How To Get The Best Deal On RV Rentals Near Me

Renting an RV is one of the most affordable ways to take an unforgettable vacation. You have complete freedom of the road without the cost and hassle of actually owning an RV.

It’s an affordable way to vacation, but if you want to save even more money, use these handy tips. You’ll get a great deal on your RV and still be able to enjoy the vacation of a lifetime.

Vacation During Non-Peak Seasons
During the peak vacation months of June, July, and August, cabins are booked, hotels are full, and theme parks are crowded with long lines. Vacation is in high demand, so you’ll have to pay more for all the products and services that go with summer. The same supply-and-demand principle applies to RV rentals.

It’s more costly to rent an RV during peak vacation season, but you can rent during the non-peak season and still have a wonderful experience, all while saving potentially hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars. Consider an early spring RV trip; a destination in the southern half of the country would certainly offer comfortable weather. You could also take an RV vacation in the fall; a trip to the Northeast or Midwest would give you a chance to see all the gorgeous autumn colors!

Remember, while summer is vacation season, you can have a more affordable trip (and avoid the crowds) by renting an RV during the non-peak seasons.

Look into One-Way RV Rental
One-way RV rentals can help you have a more affordable trip and allow you to skip backtracking home. With a one-way rental, you pick up the RV in one city, take your trip, and drop it off in another. You can then fly, drive a rental car, or get a ride back home.

Here’s an example of how it might work: say you live in Los Angeles and want to take a trip up the coast. You could rent an RV in your city, drive north while overnighting at campgrounds and other facilities, then drop the RV off in Seattle. When you’re done, you don’t have to worry about driving the RV back to LA!

These types of trips are often more affordable and let you have a wonderful vacation with less hassle and less time on the highway, which means more time enjoying the RV and all your amazing destinations!

Book Your Trip Early
The earlier you schedule your rental, the more likely you are to save. Many RV owners are willing to give discounts so they know their RV is booked and money is in their bank account. This may not apply to all rentals, but in general, the earlier you book, the more you will save!

RV Fire Safety Tips and Advice

We’ve all seen those horrific photos and video footage of RV fires. The way RVs are constructed, and the materials used lends them to burn and go up in smoke extremely quickly. If inside you literally have seconds to escape.

To hopefully keep that from happening to you I’ve decided to publish some common sense RV fire safety tips. Essential advice for a new RV owner to consider. It doesn’t take much effort to dramatically reduce your risk.

Change Detector Batteries
This one is a duh! But worth repeating. Just like in a regular home make sure your smoke, propane, and carbon monoxide detectors have fresh batteries in them at all times. A good rule of thumb is to change all the batteries every six months. I use the days we adjust our clocks for daylight savings time and back, so it’s easy to remember.

Certify Propane System
Check and make sure a licensed LP technician has certified the rig. It’s a good idea to have it re-certified every few years. In many jurisdictions, there are mandatory inspection periods. They will inspect and test the propane system and check for any leaks.

Check your local laws regarding propane regulations. Here is an excellent article about RV propane safety from the Canadian Propane Association. If you ever smell propane vacate the RV immediately, call the fire department and if possible turn off the external propane tanks.

Driving With LP Gas On?
The age old question. “Can I leave my LP gas system on when traveling to keep my RV fridge running?” This question always spawns no-win arguments that lead to an endless circle of comments on RV forums and groups. Myself, I err on the side of caution. I’m not comfortable driving around with an open flame burning in my fridge compartment. And, I’m too lazy to worry about if I remembered to turn off the gas when I refuel, go through a tunnel or board a ferry, etc.

For what it’s worth in 5 years of full-timing with over 60,000 miles towed we have yet to have spoiled food in the fridge. When you think about it, the typical RV fridge is really like a large camping cooler but better insulated than most. I tent camped for years with coolers not near as good.

Don’t Overload Electrical Circuits
From what I’ve seen the average RV uses the bare minimum quality when it comes to electrical outlets. Most are lightweight and cheaply made. With that in mind, my advice is, don’t plug too many things into one outlet, especially high draw appliances or heaters. Try to spread the loads out between different outlets. Pick up a wattage meter and test how much current/power you may be drawing. If you are consistently maxing out an individual outlet, consider installing a heavy duty electrical box for it. Maybe even have the wiring beefed up to it.

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Favorite RV Dry Camping Mods and Gadgets

If you have followed the blog for a while you’ve come to know we love to boondock during our winter snowbird travels in the southwest. Over the last few years, I’ve been slowly outfitting the RV for off grid camping. We absolutely love the freedom.

The core of our boondocking system is power generation in the form of solar panels, extra large battery bank, and a portable generator. But beyond those essential items, there are many other mods and gadgets that have made our self-contained RV life a little easier.

Trimetric Battery System Monitor
Getting a detailed readout on the state the battery bank charge is vital. You’ll know when it is time to charge up the bank or if you should be adjusting power usage to conserve capacity. Letting batteries like our lead acid type run down too far can lead to reduced life and buying replacement batteries sooner than needed. In that respect, a quality battery monitor will pay for itself over time.

Our Trimetric battery monitor helps out a great deal by listing voltage, amperage in and out, and percentage of charge left in the bank. After I installed the unit I wondered how I did without it before. Compared to the old OEM dummy light gauge or fussing with a voltmeter or hydrometer, the Trimetric is super convenient.

I purchased the Trimetric TM2030-RV since I’m also using Bogart’s SC2030 solar charge controller and they work well in tandem. Another brand of battery monitor I hear good things about is from Victron the BVM-700.

SeeLevel Holding Tank Gauges
Once I’m are well aware of how much power is left the next concern is fresh water tank level. In some ways, it is even more important since power can be generated but fresh water is limited. My OEM gauge listed 4 levels: Full, two-thirds, one-third and empty. Not all that helpful!

So. this summer I upgraded to the SeeLevel II monitor and now have a percentage readout that gives me 25 different levels. The huge step up in precision is tremendously helpful if we find the need to ration our water usage to increase a boondocking adventure far off the grid.

Remote Water Pump
If the fresh water tank does hit bottom I’ve modded an easy way of adding extra water to squeeze out a little more time before needing to break camp. I travel with an extra 12 gallons of fresh water in two portable jugs. To aid in filling our RV fresh water holding tank I’ve repurposed an old 12 VDC water pump and hose as a remote water pump.

I soldered on a 12-volt DC cigarette lighter style plug and use the remote pump arrangement to transfer water from the jugs to the main RV tanks. Since our Keystone Cougar trailer has a waste tank capacity of 120 gallons and a fresh water capacity of 60 gallons, I can do this a few times to extend boondocking stays.

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Extra RV Shelving Mod for Our Towels and Linens

Are you always looking for ways to increase storage in the RV, but at the same time keep weight under control. One pain point for us has been storage of towels and linen. The take up a lot of space. Most of it is crammed into a hard to reach cabinet making access cumbersome.

When looking for extra storage space, I found an unused area directly above our toilet. There seemed to be enough room to mount a shelf or a small cabinet. I tested first to make sure I wouldn’t hit my head while doing my business. Then, off to the building supply store, I went.

In the shelving section, I found a wire basket type shelf to do the trick. Not only is it lightweight it was super easy to mount. Since the load is only towels or linens, a few screws and some plastic cable holders did the trick.

We have used the shelf for a few months now, and it’s worked out well, a welcome addition to the rig. The towel rack does block the overhead toilet lighting a bit, but it was overly bright anyway, so not a problem.

Tips for New RV Owners

There is a lot of responsibility that comes along with owning your own RV. Sure, it is exciting to purchase a rig that you can use for countless family vacations over the years to come, but that doesn’t mean you are living in a fantasy land – there are still real world matters to consider as you take ownership of such a large vehicle. If you are going to enjoy your RV to the greatest possible degree, it is important that you carefully weigh some of the matters that affect new RV owners.

Think First About Insurance
Just as with anything else that you own which carries significant value, you need to have insurance for your RV in order to operate it legally. Before you even finalize the purchase of your rig, you should already be in contact with an insurance company that offers RV coverage. You may be able to insure your RV with the same company that you use to cover your cars, or you may need to go in another direction. With your insurance sorted out, you can head to the road with confidence knowing you are protected.

Stay Out of the Way
When you take your RV out onto the open road, you just might feel like the king of the highway – after all, you will be bigger than just about anything other than the tractor trailer rigs that crisscross the country. However, despite your size advantage, the best thing to do while on the road is to defer to all of the small vehicles which are faster than you. Always pay attention to your surroundings on the road, be courteous in terms of using the right lane whenever possible, and give other cars plenty of room to move around you.

Don’t Go on a Shopping Spree
What is the first thing that many new RV owners want to do when they take possession of their rig? Go shopping, of course! There are countless RV gadgets and gizmos that you can find at your local camping store, and surely you need just about all of them if you are going to have a good time on vacation – right? Not really. Most of those gadgets are useless for your purposes, and there will be plenty of time down the line to buy a few of them if you do find that you have a specific need. For the time being, keep your credit card in your pocket and save your hard earned money.

Always Keep Up with Maintenance
It is easy to allow your RV to fall into disrepair if you ignore its needs early in your ownership. Make it a point to address any maintenance concerns as soon as you return from a trip so you can be sure that your RV is ready for the next vacation when it rolls around. You don’t want to have to go through a long checklist of maintenance points before you can take a trip, so handle those issues right away when you return. This will make your RV more enjoyable to own, and you will stand a better chance of getting a long useful life from the rig.