RV Resources - Chickery's Travels

WeBoost Cellular Booster Review

One of our greatest challenges to living & traveling full-time in our RV was internet access. We’re working remotely and need a reliable internet solution. We also have family that we want to keep in contact with frequent phone calls and video chat.

This article is our personal review of the WeBoost Cellular signal booster. We are no longer using this booster, you can read why below. If you want to read about what has worked for us the last few years, click here to see our review of the Pepwave router.

Cellular Data for Internet Access

After about six months of struggling with unreliable campground WiFi to access the internet, we decided to get a couple of Verizon Jetpacks, which function as internet mobile hotspots using a cellular network. With a cellular company like Verizon, you can choose the amount of data you want to pay for. This was a definite improvement, as they work well when we have a strong cellular signal. The problem is when we don’t have a great signal.

Our friends at TechnoRV have a FREE Cellular Information Guide you can download to learn more.

WeBoost Cellular Signal Booster

That’s where we turned to the WeBoost, a cellular signal booster. It is a 50 dB gain system, which is the most boost allowed by a cellular booster that can be used in motion. It has both an omni-directional outside and inside antenna. We decided to purchase it in a kit that comes with the following components:

WeBoost Amplifier
Omni-Directional Outside Antenna with Mounting Bracket
20 Feet RG6 cable for outside antenna
Desktop Inside Antenna with 15-foot cable
AC and DC Power Supply
Mounting Hardware

This system makes it easy to set up when you arrive at a location or to permanently mount it.

Basic Details:

Omni-Directional Antenna
Boosts Voice and Data
Works with Smart Phones and Mobile Hot Spots
Works with the Major Cell Carriers in US and Canada

Installation

Installation was very simple. Sean used the brackets to mount the omni-directional antenna to our ladder on the roof of the RV. The outside antenna would also work great with the TechnoRV Suction Cup Mount.

Then he drilled a hole in the vent fan cover to run the cable through to the inside of the RV. Afterward, he applied some silicone sealant around the cable and hole to avoid any leaks. He used command hooks to run the cable along with the ceiling inside the RV to the back wall where we have a power outlet. Then he mounted the amplifier to the wall. Finally, we have a little ledge on a loft space in our RV where we put the interior antenna and keep our Jetpacks.

WeBoost Review

The WeBoost Cellular booster was a definite improvement. We used it for a year from the east coast to the west coast in numerous campgrounds (and boondocking). It did helped increase our signal on both our iPhones, as well as our Verizon Jetpacks.

We dry camped in northern Texas for 2 weeks and had NO cellular service outside of our RV. However, inside the RV with the WeBoost, we always had at least 2 bars.

The ladder-mounted exterior antenna stayed firmed in place over some seriously bumpy highways. The wall-mounted interior amplifier has stayed in place as well, BUT the soldering broke. We called WeBoost customer service when it quit working and did not get a good response. They acted like it was an operator error. Sean opened it and saw the breakage inside. Since it was past the warranty date, we did not send it back, but we also decided to look for a more sturdy option.

We switched to the Pepwave router and it has worked perfectly for us for three years now.

8:00 am by Julie Chickery

Roadmap to Financial Freedom: Accountability Report June 2018

We wrote a blog post in January about how we were able to pay off $91,000 last year while living full-time in our RV. We are happy to be on our way to debt freedom because, as Dave Ramsey says, “the borrower is slave to the lender.” It took us several years to see this and with us both in our late 40s, we feel the pressure to work quickly to pay off our debts so we can feel comfortable about retiring. This is the third is a series of financial accountability reports.

We write this monthly blog post about our finances from the previous month. Mostly for our own accountability and also for encouragement to others on the same journey as us. I think the main point I want to make first is that we are not bragging by blogging about this. In fact, we are ashamed of the debt we accumulated and find it embarrassing to admit. We are sharing our story to keep ourselves accountable and hope that it may help someone else.

Debt

We are continuing our journey to becoming debt free and have $55,000 to go. We managed to pay off another $3,000 this month. This brings our grand total paid to $108,500 since we started tracking last year! All of this remaining debt is our Heartland Cyclone. We bought it new in 2014 and hope to have it paid off no later than next year.

Net Worth

May ended with our net worth ended at $204,793. Here is the breakdown.

Assets	Value
Vehicle	38,925
RV	57,510
Retirement Accounts	113,085
Other Investment	3,829
Bank Accounts	47,359
Total	260,708

Liabilities	Value
RV Loan	-55,915

Net Worth	$204,793

Notable Expenses

This month our net worth increased by approximately $180. We knew we would either barely increase or would, more likely, decrease our net worth in June. The main reason for the minimal increase was that our oldest son got married in June and that cost us $3,748. Luckily, we knew about the wedding long in advance and were able to put a set amount aside every month to cover our anticipated wedding expenses. We budgeted almost exactly and did not have to pull any money from other budget line items.

We had two big maintenance costs in June. We had one of our Level-Up jacks blow a seal and it needed to be replaced. The jack cost $490 with shipping and we managed to install it ourselves. This saved the cost of an RV technician and only cost us about 45 minutes of time. The other maintenance expense was more of a luxury than a necessity. We are upgrading from lead acid batteries to lithium. I spent $1700 in getting ready to install these batteries and getting the electronic system ready for solar. It was such a good deal and we could not pass it up after our boondocking experience in Wellington, TX in May. Both of these expenses were covered by our maintenance budget and we did not have to dip in to our savings.

Notable Income

In June, we received $50 in our investment account thanks to rebates from using our Fidelity credit card. We also received $204 in dividend income from our investments. This was all reinvested and we never carry a balance on our credit card. Since we are focused on paying off the RV, we have stopped putting additional funds in to our investment accounts, so these reinvestments really help keep our investments growing.

Our side hustle, Chickery’s Travels, generated $1254 in June. This money is being put back in to the business. We hope to keep growing and, at some point, be able to take some money out of the business as payment. Besides our pensions from the military, Sean is also still working part-time as a research consultant to add to the income streams.

Our Roadmap

The main thing that has helped us in keeping a budget. We use YNAB (You Need A Budget) for our monthly budgeting along with the Every Dollar app to track our daily purchases. Seeing where the money goes is definitely eye-opening and when you assign it at the beginning of the month, staying within the budget is much easier.

We’ve created monthly budget worksheets that you can download free here to help you itemize and track your income expenses. Click here to see our itemized full-time RV budget.

Future Plans and Projections

We do not plan any major purchases in July and plan on putting a larger chunk of money toward the RV debt. We reworked our budget projections in our recent budget meeting (yes, we have a monthly budget meeting!) and now project to have the RV completely paid off no later than March of next year.

This is the third month of publishing our road to debt freedom. This is more accountability for us to make sure we stay on track with our goals and do not stray too far off. It has really made a difference in our purchases over the past month. I find myself thinking about publishing this post when making a purchase. Do I really want to show a decrease in net worth for this thing? Do we really want have to publish that we made poor decisions? This blog really helps!

Thanks for reading this month and please follow along every month to see how the debt free journey is progressing.

1:26 pm by Julie Chickery

Odor Free RV Black Tank Tips

Banish black tank smells forever with these simple steps! Don’t be afraid to use your RV bathroom. Not having to use public restrooms or bathhouses when we travel is one of the reasons we love RV travel.

We’ve been living and traveling full-time in our RV for four years, using our bathroom just as we did in our sticks & bricks home. Even in the sweltering summer heat (we spent a couple in Florida), we were able to keep our bathroom and RV odor free by using the method we’ll outline in this post.

Continue on to read our step by step process or watch the video below.

Step 1. Keep the tanks closed until ready to flush.

If you are at a location with a sewer connection, you may be tempted to keep your camper’s black tank valve open and let the sewage flow freely. Don’t. This will result in the dreaded poop pyramid. Ever use an open pit toilet? You know the ones with no water at the bottom. Everything just starts building up. You need a lot of water to keep things flowing smoothly. In fact, I usually refill the toilet and give it an extra flush after most uses just to keep plenty of water in the tank. This will also help dissolve the toilet paper fully. Bottomline: Water is your friend and keep the tank valve closed until you are ready to dump.

Step 2. Flush the tank regularly.

It is important to flush your RV black tank regularly. This is easiest when you are at a campground with sewer hookups. We empty our black tank about every 5 – 7 days. If it is not 3/4 full, we add water to assist in completely draining the tank. We also recommend emptying it before travel to reduce the extra weight (water weighs ~8 lbs per gallon).

Open the valve and drain the black tank completely.
Back flush the camper’s black tank. Our main black tank has the built-in backflush inlet that most newer RVs come with. The black tank for the 2nd bathroom does not, so we purchased a Camco Dual Flush Pro Holding Tank Rinser. We backfill our tank for 4 minutes. Drain and repeat 1-2 times until the water is clear. I used to run inside and watch the tank monitor, but that got old so now I stay outside and time it.
Once the water is running clear, close the black tank valve, and backfill the black tank with about 2 gallons of water. Since we have the built-in system, we just time it for 90 seconds. If you don’t have that, you can do it from inside by flushing the toilet and letting the water flow down into the holding tank for that long.
We follow a black tank drain and flush cycle with a gray tank flush. We also have two gray tanks — one for the main bathroom (sink/shower) and one for the kitchen and the second shower. If are at a site with sewer hookups, we leave the main one closed until we’re ready to dump the black. We leave the 2nd gray tank open to drain as water is used. If you only have one gray tank and want to leave it open most of the time, we recommend closing it a day or two prior to your black tank flush so you can essentially wash out the sewer hose with the soapy gray water.
Finally, when we get back inside the RV, we add two capfuls of Calgon water softener and about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of liquid dish detergent (some people say Dawn, but we use a generic).

Step 3. Remember, Water is Your Friend

As previously mentioned, using plenty of water is the best thing to keep the RV black tanks flowing smoothly. Don’t be afraid to use it. We both often flush an extra time or two just to add water to the holding tank.

Water availability was a problem we encountered with our first boondocking experience. Also, although we were able to use the portable sewage system, we didn’t have enough water available to back flush the tank as we described above. Our solution was to drive to a dump station every other week. If you don’t have a washout at home, you can book-end boondocking or partial hook-up stays with full hook-up campground stays.

Learn More About Your RV Water Systems

Check out our book, A Complete Novice’s Guide to RV Water System’s Maintenance you want to learn more about your RV water systems, from preventive maintenance like flushing the water heater to sanitizing the freshwater tanks. It’s short, full of photos, and written in laymen’s terms. Even better, it’s free on Amazon Kindle Unlimited!

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