A recreational trip in an RV (Recreational Vehicle) with family can be a great way of experiencing unforgettable travel moments with your loved ones. RV stands for Recreational Vehicle that is capable of accommodating a large group of people on its wheels fitted with home amenities such as a toilet, shower room, fridge, kitchen, beds and a dining bar for meeting your mobile travel needs. RVs can be of two types 1) Camper (don’t have a motor engine it is tied to the back of a truck that pulls it) and 2) self-motorized. RVs are temporary homes during travel but it is intriguing to find some natives in the US use it as a permanent place for residing. There are a lot of RV destinations in the US for exploring, most of them are parks that give you a convenience for camping and parking, considering that RVs are heavy and huge they definitely require huge amounts of space for parking them and the National Parks in the cities are the right places for this purpose. You obviously cannot zip past a drive through or park your RV in front of a coffee shop. Now I’m gonna walk you through some very good tips for a very good RV experience in the USA.
Take a practice RV drive
Driving a huge motor vehicle like an RV needs a little bit of practice before you can get the hang of driving on it, I advise y’all to have a practice session before you hit the roads, I’m aware that driving or even traveling on an RV isn’t a common thing and most of us may be first timers to this kind of recreation.
Bring tools and spare parts
Make sure you have the right tools in place before you kick start your outdoor adventure, having these tools handy will be of great help in the event of breaking down of your RV. We don’t intend to make your RV a store house for all the spare parts but we want you to bring in the basic tools like 1) digital tire gauges for checking your tire pressure 2) a heavy gauge jumper for getting a jump start for your engine in cold climatic conditions 3) T handle style lug wrenches that let you tighten the nuts of your RV and 4) wheel chocks that will come in handy to prevent your RV from rolling when you park it on a steep slope.
Travel without water on your RV
Don’t replenish your water tank with water if the places you are going to have access to plenty of safe drinking water, the explanation we have for this is water or H20 is a heavy commodity and try as much to avoid transporting it between places. That said, you must have a good stock of food items like ready to eat snacks, bottled beverages and fresh groceries that will last your journey and these must be replenished time and again at your stopovers to meet your daily food needs.
Plan a perfect Itinerary for your outdoor adventure on wheels
Before you head out with your family make sure you plan a perfect itinerary for your entire travel escapade in an RV. Having a well planned itinerary in place is the key to enjoying your road trip because that way you can be sure about where you are going and where you will be going from there and what landmark attractions are available at each of the destinations in your itinerary. So preparing an itinerary requires you to do some surfing on the net or reading some relevant material regarding the places you like to visit, fun things to do, eateries and the various land mark attractions that are of interest to you.
Carry a GPS for navigating the roads
Carrying a GPS for navigating the roads is quintessential while RVing. You will be crippled without a GPS, for best navigation we suggest Garmin RV Portable GPS Navigator- this is one of the most popular brands in the USA found in most RVs across the USA. The Garmin RV GPS is built specifically for RVs and aids in navigating the roads for customized specifications like height, width and length of the truck in use. This way you can avoid narrow roads, sharp curves and steep hills that may not be suitable for your RV, the device also cautions you when there are heavy winds in the atmosphere. So make sure you have one of these advanced GPS systems while you are traveling around places in your RV.
Camping and parking
Due to the huge and heavy nature of an RV, camping and parking is always an issue that has to be dealt with carefully during your stopovers in your journey. As pointed out earlier the US parks seem to be the best places for this purpose and it indeed is a common sight to see RVs being parked at these places as the parks cover a vast area of free land and are freely accessible to all public. Setting up a camp in one of these parks is really easy all you have to do is park your RV and roll out the awning of your RV, that’s it you and your family are all set to enjoy the shade of it for relaxation. The destinations for your outdoor adventure are often the ones which are infested with such parks, now I’m gonna outline our very best RV destinations for you
- Zion River Resort
- Yellowstone National Park
- Redwood National Park
- Crater Lake National Park
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Blue Ridge Parkway
- Colonial Williamsburg
- Durango RV Resort
- The Shady Dell RV Park
- Rivers RV Edge Park
Use the amenities inside the RV effectively and wisely
Effectively using the amenities inside the RV is something that will benefit all the family members and this must be stressed, for instance you can use the kitchen inside the RV to cook fresh food for kids like in homes or you could arrange a BBQ set up at one of the stopovers on a campsite and enjoy the fun with your family while cooking and eating your favorite BBQ fried chicken with some chilled beer stacked inside your RV fridge. Little things like these give you guaranteed satisfaction and will enhance your RV road experience.
Fasten seat belts even while sleeping in the nights
Just an important pointer most countries like the US and Canada require kids to fasten their safety seat belts even while sleeping in the nights so sleeping inside the RV without fastening the belts is not advisable. Beware of this and you could be fined for violating this safety norm.
Gasoline for your RV
Make sure you have the required amount of gas in your RV to travel the long distances, a nice way to ensuring that you always have surplus gas for fueling the long rides is to refuel each time you visit a stopover with gas stations even though your tank is not completely empty, you might run out of gas if you don’t plan effectively as most of the camping sites are in the exteriors and you might not find any gas stations to refuel.
Miscellaneous things to carry
For that one-of-a-kind outdoor experience we suggest you to 1) carry your own bicycles inside your RV for bike rides on trails in your stopover, 2) carry your electronic gadgets like laptops, cameras, phones, portable music systems for making your road adventure more excitable 3) equip yourself with rain coats, jackets, umbrellas, sun-glasses, hiking shoes, first aid kits and snorkeling wear.