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Owning and driving an RV is awesome, period.  Really, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages tenfold.  However, there is one possible disadvantage that I want to discuss, and that is the actual driving.  We spend so much time planning where we are going, and what we will do when we get there, that we often forget to take the time necessary to focus on the actual time spent driving, making sure that we know our limits, and ensuring that we remain under those limits for safety’s sake.

For our Alaskan journey, we decided to take a long trip, one totaling just over 4 months.  This is a very long trip, and one I would never recommend for someone new to RV’s, and the RV world.  My entry into this wonderful world of RVing began over ten years ago, with a borrowed pop-up trailer, and a long weekend spent at the Colorado River.  Over the years, I slowly began renting bigger and bigger RV’s, all the way up to the current style of Class A RV that I prefer to use now.  My trips began as long weekends, and slowly grew into one and two week vacations.  After feeling secure in the RV, I decided on an 8-week trip to the Southwest.  So, I do feel I was prepared and ready for a driving trip of this length.  I know quite a few families who have no RV experience, but will rent an RV for a week to two-week vacation.  Many of those families have a stressful vacation, because they just didn’t understand how draining the actual driving can be.  Taking small trips will help you decide what is the right amount of driving for you.  Some people can drive for 8 hours straight, no problem.  I doubt they can do that every day, but hey, to each his own, right!?  Personally, my limit is a total of 6 hours a day, with breaks in between.  Once I have been driving for about 90 minutes, I start getting antsy.  Any stretch of driving lasting longer than 2 ½ hours can be downright dangerous. Plus, passengers might need to get out and stretch a bit.  Obviously my situation is my own, and others may be able to drive long stretches without a blink of the eye.  It is important that you develop your own plan, and follow it.  When developing your travel plan, be honest with yourself about how much driving you can do.  Often there will be many attractions you want to see, and limited time in which to see them.  You might consider driving all night, or driving long stretches to make it happen, but believe me, it is a mistake.  Not only is rushing never fun, but you need to be well rested to enjoy yourself, and more importantly, you must be well rested and alert to drive your RV safely.

When you set to embark in your RV, obviously the first thing you should do is make sure everything is in good working order.  Hopefully, this is a given!  And remember, tire pressure, tire pressure, tire pressure!  I will get into this more in a future segment, but keeping your RV’s tires properly inflated is very important.  Not only is there the safety issue, but the gas mileage issue.  Tires that are not inflated properly cause you to use more gas than you would normally use.  Now, as most RVer’s know, gas mileage on our rigs is already pretty darn pathetic.  I am almost embarrassed to admit what mileage we got on the Fleetwood.  Okay, you pulled my arm, it was about 8-9 miles per gallon.  No kidding!  So, you can imagine I kept those tires properly inflated.

Driving an RV is different than driving a car. It is obviously much larger, but the main difference for me was how other drivers reacted to me on the road.  Basically, no one wants to be behind an RV, so expect other cars to constantly be trying to pass you, and get around you.  Drive the speed limit, or just over, and never faster.  Also, drive defensively, and watch out for those other drivers around you.  Again, people who don’t want to drive behind you will try to get in front of you, even if that means cutting you off.  Remember, stopping isn’t as easy as it is in a car, so keep this in mind when driving.  Keep a good idea of how much room you need in front of you to stop safely.  I usually drive in the slow lane, as I find it easiest for me, and also it is easiest for the other drivers on the road.  However, when driving in this lane on the freeway, other drivers merging on to the freeway can be an issue.  They see you coming in your big old bus, and they race to try to beat you, and get in front of you.  You would think we were driving mile long RV’s!  Anyway, remember to drive safely, and keep aware of the differences in RV driving, as opposed to a car.  And drive defensively, always thinking about other drivers, and how you should react if something goes wrong.

For me, I was the only driver for this vacation.  However, the ideal situation would be two adults sharing the driving duties.  Even if two adults didn’t share driving duties 50/50, it is still nice to have another driver available should you need a break.  When planning your trip, be sure to give yourself ample time to get to your destination.  Don’t rush.  If you plan on needing 8 hours to get to your next destination, be safe and plan 9 hours.  Give yourself a break, you are on vacation.  Deadlines are for work, and you don’t need them here.  Plus, be sure to schedule some breaks.  We stopped in lots of little towns, for no reason other than it was new to us.  Some of our favorite experiences happened in those little towns, so you never know what will happen if you just slow down, and enjoy the ride.

Please come back on Friday, September 26th for our ninth installment, “Insurance - What You Need and Why“.  See you there!