Apps for RVers

Not too long ago, trip planning would have required paper maps, cumbersome, heavy campground directories, and lots of phone calls. These days we can get the job done with a few reliable smartphone apps for RVers. We get asked about this frequently, so I’ve compiled a list of the apps we use and why we use them. You’ll notice that not all of them are exclusively for the RVer, but all of them make the cut because we find them particularly useful in our full-time RV lifestyle.

Who Should Work On Your Rig?

You either own, or plan to own an RV. At some point just as with a car or a house you’re going to have to have or want something fixed, serviced or replaced. Whether you’re full timing it or not, taking it back to the manufacturer or dealership where it was purchased isn’t always a viable option…and if you bought from a private party, well as soon as your rigs tail lights were out of sight so ended the return policy.

So who do you turn to, to have repairs made? This is a question many of us ask ourselves and others are seeking the answer to, usually in desperation because an immediate need exists or you are still investigating whether or not the RV lifestyle is something you want to invest in.

Driving A Motorhome

Is driving a Class A Motor Home intimidating?

For me, not in the least. I have no fear of driving big vehicles. In fact, I have driven some pretty large and unique ones in my time, everything from specialized cargo handling equipment to semi truck and trailers. Fortunately, our 38 foot Holiday Rambler Ambassador is very easy to drive and is quite agile for its size. When driving a motorhome, you do have to be conscious of the real estate it takes to make turns and its height on streets or roadways where low hanging tree limbs, overpasses and wires could snag and damage it, its roof mounted accessories or the low hanging obstacles themselves.

Like any new vehicle you acquire, it takes a little bit of time and experience to get the feel of what you are driving. You must maintain a high level of situational awareness because of the size of the vehicle. Fortunately, many of the newer motor homes come with expanded field of vision, courtesy of cameras which feed to a dash mounted screen allowing you to see areas not otherwise visible from the vehicle’s windows and mirrors.

The more time you spend driving it around in familiar areas, the better you’ll do once you are on the road. Practice makes perfect and you more comfortable driving/towing your RV.

Fill The Fresh Water Tank Before or Wait Until You Get There?

There are two thoughts on this, some think why carry the additional weight and burn more fuel hauling it when you can fill up once you reach your destination. Well as a pilot I learned early on in my flying that anything behind you especially a runway does you no good when you just lost your engine during takeoff. Same holds true for water. Do desert nomads wait or let their camels drink their fill before setting out across the vast empty desert? They let them fill up!

If you have a good safe supply of water, I say FILL UP your water tank. You never know if you’ll find yourself stranded or arrive at your destination only to find water shortages or contamination (boil water notice) issues. Imagine your RV overheating forcing you to pull over, it lost all or most of its engine coolant. If you have a source of water with you, you can supplement the engine cooling system enough to get you some place down the road for service.

So for the few bucks it costs to tote the extra weight think about this…How much would you be willing to spend if you found yourself somewhere needing water and there wasn’t a drop to be found?