Suggestions for Full-Time RVing

In the books and pamphlets she has written, Kay Peterson offers these suggestions for full-time RVing:

- When you decide to hit the road, be patient with yourself and your mate. “One day you will look back and laugh about the time you forgot to lock the refrigerator door and had scrambled eggs on the carpet or the time you didn’t get the sewer hose on tight and it dumped its contents on the patio.”

- Practice driving your RV beforehand. Go to a deserted shopping center and construct an imaginary obstacle course. Practice backing up, turning and braking.

- Join an automobile association for ease in handling mechanical problems that are sure to arise.

- Space may be a problem, but you will find room for the things that mean the most. When you first start out, store objects you can’t seem to part with in a friend’s garage. “Chances are that after you have been RVing for a couple of years, you will find that you don’t miss them as much as you thought you would. Then you will be ready to part with them.”

- Keep the motor well-tuned and the tires inflated. Buy gasoline at off-brand stations and pay cash to save on credit card bills. Some RVers install an extra gasoline tank and take advantage of gasoline bargains they find while traveling.

- Earn money by working at resorts and campgrounds, selling products or services, and working at temporary or seasonal jobs.

- Make sure you have good health insurance. “You’ll also find it easier to get a doctor if you have cash to pay for your visit. You can get reimbursed by your insurance carrier later.”

- Take advantage of “freebies.” You need not always park your RV in a campground. It is easier and cheaper to utilize free overnight parking. Begin looking for a place to park about one hour before you are ready to stop. Consider the weather, security, time of day, local ordinances and the manner in which you ask permission--politely and firmly.

- Subscribe to a commercial mail service, which will forward your mail to any town you expect to be in. “I don’t recommend using families (to forward mail). It may start out being fun, but then it gets to be too much of a job for them.”