New Motorhome Owner Tips

Craig's Rule: 2-2-2: We met "Craig" on our second night of full timing. Craig had traveled extensively for years and offered his perspective, which we welcomed. Craig gave us a list of "must see" places in the USA, not the popular places, but those that few know about. The best advice he gave us, we have dubbed as Craig's Rule: Drive less than 200 miles per day, get there by 2:00 pm and stay at least 2 days. We have used this rule and it is great! Violate it, and you will be tired, get less value at your RV park, or not enjoy your day. Try it, it works!

Don't pay after dark: We added our own rules. First is when you can't get to your destination by 2:00 pm and not even before dark, don't pay for a park. We did and we would pay, park, level, hookup water, sewer and electric, go to bed, get up, retract the levelers, unhook utilities and take off. Not smart! What is the alternative? Walmart and other empty lots, truck stops, rest stops, etc. Do this and it takes only a few minutes to get to bed. We get up early and move to the RV park or keep on driving.

Don't reserve: We move often, actually every few days. Occasionally, we stay a week or two. Early on, we reserved parks quite a bit. Now? We do not reserve unless we really, really want to stay somewhere, really badly. Why? Every "appointment" makes you either drive too fast or try to find something to do while you are waiting. For example, we made a manufacturer's service appointment months ahead. As the time approached we were one week early. We could not reschedule, so we had to "hover" around for seven days to make the appointment. When you have to, make the reservation. If not, don't.

Get one night first: When we reach our RV park, we pay for one night only . After one night, we decide how much longer to stay. In many areas, there are no nice parks and there is really nothing to do. So we move on. But given a great park or lots to do, we pay for another day or a week or whatever!

Driving Tips: Driving a motorhome may seem daunting, but with these tips it should be easy.

Accessing RV Forums: There are several good RV forums. Get a head start with these guidelines.