The cold wet muddy days are now behind us and the forecast is for a great summer of traveling and camping.
We’re dragging out our road maps and camping guides to detail our wish list for the next six months, looking over the old RV to see how it survived the winter and what needs to be fixed or replaced before we hit the road.
My guess is that with today’s economic problems, the RVer’s lifestyle will provide the best bang for the buck for most of us. Most RVs have the same basic equipment in the RV as at home. The cost of a meal prepared in a travel trailer isn’t much more than one prepared at home. Most RVs have a television, DVD, and CD players, which covers what to do when it gets dark outside. It’s when the sun is up that the RV life really begins. What you see out the RV window is totally different than what you see every day at your house. And you get to pick and choose what that scenery is going to be. We get to escape our everyday routine and be someone else, someplace else. The doctor becomes a rock hound, the lawyer – a fisherman, the housewife – a seashell collector. We can do this for the weekend, or stretch it out for a month; either way, we can relax and enjoy being alive.
Sitting around a campfire, or stretched out on the couch watching a baseball game on the television, is a good time to think about the overall condition of your RV. Extreme makeovers may happen on television, but they rarely happen in real life, and almost never in the RV world. But, there are things that become worn or outdated in an RV. Take your mattress for example. It ages and changes its support value whether you use it or not. Fortunately, there is little difference between an RV mattress and a home mattress. You might also consider that if you use the same type of mattress in the RV that you use at home, you might sleep better and you can shop around for a bargain.
Setting up a budget to keep your RV in shape and up-to-date will allow you to enjoy the RV life more and identify the things that need to be changed to make it better.
Next month, we’ll look again at things that wear out and need to be replaced to keep the RV your escape vehicle and at the same time, your home away from home.
Final Touch Coach Works is located at 28532 Livingston Avenue, Valencia. For more information, please call 661-775-8375 and www.finaltouch-usa.com .