Tips You Should Know BEFORE Renting an RV for Vacation

***Just on a side note, this article does not review the RV, the RV rental company or the campgrounds where we stayed.  These are tips we learned from our own RV experience***  And the fun we had on vacation!

Our Vacation

Recently we have been on a major house hunt.  The problem is that we aren't really sure where we want to live.  We have (what we think) are easy "wants" but let me tell you, it has been an adventure!  We know we want to live where it snows a fair amount AND we really like the changes of season, so we decided this house hunt would take some traveling to narrow down that JUST RIGHT SPOT.  With 4 large dogs travel is NOT easy, so we decided to make a mini vacation out of this trip and take the whole family!  Since we would need 2 hotel rooms for 2 adults and 4 dogs, we were looking for alternatives.  After a few glasses of wine. . .  Enter the RV Rental idea!

RV Vacation

After calling around we found a rental agency that had no problem renting with 4 dogs.  We made all of our campground reservations and were ready for our vacation/house hunting trip!!!!

RV Vacation

• Just because you drive an SUV, does not mean it will be the same as driving an RV.  We have an Large SUV that I drive regularly so I went into this VERY confident that it would be close to the same.  I mean, it's only a little bigger, Right???  WRONG!  While the RV we rented was not "hard" to drive.....It was NOT an SUV.  The RV took turns wider and, you can't look back over your shoulder when backing up....you'll just be staring into the back bedroom of the RV, not your back window.
• Speaking of backing up.. I highly recommend watching a few YouTube videos

  

  and practicing backing up the RV before leaving on your trip.  I felt more empowered and not as afraid to back into a campsite.
• Also, (because I'm "that" person) I called the campground ahead of time to ask if the campsites were large enough for a new driver to be able to back in.  After they stopped laughing, they said it would not be a problem and they have staff who could back it in for us if things got "really bad".  Luckily, those trusty YouTube videos gave me enough confidence to back the RV right into the spot without a problem!  Plus if you have a helper like Elvis you will never have problems backing up!!!!
• The RV is louder than you think it will be.  If you've never ridden in an RV (like us), you may not realize that everything creaks and snaps and bangs.  Every bump in the road is magnified like you're riding in a car without shock absorption.  Our 4 dogs were looking at as if to say you two idiots what have you gotten us into!!!!  We let Frankie stay in his Thunder Shirt to make sure he didn't get to nervous.  The other 3 dogs, who aren't afraid of much would look

  

  around on the rough roads, but all in all seemed ok with it.  Well Oliver slept the entire way and was very happy!!  The 2 blonde boys jumped up on the sofa and made themselves at home immediately.
• Make sure the TV works OR call ahead about wifi at the campground.  We didn't have a cable hook up in our rental so we had to use the internal antenna.  TV in some campgrounds was touch and go.  We had an amazon box but it didn't work with the camp wifi.  I know, I know, when you're in the great outdoors, why do you need TV?  Trust me, if it's raining, TV is nice to have.
• Just relax.  If you miss your turn, don't stress about a U-turn.  Just go on down the road until you can comfortably turn around and head back.  Who knows, you might see something you've never seen before.  Also, keep in mind it's going to go a little slower than your car, so you may add some time to your trip, but hey, you're on vacation.  

  

So Much Fun

All in all it was a fun trip!  We laughed a lot (mostly about the noise in the cabin) but also about the crazy trip we were on!  Now, keep in mind, we did this as our vacation/house hunting trip.  So, yes, we were driving our rented RV up to open houses, down neighborhood streets, and my favorite, new home construction sites.  You can see why we laughed so much.....we looked a little ridiculous.  4 crazy dogs barking out of the windows of a rented RV.  I think the people who saw us looking at the house with the "for sale" sign in their neighborhood may have been holding their breath, hoping we weren't moving in.

We haven't found a house yet, but we're close and have discovered that we LOVE camping (boarder line Glamping).  We have since rented cabins that allow dogs one we are enjoying grilling at the campground.  This way, we get the fun of camping, with the ease of having our own car.  We're even looking into getting our own pull behind camping trailer.  We'll keep you posted on those adventures.

Just an update we found a great house in Ohio.  We love our new house and the boys are very happy!!!