The RV truths

So I will be the first to tell you I was overtly naive about RVing, there are things that are just outside the normal thought process.   Noise while driving, I spent the first 30 minutes with stick cabinet cushions finding and eliminating rattles as we drove down the road.  Dishes need to be separated with some form of cushion so they don't rub and rattle as you drive.

 The bed/mattress.  Well that thing SUCKS, we slept on it one time and it had to GO.  It is a 3" thin POS that is worse than the sofa hide-away with the bar down the center. 

 RV mattresses are not the standard length, so if you are tall your feet are going to dangle off the edge. Our unit was the slide to the back so slapping the "real" length over the opening left us with more than foot off the platform.  Which caused sagging. So I had to rig it.  Also I had to prop the bed up  when not in use, the hinges are not strong enough for the "real" mattress.  

Slide-out motors are WEAK, they are not designed to pull/push any real amount of weight.  The wonderful engineers are just looking to catch your attention with the shock and awe of the expansion.  Rather than the long term function of the slide.  Do the research slides are the #1 issue/complaint of RVers.  The industry knows there is an issue, hence the very limited warranty.   Keep them clean and check them often. The heavier mattress means we have to two person the bed slide, we need sleep so that is what we have to do.

No matter what you paid for the rig, they are built fast and CHEAP.  There are things that make you rub your head, they are that archaic in thought.  Seriously there is some older than dirt man in charge of the floor plans, and functionality of the rigs.  ALL of the companies are in the same lane so your floor plan choices are actually quite limited.  Really think about how you are going to use the unit, be honest about your lifestyle, as well as the price when selecting the model.  A major negative with the rear bed slide is that we have to take the motorcycle off the ramp to move the bed out.  And we lost the back ladder which we would use to mount a bike rack for our bicycles.   Which is an issue when traveling for an entire day and you just want to sleep.  Nope you have to take down the bikes.

Storage is a perplexing issue.  You can get very "tight" in a very short time just living in the unit.  The walls are hollow so towel/coat hooks have to be installed with rivets not screws. The cabinets are open hollow spaces that allow movement and shifting as you drive.  Grip shelf liner helps but doesn't solve the issue.  Small storage baskets are your friend.

The impossibly small RV frig.  Get creative here.  I froze serving size meals that I could toss in the instant pot.  Worked like a charm.  I will totally keep doing that.  Nothing better than chili, jambalaya, stew, various soups from frozen to warmed in minutes with no prep mess.

The kitchen is TINY so meal prep needs to be well thought out.  Also cooking and cleaning the mess.  You are on limited water usage and used storage.

The black and gray tanks.  They stink after only a couple of days.  I have tried EVERYTHING,  And the gray water gets a soar foal odor completely different from the black sewer tank.  We now know that twen we travel we plan on hitting a dump station or an RV park with full hookups every 4th day, at the max.  I am never doing a dump tank on wheels AKA a honey pot.  Nope that is never happening.  I am also very smell adverse so I do best with 2 day dumps.

RV toilet paper, well that is a REAL think I have only used "septic" safe one time, and it took me forever to get the tank completely clean the paper clumps and STICKS to the sides of the tank.  So NEVER again.  The RV paper really does dissolve.  Northern did not. Makes me question even using that in my house septic system.

SO learn from our lesson, Go as big as you can afford to go.  Be honest about the usage you will really do.  We have used ours 3 times in 3 months and plan on more trips when we get a bigger unit.  Yup you read that right we are going bigger.  I want opposing slide in the living room area.  The space gets real tight when you get rained in and trapped.   We are selling and as soon as it sells I'll let you know where we go from here.  But until she goes we have more trips planned.

Happy Rving