A New Adventure - Title soon to come (something catchy, mind!)

I thought I would start to chart our progression into a new adventure. This, of course, is our trip across America in an RV. It turns out this is not something to be undertaken lightly. The RV community takes it very seriously. The amount of literature there is into the RV experience is intimidating and borders on ridiculous. But it looks like we have a lot to learn before we embark. However, too much research takes away the opportunity for random experiences. When I went to Central America I had planned very little of the trip and it opened doors that may have otherwise remained hidden.

So, we started by looking at Craigslist. This is the American version of gumtree for all the Europeans reading this. Second hand RV's is the only thing we will be able to afford. We went to an RV dealership and spoke to a guy who was incredibly helpful. He warned us off buying anything before 1990 - too hard to get parts and expensive to run. This does make it harder to get an RV  in our price range - we're looking at $6,000 to $10,000, obviously aiming toward the lower bracket! But it's not impossible, it just requires patience.

But then we have the problem of knowing what to look for when we finally save up enough to make the final purchase. Even buying a second-hand car is intimidating if you don't know anything about cars. So we've done our research - looked at various informative websites, we even borrowed a book! Not only do you have to check the engine, but you have to check the roof, the floor, the windows, the generator, the grey and blue tanks (shit and water). We have also been told that low mileage is a bad thing. An RV that has been left unused will have more problems than one that has been lovingly used and tended to.

It took us a while to decide what kind of RV we wanted - a fifth wheel, travel trailer, Class A, B or C motor home. Well, the price decided for us in this instance. It was either buy an all in one or spend money not just on a trailer, but on a truck to haul it, a hitch and many other items I'm sure that would add to the price. So, Class C motor home it is.

Now it seems we may be entering into a whole community where we will be the youngest for miles around. This past-time seems to be dominated by the retired or mid-life crisis age. As neither myself nor Dave are nearing these twilight periods, I do wonder how we will be received. Or, more to the point, how much I'll like them. It's not quite the stay up all night and get stupidly drunk affair of Central America. But I would love to graffiti the vehicle or make it look unique in some way. Unfortunately this would make the selling on of the vehicle difficult. I have also read that if you want to be accepted into the 'RVing community' it is best not to stand out. So maybe we are best forging out on our own - any community that shuns individuality is not for us.

Now we have to think about the running costs; petrol, insurance, hook-ups, RV park fees, gasoline for the generator, overall maintenance, and all the stuff in between which will blind-side us at the most inconvenient time possible. So, with that in mind we're now starting to look at jobs we can do whilst on the road. I've landed myself a bit of a writing gig with a couple of travel websites which could potentially turn into a paid job. There are a few things out there but it appears every fat, lazy bastard is looking for an easy job and so there are lots of scams to take advantage of these fat, lazy bastards.

I had intended to finish this piece, but as it seems I have abandoned it for the last month, I might as well just post what I have and start afresh! So here is the first instalment of 'Starting the RVing life - information for the non-retirees'