RV Podcast

Is your RV ready for a new season of camping? In Episode 440 of the RV Podcast, we have insider RV dewinterizing tips from one of the most respected pros in the industry. Chris Daugherty is our special guest and Chris really knows his stiff. He presents very popular RV maintenance seminars at the country’s biggest RV shows and has been an RV industry consultant for years.

Blood clots and RV Travel pose a serious risk to RVers, and yet few are even aware of this hidden danger. When sitting in a truck or RV for extended periods, such as on long drives, blood flow can slow down and cause blood clots to form. These clots can break off and travel to the lungs, causing a potentially fatal condition called pulmonary embolism. That's just what happened to the husband of Betsy Johnson. We interview Betsy in Episode 439 of the RV Podcast.

Planning on selling an RV? This week in Episode 438 of the RV Podcast, Jennifer and Mike share their tips on how to maximize your profits when selling an RV.

So you think a new RV is without problems? We will destroy that notion after you hear the secrets of an RV Inspector in Episode 437 of the RV Podcast about how many problems are found in RVs right after they roll off the assembly line. It's shocking, really. Our guest this week, RV Inspector Brenda Puckett, says shoddy manufacturing and quality control failures are commonplace among new RVs. She shares real-life issues uncovered in the inspection process that every RV owner needs to know about.

Are you tired of tossing and turning on that old, uncomfortable RV mattress? Do you dread spending another night on it during your travels? Well, fear not! In Episode 436 of the RV Podcast, we'll share how to replace your RV mattress and get the best sleep of your life on the road. We just did that ourselves and in researching RV mattress replacement, we learned a lot.

There's a new trend that sees campgrounds becoming full-fledged RV communities with lots of amenities, activities, and year-long stays. We're not talking trailer parks like past generations but real communities catering to the needs of today's RVers. We dig into this in Episode 435 of the RV Podcast, interviewing the owner of just such a community in north central Florida, where this trend has particularly been building for several years now. Also in this episode, RV News, Tips and your questions about the RV Lifestyle.

We have a great RV Love Story to share in Episode 434 of the RV Podcast about a couple of senior snowbirds, both widowed, who went from solo travelers to soul mates. Plus we have lots of RV News, travel planning tips and RV Lifestyle questions. For the video version, click the player below to watch. For an audio version, it's available on iTunes and all the podcast apps or through the audio player below. An RV Love Story - Amy and Thomas Amy and Thomas Thomas is a widower who lost his wife of 52 years in December 2019. Amy is a widow who lost her husband of 18 years in August 2018. Both met at the Blueway RV Village in Ft. Myers, FL (formerly called Shady Acres) in January 2021. Amy was outside her rig one night when Thomas walked by, walking his dog. They talked. He came back the next day, also walking his dog, they talked some more, and the rest- is history! They married on May 26, 2022 - their wedding cake was decorated with an RV. And they bought an RV together in September 2022 and are snowbirds, currently in the very RV park where they met, as we speak. Neither was looking for love. Both say to all the other solo travelers out there, be open to meeting new people. You never know where it may lead. Need more ways to bring romance to your life? How to Keep the Romance Alive While RVing (7 Helpful Tips) Rekindle the Flame with these 10 Romantic Road Trips for RVing Couples We hope you enjoyed the RV Love Story. New Travel Tech - The Best RV Trip Planning Tool We've Found The New Travel Tech segment of the RV Podcast, drawn from the pages of NewTravelTech.com, our sister blog celebrating the many ways technology enhances the travel experience. This is the time of year many are planning RV trips for the coming season and the tech tool we use and rely on is called the RV Life Trip Wizard. Built specifically for RVers, this visual RV trip planner has the most advanced features available. It uses distance rings to show exactly where you’ll be at the end of your driving day to choose the ideal stop. It customizes RV-safe routes to the height & weight of your RV. Avoid low clearances, steep grades, weight limits, and propane restrictions. To get it, you have to join RV Life Pro, where you will find it is one of the tools that make it easy for you to discover, plan, go, and share your RV trips. The 4-in-1 membership includes: RV LIFE Trip Wizard - This is our favorite planning tool.  RV LIFE Campground Reviews. We feel this really lets us check out the places we stay ahead of time so there are no surprises. RV LIFE App (RV-Safe GPS). It makes sure you’re not taking unfriendly RV roads. RV LIFE Maintenance Tracker. It's a great resource for making sure your RV is in tip-top travel ready shape. Just to be clear, you get all four of these tools in one with an RV LIFE Pro membership for what we think is a very reasonable price. I think most users would agree the price is actually cheap, considering the value it brings.  RV Life Pro only costs $59 per year if you purchase the annual membership (less than $5 per month). The annual membership also comes with a 7-day free trial. The monthly subscription is $19.99 per month and does not include a 7-day free trial. BUT NOTE the discount code below! In all honesty, just one of these tools is easily worth $5 per month, let alone all four combined. That is why I don’t hesitate to say that RV LIFE Pro is worth the money for most RVers. And this is important – if you want to enjoy using all the RV Life Pro tools just add this coupon code: RVLIFESTYLE which gives you 25% off the price! If you already use RV Life Pro – your cost is already low and locked in. Want more RV trip planning ideas? Check out: Planning the Ultimate Spring RV Trips RV Trip Planning with RV Life Pro Trip Wizard How to Plan an RV Trip: 5 Easy Steps How we plan an RV Trip Epic Events to Add to Your RV Trip Plans RV News of the Week South Dakota South Dakota may remove ability of full-time RVers to establish residency in the state for tax, mail, voting and other purposes RVers whose legal residency is in South Dakota, even though they do not own a sticks and bricks house there but rather are on the road full-time, may soon no longer be able to vote in the state - or use it for residency. South Dakota is a state with no income tax and low vehicle registration fees, so many private mail-box services have established programs to help full-time RVers with no permanent home establish residency there for the purpose of voting, getting mail, registering their vehicle, and other things. But now two bills in South Dakota's legislature would change all this, removing the right to vote in South Dakota unless the person physically lives in the state and requiring a true physical address in the state for other legal purposes, too. The issue of thousands of people voting in South Dakota but not actually living there has been a concern for some time. This story in 2019 expressed concern that thousands of voters who don't live in the state were unfairly altering the voting outcome. The Escapees RV Club is one of several groups that help RVers establish South Dakota residency for legal, mail, and voting purposes and wrote about the issue here. The bills are not yet law. To learn more about how these mail and residency programs work, read our story here. Feeding the birds gets the green light from scientists in Tahoe area We all know not to feed the bears when out in the national parks or other wild areas, but in case you are worried, research now shows feeding the birds healthy bird food is completely ok. At Lake Tahoe on the California and Nevada border people regularly like to feed chickadees by hand - as people do in many parks throughout the country.  Now new research shows supplementing the birds' food in the winter with natural food sources does not hurt the birds at all. (To read the full report, click here). Viewing wildlife, whatever its form, is one of Jen's and my favorite things to do while camping. If it is one of yours, too check out our story on the 10 best national parks for wildlife viewing here. Boondocking on small farms, wineries receives OK after concern raised by California's San Luis Obispo County Harvest Hosts location Good news for people who enjoy overnight dry camping in wineries and family farms in California's beautiful San Luis Obispo County. The county's board of supervisors approved a resolution allowing dry camping after the practice drew their concern a few months back. We wrote about the issue here after someone reported Harvest Hosts locations, accusing them of operating illegal campgrounds. The Harvest Hosts wineries explained that the overnighting they allow was not traditional camping, rather more like people sleeping in their van in a parking area overnight.  Last week the county agreed to permit boondocking to continue as long as visitors stayed just one night, no more than 3 RVs stayed at a time, boondockers paid thru a membership organization like Harvest Hosts versus paying nightly camping fees and followed other specifications. The bill also specified what type of businesses could permit and the list included wineries, olive oil production sites, tasting rooms, and small family farms. Jen and I really enjoy overnighting at Harvest Hosts and are so glad this can continue in San Luis Obispo County. To learn more about Harvest Hosts and its unique experiences, click here. New Zealand considering law to require all camper vans include toilets after tourists, others, leave human waste on beach, elsewhere People who are interested in traveling to New Zealand and living the van life on vacation, may soon find the dream a bit more difficult. The country appears to be in the process of passing a bill that would require all camper vans to have a toilet with appropriate plumbing after disgust at the number of camper van tourists going the bathroom on the beach, tramway or elsewhere leaving unsightly and unsanitary waste behind for locals. The issue of people boondocking without toilets and not properly disposing of human waste, toilet paper, and other debris has been an issue here, too. In fact, some nationally owned land popular for years to RVers is now closed because of this behavior. We have written previously about the issue here. Rare mushroom that hisses and spews spores found in Texas state park If you find yourself camping in or near a Texas state park, you might want to see if you can find the Devil's Cigar - one of the rarest mushrooms in the world. This mushroom, which is also called the Texas Star because of its shape, makes a hissing sound and spews a cloud of spores that puzzles scientists. The mushroom has been found at a state park not far from San Antonio. To learn more, click here. RV Questions of the Week QUESTION: The question I have has to do with RV Renovation.  I noticed in your RV video tours during the recent Tampa Florida RV Supershow that many RV interiors have changed to lighter wood tones and many white styles, depicting a trend to mimicking home décor.  We have a 2011 Daymon Challenger Class A. The interior is all pristine Mahogany wood from front to back but the feeling we get is dark and closed in.  For the past month, I have been painting all the cabinets in the kitchen area bright white and now everything is open and airy like the new RV’s at the show. Renovating homes increases the value but I am not sure about an RV. I heard that RV dealers do not take improvements into account when trading in or buying the vehicle for resale. I am interested in what your thoughts are on this subject? - Denny ANSWER: An RV dealer may not give you any more because of the renovation,

If you are looking for RV Travel with a Purpose, the Care-A-Vanners program for RVers from Habitat for Humanity offers one of the most personally satisfying aspects of the RV Lifestyle that you will find anywhere. In Episode 433 of the RV Podcast, we learn all about this volunteer program that invites anyone who travels by RV to make helping others part of their journey or even their destination. Also in this episode, news of an awesome new giveaway for dog-lovers, the RV News of the Week, a great app for those who need to store their RV, and RV Lifestyle questions from our audience.

The problem of dirty campground water is growing as so many campgrounds, state and local parks, and long-established RV resorts grow older. With so many campgrounds relying on aging wells and plumbing systems, it's more important than ever that campers filter the water they bring into their RVs.

RVing can be expensive. So we asked a bunch of RV influencers to share tips on RV Living on a Budget. We also added 10 pro tips of our own, based on 11 years of RV Life. We can't make inflation go away. But we can promise that if you follow the advice in Episode 430 of the Podcast, you will save money.