By Dave Helgeson
Many of us that have been RVing for years have learned the realities of RVing via direct experience (aka school of hard knocks) long before the advent of the “information super highway” aka the internet. Nowadays you can easily perform an online search for any subject and be presented with a huge choice of articles and videos.
As a “lifer” in the RV industry, I like to read/view what today’s newbie RVers are experiencing to see what has changed and what has remained the same. It leaves me contemplating: Do I appreciate learning things firsthand or by someone else’s experience?
Here’s a short video (viewed more than 1.8 million times since March 2018) depicting the 10 Harsh RV Life Realities for Beginners. I think everyone has unfortunately experienced numbers 3 and 4. I enjoyed the author’s humorous take on number 8!
I invite you to watch it and share your experiences of your life on the road. Do you agree with their assessment of the 10 Harsh Realities or are there others you feel should be on the list? Please comment below.
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I drove thru Quartzsite (stayed on 95) for the first time last month and was horrified. People really like sardine camping in the dirt with no veg to camo your neighbors??!! Not for me. But I do like boondocking.
I had a ball at Quartzite. I stayed for a month. I saw hundreds of gorgeous rocks, bought a beautiful Herkimer diamond, attended the RV show…spent a bundle, and found a wonderful 1.00 store behind Roberts grocery store. And, the Quartzite rock and mineral club is fantastic! HOWEVER, it was when I returned to my campground in New Mexico where untrue terrible gossip went rampant. I am 74 years old, not bad looking, and was approached by one of the male campers where I have been staying for several months. He said that everybody knows that I had been sleeping around Quartzite. First of all, should I be so lucky at my age..to be funny… but the rumors were not funny but horrible. I confirmed the vicious gossip with another camper at the campground. This gal said “Oh yes, everybody knows it”. I was shocked that adults would act so low like teenagers. I am so angry I just may get a lawyer against this individual and his cronies.
It doesn’t take 9 minutes to list 10 things.
I agree with most of the video. On point #1 YES, there is NO “perfect” RV. That said, there IS likely to be an RV that is perfect (or near perfect) for you. I always recommend that newbies ACTUALLY get out and do some RVing. Whether they rent, borrow or simply accompany another RVer, until they get some REAL WORLD RV experience, they simply can’t know EXACTLY what will and won’t work for THEM. They might even find that, once they’re actually on the road RVing, that it just isn’t “their cup of tea”. Better they find that out BEFORE they spend BIG bucks on any RV they think will be their “ideal” rig. I also tell newbies to focus on the NEGATIVES. The negatives will be what drives you nuts (the positives are simply “gravy”). If a newbie realizes this going in, a negative will be far less likely to be a deal breaker because said newbie can cope with it. Lastly, I STRONGLY urge newbies to attend an RV Boot Camp. I believe the Escapees RV Club started this important education. Just DO it!
Been living in our MH for 16+ years doing ‘navy’ showers. When I go to a ‘regular’ shower once washing I wonder what to do? So I rarely go use ‘regular’ showers.
Quartzsite – we went one year and glad we did. We stayed in a small RV park for three months. December was nice, not crowded. January RVers start to arrive in town -was fascinating to see golf carts, quads, autos, RVs and big trucks all sharing the road. The show was OK but what got us walking the mile over to it was the booth that sold ice cream cones. We got a double scoop waffle cone for I think it was $3.50. They had my favorite walnut ice cream.
Not worth a video! A bullet list plus a sentence or two on a few of the bullets would have covered everything in a lot less time.
Loved it. At least 9 of the 10. But I have found the perfect campsites, but I won’t tell you where they are.
Prove it. Send pictures and GPS coordinates and I will be the Judge of your “perfect campsites”. LOL. Me too.
Totally agree, David. We have tons of boondocking sites that are marked “Top Secret” in our mental list.