Resources I have found useful

I don’t really remember when the idea of having an RV and traveling stuck in my mind.  Travel has always been something that I have enjoyed.  Camping was something that I seemed to have a love/hate relationship with.  At times, it was the greatest activity and at others the most frustrating.

My grandparents had a truck camper and later pulled a travel trailer behind it.  However, they never really travelled very far and spent the summers in the same location every year.  Or so it seemed to me.  My brother-in-law has a large motorhome, but I have never actually seen it.  I will need to remedy that one of these days.  In my mind, an RV would provide me with the ability to travel and camp (avoiding the frustrating parts).  But I didn’t have enough information and needed more.

I started to research on the Internet, buying books, and going to RV dealers.   I quickly learned that dealers had limited stock to view and books were dated.  The Internet was a good source to provide information.  The amount I found varied from dated material to current.  Pros and cons on every type of RV could be found, along with good and bad reviews on about every manufacturer in business.  However, I was looking for what expenses to expect and where people travelled to.

The one thing I did not find was negative information to dissuade me from my dream of exploring North America in an RV.  I found quite a bit of old cost/expense information.  I knew somebody posting information that was more current.  I turned to YouTube and started watching videos.  I started following people who were publishing recent videos on their experiences.  These videos pointed me to their websites and a treasure trove of information.   Here are some helpful sites which I have found.  ou can click on the links to visit the website or YouTube channel.

We’re The Russos – Kait and Joe Russo started on a journey of full-time living in their RV.  Besides publishing entertaining videos on YouTube, they provided the best source I found on current costs.

Exploring The Local Life – Jessica and Robert share their experiences of living full-time in an RV and raising two children.  I find this site and the videos refreshing as it presents the joys and rough times one runs into living in an RV.

Chris & G Travels – Chris and G post many videos about their trips.  I started watching these as the two started out with their class A motorhome.  I felt a kindred spirit, in the fact that here were two people, like me, venturing into a class A motorhome, with no real experience.

Less Junk < More Journey – Although Marissa and Nathan don’t post much on their website, they post many videos about their full-time life in an RV.  They tend to stay at more state and national parks than RV parks which is one of my goals.

Gone with the Wynns – I started watching the videos of Nikki and Jason Wynn because they had many “how to” and “how NOT to” videos.   Initially, the RV costs were useful, but not consistently presented.  I found the product reviews to be helpful, but most were on the more high end products.  They have moved on from an RV to a catamaran, so the site and videos are now less relevant to my needs.

Technomadia – I like this site, because of my “techie” side.  I would love to be able to be self sufficient and run all by technical equipment while sitting outside staring at the mountains or the ocean.   Cherie and Chris present up to date product reviews and their travels in a converted bus.

There are many more sites that I regularly visit.  But the ones above influenced me the most and continue to provide me with ideas for future trips.