Hello everybody and welcome to another
studio session with Ben and Rebecca, from his and hers vlogs! Today..... We're going to
share the dark side of RV living with you. It's actually a follow-up to
last week's video which was all warm and fuzzy where we shared the good and
amazing things about the RV life. So if you don't know, Beck and I have spent the
better part of the last two years on the road, exploring a good chunk of North
America. And we're taking these studio sessions as an opportunity to download
all our experiences to you!...Number 1, You are never going to find the perfect
RV! It's just a reality. You're always going to have to make sacrifices and
compromises in order to get into a rig. But.... The way to overcome this is just to
go do it! Except that there will be things that you just don't love about it
but you can live with them and get out on the road and have a good time anyway!
Number 2...The weather can really suck when you're on the road full time! Mother
nature is going to catch up to you at some point. It's a reality! We've
encountered random snowstorms, freak wind storms, excessive heat for the time of
year, a lot of stuff!... And in relation to what Beck was just talking about, maybe
when you're looking for an RV you should take into consideration comfortable
places to hang out! Because there's gonna be a lot of days where you're stuck
inside that thing watching the crappy weather outside. And at the end of the
day you want to be able to look at each other and say, gosh! That wasn't all that
bad!..... Number 3...Things are going to break! We really actually don't know
anybody who's been on the road for very long that this hasn't happened to. It
doesn't matter if you buy something new or used, at some point it will become
your reality. And I promise you it's gonna be at the most inopportune moment
possible. In the middle of a snowstorm, on the side of the mountain and....
It might be pouring down rain or there may be nobody around to help you! Way to get
around this one.... Just accept that it's gonna happen!
Be prepared for it to happen, have a great tool box on board and extras of
anything that your RV might need. If there's somebody around... Get some help!
And at the end of it, know that you survived it and you're back on the road!
Number 4...You're gonna pick up some hitchhikers. Not talking about humans,
talking about rodents. The interesting thing about mice, is they don't care how
new or expensive your RV is there's always gonna be a hole where they can
slide their creepy little heads through and freak you out at the worst possible
moment! On your end, all you can do is keep a clean house and
have some mousetraps on board. Because eventually you're gonna use them! Number 5, Discrimination! I hate to tell you but either your age or the age of your
motorhome is gonna be a problem for one of those RV parks out there.
So first of, age. Under 55, we've noticed this in particular in Florida and
Arizona. Not everywhere but parts of it. And.... What we did learn, was even if it's
in over 55 park, they do have to let you stay for a few days. So as long as you're
not wanting to spend the whole winter you can negotiate with them. Now then in
terms of your motorhome, if it's over 10, then they're going to sometimes want to
see pictures before they let you stay there or they won't let you stay at all!
Number 6 is the one that really pisses me off and I'm talking about the
reservation system in campgrounds! Now I completely understand the reservation
system is a good thing. If you're,you know, planning a trip with your family,
you want to know you have a place to go. But on the other side of that coin, when
it's mismanaged, and places like the state of California put all their state parks
on the reservation system, that's when it becomes an epic failure! There's times
when you can pull into a campground and get lucky to get half the site. But you
can't have it for the following night and you can't even make a reservation
up until three nights out. So.... Keep that in mind especially during
peak tourist season, that you're gonna have to work around that
pain-in-the-butt called the reservation system!....Number 7, the perfect campsite
does not exist. Now first off, everybody's definition of perfect is different. For
some of you it might mean a really fancy RV resort. But.... For some people they'll
look at the price tag and the fact that they have lots of neighbors and that
doesn't appeal to them at all! Then you go out into the wilderness for either
free or paid sites. And you have amazing views and you're across the street from
the beach! But... You might have noisy neighbors or it might not be perfectly
level or you find nails and trash on the ground when you get there! Kind of just
the reality is: "Suck it up buttercup!" Because nothing perfect exists out there!
You have to decide, where you're gonna compromise and what you really have to
have to make it perfect for you! Number 8, Your definition of dirty
clothes is going to change! Not every RV has a washer and a dryer
built in. And the ones that do, they seem to take forever to completely dry your
clothes! So what that means is everybody has to visit the Laundromat. Which also
leads into, you have to leave your campsite! So then, you'll start looking
at that shirt like "Gosh! I only wore that for a couple hours last night." "I haven't
turned my underwear front to back yet." You're gonna make all kinds of excuses
just so you can stay out camping. But remember, Laundry always catches up to
you and I'll see you at the Laundromat! Number 9...You are going to sleep and
clean yourself in some really strange places!
Let's take truckstops for example. They're great for both. They tend to be
very welcoming if you come and park for the night. They also happen to have,
fantastic clean, hot showers! And when you first start Rving you think: "I'm just
gonna stay in the RV." But the longer you do it, the more navy showers you take,
the more you realize, It's not so bad to pack your bag and walk across
the street to that really nice hot campground shower that you can leave on
for more than 30 seconds at a time. As far as places to park and sleep, when
you close those curtains, it really doesn't matter if you're at a rest stop
or a truck stop or really fancy RV park. You're home!.... Last but not Least! Number 10, Quartzite is not all it's cracked up to be!
I'm not talking about the RV community, I'm talking about the dynamic that
happens when you put that many people in clubs and in camps and in cliques
together. It spells out "D-R-A-M-A!"Now don't get me wrong, we've had some amazing
experiences of course, met some awesome people, lifelong friendships have been
built there. But there is that dark side and it just boils down to human nature.
Our first year that we went to Quartzite, we got invited to this secret camp, which
was designed to exclude a couple of people in the RV community. And we caught
wind of this and it was like this just doesn't seem right! So our moral compass
point us in the right direction there. Second year, we showed up a few days late and it turned out there are a couple people spreading horrible rumors and gossip
about us! It was high school behavior at its worse! Now everybody is probably
gonna make the pilgrimage to Quartzite at one point in their RV life but keep in
mind it's not all struck up to be and life on the open road in smaller
groups is far better!.... Alright guys! Well now you've heard our: "10 harsh realities to RV living."... You know we always try to look at the bright side but we also
always try to tell you guys the truth. And sometimes it's just not peaches and
cream every single day out on the road. So by now, we have an entire playlist of
these studio sessions. So if you like what you see, make sure you SUBSCRIBE to
our Channel! And if you liked all that footage that
you've seen in this video, make sure you binge watch all our travels!
We're preparing for the next chapter of our lives as we head overseas for some
overlanding travel. So you want to make sure you subscribe to that one. Thanks
for watching and we'll see you on the road!.....Bye!
