The basic concept of calculating towing capacity isn’t exactly complicated: your vehicle needs to be capable of towing whatever it is you’re trying to tow, and you should never go over that limit because it’s dangerous (and potentially deadly). But actually calculating towing capacity and understanding the details to be sure you’re within safety limits gets a bit complex. It’s important to remember you can never have too much truck, when it comes to towing. Doing the calculations for towing capacity involves math, but it’s straightforward: some addition and subtraction and comparing two numbers. The tricky part is finding the data you need because there’s no single source for all things weight-related, and the only way to be sure you’re under capacity is by visiting a weigh station to have your vehicle and RV weighed separately. Here are the important terms and definitions: Vehicle curb weight, or dry weight: The …
With food allergies and severe celiac disease, we don’t go to restaurants very often. Going out to eat requires a great deal of preliminary research and phone calls to restaurant managers, and even then it’s a gamble whether or not a business is going to be “gluten-free enough” for someone like me. Getting contaminated by a careless restaurant can cause me a health setback that will require weeks or even months of recovery. To play it safe, we cook at home almost exclusively, and have a great time doing it. One of the greatest things about taking our kitchen on the road is that we always have our favorite gadgets and snacks, and we know they will always be safe and clean. We think our Keystone Laredo 335MK has an enormous kitchen, with more fridge and counter space than my first apartment. It’s actually enjoyable to cook in it! Consequently, …
There’s such a wealth of information about RVing and long-term camping online. We are constantly researching. To my fellow RVers, I encourage you to do what you can to keep your sites online, even after you lose interest in blogging, quit RVing, or switch to posting solely on YouTube or other “siloed” service. (A siloed service is one which can only be used or accessed through a specific app or other limiting factor, like Facebook, Twitter, and yes, even YouTube, where posts can vanish at the whims of the services’ owners.) Many sites fade away. There are still some decades-old gems out there though. One of my favorites is Two Penny Travels’s computer setup from 1999. As I write this post from a 4-pound laptop tethered to a smartphone hotspot (at speeds of 45mbps up and 23mbps down), I think about Sam and Alice (of Two Penny Travels) and the …
What is a coop? A co-op (or coop) as in a “cooperatively owned entity” is one in which everyone involved in the entity is also an owner. Companies can be coops (like REI, Ocean Spray, and Welch’s), but so can neighbors who have a collective stake in their communities and who want to build a better neighborhood. Residents of mobile home parks have been forming coops over the years, inspired by heartbreaking and heartwarming stories about landlords who raise lot rents so high that people are left homeless, and neighbors banding together to collectively purchase and run their parks. Just last week, VTDigger published a story about 4 mobile home parks converted into resident-owned coops. This 1986 LA Times article about a group of tenants who banded together to buy their home from their landlords is especially empowering, because their actions created a whole new category of government loans. Mobile …
When we moved into our RV, we knew the cats would have a tougher time adjusting than we would. Their whole world (their indoor home) was squished down to less than 300 square feet, with all kinds of new smells and sounds. We’ve done a lot to “cattify” our RV, like adding scratching posts to the slide-out trim (blog posts forthcoming!) and low-profile cat condos handmade by David. But it’s not the same as being able to really stretch their legs and get some exercise. When we were still living in a “sticks and bricks” house, we started practicing walking our cats using a Kitty Holster cat harness. We have four (yes, four!) cats, although at the time we had five, and the fifth was a professional traveler. Sadly we had to say goodbye to her about a year ago. Of the other four, two are little old ladies who …
This summer we are going to be spending an unfortunate amount of time in the famous Phoenix, Arizona heat. In order to make things as tolerable as possible, we learned from the examples set by our neighbors. Last year, before we moved into our RV but when were spending many hot summer days customizing it, we cut pieces of Reflectix foil covered bubble wrap to fit the windows. The added insulation and reflective material made a big difference during the hottest parts of the day, and our electric bill went down about 30%. This year, we wanted to improve on that. Our space is oriented so the bulk of the day’s sun is directed at our two main slides: our bedroom and our main living space (couch and kitchen table/work desk). Slide walls are thinner than the rest of an RV’s walls, so they have less insulation. When the sun …
I recently discovered fruit grunts: stove top cobblers that don’t require an oven, or much effort! I had a bag of cherries hanging out in my freezer, and decided to adapt this Farmer’s Almanac orchard fruit grunt recipe to make it vegan, gluten-free, and lower in sugar.
Have you thought about your RV’s roof lately? So many things can affect the life of your RV, and having a good roof is one of the most important ways to protect your RV. Our Keystone Laredo travel trailer has a single-membrane rubber roof, and rubber roofs need regular maintenance and protecting. We are currently staying in Arizona, so our roof has to withstand blistering sun, sweltering heat, blowing dust, monsoons, frequent bird visits, and… you get the idea. While we duck inside our RV to escape the sun, our roof is taking the brunt of it, day after day. I try to make regular trips “upstairs” to check for clogged gutters, sticks, leaves, animal nests, and droppings that might break down the membrane material. Thankfully, our unit has a walkable roof, that makes the process much easier. A tip before we begin: if you plan on cleaning your roof, …
For about three years before moving into our RV, we regularly complained about our dishes. We were tired of our ten-year-old, inexpensive, drab gray, and super heavy Ikea set, but we didn’t have a good reason to replace them. They were still doing what they were designed to do, even if we were tired of looking at them. It seemed wasteful to replace dishes just because they weren’t pretty any more. But after counting the chips and cracks in that old set, and considering the unnecessary added weight, moving into our RV was a doubly exciting time for us: time to get new dishes! (We enjoy our simple pleasures.) After lots of research, we first decided on Corel because of their designs, weight, and durability, but we weren’t ready to commit to a pattern (or a price tag), so we looked for something inexpensive and environmentally friendly that would last …
The following walk-through and review were not sponsored by any of the manufacturers mentioned. This review is based purely on my research and experiences, in the hopes that it might be interesting or helpful to you. Like most off-the-shelf travel trailers, ours came with a tiny little bathroom exhaust fan. It was fine when we wanted to vent steam from the shower but that is about it. The original fan had a few big drawbacks: the air draw rate was poor for assisting with ventilation, the vent cap needed to be cranked open with a crank that was mounted flush with the ceiling, the vent cap allowed rain to enter when open, and the vent cap could be torn off in a strong wind. The crank-height was a serious ergonomic issue that needed to be rectified soon after we moved into the trailer. I was able to make the crank …