7 things that can spoil your RV trip
Disclaimer: I am not an RV expert. But I have experience. The good, the bad, and the inconvenient
My first RV misadventure was in the mid-sixties. When I was a teenager, my family rented one of those newfangled motor homes. Back then, there was no such thing as an RV park. We stopped in campgrounds and trailer parks. The manager at one place brought her granddaughter to see our contraption and said, “Look, see the baby trailer?”
While the vacation was not an unqualified disaster, the only pleasant moment I can recall was driving away from the dealership. In retrospect, memories of the mini-catastrophes provide entertaining conversations when our family gets together. Still, it was decades before I dared to take on RV glamping again. I am glad that we did, because it has been a lot of fun.
I would like to share some of the glitches we have encountered, in hopes of smoothing the experience for others.
Don’t make these mistakes!
1. The wrong toilet paper
Imagine getting up in the middle of the night to relieve yourself, only to find that the toilet is clogged! Hopefully there is a restroom nearby in the campground and there are no bears wandering around. This can happen if you do not use rapidly dissolving toilet paper designed for RV’s. Septic Tank friendly paper is not good enough.
The drain can get clogged even if you are using the right paper if you do not use enough water when you flush (remember the key word in RV toilet paper is “dissolving.”) A corollary is, don’t leave your “black” (i.e., sewage) holding tank open to continuously drain. Clogging happens when the stuff you flush gets dried out. So use lots of water in flushing.
If your sewage does get clogged, there are several approaches to relieving the obstruction. You can pour boiling water into the toilet. Or, dump in some RV friendly unclogger. (Standard drain openers are not safe for your RV). We have also heard of driving around with ice cubes in your holding tank.
A little prevention is worth a toilet full of cure.
At the beginning of your trip, toss a dose of RV black water tank treatment into the toilet, along with a gallon of water. We always add another dose after every time we dump the black tank.
Drain the holding tank only when it is near capacity or when you are ready to move. Rinsing out the black tank after emptying is a good practice.
Keep a jug of RV friendly enzymatic unclogger on hand. It may be hard to find if there is no RV supply store nearby.
Take maximal advantage of nearby restrooms to minimize what you flush!
2. Running out of quarters
Campground laundromats still require coins. In this digital age, you would expect them to take credit cards or mobile apps, but I have never seen that option. Some campgrounds have change machines, but they are often empty. Good luck finding quarters when you are on the road. Recently I asked for quarters at the Walmart (after buying a boatload of groceries on plastic). The service desk was right next to a machine that collects and sorts change, so I thought they should have plenty of coins. I learned that Walmart policy is not to “sell” coins and that I should go to a bank. But banks do not provide coins to non-customers.
In New Mexico, I was fortunate to encounter a compassionate teller who was kind enough to make an exception to her bank policy and give me a roll of quarters in exchange for a $10 bill. I won’t give out her identity, lest I precipitate a run on her bank by desperate campers.
Recommendation: Before leaving town, stop by your bank for a couple of rolls of quarters.
3. Skipping the dress rehearsal is a bad idea
Murphy’s law is that “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” OK, maybe not everything, but every camping trip I have been on had at least one glitch. A dry run is valuable to discover potential problems when you are near home familiar resources. Help can be hard to find once you are on the road.
When we bought a used travel trailer a few years ago, we took it for a test run at a campground just a few miles away and only had to make three trips home to get things we did not know that we needed. We ate dinner at a restaurant because we had trouble lighting the oven. The subsequent road trip went fairly smoothly.
More recently, we bought a brand-new trailer. The dealership provided a thorough briefing and that, coupled with our years of experience filled us with confidence as we set off across the country, from Florida to Texas.
When we reached our destination, the water heater did not work. We tried to contact the salesmen who had enthusiastically waved us off on our journey, but they were out on the lot with new customers, and not available to chat. Our warranty gave us phone access to a technician, who walked us through trouble shooting, without success. We made good use of the showers in the RV parks until we finally got an appointment at an RV repair center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fortunately we have friends who live in Santa Fe who were gracious hosts for a few days. It turned out that some wire in a circuit board had not been plugged in. It was a quick fix, and we were on the road again.
Recommendation: Spend a night somewhere close to home to be certain all is working right.
4. A String of one-night stands
It takes time to park an RV, get it level, and hook up all the services. It also takes time to disconnect and pack up. So if you only stay in places for one night, you spend your waking hours in travel and logistics instead of enjoyment of your surroundings. It is wise to stay at least a couple of nights in each site. There are exceptions, as when you need to cover a lot of ground between two places, and you just need a stopover. A great idea for a one night stay is to go “Boondocking,” camping without hookups, relying on stored water, propane, and batteries.
Not only do you skip the hassle of hook-ups, “dry” camping sites are less expensive. You can often camp for free in lovely surrounding . We like Harvest Hosts, an online service that puts us in touch with wineries, farms, and other venues that offer free camping spots in exchange for purchasing some goods or services. We especially enjoyed a farm in Mississippi that raised golden retriever puppies and Oreo cows.
RV Camping at Wineries, Breweries, Farms & More with Harvest Hosts
Recommendation:: Limit one-night stays in your itinerary and take advantage of “boondocking” for one night stays.
5. Too much stuff
A new RV or trailer is spacious until you start loading up your food and gear. It is surprising how quickly it fills up. Cabinet space and drawers are limited, and the “wardrobe” closets are shallow and short. Other storage spaces are not easy to access. If you don’t outfit your trip conservatively, you could wind up tripping over boxes, or stashing food in bags on tables and chairs.
Recommendation: Be minimalistic
Limit your wardrobe and bring space saving utensils and gear. We use stackable cookware with a removable handle that can be used on the skillet as well as the saucepan and Dutch oven.
Be creative in storage. We installed adhesive hooks on the walls for jackets and an over the door rack in the bathroom.
6. Misleading RV park descriptions
Do diligent research. A website or Facebook page can provide a rosy picture that does not jive with the actual site. We have been fooled by pictures of an attractive façade with lush landscaping, only to encounter tightly packed camping sites on a bleak gravel field. Details of amenities can be misleading. A catch and release fish pond can be a concrete tank. A nature trail can be an overgrown and muddy path. In one park, the hookups were located between adjacent sites, which meant that the big windows of our bump out looked directly into our neighbor’s trailer.
Compare that to this beautiful and tranquil park in a forest.
Trees provide privacy and homes for birds that will sing to you in the morning.
Research RV sites by reading independent reviews and pictures. Is there landscaping? Are the parking pads level? Study the map of the site for the location of facilities. Looking at a satellite view can be helpful.
Find a place close to attractions that you plan to visit.
7. Flat Tire
OK, this is a no-brainer. Flat tires are always a pain. But The risk of a puncture is greater when you take scenic journeys on rough roads. You could have a flat in a remote location. We had this blowout on a mountain road in Newfoundland. It even blew off our fender.
Remember, when you tow a trailer, you have more tires, so the chances are greater that one them will fail.
Changing a tire on an RV or trailer, in concept, is the same as changing a tire on a car or truck. But lifting up an RV more difficult. Many motor homes do not have a spare tire or a jack that is capable of lifting that much weight. And placing a jack on the wrong part of a trailer can cause significant damage. Refer to your manual to avoid damage (such as crunching your brakes or knocking off a bumper). If you have a double axle trailer, you should use a ramp instead of a jack.
Bottom line: Do not hesitate to call in a pro!
Note: If you are used to calling AAA to fix your flats, make sure you have the right coverage. A standard policy covers the tires on your car or truck, but not on a trailer.
Recommendation:
Make sure your tires are inflated to the correct pressure. Check pressure every morning. as tires lose about 2–3 PSI per month in storage. Also, look for air leaks.
Look at the tires every time you stop. You may notice a low tire before a major flat.
Enjoy the open road!
RV camping was a great escape for us during the latter stages of the pandemic. We could travel to see our family with minimal exposure to COVID-19. We learned quite a bit about living comfortably in our trailer and are busy planning our next trip!!
