In journalism school many decades ago they warned us that publications would not always be delivered by newspaper carrier or mail. Someday people would have a device in their home that would print out magazines and newspapers. Exactly how that would work was not specified. I couldn’t imagine anyone having enough paper in their home […]
Roadtreking with RV Podcasts
There may be nothing that combines the old and the new better than a podcast. The technology that delivers an audio program through a computer or smartphone is fairly new, but the experience of listening to a podcast is reminiscent of old-time radio. I am old enough to remember when people listened to soap operas, […]
Is Class A for Generation Y?
If you had wealthy parents, your first car may have been brand-new, but most of us started with an old used car that was basic transportation, and worked our way up to new models as our circumstances improved. And so it has been in the RV industry—a family starts camping in a tent, and then […]
RVing With a Purpose
When I see someone on the side of the road holding a sign that says something like, “Will Work for Food,” my usual response is to quickly look the other way. I don’t consider myself heartless, but I think that if a person is deserving of help, there must be aid available from a social […]
Saying Goodbye
I have reached that terrible stage in life where I am called upon to deliver eulogies. It would be worse for me, of course, if I were the one being eulogized, so I shouldn’t complain, but it is one of those tasks you can never quite feel up to. How do you summarize a life […]
Saving History
When the Great Recession hit in 2008, many families encountered hard times, and that was the case for Justin and Anna Scribner of Bend, Oregon. Justin couldn’t find jobs as a contractor and money was tight because Anna had quit work as a website designer to have their baby. To keep afloat they started selling […]
Seeking Redemption
Singer/songwriter Scott Helmer is not a big name in music so perhaps it wasn’t surprising when RV manufacturers rejected the chance to help sponsor his tour, even if many of his performances were to be fund-raisers for charity. Helmer went to them hoping for the loan of an RV or at least some kind of […]
Coping with Age
I don’t own an old RV, but I do have an old car that my wife absolutely loves, a 1990 Buick Park Avenue that we bought new 25 years ago, so I know something about the challenges of maintaining aging vehicles. Warranties no longer apply and parts can become hard to find as the years […]
I Don’t Share
As children we are told it is polite to share. And that is certainly a good thing, but once I became an adult, I wanted my own things and I didn’t necessarily want to share them. I still feel that way, which places me at odds with current economic trends. I have a car that […]
Introducing a New Columnist
January is a month for new beginnings and so it is at RV Life with the arrival of a new columnist to replace a departing one. For the past two years, we have had the pleasure of publishing Kris Wetherbee’s excellent cooking advice and creative recipes, beautifully illustrated by photos from her husband, Rick. Unfortunately, […]
Progress Report
This is the season to catch up with old friends you haven’t seen in a while through a phone call or one of those chatty Christmas letters. At least that’s the way it used to be. Today with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., you never need to lose touch. But since I’m almost entirely out of the social media loop, I do need to catch up now and again, and so I thought I would use this column to bring me—and you—up to date on people I’ve written about.
Maybe you remember Carola Teixido and Victor Millan, the 30-something couple from Chile who are driving home from Alaska in a 1996 truck camper equipped to run on recycled vegetable oil. When I reported on their adventure in January, they had driven from Alaska to Death Valley.