#rvprep

[avoidantcool]

Three more days!

This video was taken when I was bringing my RV to the DMV to get it registered earlier today! Except apparently I didn’t actually need to bring it with me… oh well, good practice… just no light-less left turns for me!

The online DMV website quoted me $250 for registration based on the VIN. The actual DMV charged me nearly $650. When asking about the difference, the employee seemed unamused when I concluded that the DMV estimate was about as useful as them giving me an estimate of “purple.”

[avoidantcool]

The Joys of Towing a Car

Any move is difficult. Moving into an RV? Not really more difficult, per se, just differently difficult, and I am someone with absolutely no RV experience. My only previous experience was sleeping on the floor of one after making the bad decision to play shot checkers one Halloween when my friend was camping in her fifth wheel (as one does in Louisiana). So, to say that I have very little technical, let alone mechanical, knowledge of these things is an overstatement.

I learned only after the fact that my RAV4, while a wonderful trusty little off road vehicle, is an absolute nightmare trying to coordinate for any kind of RV. It’s too small to pull anything (4 cylinder engine), but it can’t be flat towed or even towed with a dolly because it’s AWD. Mind you, the car lies and says it’s 4WD on the back and the paperwork, but it’s “4WD on the fly;” aka AWD from a logistical standpoint. So, to tow it, I will either need a car trailer or to install a lube pump kit - both very expensive options. Thankfully, Springer is being nice enough to come down to help me move my car up to Wyoming until I can figure out what I want to do with it.

There are clearly a lot of logistics I wasn’t necessarily anticipating, but then, I didn’t really know what to anticipate, so I’m not at all surprised by them.

[avoidantcool]

T-minus 23 days!

RV successfully obtained! It took a bit over a month of hassle, but the paperwork was finalized yesterday! It is still waiting on a name, which is going to be provided courtesy of my 2-year-old nephew, Max, when we next Skype.

I let the dogs into the RV last night for the first time. They were incredibly excited - especially for their new dog beds and built in feeding platform (okay, to be honest, this was staged, but Toby really was bouncing off of the table and chairs when I got the idea). 

Now that I’ve secured my new home, I just have to do every other aspect of moving in the next three weeks while working full-time… I also started revamping my current trajectory, which adds another layer of complexity. While I am definitely planning to head northward and want to hit up the Pacific Northwest sometime soon, there are a few contenders for my first stop… I guess I’ll just have to see where I feel like going when I’m fully moved out of my apartment! 

[avoidantcool]

So Many Options, So Few I Can Afford!

Okay, so the title isn't entirely accurate, but seriously, RVs are expensive! I finally filed my taxes last night, so now I am in the free and clear to budget for this transition. The more I learn about RVs, the more there is to consider, and my damn biological instincts are making the process difficult.

Today I went to check out some motorhomes at a local used RV dealership so I could get a feel for different sizes, and there are I learned there are two types of RVs that I am attracted to: large, unwieldy, $75,000 motorhomes, and tiny, adorable travel trailers (neither option is actually realistic in any way for my needs). In fact, I took several pictures of small travel trailers that made my uterus skip a beat:

  I have to remind myself that 1) I will be living full time in this thing, 2) it's not just me who will be living there, and 3) my RAV4's engine would be an added cost to the purchase of one of these things... Let's just say I've destroyed an engine before from being ignorant about what I tow (in lowland Arizona in the middle of summer in the middle of nowhere), and I am in no hurry to repeat the experience. 

Oh yeah, on a largely unrelated note, apparently people who work via the internet and travel full time are called "digital nomads." I feel as though this title adequately describes both my propensity toward nerdom and wanderlust. Whomever came up with that term is awesome.

[avoidantcool]

The Great RV Search Begins

The first thing I decided to do (after determining this is financially feasible, of course) was look into what kind of RV I want to get. In reality I should probably finish my taxes first (especially since being a freelancer makes that process extra entertaining), but looking at adorable little RV homes is far more interesting, exciting, and intimidating. 

I am primarily considering a tradeoff between size (more is better but harder to drive around and uses more gas) and price. This is actually an inverse relationship for many of the RVs I have seen, unfortunately. As it turns out, smaller RVs (Class B - the van looking ones) are often very expensive because they still have all of the commodities but in a more compact setting... a small Class C would be a good alternative, but the gas mileage tends to be far worse in Class C compared to Class B (at least according to what I've read).

However, as it turns out, my desire to be exceptionally picky is not well-reflected in the RV market. Thankfully I am starting this process several months before leaving, so I am optimistic (right now, at least!) that I will be able to find the RV of our dreams. However, it certainly does not bode well that I intend to leave during Burning Man (AKA The Great RV Show) season...