Planning a trip to Universal Theme Parks in Orlando, Florida, for the first time can actually feel a bit overwhelming, especially if you are only planning on visiting for one day. Universal is immense and has multiple theme parks, so if you want to walk away feeling like you got your money’s worth, it’s essential to do some planning and research ahead of time. Well, luckily for you, we did the research for you, and it’s all right here.
As full-time travelers, we rarely go to attractions like this, but felt like while we were in Florida, going to either Universal or Disney was a “must do” kind of experience. Now that we have been, I can say it was a fantastic day full of fun and laughs, so if this is something you are interested in, I say, “go for it!” Just make sure you know a few things first…
Universal Theme Parks in Orlando has three separate theme parks:
Universal Studios
Islands of Adventure
Volcano Bay (which is a water theme park)
There are multiple one-day ticket options:
The “One-Day-Two-Parks” ticket to see both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for the cost of $164.00 pretax for one adult ticket
Volcano Bay for $80.00 pretax
Or you can purchase a ticket for just Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure separately as well for $109.00 pretax.
Buy the “One-Day-Two-Parks” tickets if you can
Obviously, if you want to save money, you can always pick one, but it doesn’t feel like much of a difference when you’re already spending so much. While it is a lot to see in one day, we weren’t interested in every single ride at each park. We also were super excited for the Harry Potter attractions, which were conveniently (eye roll here) split in half across both parks. If you are there for Harry Potter and still have to pick one, we recommend Islands of Adventure because it has Hagrids Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, which was our favorite ride. (If you need to have Butterbeer, that is also located in Islands of Adventure.) However, Diagon Alley in Universal Studios was better and had more shops than Hogsmead, in our opinion.
Downloading the App is Super Helpful
It’s free
You can purchase your tickets here and skip waiting in line on arrival
It has an interactive map to help you find attractions and view estimated wait times
You can order food at certain spots to be picked up
You can set notifications for specified rides to alert you when the wait time drops to a more desirable duration
There are many more features – but these were the most helpful to us
Arrive Early
The park opens at 9 am (and for resort guests it opens an hour early at 8 am). We got to the car gate entrance to pay for parking at 8:30 am and made it into the park right at 9am. The car and security lines move pretty fast, but it seems to get busier as the day goes on. The rides have lower wait times in the early morning so arriving early to check out rides that will fill up later in the day is a good idea.
Go to Islands of Adventure First
Islands of Adventure currently has the best (in our opinion) and most popular new rides – Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and the Velocicoaster. However, the lines for each of these rides were two hours. If we had gone to them first, we could have saved way more time in how long we waited to ride them. They are also two-seater style rollercoasters, so if you go through the single rider line on these two, you will guaranteed not be sitting together. Islands of Adventure does close later at 8 pm, and Universal Studio closes at 6 pm, which is why we went to Universal Studios first – but in hindsight, we would have done it the other way around.
Single Rider Lines are the best
Utilizing the single-rider line when it is available will likely save you hours of wait time throughout the day. If the ride isn’t a two-seater setup, you will likely end up sitting together anyway. We shaved off 30 to 40 minutes on each ride we utilized the single rider lines on. It’s not for everyone, and you can’t guarantee you will sit together, but when trying to fit a bunch of rides into one day, this will usually help out.
Bring Food and Water
They didn’t take our water when we went through security, and we saw people eating homemade sandwiches, and we were super jealous we didn’t bring any. The food at Universal is seriously overpriced, as you might expect, and not all that great. There are a few themed restaurants that might be worth the experience, but you will need to plan for that or plan on waiting a ridiculous amount of time to eat. If you only have one day, it’s best to eat on the go, in our opinion so you can experience more rides.
That about wraps it up – this is all the information we wish we had before entering the park, and we hope that it helps you make the most of your day at Universal. Comment below if you have any helpful tips to share or questions regarding Universal.
If you’re one of the select few couples that decided to take your relationship on the road, then you might already know that you’re in for a bit of turbulence. Relationships and RVs aren’t all that different. If you aren’t willing to work on daily and long-term maintenance, then things aren’t bound to age well. But if you’re in it for the long haul, then you will likely come out the other end better than ever.
Relationships are a trip – it’s best to have a map. Here are our top tips for couples who travel full-time:
Pick up after yourself
At first glance, this piece of advice could apply to anyone in almost any living situation. When clutter builds up, it can become overwhelming and distracting to your everyday functioning. However, we know this is a prominent point of contention among many couples. The advice applies even more heavily when you are living in close quarters. The tiniest amount of clutter that might not have phased you in a house (or even an apartment) will make your RV, trailer, or van feel cramped and dirty.
If you’re the type to argue about someone leaving messes behind and letting things get messy throughout the week, then it’s best to get expectations sorted out before downsizing.
Define your roles
No, we are not talking about gender roles – just RV roles. There are a few key differences in upkeep for daily life in an RV or on the road. We lived on a farm without water or sewer hookup when we first moved into our rig. So, it was a common task to drain the black or gray tanks and fill the fresh tank. In this situation, the job was expected to be performed by the person who arrived home from work first. In other cases, it might be best to assign certain tasks to one person.
Now that we are on the road, we pick up and move at least once a month. There are quite a few steps involved in getting things ready to move. We naturally fell into having Adam assigned to outside pack up and Christa assigned to indoor pick-up. We trade off every now and again to refresh on all the steps to make sure we both can do each task individually if ever need be. But, defining our roles and what is expected from each of us is helpful so that we aren’t stepping on each other’s toes or wasting time getting in each other’s way. It’s efficient and avoids unnecessary spats if one of you wakes up on the wrong side of the bed and isn’t in the mood for a moving day.
Put someone in charge
Just like defining roles helps with efficiency and cohesiveness, so does putting someone in charge. When there are tasks that require both of you to work together, it’s best to decide before getting started who is the “boss” of the project. Since deciding to travel full-time, we have had countless repairs and remodels that have pushed us both out of our comfort zones and had us scratching our heads. It’s easy to get into small arguments when two people can’t decide how to go about something neither of you has done before.
When we started our initial remodel of the RV, we got into our fair share of pointless spats that accomplished nothing but wasting time. If we had just put one of us in charge instead of both of us trying to lead the project in a different direction, things would have gone much smoother. Just imagine tying a rope to two people’s waists and telling them to walk. Depending on the direction they were facing, things might not go so well. But, if you tie that same rope to two people and tell one of them to follow the other things are already off to a better start.
Deciding who is in charge is as simple as talking beforehand. If someone had more time to research the project or it best fits their skills, then let your ego go and have them lead. That doesn’t mean you can’t make suggestions, and it also doesn’t mean their plans will always work out the best. This is where it just comes down to being kind to one another and remembering that you would want grace if the roles were flipped.
Communicate on the day-to-day
When living in close quarters, it can be easy to fall into the trap of assuming you know how each other’s day went or how the other person is doing in general. Because everyone communicates differently, it is never best to assume you know anything about each other’s current inner workings. Just because you work ten feet apart doesn’t mean you know what their workday looked like from the inside.
When we used to work at separate offices, it was easy to come home and ask, “how was your day?” You had an awareness that your significant other’s day was full of things you weren’t there for. Now, because of close living and working quarters, it’s important to remember that you should still ask and check in with your partner. Don’t just assume if something is important, they will tell you. Even if they will, asking shows that you care and will encourage more communication in the future.
Touch base on the big stuff
Just like communicating on the small things is important and can often be overlooked, so can touching base on the larger scale items in your life – namely living in a moving vehicle. Just because you decided you wanted to live the remote travel life at one point in time doesn’t mean things won’t change down the road. It’s important to check in and see if this lifestyle is still working for both involved.
Last summer, we traveled at a breakneck pace, moving almost once a week or every other week for three whole months. Considering that we were working full-time and trying to see all the places we were going to, things got a bit crazy. We both felt super burnt out and needed to take a step back and reevaluate. At the time, we both questioned how much longer we wanted to travel for – and decided it was best to slow down the pace before making any decisions. Now that we settled back into traveling once a month, we have really hit our stride.
The most important thing is that we talked about it and came up with a plan on which we could agree. This lifestyle has fantastic things to offer, but it doesn’t come without extra work to make things happen. Checking in and making sure you’re both happy and living the life you envisioned is always important.
Take time for yourself
Living in close quarters is one thing, but on the road, you are often away from most of the other people you know. It is essential in any relationship to have “me-time” but even more so when you aren’t getting much time apart or with other people. Take advantage of modern technology and stay in touch with your family and friends – don’t live your life in a bubble with only one other person.
Outside of staying in touch with other loved ones, make sure you are taking time to just be by yourself. Pursue independent hobbies and complete chores on your own. It’s important to feel rewarded as an individual and not just as a couple.
Just like Adam enjoys playing hacky sack, I love cooking by myself. We enjoy our hobbies together sometimes, but for the most part, we enjoy having individual interests that we can pursue independently.
Keep things in balance
When you are on the road, it can be easy to feel pressure to get outside and explore new locations on an almost constant basis. When we first started traveling full-time, we had difficulty knowing when to take some downtime to just stay in. It was easy to never feel relaxed watching a movie when you’re constantly living in a new city. Eventually, we’ve come to terms with a certain level of FOMO while living on the road. Because while we love to travel and have new experiences, we also enjoy staying in and spending some time together to just rest.
The same can be true in the opposite direction, however. We’ve had long days and weeks working remotely where it feels like we haven’t stepped out of the RV and away from our computers. Living in a small area can become stressful when you haven’t gotten out in a few days – that’s why we always prioritize getting out to do something, even if it’s small. Walking the dogs, trying a new restaurant, going on a short hike – just because everything can’t be a big adventure doesn’t mean mini-adventures should be overlooked.
Embrace your life
So many people tell us how lucky we are to be doing what we do. But just like any other person, it can be easy to grow accustomed to your blessings and lose sight of everything you have. This life offers so much freedom and opportunity to enjoy the day-to-day, but sometimes we forget. It’s important to remember how you envisioned this lifestyle before it was a reality, and do something every day to make it a little bit closer to what you wanted. Going to the pool or beach on your lunch break (even if it’s just for 15 minutes – that’s 15 minutes well spent), having lunch together because you can, playing with your dog mid-day, kissing your partner when you take a short break – there are so many small things you would miss if you went back to working in an office away from your family.
Don’t get so caught up in the monotony that you forget why you chose this lifestyle and your partner to share it with. Odds are, if you are reading this, you are lucky in more ways than you often give mind to. There is so much potential when the road is at your feet, and you are fortunate enough to experience it all with someone you love.
If you’ve ever had the dream of living life untied to a specific location, then the thought of living on the road in a van, schoolie, or RV probably appeals to you. The lifestyle of being on the road is one of freedom and discovery. You’ll see more, do more, and create a life that causes most to say, “I wish I could do that” whenever you mention your locational freedom. However, no lifestyle is without its drawbacks and hardships. Living on the road isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, so here are ten reasons why living on the road sucks.
1. You will miss your family – duh.
If you have loved ones wherever you currently live, they won’t all come with you. This is true with any long-distance move, but there are a few differences in being on the road. When you move somewhere new and settle down, it is still easy to plan trips to visit or have others visit you. Planning trips back home can be a challenge when you are on the road, depending on the location’s distance. If you plan a trip in advance, it can be challenging to pinpoint where you will be exactly and when.
We have family in Colorado and are currently spending most of this year on the east coast. With a new nephew back home, our desire to visit home before a whole year passes is high. The fastest and cheapest way to do so would be to book a flight – provided we can plan it out around all the other moving around we will be doing.
2. You can’t just grab a drink with your friends.
Most are accustomed to making friends from work or hanging out with old friends as a common pastime. But when you live on the road, you are far away from your old pals. Moving somewhere new can be hard at first, but eventually, most people make friends and find people to hang out with in their free time. However, when you are always on the move, it doesn’t allow you to stay in one place long enough to have a regular buddy who you can call up to grab a beer.
While we make friends on the road, those times together are short-lived, and then we are off to new places. It’s always fun to make new friends, but sometimes you will miss just catching up with an oldie but a goodie.
3. Stuff breaks, and you need to keep moving.
Like with any living residence, stuff breaks and will need fixing. Now imagine something breaks the day before you need to move your house seven hours down the road. We just had a spring snap on our hydraulic leveling jack four days before our departure date. We tried to order the part to our location before we left but found out shipping would be delayed. We had to get it reshipped to the new location that was conveniently not answering the phone to confirm the correct address for shipping. We had to find a workaround to ensure the jack would stay up for the drive. It’s now been two weeks, and the part has yet to arrive because USPS wouldn’t ask the park office for our site number, so they returned it to the sender about a week ago.
The point here is that things will break, and they seem to always break at the most inconvenient times. Being on the road is just an added inconvenience when things go wrong.
4. You get what you get, and it’s now always true to what you saw online.
If you’ve ever booked a vacation and got to your hotel and thought, “this is not what I thought it was going to be.” You probably made the most of it for the week or so that you booked. When you book an RV park or campground for a month or more, and it wasn’t what you expected, you still have to make the most of it.
While online reviews are super helpful, and we’ve gotten lucky for the most part, there are still things you can never expect. Weird or noisy neighbors, a strange grass your dog is allergic to, or smaller campsites than the pictures led on – this is your home, for the time being, so make the most of it.
5. Traveling on the weekends between work.
While we enjoy most travel weekends, sometimes it’s the last thing you would ever want to do. Just worked an 80-hour workweek? Now it’s time to pack up your entire home and drive ten hours just to unpack everything again. Don’t worry; you’ll be done just in time to start a new work week. ‘Nough said.
6. It’s harder to relate to people.
Deciding to travel full-time is an adjustment. Your life and the way you view it will change. You’ll have countless travel-related stories and some daily life activities that few will understand. Sometimes there will be a disconnect when talking with people who can’t relate. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but sometimes it can be hard to find someone to complain about dumping your black tank to. Not to mention nobody wants to hear all of your travel stories when traveling only makes up one to two weeks a year of their life at most.
You’re often caught between people who think your life is either trashy at the trailer park or a constant vacation. It’s a bit of both and neither at the same time – that’s why it’s great when you can hang out with other full-timers.
7. You’re constantly relearning the basics.
Whether it’s getting the cheapest gas in town, going to the gym, or just buying some groceries, you will always be learning where everything is just in time to move again. There are so many aspects of everyday life when you are stationary that feel turn-key. You know what store has the best produce or gas station on your home route. You don’t even have to think about it anymore.
When you travel full-time, you will always have to think about it, and some weeks it can get old. That’s not even considering how many places will start to blend together and will have you wondering why you thought there was a Walmart just west of your new digs when it’s clearly to the east.
8. Changing time zones.
Luckily this inconvenience only comes up on occasion. However, a few months ago, we found ourselves falling back for daylights-savings in Colorado, just to spring forward again a week later in Oklahoma, only to spring forward again in Georgia shortly after that. You could say we got a little mixed up, and it was hard to keep track of all of our scheduled work meetings.
9. Doctors, dentists, and veterinary appointments are a pain.
If you’ve ever found it hard just to remember to schedule your annual physical, six-month dental appointment, or get your dogs in for an ear infection, now try always scheduling with a new office. Even with good health insurance, many doctors’ offices can be hard to get in with if you haven’t been seen before. Not to mention trying to catch everyone up on you or your pet’s medical history.
Traveling full-time can be a major pain when it’s time for those appointments. While we generally try to schedule annual visits when we know we will be visiting Colorado; our schedules end up super packed between that and catching up with friends and family. As for the appointments that can’t be put off, you can expect to make at least five phone calls before you find someone who can get you or your pet in as a new patient – hopefully, you like them!
10. There’s a sense of urgency.
While traveling full-time creates independence and freedom, it can also be stressful depending on your timing. We try to stay places at least a month if we can help it, but even with that amount of time, it never feels like you see everything you want to. Between working full-time during the week and traveling long distances between locations, there isn’t as much time to get out as often as you’d want to.
We get tired like everyone else and need some time to just stay in and relax, but we have found it’s hard to do that when we know, we might be giving up an epic hike or beach day that won’t be available to us next week.
Well, there you have it – ten things we hate about being on the road full-time, but even with all the drawbacks, we chose this life for a reason. We love traveling and seeing more places and people than we ever would have been able to otherwise. Like anything in life, it is an art of balance and finding out what works for you. If full-time travel is something you desire, the benefits will always outweigh the negatives with a bit of trial and error.
We initially froze when we sat down to write these “Top RV Safety Tips.” “We’re not experts – what do we have to say on the topic?” we thought. Then we realized – our lack of knowledge is the perfect guide for safety tips. Not to toot our own horn, but we’ve been on the road for about three years now, and we’ve made some awful mistakes and oversights in that time. We’ve made the mistakes, so you don’t have to. So here it is – our roadmap of safety-don’ts you might want to avoid on your trip.
Number One: Not Changing Your Tires Often Enough
You will likely need to replace your RV tires before you realize it. Because of the nature of RVing, they will probably not rack up the miles before they rack up the years. Don’t just assume that because the tread looks good and you’ve only driven 15,000 miles on them, your six-year-old tires are good to go. Even with low mileage and good tread, RV tires will need to be changed by around five years past their manufacture date.
When we set out on our initial trip in the RV, our tires were already seven years old. We thought they looked good to go and drove all the way to Alabama from Colorado before a kind older gentleman was looking over our rig and called us out. We drove back to Colorado before getting new tires, and luckily nothing happened. The memory makes us cringe just thinking about what could have been.
I know some people are rolling their eyes at this, likely because they want to avoid paying for new tires that look “fine.” Just go ahead and look at the damage a blown-out tire can do to an RV or trailer – I’ll wait. Now go get new tires.
Number Two: Not Monitoring Your Propane
While we haven’t had any issues with our propane set up to date, we got an earful of warnings about it when we were renovating the RV from Christa’s grandpa. He used to work for Xcel Energy, dealing with emergency gas shut-offs. We take the energy we get for granted and often don’t think about the safety aspects.
The first thing you should do is have a properly installed propane detector in your RV. You should also keep a portable detector in your tool kit if you have reason to suspect a leak or just need to do a routine check. After that – always make sure to check that your stove and oven aren’t left running and that you have proper ventilation when cooking. Having the right tools on hand and making sure you know the dangers is the best thing to set yourself up for success.
As an added side note, turn off any propane-powered appliances (like your fridge) when you are getting your propane tank filled or if you are at a gas station in general.
Number Three: Ignoring Electrical Issues
It’s easy to take electricity for granted because you might feel like you have already been dealing with it all your life, but living in an RV or trailer is going to present a few differences you might not understand.
Just like when dealing with propane, it is essential to have the right tools on hand – a surge protector for your rig, an NCVT (Non-contact voltage tester), and an outlet tester are the most basic things you should start with. Make sure that you check your electric pedestal with an NCVT and an outlet tester before plugging in. Many surge protectors come with an outlet tester included, so plug that in first and look at the reading before you hook your rig up as well. This might feel like overkill, but RV hot skin is real, and it’s real dangerous. If you plug your rig into a pedestal with a wiring issue, your entire rig can become electrified, and you will be at risk of receiving a serious shock.
While these tools will come in handy to prevent you from plugging into something potentially dangerous or deadly, you might also experience electrical troubles from within your rig. We had an issue with our inverter faulting for seemingly no reason for years, and Adam found a workaround to get it going when it would shut off by just unplugging it and plugging it back in. Eventually, we started experiencing other issues, causing Adam to dig around and find a melted wire from a small fire in our breaker box. We decided it was time to call a professional, and he was able to troubleshoot the issue. Our inverter had a ground short, and a previous owner had redone some wiring with small gauge wire that wasn’t sufficient for the load it was set to carry. In our electrician’s words, it was “a burn down your house” sort of problem.
The moral of the story is that while you should educate yourself on these topics, don’t get too cocky and start finding workarounds for things you don’t fully understand. Know when you have reached an issue above your paygrade and call a professional.
A side tip here is to find an electrician who deals specifically with RVs – they will be more familiar with your setup and comfortable tackling the issues you are having.
Number Four: Not Taking Precautions When Driving
This should be a no-brainer to most – driving, in general, is dangerous, and driving a heavy and long rig will present its own set of dangers and difficulties. So for this section, we will focus primarily on our advice for those just getting started.
Start out driving on routes you are familiar with and comfortable with. Driving when you know there won’t be heavy traffic, steep grades, or construction will always be best when you are just learning. Also, make sure that you aren’t planning too long of trips when you haven’t gotten a few miles under your belt. The first few times driving our rig, we were sore from tensing our muscles and gripping the steering wheel. Unfortunately, one thing you can never seem to avoid with driving an RV is crazy drivers. Driving a big rig brings out the worst in people – they don’t want to be behind you or next to you. People will drive sporadically, making everything drastically more dangerous to get away from you and then abruptly cut you off. Do your best to anticipate it, and most of all, don’t let it get you angry – that is just a recipe for disaster. Let people make mistakes and do your best to control what you can.
Some of the best things you can do to set yourself up for success are avoiding rush hour and having a second set of eyes navigating you whenever possible. Speaking of navigation – get an RV-specific GPS app of some kind. We use Co-Pilot, and it has never led us astray. These apps help recommend the best routes for rigs to help avoid steep grades and tight turns. In addition to that, you can customize your app to your RV’s dimensions so that it won’t take you on routes with low bridges or cables. Anytime we have ever gotten into a bad situation on the road, it was because we directly went against Co-Pilot’s advice for a route that looked quicker. Don’t get in a hurry – it will never work out in your favor.
Number Five: Not Monitoring the Weather
Making sure you are accounting for bad weather when living in an RV is crucial for maintaining the value of your rig and your safety while on the road. It sounds straightforward, but it can often be overlooked for that exact reason. Before you plan a stop, it’s essential to know the weather for that location for the time of year you plan to visit. Tornados, hurricanes, and thunderstorms can be dangerous for anyone, but living in a mobile home will make you especially vulnerable, not to mention you will likely be somewhere you aren’t very familiar with.
The only way to be safe when it comes to inclement weather is to prep yourself for success on the front end. Get a weather app that will update you based on your current location. After our recent stay in the northmost point of Tennessee on the border of Kentucky, we found ourselves blissfully unaware of incoming tornados just an hour away. Luckily, we had a friend in town who called us and asked us to shelter with her while they passed. We were lucky, and the nearest tornado to us touched down about 10 miles or so away, but that easily could have been much worse. The whole incident inspired us to download the “My Radar” app, which now gives us notifications when bad weather is coming.
While knowing when a storm is coming can be helpful, make sure you set yourself up for success before it is even on the horizon. Always have an action plan of where you will go if there is a tornado or some other form of hazardous weather in your area. The odds are that your RV isn’t the safest place to be. Don’t wait until the last minute when you are stressed out to make a plan – and always have a backup.
There you have it – our Top 5 safety tips to keep you safe while on the road. What did we leave out? Let us know in the comments and check out our vlog on YouTube for a more in-depth discussion on the topic.
If you read the title, you know what this is – an admission of some of our biggest misunderstandings and overlooked details about the full-time RV life before we knew what we were actually doing (not sure we know now either). While this list could stretch for miles, let’s start with a manageable “Top 5 Things” that stood out when I sat down to write this.
First off – the space. It’s easy to sum this up by saying that we vastly misunderstood what we could give up while transitioning into this lifestyle. We were so heavily influenced by the van-life and tiny-living craze that we assumed we would make it work. Luckily, we took our time with the process – saving up money, looking at rigs on the weekends, watching vlogs, and reading books. We also invited our parents with us to look at a few rigs.
Mentioning parents – if you are young and have someone older in your life who you trust and cares about you, whether they are a parent or not, bring them with you to see some rigs. You don’t have to take their advice, but likely these people have been around the block more than you and will notice things you might not. These people know you really well and might reel in your expectations of yourself. My parents urged us to see a few Class A rigs when all we wanted was a class B or C. We kept saying we didn’t need all the space, and truthfully were a little afraid to drive a Class A beast like the one we currently own. My parents reminded me of how much I love to cook and that while I could make a smaller rig work, it’s not always just about making it work on the road. It’s about living your best life on the road. My stepdad gave us confidence that we would figure out driving the larger rig just like everything else.
Parental advice aside, I am glad we went with a larger rig for many reasons. Cooking and food storage space are not things to gloss over if you enjoy cooking for yourself. If you have pets – I promise they will enjoy the space and options of places to sunbathe while you work. We have remote online jobs that require us to be computer-bound for most of the regular workweek. And, speaking of work – zoom calls are a common daily occurrence, and with our current set up it is easy to get away from each other enough to avoid disturbing each other’s meetings.
Having said all this, it’s just about finding what space works best for you and your needs – so here are a few helpful tips: Account for ALL of your hobbies and the realistic space they will require
Tour all kinds of rigs – even ones you don’t think you want.
Get things out of your head and on a page, and have recurring conversations with your travel buddy (if you have one).
So, while we were able to course-correct with our original assumptions about space before purchasing a rig – there is still one regret we have about our current RV – we chose a Class A over a fifth wheel. Once again – find the rig that works for you. However, there are some serious drawbacks to owning a Class A instead of a fifth wheel.
To start, dealing with the maintenance of two engines instead of one has not been a fun endeavor. If we aren’t having issues with our Jeep, we are having issues with the RV, and RV repairs are more costly and time-consuming than regular vehicle repairs. I seriously cannot stress this point enough. RV repairs will cost you SO much more, and even if you are handy, the tools needed for many of the repairs are not likely to be something you have with you on the road.
You can expect to see an RV mechanic multiple times during your travels – that is, if you can find one. That’s right – depending on your rig, you will be doing a lot, and I mean A LOT of calling around before you find a mechanic who is capable of working on your rig. And now that you found a mechanic, don’t hold your breath because he probably won’t be available to pencil you in for a while. And once they do finally see your rig – you can continue not to hold your breath while you wait for your hard-to-track down parts to come in (if they even make them anymore).
Long story short – if I could go back to before we started traveling, I would likely let myself in on this insight and avoid the trouble altogether. Obviously, fifth wheels will require repairs at some point; they just don’t have an engine. Two engines will always equal two times the stress and money. We love our RV all the same, and it has been home to us for almost three years now, but it has cost us a few times in the past, and I don’t think it is done yet.
Talking about the cost of repairs brings me to my next point – we had no idea just how much time and money it would take to renovate our RV. It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that renovating a space is a great way to save money, but be careful with that assumption. The cost of tools and supplies can add up, and while some money-saving hacks are great, they don’t always last or handle well under the wear and tear of everyday life.
One hack I’ve constantly rolled my eyes at is using contact paper to redo countertops. While this might look good for a bit, contact paper can gash easily and will eventually peel up or bubble over time. The point here is – if it’s a cheap hack, it might not be built to last. We thought we could tackle so many projects when we purchased our 1999 RV in such a short amount of time, and we over-estimated ourselves. If you’ve ever watched an HGTV show, you understand the empowering feeling you can sometimes get watching who house remodels. However, most of us aren’t Chip and Joanna Gaines and will need to account for a learning curve when tackling projects.
By no means would I ever detour someone from buying an older rig or a van and remodeling it. Remodeling is rewarding, and you will learn a lot about yourself and your new home in the process. I will say – reel in your expectations, reevaluate your budget, ask for help, and plan way more time than you think you will need.
Aside from misconceptions that deal directly with your living quarters, it’s important to discuss something slightly overlooked when getting into this lifestyle – health insurance. If you are under the age of 65 and won’t be taking your job (and current health insurance) with you on the road, it is time to start reading up on your coverage options, like yesterday. If you have never had to shop for health coverage outside of your job, then this process will have a learning curve at the beginning. Taking the time to understand all of your options and how they fit your budget is a time-consuming endeavor. The whole process of just learning about all of our options took at least a week or two of my time, and about a month into our first selection of a health-share, we decided it wasn’t going to work for us.
You will come across many blogs from full-time travelers promoting a specific provider they decided to go with, but you need to understand a few things before just going with the plan your favorite vlogger has. Vloggers and bloggers are not healthcare advisors, and they might be getting some sponsorship for recommending their preferred provider. These bloggers aren’t you, and finding a plan that takes your specific needs into account isn’t going to come from their advice. For this reason, I won’t recommend a plan to you, but I do have some helpful tips to point you in the right direction.
To start – do some good old-fashioned research. Watch videos and read articles, even the blog posted by full-time vloggers; if nothing else, they will give you some ideas. Talk to a healthcare advisor once you have a baseline understanding of how it all works and what types of options might be in your budget. Healthcare advisors can sort through things with you, and your time with them will be best spent when you have at least some base knowledge of the topic. And, for those of you keeping insurance through work, remember that the plan you need will have to cover you across the nation, not just in one state (many options do not). If you aren’t so lucky to have insurance through a job, and you are considering a health-share, just keep in mind that they have no legal obligation actually to cover you. For that reason alone, many people have not received the coverage they thought they had been paying for every month (Adam and I included).
Alright – with that awful topic out of the way, let’s get back into something a little less stressful and a bit more in your control – booking RV parks. When we first set out on our adventure, we had no idea the cost of staying at an RV park or how far out to make reservations. I always imagined we could decide where we wanted to go and then make a call or two, and boom, we hit the road. No. Not. Even. Close.
Alright, so maybe my assumption was a bit naïve, but I had no frame of reference for this industry and what the supply and demand would look like. Truthfully speaking, it will look very different from state to state and city to city. The best advice I can give is to book out as far as you are willing to plan. Some RV parks will be booked a year in advance, and some you could show up the night of your stay (if you aren’t planning on staying long, that is). We try to book about 2-3 months in advance when possible, but I will admit we might fall short of that even. This has hindered us in a few locations. Still, we are relatively flexible and willing to stay in neighboring cities to where we want to be (and when I say neighboring, I mean 30 minutes to an hour outside of our intended location). While this is likely not everyone’s preference, it works for us, and I’ll explain why.
We work Monday through Friday at least eight to ten hours a day. So most of the time, we don’t see the city or spots we want until the weekends anyways, so the drive isn’t a huge deal when we are spending the whole day somewhere. The cities outside the more popular areas are less touristy, less expensive, and less populated. If your destination is a major city, depending on the city, the RV parks central to those areas are typically not as nice as the ones that are out of the way. And last but not least – you will find some hidden gems by doing this. Cities and towns you would have never heard of, and friendly locals that will wonder how the heck you found their town and where you came from.
There are some areas you will want to be camped closer to, like Yellowstone or Moab, just because you will want to see all there is while you are there. We plan further out on some bookings, but we don’t on all of them. Find what works for you, and be prepared that you won’t get your first choice very often if you don’t book in advance. As you might expect, this lifestyle requires a lot of flexibility, so embrace it and always be open to learning and finding something new.
