Remarkable Telemedicine for RVers

Worried about how you’re going to get healthcare when everything is closed? For many RVers during the recent lockdown, the answer was telemedicine. And what better way for RVers to learn about telemedicine than from. . . an RVer who does telemedicine. In this episode of our RV Podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Tom Davis MD, a practicing Family Physician and full-time RVer who talks telemedicine; how to use it, how not to use it, and why telemedicine is the way of the future. Plus your RV Lifestyle questions, RV News of the week and a great off the beaten path report from the Burketts. Show Notes for Episode #292 April 29, 2020, of The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK It's been seven weeks now since most of North America began to self isolate and practice social distancing under stay at home orders and travel restrictions. Finally, we're seeing many places starting to ease up on those restrictions as many parts of North America begin the process of reopening. Most of the big RV manufacturers and suppliers will be soon restarting production. State parks are taking reservations again in many parts of the country and it now looks like there will be a robust camping season this summer after all. We're not quite there yet, but optimism is running high that we will be able to get out there and enjoy the RV Lifestyle again within the next few weeks. We remain in Northwest Florida where the beaches will partially reopen later this week after a shutdown of more than a month. A full reopening is expected in two or three weeks. So there really is light at the end of this long tunnel. Hang on, stay home, and be safe a little longer. It will soon be better! This part of the podcast is brought to you by RadPower Bikes, America's #1 e-bike brand, offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes. Now with free shipping RV LIFESTYLE NEWS OF THE WEEK Visit your favorite national park - virtually Are you wishing you were at your favorite national park during this stay-at-home time? If so, why not do the next best thing - and visit that special spot virtually? The National Park Service has a web spot (click here) where you can see web cameras of famous locations, join in live programs the various parks are offering online, or just enjoy some amazing photo and video tours. Animals in some closed national parks enjoying walking on roads and resting in parking lots as people are away Speaking of national parks, did you see the picture released last week of a lone coyote lying down, looking almost like he was enjoying the view from the parking lot at Yosemite National Park? As many of the national parks are closed, the animals are able to wander where they please without fear of running into people. And apparently, but the looks of this photo (click here) they are enjoying it. Will RV living be the preferred vacation mode when COVID-19 travel restrictions ease? For those who are joining our Friday night virtual campsite chats or Sunday night Ask Us Anythings, you know Jen and I have shared that we could see a greater interest in RV vacations when travel restrictions start to lift. Why? When you are in an RV you are outdoors and bring along your own bed, kitchen, bathroom, and living space, which may appeal to a lot of folks who want to go on a summer vacation but want to limit their interactions with others. Apparently we aren't the only ones speculating about this. An article in Forbes magazine was a Q and A from an RV industry spokesperson, sharing very similar thoughts. (Click here.) Some states starting to announce dates when campgrounds will reopen  We are getting word that more states are permitting campgrounds to open. While right now most are closed, some states are saying they'll allow campgrounds to re-open May 1, others May 15, others May 30. Some are open now for full-timers and medical or other essential workers seeking to isolate themselves from their families. To know what is the situation near you, please check out Campendium site (click here), as they are keeping track of the ever-changing landscape of COVID-19 restrictions. LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK This from Jerry and Marie: We are in our mid 70’s and have been careful to shelter in place as required but now that our state (Georgia) has opened up and warm weather is turning to hot weather, we are ready to hit the road. We have a Fifth Wheel. We usually are gone May through October and we were about to head to Texas and then make or way west and north. But we are very concerned that there will be resentment as we travel to various areas that may see RVers as bringing the COVID 19 virus. We’d normally be gone by now but we are nervous. Do you think it would be okay? Have you heard of RVers having issues in some communities? We answer... we have heard of no incidents but advise waiting a couple of weeks more. Do you have a question you’d like us to answer or a comment on the things we’re discussing? If so, we invite you to leave us that question or comment on the special voicemail number we have for the podcast – it’s 586-372-6990.  If you are driving and can’t write it down right now, just go to the RV Lifestyle travel blog at rvlifestyle.com and scroll down the page. You’ll see that number prominently posted on the blog. This part of the RV Podcast is brought to you by Battle Born Batteries, maker of quality, safe, and reliable lithium batteries that can be installed in just about every RV. Get in touch with Battle Born to find out what lithium batteries and an upgraded energy management system can add to your RV Lifestyle. Check them out at https://rvlifestyle.com/lithium RV INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK Dr. Tom Davis Worried about how you’re going to get healthcare when everything closed? For many RVers during the recent lockdown, the answer was telemedicine. And what better way for RVers to learn about telemedicine than from. . . an RVer who does telemedicine. In this episode, Dr. Tom Davis MD, a practicing Family Physician, and full-time RVer talks telemedicine; how to use it, how not to use it, and how he used it to RV full time just like you. Dr. Davis has worked in telemedicine all his life and currently teaches other clinicians how care for patients with telemedicine. He’s the author of the Amazon “Hot 100” book Telemedicine Confidential---Keeping Your Family Safe (https://amzn.to/3f3AxSe) He also helps RVers cover their healthcare costs for 40% of the cost of Obamacare, through https://wow.healthcare/individuals/ No networks, great coverage, one simple award-winning app. It lets you get care anywhere... and know exactly how much it will cost beforehand. It was like it was specifically created for RVers. Here is a video version of the interview: The interview of the week is brought to you by SunshinestateRVs.com, where every new  motorhome is delivered to the customer free, anywhere in the country OFF THE BEATEN PATH REPORT    By Tom and Patti Burkett When you’re on the road in your RV, a furniture store is one of the last places you’d be likely to stop in any random place you visited.  Along the main strip of Poplar Bluff, Missouri there are two big furniture retailers, seemingly competing for your attention with outsize advertising and eye-catching storefronts.  And just down the street is the constantly changing giant LED sign in front of Sluggo’s Bargain Basement, another sofa and mattress emporium. It takes only a second look to see that the dean of these enterprises is Hefner’s, which sports vintage neon and, yes, a real full size 1960s racing speedboat on a pole.  Great advertising and in this case a promise of more wonders to come for those who take the time to step inside. J.A. Hefner a mercantile store in tiny Qulin, Missouri in 1925 and turned it over to his two sons in the early 1940s.  They ran the store in Qulin for twenty years, then moved it to Poplar Bluff.  Two decades after that, Joe Hefner sold it to a Tennessee company.  Furniture Center hired Slug Hefner as a salesman the day they reopened the store.  A month later he’d been promoted to general manager.  He worked in that capacity for four years, then worked out support from local investors to buy back the store.  The size of the store tripled in the ensuing thirty years.  Slug would say it’s because “Hefner’s loves its customers!” The speedboat on a pole out front hints at the other side of the story.  Hefner is a legend in the powerboat racing world.  He raced offshore through much of the 1990s, then moved back to lake racing in 2004. His Dirty Duck catamaran has set numerous speed records and was for some time the fastest boat on the water.  It’s no surprise that a variety of watercraft are on display in the store, scattered among the recliners, end tables, and dining room sets. Things to see in the store are certainly not limited to fast rides.  There are some beautiful antique bicycles sprinkled around, just hanging out as if the rider were shopping, and along one corridor, a whole row of banana-seat Schwinn Sting-Rays with price tags!  Another shopper told me the store has always had Sting-Rays.  Since they were last made almost forty years ago, he said, nobody knows where Slug gets his steady supply.  “I bought one for each of my girls,” he said.  “They don’t ride them anymore, but they’re both holding on to them for their kids.” Hearing this I looked a bit closer and saw that most of the antique items in the store are for sale, like the dazzling Wurlitzer jukebox that turned out to be an update fitted to play CDs! We wandered for an hour, looking at cars, fire trucks, airplanes, farm machinery, devices for stuffing sausage and grinding apples, and cutting shapes from tin.  This day, the day after Thanksgiving, was customer appreciation day, and a table offered scrambled eggs, biscuits, sausage gravy, and a big pot of coffee.