No matter how long you’ve been living on the road in your RV, those fulltiming lessons seem to creep up on you. You might assume that after putting 125,000 miles under our belts that we never make mistakes, but nothing could be further from the truth. Those mistakes are not fun, but the RV blunders we’ve made since hitting the road are like priceless pearls of wisdom.
Our Dodge getting a tow.
For example, last summer we had more slip-ups in one day than we had in an entire year. These RV blunders happened because we were in a hurry to get somewhere. That day, each one piled up until we were hit with one huge mechanical issue that almost destroyed our Cummins engine.
One long day of endless fulltiming lessons and mistakes
As the saying goes, hind sight is 20/20. Now I’d like to share the gory fulltiming lessons and mistakes. I hope you will try to avoid making similar mistakes in your own fulltiming adventures.
Mistake #1: We left too late
When we know we have a lot of driving to do, we make it a point to leave our destination by 8 am. But that day we had a leisurely brunch date with friends and didn’t depart until noon. Our late departure set the blunder ball rolling.
Mistake #2: We drove too long, too far in one day
When you don’t think you will have a lot of driving to do in one day, the universe makes sure you will. That night a suitable overnight location eluded us. We drove twice as long as we intended. Exhausted, we fell asleep in a Reno casino parking lot in stifling August heat.
Mistake #3: We drove off without giving the RV a once-over
That morning we hit the interstate tired and irritable from lack of sleep. We didn’t bother giving the rig a quick visual inspection. Doing so could have helped us avoid more hard fulltiming lessons:
First, we left the RV stairs out.
Our rig has manual front steps and as we pulled onto the freeway, I was shocked to see that our stairs were sticking out. That was a first in eight years of full-timing.
Next, we didn’t lock all exterior compartments.
Later that day our truck bed toolbox lid flew open on the highway. We didn’t lose anything, but we could have.
Mistake #4: We didn’t speak up when something odd happened
The long drive between Reno and Salt Lake City can put anyone into a trance. When I saw a small black object fly away from the rig while it was moving, I neglected to say something. Five minutes later when our rig started swerving, we realized what it was: a tire blowout!
This was not dirt – it was oil from our engine.
Mistake #5: We didn’t think to ask ourselves: “What’s that gunk all over the rig?”
Jim changed the tire. Meanwhile, we were in a hurry to get to our destination, and although we noticed our rig was covered in “dirt,” neither one of us thought to examine it. Had we done so, we would have realized that it was oil covering the sides and undercarriage of our rig. Not just any oil, but engine oil from our Dodge! The moment our Check Engine light came on, we knew what happened.
Learn from our RV blunders
Yes, all of those fulltiming lessons happened in a single day. Thankfully our engine survived a blown seal. Best of all, we got the repairs handled in Salt Lake City in under three days. It was all such unnecessary drama. If we had just allowed ourselves one extra afternoon to get to our destination, we could have saved two days of downtime, loads of bickering, emotional upheaval and a huge mechanic’s bill.
The biggest fulltiming lessons? Don’t be in a hurry. Remember you’re a full-time RVer. That destination isn’t going anywhere, what’s your hurry? Even if you’re a little late, it’s not that big of a deal as long as you arrive with your RV and your sanity intact.
Rene Agredano and her husband, Jim Nelson, became full-time RVers in 2007 and have been touring the country ever since. In her blog, Rene chronicles the ins and outs of the full-timing life and brings readers along to meet the fascinating people and amazing places they visit on the road. Her road trip adventures are chronicled in her blog at LiveWorkDream.com.
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