Christopher Hodapp - RVs & Campers For Dummies

You don’t have to buy a trailer at Camping World to use their very large RV stores. You’ll find lots of options there for your pets, including all sorts of outdoor beds and containment systems. There’s such a thing as handy portable dog fencing, and you can set up a little area as part of your normal campsite, like a large playpen. We saw one guy who went whole hog, setting up enough of the fencing that it took in the entirety of his campsite, so when he opened the door, his dog could jump out without coming to grief and wander at will. As we watched, it only took him 10 or 15 minutes to set up, so it’s not quite as labor-intensive as it sounds, though you’ll need a space for storing it.

Loads of campers travel with their cats, too. This seems a tall order to us, especially because cats tend to attach to places. The cats we’ve owned didn’t travel well, even to the vet, though of course they weren’t used to it. However, it can be done, and we’ve seen it. Besides, if you live on the road, your RV becomes the place your cat attaches to. Just be aware that you’ll need space for the litter box where you won’t trip over it (the bathroom of an RV, in this case, is perhaps not the best choice). The classic kitty litter open tray isn’t the best idea for RVing, either. Go to YouTube, search for “RV with cats,” and stand back — the RV community has tons of online advice for making trips with your cats easier.

Also, be aware that, according to our vet and several veterinary websites, cats in a tow vehicle should be transported in a carrier. We knew a guy whose cat always rode on the back dash, but we don’t recommend it. One slam on the brakes could cause an injury.

On the issue of home office space in RVs, manufacturers are way behind the times. Once, on a company tour, Chris asked one of the designers why it was so difficult to find an RV with a built-in desk. The clearly annoyed designer shrugged it off and groused that everybody was going to have their little wants: “Everyone thinks they know better how to design an RV.”

Sorry fella, but in this case, they do know better. Over 40 million Americans regularly go RVing, with 25 million on the road in any given year, and more people now work from home than ever before. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of at-home workers skyrocketed higher than ever before. You don’t have to be Einstein to figure out that millions of Americans would like to be able to work from the road.

For a decade, RVers who fall into this category have been pleading for models skewed toward them, with a small desk area, a proper charging station to keep needed devices organized, and a reasonable Wi-Fi connection solution. This wouldn’t be a difficult design change, but so far, the RV industry has turned a deaf ear. Many an RV built for two is inflicted with a positively enormous dinette area, far beyond what’s needed, while some of that valuable space could easily have been used for at least a tiny desk.

A dealer will tell you he can accommodate you. He’ll direct you to the bunkhouse, which can be “easily reconfigured,” or worse, to the dinette. “Hey, you guys like to work together! Won’t it be great, sharing a workspace across from each other?” No, it won’t.

So, now’s the time to examine those scary words custom job, the ones that sound so expensive. Many companies specialize in custom work for RVs, more of them every day. But the truth is, if your workstation is simple, you really can do much of it yourself. Office furniture from specialty RV furniture makers is usually expensive. The majority of great offices in RVs we’ve seen were done by the owners. You can find tons of videos on YouTube telling you how to yank out a too-big dining area and redo it for a desk, often something residential, picked up someplace like IKEA. A much smaller eating area can be done at the same time, or you can use recliners with tray tables that can be raised and then folded down again. There are all sorts of ideas for redoing an area of an RV with a vanity or a dresser. Actually, a bunkhouse can make a terrific office, if you don’t need the space for the kids. It all depends on how much space you need for what you do.

If you know you’ll need an office, think about it during the shopping process. And never underestimate the power of YouTube. Search for the name of the model you’re looking at, and see if anyone has already done it.

Do you really need a washer, dryer, dishwasher, and fireplace in an RV? In the higher-end RVs, these amenities can dazzle a first-time buyer, and it’s understandable. Seeing what can be done in an RV is cool! You may decide that, for your style, these appliances are absolute necessities, but give it a think.

We don’t mean to go all psychological here, but there’s a tendency to think that if you’re going to be on the road for a long time, you must have all the conveniences you

have at home and that you’ll be unhappy without them. The RV industry nowadays certainly plays into these fears, with amenities available to campers that our parents couldn’t have imagined.

In the following sections, we cover the main ones to consider.

The electric fireplaces in many big RVs tend to get smirks from some people, who wonder why you don’t just start a campfire. But they’re cute, casting a pretty light at night, and more important, serving as an electric space heater. When you’re camping, you often come in wet and chilled. Heating your sitting area with an electric fireplace is very comfortable.

Of course, RVs have heating systems, but these fireplaces make a nice little addendum to it, particularly if you’re hooked up to shore power in a park. Firewood and furnace propane both cost you money, but an electric fireplace uses the campground’s electricity. So, if nothing else, they have a slight economic benefit.

Full-timers on the road or snowbirds who live in an RV for months are the ones who want washers and dryers the most, and it’s understandable. They’re becoming increasingly common in large rigs, including fifth wheels, Class As, Super Cs, and certainly in “destination” trailers built for long-term use.

The overwhelming majority of campgrounds have washers and dryers (you pay with coins or sometimes credit cards), as do most of the larger truck stops. Let’s be frank here: Many people find the thought of hauling tons of laundry in and out dreary and weary, and they may find the thought of using a public laundry distasteful, imagining the worst. We’re not exactly wealthy, but we hadn’t used a public laundry, or even a private apartment one, since we were in our early twenties. Having our own washer and dryer was a convenience we were used to, and this makes the idea of having your own built-in washer/dryer very appealing on the road.

But RV washer/dryer units are generally small, and there are lots of things they can’t handle, like bedspreads and heavy loads of bath towels or bathrobes, even jeans in some cases, which means you may find yourself having to use the occasional campground laundry anyway, as well as having to hang-dry some items. Ventless dryer systems, for those who don’t want to cut a hole in the side of the trailer for an installation, take a good deal longer to dry clothes.