The full time lifestyle shouldn't be taken lightly and over the course of time you will welcome all the help you can get. Whether it comes in the form of well timed advice from a seasoned full timer met in a campground or on an online RV forum, or golden nuggets of information gleaned from a monthly camping magazine, these modes of gaining insight into your full time RVing lifestyle are 'friends' you'll want to keep close as you travel to and fro in your rolling home.
Clubs & Periodicals
There are several associations an RV enthusiast can acquire. Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) and Escapees are two that come to mind as I begin this article, however, there are many RV Clubs where you can gain copious amounts of helpful information regarding your life on wheels. Good Sam Club offers its members campground, hotel and gasoline discounts. Also, Good Sam and their affiliates are leading providers in RV financing and insurance as is Family Motorcoach Association. Lifetime Good Sam members will enjoy buying perks at Camping World stores across the country, perpetual Presidents Club discounts, a lifetime membership to Highways magazine and more.
American Automobile Association (AAA) is generally associated with motor vehicle travel but certainly their camping books, travel guides and maps will serve the RVer as well. A membership to AAA will offer free trip routing, discounts on travel destination activities, free notary services and roadside assistance plus a ton of travel information for national and international travel prospects.
FMCA is a volunteer organization that offers much of the above including, rallies, affiliated membership opportunities, roadside assistance, a monthly magazine, and campground information and locations and this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Books and monthly periodicals are a tangible asset to the full time lifestyle however, all information that can be gleaned from a magazine is a mere click away on an Internet search engine; many of which have their magazines online in a paperless version. This is a welcome alternative to overflowing magazine racks and having to use valuable space to store books of information from every RVing perspective. Just a few of the online magazine options are:
Internet
The online community of RVrs is plentiful and the Internet itself is an invaluable tool. RV groups abound on personal networking sites such as Facebook and Eons. Lovers of this lifestyle can't get enough of imparting new-found storage techniques, the latest crock pot recipe or holiday decorating tips. Looking for a new rig? RV Trader has new, nearly new and not so new units that will certainly fit the bill and be easy on the pocketbook as well. RV Net is a virtual plethora of information where bloggers submit articles of personal accounts, newly discovered out of the way places to visit, mountaintop vistas and vast desert beauty.
Online book stores such as RV Bookstore offers books on every subject that concerns the avid RVer including places to go and things to see across the country in an RV as well as cast iron cookery, mountain grade guides, RV maintenance and winter storage instruction and so much more than the average RVer could ever imagine. Last but definitely not least on the online RV information highway is the online forum. RV Net Forum is chock full of seasoned RVrs and full timers who peruse the forum contents in search of the question that they can answer with the utmost expertise. Many issues have been resolved, in short order, mechanically and aesthetically by simply posting your query on an online forum.
Practical Life Application
One of the best avenues of gaining practical, valuable information for living this life that won't cost a cent is one of the most overlooked. Every day we live in an atmosphere that's teeming with tips and tricks, untapped knowledge, problem solving expertise and many times a helping hand. A walk around the campground or RV Park is much more than an exercise program. It can be an extremely educational carousel of visual stimulation. A virtual garden of every style, type and model of RV on the market.
A simple "hello" can quickly escalate into a full fledged conversation on the pros and cons of gas vs. diesel engines and/or how to prime your generator, installing a hot water heater or replacing a slide out motor and so much more. Lifelong friends are birthed with a smile by a fire on common ground. For the dreamer or the seasoned full timer, utilizing every opportunity to learn all you can from every avenue is a priceless advantage.
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