was going down to Virginia. It was before we had our RV and we didn't have the RV life we just went on a road We've driven on many, many times and we felt like, okay, we could go from Pennsylvania down to Virginia on 95, no problem. Well, we get to the tunnel in Baltimore and you're not allowed to have propane when you go through that. Now, that said, you could have the small barbecue propane tank, you could have that smaller tank, but if you have a big propane tank on board, you should not be going through the tunnel. Luckily, we weren't stopped, we did not know and there was no time for us to turn around. So this is why some planning is important, and certainly RV safe GPS is incredibly important.
Speaker 1:The other thing that RV safe GPS will do is help you navigate detours, road closures and unexpected stops. You can then decide well, I have to go to a gas station and make those changes, because it is easy to add a stop along the way. I just had somebody on the show that they were using Google Maps or Apple Maps, whichever one it was Actually it was Waze and they were going through a road that they've been on many times. They get to an underpass, an overpass. They went to go under, they knew they weren't going to make it and they are tying up traffic in both directions. Luckily somebody stopped who was a fellow RVer and helped them to navigate around, that they were on the show and told the story. But it's important to hear about these things and why you know, RV safe GPS is important. The other story I had done, Indiana on from Cool RV, which is an amazing product that helps reduce, helps your AC work 40 plus percent more efficient. You might want to check them out. Cool it's called Cool RV, K-O-L, K-O-O-L RV and what is great that they talked about was they actually went under an overpass and hit the AC and broke it and from that they developed CoolRV. But again, it's not the best way to try to, you know, and then they've invented an incredible product and started a business, but this isn't the way.
Speaker 1:So now, as we're traveling around, let me talk about Open Roads fuel card. This is an amazing fuel card that could save you money if you use diesel fuel and you could save anywhere from 40 cents to 60 cents. I've saved even more 40, 60 cents or more a gallon by going to the truck stops that are listed on my app. The card is absolutely free to get. Just go to the show notes, click on the link, sign up for the fuel card. They'll send you your card and you can get started saving money.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about safe driving and parking. We've talked about this a little bit. As far as safe driving goes, one thing I'm going to say is there are some RV schools. So if you're now driving a 40-foot Class A and you've never driven one, you might want to consider an RV school and they will train you. I'm not going to dive into this. I am looking for an RV school and I'll have them on the show so they can give us some tips and what to look for, type of things. But learning how to drive your specific type of rig obviously is important. I think it's kind of obvious. I'm not going to dive into that too terribly much. We already talked about the idea of safety and parking and having that person spot you when you're parking, especially when you're new. Again, if in a newer RV with all the cameras just want to get used to those, Getting used to those backup cameras and the 360 camera takes some doing so, again, it's all about practice.
Speaker 1:Let me talk a little bit about campground etiquette and there are things you would think people know what to do and not to do. You would think there are rules that are kind of you know, obvious, but we need to at least address it a little bit, because there are people that just don't know and there are things that I learned along the way just don't know, and there are things that I learned along the way. One of the things you want to do when you're going into a campground is make sure to read through those rules. I know some of them you might be like, okay, this seems obvious, I have to pick up my dog's poop, or, you know, my kids shouldn't just run around in other people's campgrounds. But there are other things that maybe you don't know, and one of those things that just about every campground will have are quiet hours, and they'll tell you from what hour to what hour it is quiet time, and that sometimes even includes a generator, and they will state that. So I don't think we need to dive into this and me sit and say, you know, don't let your kids just run through somebody else's campsite. But there are some things that take learning in.
Speaker 1:What campground etiquette is, you know? Obviously, clean up after yourself, leave your space cleaner than you found it, kind of thing, and the whole thing with wandering through somebody's campground. I choose to believe people just don't know, because you hear about it happening a lot, and I think of it this way if you're living in a house and you have property around your house, you wouldn't just walk through the property. I mean, most people would just walk through somebody else's property. It works the same for a person's campground space. So just keep that in mind. Check out the rules. Sometimes different campgrounds have different type rules, so just take some time, check them out.
Speaker 1:That's a good idea as we start wrapping up some other suggestions is expecting the unexpected. Rving is incredibly enjoyable. It is a lot of fun. It is something I've never really done before and in that and in all the fun, things are going to go wrong, Stuff's going to break, Lens are going to get messed up, Weather sometimes is going to be an issue. Maybe there's mechanical issues, Maybe there's health issues, and you have to be as prepared as you can and be flexible. That's what I'm going to suggest. Expecting the unexpected. Flexible that's what I'm going to suggest.
Speaker 1:Expecting the unexpected, not waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak, but knowing that it's something of a plan. Knowing that if you're traveling with your kids and you know it's going to start raining, maybe have some indoor activities or games, or know if the campground has indoor activities, just to kind of get a little bit of you know a little bit of a plan. You can't plan for everything. The other thing to as a caution emergencies happen when you're on the road, whether it's medical emergencies, RV issues, whatever. That is one of the suggestions that I have is to have, whether it's a wipe-off or a laminated something, but there should be something in the RV that has emergency contact numbers.
Speaker 1:When you get to a campground, you want to know where you're located, as funny as that sounds. When we would travel a lot, sometimes I couldn't even think about what state we were in, let alone the city name, my RV site. So you want to know what site you're in and I would write that on like a wipe off. I had a laminated paper that you could wipe off because in an emergency situation, if you have to call 911, which I experienced while traveling you want to be able to give that information quickly and not have to fumble for it. So knowing the address of the campground, the name of the campground, the site you're in, all of those things are important, as well as everybody that is in the RV having access to that. Also, a medical emergency plan.
Speaker 1:If you're traveling, you're away from home a lot of times. First of all, if it's a major emergency, you're calling 911. That's obviously universal, you know. Maybe there's knowing if there's an urgent care. I have a grandson that has asthma and has had to go to an emergency room, so knowing where they are when you're out camping is important. As far as RV issues, you want to know who you should call what's covered to some degree. You want to understand if you have a policy that covers certain things, where to access that, whether you're calling your dealership, and so there are RV issues that you know. You just want those things that might be a more urgent situation handy.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's leave this on a happier note and talk about knowing that there are things that, while there are things that will go wrong, RVing can be for me. Let me just say for me it was and has been and will continue to be the most amazing experiences that I've had, and those are the things that I want people to focus on. So when you're talking about your first time out, you're making that plan. Think about those things. You know everybody that's traveling wants to do. What do you want to see? What kind of activities do you want to have? You know whether you want to go to a national park. I wanted to go to a national park. Haven't been to one yet, but that's still on the list. So what kinds of things do you want to do? What kinds of things would you enjoy? Are you more the mountains? Are you more the water? Are you more the mountains? Are you more the water? Sitting down and really kind of putting together something of an idea of what everybody's looking to do, that is something I highly suggest. As you're planning, you're making plans for that.
Speaker 1:First time out, I'm going to say and this is a cliche knowledge is key. Well, I would say, the more you know, the better. There are things that you just can't learn at all. There will be things you're going to learn as you go. There will be mistakes you're going to make and you just have to embrace the mistakes, learn from them and move on. There is so much more information I could give. I am going to ask that people please share your thoughts, your comments, your suggestions. Do you have suggestions of more detailed information that you'd want that I could bring an expert on. If you've been traveling, you know what can you suggest for that new person, and you could do that by making a comment on the podcast platform that you're listening to this on, or you could go to social media at RV Life Podcast on Instagram or Facebook, make a comment, send me a private message. I truly want to hear from you, but it's now time to talk about the OpenRoads Innovative Toll Solutions, and that is one of those things that I've had to learn the hard way as I've traveled across the country. I've gone through tolls that my toll transponder did not work, was not the right transponder, and I had over $240 in fines. Openroads Innovative Toll Solutions takes care of all of this. There's a link in the show notes. Click on that link. The toll transponder is $24 a year and it covers all 48 states, so you are covered. This is something that I believe every RVer traveling should have.
Speaker 1:It's now time for the Feature Campground of the Week, and it's brought to you by RV Life, and this week's Feature Campground is Victoria Palms RV Resort in Donna, Texas. In Donna, Texas, this is an encore resort and you do not need to be a member, but it is a 55 and older, so you do need to have at least one person that is 55 or older. Victoria Palms RV Resort is a premier RV resort in tropical Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. They feature a tropical pool and spa. They have a full restaurant, two-story craft center and they have so much more. They offer pull-through sites and back-in sites with FHU full hookups. And if you don't have an RV, no problem, they have fully furnished rentals. They have a solid 8.4 rating on the RV Life Campground site with 77 reviews, and you can go to campgroundsrvlifecom and search Victoria Palms RV Resort to learn more about this property, everything about this property, all of the photos, the amenities, everything you need to know about this property, and then, if you decide you want to book your stay, there's a great big book now button so you could easily book your stay.
Speaker 1:Rv Life Campgrounds is part of the RV Life suite of products and it is the most comprehensive source of RV parks, campgrounds, resorts, most comprehensive source of RV parks, campgrounds, resorts and city, state and national parks, corpse of engineer properties and so much more. If you are not yet a member, there is a link in the show notes to get 25% off for first-time users and just go to that link. Once you get to checkout, it's 25% off. As I said, I would love to hear from new RVers, people thinking about RVing, and my RVers that have been on the road. Please share your comments, your suggestions, your thoughts, your ideas, items here that you've used, things that you've done, things that you've seen. Please share at RV Life Podcast on Instagram or Facebook. I want to thank you, my listeners, so very much for listening and I want to remind you life's a journey. Live each day to the fullest, without regrets. I'm Patty Hunt and you have been listening to the RV Life Podcast.