How to prepare your RV road trip?

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April 17, 2019 03:34 PM

Trip Planning

So you’re preparing for your RV road trip. Perhaps it’s your first one, or maybe it’s simply been a long time since the last time you did. Whatever the case, you want to be sure you’re fully prepared for your upcoming trip. You’ve come to the right place. This article should serve as a guideline about what you need to do to prepare for your next RV road trip. Tips and insights will be provided for you to experience either an amazing first RV road trip or one of the best trips you’ve ever taken. Enough of that, let’s get started!

It’s All About Practice

Before you head on that long, cross-country road trip, consider taking a shorter trip. Head out to a nearby camping ground or lake to get a feel for the RV and the road conditions you’ll be driving on. If you’re unable to find the time for a short trip before your big one, simply take the RV for a spin on the highway or on roads that will be similar to the ones you’ll be taking during your big trip. This is especially essential if you’re a first time RV driver. While you don’t need a special license to drive any of the motorhomes, you will want to practice driving them before you head out for your real trip. The vehicles are fairly large and can appear daunting at first. However, a few practice drives will get you comfortable and ready to take on your big adventure.

Make Sure You’re Booked

While you enjoy the freedom offered by an RV, it’s still important that you have campgrounds booked in advance. It’s nice to drive where the road takes you, but it won’t be nice having to stress out about finding a camping ground when you find they’re all booked. You don’t have to lose all of your freedom, however. Simply take a look at where you’re heading to next and give a call to a camping ground in the area to ensure space can be reserved for you and your rig. After all: an organized road trip typically tends to be the most fun. When you always have an activity or destination planned, you’ll feel more in control of your trip and will always have something fun to do.

Establish an Arrival Routine

For first-timers, this is a very important tip. Many experienced RVers know exactly what they’re doing when they arrive at the camping ground: They’re driving their RV to a spot that easily accesses electrical, water, and sewage hookups. You’re going to want to become acquainted with these hookups and soon enough you’ll be easily hooking them to your RV so you can use the campground’s power and facilities for your vehicle.

Bring Spare Parts and a Tool Kit

It’s a long road trip: chances are things will break. It might be a cabinet in your RV’s kitchen or it might be a bigger issue. Whatever the case, it’s important that you bring a well-equipped toolkit and spare parts to ensure you’re able to fix anything that is within your repairing ability. Anything that’s outside of your repair skill level should be taken to the professionals. This leads us to another important tip:

Know the Repair Shops in the Area

Thanks to the power of technology, you’re easily able to search and find repair shops in just about every town and city you visit. If a breakdown ever does occur, it’s important you know which repair shop to call. Talk to other RVers at campsites and check reviews to ensure that your RV will be in good hands if an unexpected breakdown ever occurs (knock on wood).

Preparing for Weather

This is an easy one: make sure you pack clothes and materials for all different types of weather. Check projected forecasts in different areas you’re visiting. Bring rain boots, umbrellas, jackets, tank tops, whatever you need to ensure you’re comfortable in each area you visit.

Plan Your Kitchen

You should turn on the fridge in your kitchen at least 12 hours before you head out for your trip. This will help ensure the fridge is nice and cold before you put your groceries and ingredients in it. Also, plan ahead for your meals. Are the towns and cities you’re passing through going to offer you places where you can shop and buy groceries? Or are you going to need to pack your own? These are important questions to ask yourself before heading out.

Do You Feel Prepared?

Well, maybe at least a little bit? Also, don’t forget about packing toiletries, medications, and camping equipment. With that said: you should be ready to hit the road and enjoy a trip full of adventure and entertainment!

What Customers Say

Melissa

California

It was awesome. It was so great. It was so fantastic. We loved the RV. It was so accommodating. It was only three of us: [me] my husband and my son and we had a wonderful time. Thank you for renting to us and we will definitely be renting again.

Chris

California

From Toronto, Canada. We came down to Expedition to pick up an RV for a special surfing vacation for my son here who turned 15 this week. I gotta tell ya, it’s been an awesome experience. We went up the coast to Santa Barabara and down. We had perfect sites of the beach; looking at the ocean. He got a chance to experience surfing the California way – an overall great experience. RV was just the way to go. Made it a beautiful experience for us. The people at Expedition were perfect; helped us out throughout… were very kind and generous and we just had a great vacation because of it. So I recommend anyone whose thinking about it… Definitely call Expedition. You’ll enjoy it and you won’t regret it.

Jean

California

We flew from Europe and rented a motor home from ExpeditionMotorHomes.com. And, it was a fantastic experience from start to end. When we arrived, we had… the staff was very friendly; taught us how to use the motor home. They had videos online you can practice with and look at. And the actual trip, the quality of the motor home was perfect. This was the first time for my family and I and it will not be the last. We will be doing this again and obviously from the same supplier because everything from start to finish was perfect.

Barb D

California

I have rented from this company seven times in the last eight years. They do an amazing job. Most recently, I had errored on my departure date (I should have looked at the contract when they sent it to me!) and when I arrived a day early, they accommodated me. Thank you, Matt, for making a year without Martin easy! I recommend this company to anyone wanting to rent an RV. It’s so much easier than you think.

California

The Expedition Motorhome family took great care of our family. This is our third straight year renting trailers and RV’s from Expedition and we wouldn’t go anywhere else. They are a small shop with big customer service. The RV’s are in great condition on the inside and under the hood. We drive to the Tahoe area from LA every year and they make the long haul with no problems. We camped with other families who rented from other vendors and had nothing but problems. See you next year!

Belen

California

Was the first time we rented and RV and we had a great experience with Expedition Motor Homes. WE travel with the jamboree 23 ft for about 20 days around California and nevada without any problem.Everything worked the way it should. At the office Martin and Ilda where super nice and helpful with us. Definitely we are coming back!

Derek D.

California

We had a great experience with Expedition Motor Homes. My family and I rented an RV for a weekend camping trip, something we had never done before. The staff was extremely helpful and informative, and everything went smoothly. The RV was in great working order, very clean and great looking. We will definitely rent from the again in the future!

California

This was our first rental from Expedition. Everything went smoothly. They had excellent customer service from the beginning to the return. The RV we rented was in great condition, with the exception of a few minor issues. These issues didn’t cause any trouble, and I know they will have them fixed for the next renter. We are already looking forward to our next RV vacation, and we will be sure to use Expedition!

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