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When Heath and I began RVing, we had been principally centered on the way it was essentially the most economical approach for us to journey full-time within the US.
What we didn’t consider was, effectively, every little thing about RVing. We had NO thought what we had been doing, what the tanks meant, the right way to hook up at RV parks—principally our ignorance was the inspiration for my first guide, A Beginner’s Guide to Living in an RV. We had been utterly clueless newbies.
And as newbies, we virtually killed ourselves.
Like, quite a bit.
Waaaaaaaay too usually.
So I assumed I’d share among the extra outrageous issues that would’ve killed us throughout our first yr on the street.
1. That time our engine was overheating on the Pacific Coast Highway.
“Just unbuckle, open the door, and jump.”
“You’re kidding, right?” I requested Heath.
“The engine is really hot. If the brakes go out, don’t even think about it. Just open the door and jump.” He paused. “Maybe try to tuck your shoulder and roll. We aren’t driving too fast so you should be okay.”
“Okay, now I’m concerned that you’re not actually kidding.”
I peered over the guardrails that apparently had no likelihood of stopping our RV from careening into the frothy white water crashing in opposition to the rocky shoreline under. The sheer cliffs supplied a implausible view of the plush coastal mountains and deep blue Pacific. Not a nasty final view in the event you’re about to die, which gave the impression to be what Heath was implying.
“Which would you prefer, jumping out of a moving vehicle or flying over a cliff and drowning in the ocean?”
“How are these my only two choices?!”
THANKS FOR THE SCARE HEATH.
2. “You were definitely struck by lightning.”⚡️
“Or if not struck by lightning, it was close enough to melt your battery.”
We had been tenting in South Dakota in August and the sky regarded like this earlier than midday. Not eager to drive by means of the darkening skies, we booked an evening at an RV park that fortunately had blazing quick wifi.
In the center of streaming Netflix for the primary time on our journey, we couldn’t hear our film for the sound of rain, lightning, and thunder attacking the RV. Intimidated by the depth of the storm, we determined to search out shelter till the hazard handed.
After sitting within the flooring of the RV park bathhouse for an hour, we walked within the nonetheless falling rain again to our RV. Opening the door, it was clear. The electrical system was fried. The lights wouldn’t activate. The fridge wasn’t working. And—most terrifying—the coffeemaker wouldn’t activate.
We tried to troubleshoot every little thing, however the one factor we didn’t account for?
Our RV was struck by lightning whereas we shared a bathe stall with half a dozen strangers.
Lesson realized: Always take shelter.
3. Tornados ????
There’s a twister in that storm someplace ⬆️
An app on Heath’s cellphone instructed me so and that overpass simply forward was going to be our dwelling for a short time. Because if we stored driving, our complete home was more likely to fly by means of the air Twister-style.
You know what’s frequent within the midwest in August? Tornados.
You know who didn’t know that?
Heath and Alyssa after they deliberate to cross the midwest in August.
We took shelter soooo many occasions, however hey we had been solely struck by lightning as soon as no less than ????????
4. Our fridge blowing up.
If you park your RV on an incline (sometimes something better than 3º), your propane fridge can have a harmful chemical response and go away white and blue questionable residue all over the place.
Yep, we all know this one from expertise.
We weren’t within the RV when it occurred, however we did have to exchange the fridge and clear up the mess it left behind. To add insult to harm, we had lower than $70 to our identify when this occurred and couldn’t afford a brand new fridge. We lived with out a fridge for a full month earlier than shopping for a small house fridge so we might lastly have chilly meals once more!
We ate a LOT of popcorn for dinner that month ????
5. Propane leak ????
If you’re pondering wait, dwelling with out a fridge didn’t virtually kill you…
Oh however it did.
Because in that image up above, you possibly can see a capped propane line. Many RV fridges can run on propane and once we eliminated our damaged fridge, we capped the road.
But the cap didn’t maintain.
We awoke very sick one morning earlier than realizing propane was slowly leaking into our dwelling. We rushed to the mechanic and had all the propane line eliminated—costing us a bit of cash and additional delaying our skill to exchange our fridge—so we might sleep soundly once more.
6. “Your brake pads shattered.”
In Ohio, our brakes began making a bizarre noise. But they nonetheless labored.
In Virginia, we lastly acquired our RV into the store.
(That’s 12 states later, in case you had been questioning.)
Somewhere alongside the way in which, our brake pads shattered.
SHATTERED.
How? How do brake pads shatter?
I nonetheless don’t know.
That was the official prognosis (and it price a cool $500 to get the brakes and rotors changed from all of the harm).
How the brakes didn’t exit and go away us wrapped round a tree someplace, I’ll by no means know.
7. Caution: Low Clearance Ahead
Last, however not least, you haven’t actually RVed except you’ve stumbled by chance on a low clearance that may definitely take the roof off your RV.
(Just us? No?)
On our technique to New York City, my very good-looking however not terribly observant husband took an exit towards a dozen vibrant orange “8 FOOT CLEARANCE” indicators.
I do know it’s New York, however I’ve by no means heard so many automobile horns in my life.
Thank you to the stranger who politely, by northeastern requirements, compelled us off the street and supplied to guide us again to the security of the interstate.
Honorable Mention: That one time our tow automobile began rolling off our dolly.
Would have extra probably killed another person than killed us, but when our automobile flew off the dolly and wrecked another person’s automobile, I’m fairly certain our lives can be over.
Okay, I’m sort of getting careworn seeing all of those listed out one after the other ????
You can learn the complete tales behind all these incidents plus extra of what RV life is definitely like in my new guide, RVing Across America. Pre-order now on Amazon ????