Julie

February 16, 2023 by Julie 6 Comments

Traveling with Restricted Breed Dogs

Traveling with pets can be tricky, particularly if you have dogs that others perceive to be “aggressive.” In this article, I’ll share some information we’ve learned over the years about traveling with restricted breed dogs.

If your dogs aren’t restricted breeds, scroll on down to the “At the Campground” and “How to Keep Your Dogs Safe in the Car” paragraphs. They apply to all dog owners.

We actually stumbled into full-time RV living three years ago because we were relocating to a new city with these beauties (the dogs, not the boys). This was for a fairly short-term work assignment of 18 months and we wanted to rent. We quickly learned that our pretty pooches, a Chow and Dutch Shepherd, were so-called “Aggressive” breeds.

But My Dogs Aren’t Aggressive

While dogs like ours carry the stigma of being tough and aggressive, we like so many other pet owners, can attest to the fact that they are as sweet and loving as any other dog. Actually, I think my dogs are more loving than any other!! We adopted our chow Teddy as a puppy 14 years ago, and he’s the most docile dog we’ve ever met. We adopted Barca, a dutch shepherd, from the US Air Force 3 years ago. She’s a highly trained military working dog, who is now enjoying retirement. We’ll talk about the cat later…

Not only are they sweet, but our dogs are senior citizens. We have to use this ramp to get them in and out of the fifth wheel safely!

Breed Restrictions

Unfortunately, these breed restrictions are becoming more and more common. There are now more than 100 breeds of dogs currently banned or restricted somewhere in this country. And more are being added all the time. Sadly, Akitas, Boxers, Bulldogs, Chows, Dobermans, Huskies, Malamutes, Mastiffs, and Shepherds are routinely showing up on banned lists.

Since we have started traveling, we’ve realized that some campgrounds ALSO have breed restrictions. They usually cite municipal ordinances or insurance stipulations. It breaks our heart and can be frustrating, but a quick search always turns up other campgrounds who welcome our fur babies! Now it is just another item on our checklist to ensure our dogs are welcome.

Advice for Traveling with Restricted Dog Breeds

Before You Arrive

Call Ahead. Don’t wait until you arrive and end up being disappointed. Ask the question, be clear about any restrictions. I’ve encountered campgrounds, particularly on beaches, that don’t allow pets of any kind in certain areas.
Be Honest. If your dog is a mix breed, and one of the “mixes” is on the restricted list you may just want to pass on the campground. It’s not worth the misunderstanding and headache that can occur later if the camp host visually identifies your dog as restricted.
Seek out Possible Exemptions. Service dogs are routinely exempted from the restrictions. However, don’t try to bend the rules and identify your dog as a service animal for these purposes. It makes it harder for people who truly need service animals.

At the Campground

The American Humane Society provides the following guidelines to ensure you and your dog are responsible community members. If all dog owners (regardless of breed), follow these tips, it can lessen the stigma associated with pets.

Scoop your poop. Bring several bags on your walks to be sure you have enough. If you run out, either come back and clean it up later or ask another walker if they have a bag to spare.
Prevent barking. Practice getting your dog’s attention to easily redirect him if he barks at people or other dogs. If you know your dog acts this way, only allow him in the yard when supervised. Learn how to handle barking and other common behavior issues here.
Only let your dog greet a stranger if they ask. The same rule applies if you see another dog and owner approaching. Ask first and respect the other’s response.
Always leash your dog on walks. Not everyone is comfortable around dogs. Keep your dog close to you and stay alert to others. Your leash should be short enough to prevent your dog from contacting or jumping on passersby.
Don’t play while on leash. If you meet another dog on a walk (and it’s alright with their owner) let the dogs sniff each other for five seconds and move on. Letting your dog play with another dog while on a leash can result in injury and teach your dog that all dogs enjoy this kind of interaction, although many don’t.
Be aware of other people’s feelings. If your dog does something to upset someone (jumping up, barking) apologize to them and take measures to prevent the situation from reoccurring.

Struggling to Find Dog Friendly Campgrounds?

GoPetFriendly.com is a great resource that provides detailed pet policies for many campgrounds including any breed restrictions they impose. They have several pet-friendly destination guides, and I highly recommend reading their article, Best Dog Friendly National Parks.

BringFido.com also provides information on pet-friendly campgrounds.

To read how we full-time with a cat, click here.

Keep you dog cool while camping with the raised bed. Raised bed and mesh cot provides air flow. — **Vehicle Safety Tips**

Before you load up the RV for your next adventure, you’ll want to be sure you’re doing everything you can to keep your dog safe on the road. From proper restraint methods to making sure their spaces are comfortable, follow these tips for driving with pets to keep your pup happy and safe on the ride.

1. Invest in a good-quality dog seatbelt or harness that is comfortable for your pup and will keep them safe in case of an accident.
2. Never leave your dog alone in the vehicle unless you have the air conditioner running, even if it’s just for a quick errand – the temperature can rise quickly and become dangerous.
3. Make sure you have plenty of water and food for your dog on long rides, as well as some toys to keep them entertained.
4. Take breaks often during long travel days so that your dog can stretch their legs and relieve itself.
5. Be aware of other cars on the road, as well as pedestrians and cyclists, when driving with your dog to avoid any accidents.

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May 17, 2020 by Julie Leave a Comment

All About Workamping

One thing that extended or full-time RV travelers are concerned about is making their money last. That is where workamping comes into play. It provides a way to reduce expenses or even earn extra money by working at the campground or a local business.

What is workamping?

The term “workamper” was trademarked by Workamper News in 1987. They define it as “individuals, couples and families who combine ANY kind of part-time or full-time work with RV camping.” Now at this point you may be asking, “why would I want to work while I’m camping?” The simple answer is that it allows you to stay out on the road longer. As a workamper, you can supplement retirement income, earn a full income, or even trade your services in exchange for a campsite.

Even better, you can do it in the location of your choosing. If you’ve always wanted to visit a particular area, you might be able to find a position that will provide a free or discounted site, as well as free or discounted activities.

What kind of jobs are available?

If you can imagine it, there is most likely a job for you. Our friends, Levi & Natalie have tried many of them too. In fact, they have been workamping year round for almost six years now. They wrote a book about their experiences, Seasonal Workamping for a Living.

We recently interviewed them about the book and some of their jobs:

Here are some of the more common opportunities:

Amazon CamperForce

This is a common one for RVers to earn money over the holidays. It includes long days in a warehouse doing repetitive work, but can be a good way to pile up some cash over just a couple of months.

Sugar Beet Harvest

This is another example of a way to earn money in a short period of time. In fact, it typically only lasts a couple of weeks. While you’ll work 12-hour shifts, you can earn up to $8,000 in that time period.

Holiday Lots

Another short term seasonal workamping job is managing a holiday lot selling pumpkins in the fall, Christmas trees in the winter, or even fireworks in the summer. These positions typically require the RVer to park on the lot. Compensation can be in the form of a specific wage or commission. Levi and Natalie did a great video series on their experience running a Christmas tree lot.

Camp Host

Serving as a camp host is a very common workamping position. Both public and private campgrounds employ RVers to perform tasks such as taking reservations, checking in campers, cleaning the campground facilities, and various maintenance tasks.

Many of the public campgrounds like state and national parks provide a site in exchange for the work, rather than pay an hourly wage. However, they typically require substantially less hours – often 15 to 20 hours per week. Private RV resorts and campgrounds may provide a site or discount one while also providing an hourly wage (averaging $10 per hour), but expect full-time employees.

If this is something you think you might be interested in, we recommend watching the video below where our friends Phil & Stacy share their experiences camp hosting.

Visitor Information & Interpretation

We’re still working full-time (read more about that here), but when we retire this is the position that appeals to me the most: providing visitor information and interpretation at a National Park. As previously mentioned, these positions are typically considered “volunteer” and compensation includes a free full hook-up site and a good feeling in your heart for supporting the National Parks. Duties typically include staffing the visitor center, answering questions, and giving informal interpretive talks a few days a week.

How to get a workamping position

Review job listings on Workamper News and choose a few that best meet your travel schedule and work preferences.
Apply early. You won’t be the only one that wants to work at the bucket list destinations like Yosemite or the Grand Canyon.
Create a resume that highlights your experience. Once again, I highly recommend Workamper News resources for helping you create a resume that translates your previous work history to suit the needs of common workamping jobs.

Questions to ask during the interview

You should not take a position without an interview. These will typically occur via telephone or video call. In addition to answering the prospective employer’s questions, you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions of your own. Here are a few things you may want to know.

How many hours per week are required per person/couple?
Will couples be on the same schedule?
How many days per week are required?
Will a full hookup site be provided? If so, will the value be deducted from any pay.
What is the pay structure (if any)?
Will you have access to Wifi and a cell signal?
What other amenities are available – laundry, bath house, etc.?
Are pets allowed?

Learn more about Workamping from the experts

Join us at the 10^thannual Workamper Rendezvous in Heber Springs, Arkansas October 17 – 23, 2020. The eventfeatures a variety of seminars, group activities, workshops, and social gatherings all geared towards delivering the information and resources you need to take off on your RVing adventures. They even have a job fair on the last day!

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Learn how to make money on the road through Workamping. Find opportunities like camp host, visitor center attendant, holiday lot sales, and more. Seasonal wonkamping can be done year round to fund your full-time RV lifestyle.

April 27, 2020 by Julie Leave a Comment

Easy DIY RV Care and Maintenance

We all know what a valuable investment your RV is. And, of course, there’s the cost of maintenance — or worse, the repair costs if you let your regular RV maintenance fall by the wayside.

Fortunately, RV maintenance and repair are some of the easiest costs of RV ownership to defray. Namely, by doing as much as possible yourself. This is so important because of the rate of growth in the RV industry has outpaced the growth of trained repair technicians. In fact, the RVIA estimates that each certified RV tech is responsible for servicing 658 RVs.

What does this mean for us RV users? Possibly long waits to get maintenance performed. When you want to use your RV, you want it to be ready. And if you are a full-time RVer, having service done can really be inconvenient if you have to wait for it, or even worse give up your home.

Start with these preventive maintenance basics, and you’ll get more familiar with your RV and more confident in working on it. That may lead to tackling bigger projects and saving even more money.

If you’d like to have easy to follow video tutorials for these tasks and more, check out Fix It Yourself, a self-guided online course where certified RV tech Ed Wilcox walks you through all the steps you need to know to properly maintain your rig and fix problems when they come up.

Create a Schedule

The best way to take care of your RV is to create a preventive maintenance schedule. If you purchase a new RV, you’ll get a big bag of books. That is because aside for the structure of the RV itself, just about every component was made by someone else. For example, we have an Arctic Fox Fifth Wheel made by Northwood Manufacturing, the refrigerator is a Norcold by Dometic, the stovetop & oven is a Furrion, the entry steps are made by MorRyde, the air conditioner is a Coleman, and so on.

The only way to know what preventive maintenance needs to be performed is to read these documents. If you purchased your RV used, you can find just about any manual online. Each manual typically includes a preventive maintenance schedule. We made a master schedule using Google Sheets. You could also add the items to your calendar and set reminders so you don’t forget.

Batteries

First, we’ll discuss the regular maintenance that you should perform monthly on your house batteries. There are a couple of different types of batteries that you may encounter in an RV, lead acid (flooded or AGM/gel) and lithium. Since lithium batteries require pretty much zero upkeep, we’re going to discuss lead acid here. If you’re interested to know more about lithium batteries and why we choose to convert to them, click here to read about our power upgrade.

Regardless of the type of lead acid battery you have, flooded or gel, it is important to know that you should never discharge them below a 50% charge. If you do, your batteries will lose energy carrying capacity. A few other things you need to do include:

Maintain water levels in flooded-cell batteries. The least expensive (and therefore most common) type of lead acid battery is called flooded-cell. Over time, flooded-cell batteries lose water with each charge cycle, and this water needs to be replenished. You must use distilled water to help reduce the formation of sulfate crystals when the battery plates are exposed to air. You should check the water level at least once per month.
Clean battery terminals. Typically a wire brush is all that is needed to perform this task, however, you can also use a mixture of baking soda and water or a commercial battery contact cleaning product.
Perform maintenance even when stored.Lead acid batteries self-discharge even when not in use. Be sure to keep an eye on this or set up a trickle charger. If you don’t keep your RV at home, it might be easier to at least remove the house batteries and take them home with you. This makes it simpler to check the charge, fluid level, etc.

Generators

Motorized RVs and larger fifth wheels will come with an on-board generator. Many RVers choose to purchase portable generators for their travel trailers and smaller fifth wheels. Regardless of what type you have there are two main things you can do to keep it running well.

Exercise it.Your generator should be run on 50% load for 2 hours each month.
Change the oil, filter, and fluids.You can purchase a kit with everything you need for your particular generator like this one on Amazon.

Water Tanks

When it comes to RV water tanks, let’s first talk about getting water into your RV. You’ll either fill your fresh water tank and use your water pump for water when traveling, or will be at a campground where you can be hooked up to “city water.” No matter which method, you’ll want to have two very important pieces of equipment at the water faucet: a water pressure regulator and a water filtration system. Click here to read more about the importance of water filtration and to see our DIY water filter system.

Fresh Water Tank –You’ll want to sanitize this periodically. We do it at least twice per year. The simplest way is to bypass the water heater, and add ¼ cup bleach per gallon of water or one ounce of bleach for every eight gallons. Allow it to sit for 12 hours before draining. Then run fresh water through your tap until you can’t smell bleach any longer.
Gray Water Tank –This is the waste water holding tank for the sinks and showers in your RV. Since the waste water already has soap in it, there isn’t much maintenance required. The most important thing you can do is have a drain catcher for hair in the shower and food particles in the kitchen sink. This will keep it from getting clogged and to prevent odors.
Black Water Tank –This where the waste from flushing the toilet goes. The most important thing you can add to this tank is water. You need to be sure you have some water in the tank before using it the first time, then be sure to use plenty of water when flushing. This will ensure that everything flows out of the tank when dumping. Also, never leave the black tank release valve open even when hooked up to sewer. This is what causes the dreaded poo pyramid. Click here to see our step by step process for maintaining an odor free black tank.

Another task that should be completed a couple of times a year is flushing your water heater.

Tires

There are several things you can do to maintain your tires:

Slow down. Many RV (and especially trailer) tires are not rated to be driven over 65 mph. Check your owner’s manual to verify the maximum speed recommended for your tires.
Conduct a visual inspection regularly. Check the tread and sidewalls for wear and cracks.
Keep them properly inflated. This is so important that we use a Tire Pressure Monitoring System to monitor the pressure and temperature while driving. We feel so strongly about it, we have an entire article dedicated to this topic. You can read it here.

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