Let Me Explain – An Intro Into RVing

Hey Dad…or Mom,

This is a first for me. I’ve written hundreds of articles on family, parenting, and marriage, but this is the very first time I’ve written a series of articles on RVing as a way of living the good life.

I don’t know what qualifies one as an expert, but my family and I have been RVing for about 14 years. Each year we’re on the road for several months and have been out for as long as 100 days in a row.

Now you should know this about us: my wife, Debbie and I didn’t grow up RVing or even camping. In fact, my wife’s idea of roughing it was staying at the Hyatt instead of the Hilton, but someone suggested that the best way to do what we do as a ministry was to get an RV and to travel as a family.

We did and now we can’t imagine what we would have missed out on if we had decided to ignore that piece of advice. Knowing next to nothing about RVing we did some homework and bough an old RV and fixed it up. Fourteen years later we’re on our third, fixed up old RV and feel like RV-evangelists, spreading the good news of RVing for families.

I’m betting you’ve toyed with the idea. “Wouldn’t it be nice to sell our house and travel the country visiting historic sites along the way?” you tell your self or your spouse.

Now before you call your real estate agent let me say that RVing isn’t easy…but it is worth it. It’s worth being broken down along the road, spending sweaty nights in a Wal-Mart parking lot because you’re a/c isn’t working, and ‘holding it in’ because the sewage tank is full to the brim. That’s what I’ll be sharing in the following articles…the good, bad, and hysterically ugly.

I’ll share stories of visiting battlefields, presidential museums, and factory tours. You’ll learn some of the RVing basics, what to look for in an RV, and why I call the RV ‘the crucible.’

In fact, let me tell you why my final goodbye is what it is. Years ago, we were traveling through Saint Augustine, FL. We had spent the day at Castillo San Marcos, climbed a big lighthouse, and played on the beach. For diner we searched for a quaint restaurant near the beach. We turned down a sandy road, and I knew right away I was stuck.

So we asked some kind looking lady to back us out…and we were almost out, when the back end of my RV swung out and caught the back end of HER brand spanking new Mercedes (she wasn’t so kind looking after that). Lesson learned.

That’s why I say…

Swing wide and keep your eye on your tail,