Eric

Are you and your RV ready to hit the road? If not, let's get it ready for the next excellent RV getaway. That's what we're going to discuss, and staying on the road today. But before we get into that, we should talk about enjoying RV life and overcoming RV towing anxiety. A lot of people face that when they're towing an RV or a trailer.

Eric

And that anxiety's just got to go. And now, we will go to the Next Stop, the unique New Orleans. When discussing traveling there, some things to do in an area discuss RV water hoses, which may sound tedious. We'll try to make it exciting, and it won't be long either. So don't worry about and blather on about water hoses forever.

Eric

So this is Eric Stark with TheSmartRVer Podcast, delivering the smarts you need to enjoy the freedom of the RV lifestyle without the fear of breaking down. So, this is episode number 147. So, let's get into it. Welcome to the show again, Alexis.

Alexis

Thank you. I'm glad to be here.

Eric

One more time.

Alexis

Yeah. Thanks for putting up with me, as always. Yeah.

Eric

In the past, I've talked about RVs, which have this Central Command center. One brand is “In Command,” which is a tablet. Press that tablet, and it opens, closes, and turns everything on and off the RV. And I don't care for them. I would not buy an RV with one.

Eric

Eric

Eric

One thing about these is that they bring in the slide-outs and the awnings, which are taken care of, so you can travel. It may turn out the lights or other things, but you can handle that. They're not my favorite thing, but if you have one, it's upgradable, so it's not a panic.

Eric

It might be the money you'll have to spend later on to do it, but it's a basic system. Once it's almost got to be there, it'd be a lot of work to bypass that entire system. Here is an update on that. So that's if you have that tablet in the center of your RV, and it opens and closes everything.

Eric

It's a pain if it fails, but at least it is upgradable now. And that's from In Command. I have yet to talk to the other brands, but In Command is a big brand made by SC Electronics, a good company. They've been producing electronics for RV use for years, and they're a trusted name, so that might give you a little comfort to sleep at night if you're worried about that.

Eric

But I will eventually fail. Don't get me wrong; it's going to fail. It's just a matter of when that's in command. So anyway, if you have one of those, ensure you have the manual for it and have your model number handy. Like you said, everything does fail. You're ready to replace it, and it's also a do-it-yourself thing.

Eric

It's simple. It's a central command center plug-and-play, and you get the circuit board. You take pictures of all the wires, mark them, and you'll be ready. I wouldn't even worry about it. Let's go on with the show now. As a reminder, go to our YouTube channel if you want to watch some videos about RV stuff that we do.

Eric

So it's TheSmartRVer.com. We're on YouTube now. Just jump into enjoying the RV life. Now, we're going to talk about towing anxiety. You know, many people get nervous just thinking about towing an RV. So, Alexis, what made you choose this article?

Alexis

I talk about myself and how I'd probably be nervous had I not had a lot of experience with this. But that shouldn't stop you from having fun and learning to tell a trailer. It's important, and you want to know how to do it, even if you’re not always the main driver.

You still want to know how to do this if you have to get yourself out of a situation. The first point is that knowledge is power. You must understand how it works and where it will go when turned a certain way. That's the first step. So educate yourself and ensure you know what you're doing, what you're working with, and what kind of technology you're using.

Eric

Yeah, just have somebody show you even and try to copy that. Starting small is good. You don't have to back it down to a narrow road on the side of a cliff, you know, for two miles. That's different from where you should start if you can help it. Right. Practice is an excellent thing to do before you're in a situation or even just going to a campground.

Alexis

Just make sure you're ready to do it again. Having quality towing equipment would be a good thing. We've talked about that. There's a lot you can do, such as planning and preparing. Do you have anything better? I know you've done this a lot.

Eric

And always do. So, one of the things I would recommend is listed here, and this is on our website. They're enjoying RV life, navigating the road to overcoming RV and towing anxiety. But knowing the terminology is so often RV years come in the year, and they describe stuff and say, I need one of these, and you show it to my house, not what I need, because they call everything the same thing when it comes to towing trailer.

Eric

Unless a fifth-wheel hitch is different, and even then, there are other brands. What kind of hits do you have? I don't know. So, fifth-wheel hits are all the same.

Alexis

You're right.

Eric

You know, that's not. And so it reduces the stress of trying to get the right pass and understand what someone's talking about. Everything's not a hitch. Believe me. Hitches are on the back of a truck, their motor to the bottom. That's the only hitch you have. Exactly. You know, you have a wheel sway, control, weight, distribution, bars, the shank, whatever you want to call it.

Eric

Some people call it a stinger where the ball mounts or a ball mount, but getting that terminology correct is vital because it helps people and helps you when you're talking to someone else or someone to explain things. You know what they're talking about—precisely that. And then, Alexis mentions starting small or, you know, taking it easy, you know, finding a place to practice backing up going forward.

Eric

She also mentioned that maybe you're the passenger all the time, but knowing how to tow would be great.

Alexis

Me up.

Eric

In case something happens—and things do happen—it's not just Tony who's hooking up the trailer.

Alexis

Yes.

Eric

Fifth-wheels are more straightforward to hook up. But a trailer sometimes seems overwhelming. You do want to get it hooked up right either way. This also brings up the idea of investing in quality towing equipment. And yeah, you want to buy good stuff.

Eric

You brand names, don't buy cheap Taiwan garbage. Be careful on the significant online platforms. Make sure it's a brand. Kurt Reece: Yeah, he's left one of those brands because it matters. You are towing something but don't have to go wild with it. I bought a basic towing or weight distribution system for my trailer.

Eric

Just one has the chains. It holds the weight distribution bars. I don't have a fancy one cause I don't need it. And it's easier to use. Parts are easier to get something breaks. Who cares? It's cheap enough.

Alexis

Nice.

Eric

Eric

It might be worth looking into and considering where you're traveling. Stay on a dead-end road if you're anxious about backing up three or four miles. If you can't turn around, you'll have to back out because it might be impossible sometimes. If it's a windy road, backing out of a trailer could take hours and hours.

Eric

You are now trying to get there without going off the side or hitting things, so you want to know where you go. Yeah, before you find yourself in a spot where you can't back out, and sometimes you might not even be able to turn around. Or even if you unhook the trailer, how could you turn it around?

Eric

You know, you have to think about it. Don't learn that one the hard way.

Alexis

New.

Eric

And you know, there's a website called RVSafety.com. There's a lot of good information on there, and they have charts and stuff to help you hook up or what kind of truck will match this trailer. They have videos for sale and courses you can take online, you know, via the video. I highly recommend checking it out; it's worth it.

Eric

It might not be your cup of tea, but it might be something you need or someone you know needs. But you want to practice and don't just wait for things to happen. Also, make sure your total vehicle has good mirrors. Mirrors are essential. Yes, evil mirrors, bad problems, and having a rear observation system that's great for when you're going down the road, not just when you're backing up. Leave it on all the time.

Eric

It helps you make lane changes safer and makes it easy to solve problems. Your tires are coming apart, and you can't see in the mirror, but your camera's picking it up. All right, so let's move on. Now that you know how to overcome that anxiety of towing, we can start a whole new anxiety for you. Just kidding.

Eric

Staying on the Road. This is, again, a follow-up from the last episode, De-Winterizing your RV. So this is getting it ready the rest of the way, getting ready to hit the road so you're not finding yourself. You’re stressed out trying to prepare everything the night before the trip. Then also, Oh, now look at this.

Eric

and getting ahead of it is the key. So when you're ready to hit the road, it is more than d winterizing. You know, that's what we talked about last episode 146. Getting ready to hit the road is mental and physical, so you have to mentally start getting ready, making plans, thinking about what you need to do, where you're going, and that type of planning.

Eric

Is your RV ready now? When you do winterize, you check out the entire RV, but now it comes to putting all the stuff you took out during the wintertime back in. You don't leave it in the RV. Or there are some things you need to add and some to take out.

Eric

Now's the time to do that. Of course, adding things to the RV will depend on what they are. Suppose you want to leave them on the RV if they're specifically for the RV or for things you take out of the house just for a trip. Yeah, there are a lot of personal things there. So that's your RV.

Eric

You also have your Toby Echo, which will probably be a truck or an SUV to transport your trailer—assuming it's a trailer. If you have a motorhome, then you're focused there. That's your total vehicle if you want to call it that, because that's your motorhome.

Eric

But you might be towing a car as well. So you want to look at that system, the towbar, the brackets, and ensure the car's ready to be towed. So again, you can apply the principles they use here in both directions. So, some people like to wait the night before they go on a trip to start packing the RV or going through it.

Eric

And, you know, especially after wintertime, Oh, I'll just wait. You see, I don't have time. I want to use the time effectively. This all seems redundant, but, you know, when you wait till the last minute, you always miss things, and then you find yourself at a store buying things that were so simple that you could have just brought or things you got to live without now because it's too expensive to replace or not worth it.

Eric

Getting ready earlier rather than later is much better. And you know, when you go out on that first trip of the season, you don't want to make it feel like you just bought and are starting all over because you forgot everything. Did it do this then to do that? You know, organize your plans and have a great trip.

Eric

That's what it's all about—an excellent trip for a day or two. Sometimes, you can do without things. But why? If you don't have to, knowingly leaving something behind is much better than forgetting it. So everybody does it. But we try to reduce that. Now, if you have a trailer, you've done everything you know, and when you do, when it arrives, you check it out.

Eric

It's all in good shape. So now you look at the tow vehicle, truck, or SUV and want to ensure it's in good shape. The tires are there, and the tread is good. The hitch is still on the vehicle. You'll check the spare, ensuring it's even there. Sometimes, spares get stolen.

Eric

You don't even know it. And so you have to use it. Where's my spare? Or it's flat. It doesn't just happen on trailers but also on vehicles. That was quite often on cars. You know, spares never get checked. So check your spare or, you know, go through the motions of that. You know, the tow vehicle has its maintenance requirements.

Eric

It may be time to maintain the transmission service and oil change, or you want to take it to the shop, get those all changed on it, and check everything out. But telling them you're going on a trip will likely motivate them to check it out more. Seriously, it should. They might think this guy's gone on a journey, so he wants to ensure everything's in shape.

Eric

You don't have to tell us. Just a weekend getaway 100 miles away. Just tell me, going on a big trip is all you have to do. They'll be more sincere about it, especially regarding the tires and things like that. The fan belts, the cooling system. So if you take it to a shop, you want all that checked.

Eric

If you're doing it yourself, you know what to maintain on your RV, or do everything I mentioned plus more and take care of it. Nothing is worse when the trailer has no problems, but your total vehicle does. If a fan belt breaks, a tire comes apart when you could have caught that, and now you're buying a set of tires out on the road. Not only is it more expensive, but it might be different from the tires you want.

Eric

So now you're settling for something, but you must do it. There can be a lot to all this, even just a regular trip in the middle of the season, depending on how you do things. But you know what? You take in and out of your RV, what you leave it to versus what you don't.

Eric

But you're not. The first trip might be getting your tire pressure monitoring system back up and running, you know, making sure the tires are aired up, that the tires registering on the screen of the monitor, make sure the backup camera's working, that if you have two-way radios like walkie talkies and stuff to keep in communication when you're at your destination, what are they charged up, ready to go?

Eric

Is your camera ready to go? You're everything. If you're making money on the road, is all your gear there to make some money? You know, whatever it might be. So you want to check all these things. And remember power cords, adapters for work, glass, your tools, and a cordless drill. Is it a charger? You need the charger bits for it.

Eric

You know the drill is excellent, but then you need to take out some screws. You don't have any bits that fall pointless at that time. So it's going through, and a list might be hard, or a general list might be easier than a very detailed one. Still, a general list: grab a cordless drill and bits, tools, wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, electrical things, water stuff, and water fittings.

Eric

So you have much to do when checking out your RV or getting everything ready for traveling. But it is a necessity. Like I said, breaking down on the road sucks, especially when you have your family with you. Then you're not a hero anymore. You're a zero and want to be a hero.

Eric

You want to get there without any problems arising, man. You just tackle it. It's no big deal because something will always happen on a trip. There's always something. So, going on a journey with just one or two things you can deal with is fine. But a handful of things ruined the trip.

Eric

You might laugh about it later, but it can be very frustrating at the time. So check everything from stem to stern on the trailer and tow vehicle. Remember all the little gadgets. I know. I leave a lot of stuff in the trailer just for the trailer or towing. Some might end up in the truck, but it's in the trailer, so at least it's there, no matter what.

Eric

It's sometimes a little extra work walking back and forth. Nonetheless, you already have a lot of things to do to get ready for a trip anyway. So, getting some of this stuff ironed out on that first trip is the time to do it. And then the rest of the summer, it's much easier. You've got in the groove of it, and lots of people don't go out that often, so it's like starting over each time.

Eric

But the more of this stuff you get down, getting used to doing it just makes it more accessible. So, that simplifies your next trip, and you'll be thinking, All right, that Eric's all right, man. He helped out this time. He didn't give us any bad advice like that first aid kit. So, as you're getting ready for your trip, remember to support your local RV stores.

Eric

If you need any parts or accessories, buy quality staff. Only buy the junk you can find on some online marketplaces. Now, let's talk about the next stop with a Lexus: the unique New Orleans.

Alexis

New Orleans, New Orleans. It is such a cool place, honestly. Have you ever been to the South? I have. Yeah, yeah, I have never. So I don't know. But it seems like a cool place. We all know we hear about the big Mardi Gras each year, the big party they have there. But there's so much more to it than that.

Alexis

There's jazz. We know that. It's like the birthplace of jazz and beautiful places you can go and listen to. There are festivals, parades, and lots of history that you can go to, and you can just take a tour and learn a lot about New Orleans's famous people who, you know, took up residence there and would play there. And there's that good old Southern hospitality.

Alexis

You know, people are pretty lovely. Stays hotels, Airbnbs that you can get a hold of if you're not are being, which hopefully you are being, but there's just a lot there obviously, it's a city, so it's a little different than our usual spots that we talk about that are a little more, you know, nature-filled but a lot of cool stuff.

Eric

There is a city and RV parks there.

Alexis

Oh yeah.

Eric

Very friendly. MM. Even if you're not into Mardi Gras jazz, it's still an excellent place to visit. The history is phenomenal.

Alexis

Yeah.

Eric

There are a lot of freaks and weirdoes there.

Alexis

Well, always with the city, you know, and places.

Eric

But the food. Even if you don't like Cajun cooking, you just think of the things that are desirable to you. For me, it'd be fish, you know, yeah.

Eric

I don't care about it. But that carries over to a lot of stuff there. You know, this Cajun stuff, but it's not always stuff that's maybe not your favorite thing, but there might be some sort of meat or whatever. They add that flair to it, but it's a very interesting place. I mean, there are shops galore, you know, to go shopping, looking around there shows, and then that can be a place where again as day trips, you know, yeah.

Eric

You can go out and see a lot of stuff in the surrounding area. Oh yeah. It's the south. There's a lot there. It's cool. You may live in the area, so there are things you know you could do there, but take a trip here. I'm not that familiar with it. I've been there, but it's worth returning to if you've been there.

Eric

It is worth seeing. And it's just another place. Again, there are so many places that we talk about. Just whet your appetite. Yep. You might start looking at a map, and New Orleans is different from where I want to go. I want to go here, stop at this place, and work our way there as a one-day trip just so we can say we saw by a magnet for the refrigerator or something.

Eric

There you go. But you might want to go somewhere else. Your flavor might be someplace else. So Guinness is looking at maps, and this is what I want to do, where I want to go, and this type of thing. So there's a lot to do there. You have to check it out, darn sure.

Eric

Okay. Now, that will bring us to the end of the next stop. And I will. As a reminder, DestinationsMagazine.com check it out. Go to their website. It's an excellent publication. We look at it, we get things from there for some of our next stops, and they cover a lot of ground again at West Your Appetite. The magazine has amazing photos, just amazing pictures on there.

Eric

So now, let's talk about RV water hoses. Yeah, the crickets are starting to make their noise now. So water hoses are not exactly the most exciting thing. You buy them like, okay, yeah, it's just a water hose. You don't have to think much about it. But when you go to a store, it can be confusing.

Eric

We have good batter and the best water hoses, but sometimes you might need to learn that you're just looking at the prices like I was expensive. I wonder why. Why does this one cost more than that one? It's the same hose, just a different color. Well, it can be quality. When you buy water hoses, you want to buy the best or best if it's within your budget, which only changes a little.

Eric

The reason is that the hose will last longer. You don't want to buy a new hose every time you go out. Some of these less expensive hoses don't last long. The ends break off, or they start leaking. Yeah, you pull in that hose just a little too hard one time, and it starts leaking.

Eric

You can't fix it. They split. The sun ruins, and if you invest a little bit more in a water hose, it will last longer. And water hoses, you know, you want to drain them when you're done using them; don't leave the water in them. It's not like a garden hose in front of your house, or you turn it off and just walk away.

Eric

Different thing. Yeah, you're getting water out of it. Sometimes, you're drinking water because it's filling you're going through your RV. So think about it a little more. It is an investment. A hose might be 50 or $60 or 30 bucks. It's money if you worked hard for it. So take care of the hose.

Eric

But remember, when you look at them, look at good, better, and best; that's how the hoses should be split up in a store. You can make a good decision. You want to stay in the best or best if it's within your budget. All right. It said we would discuss it briefly, so we're still working on water hoses.

Eric

All right. You can go to our website or our YouTube channel and search for TheSmartRVer.com. We have plenty of videos for you to watch, learn from, and continue your education as the smart RV here. So, the next episode will be 148, and we will talk about lithium batteries and how these things are trending with RV years.

Eric

But the question is, who actually needs a lithium battery in their RV? You know this, not everybody. So we'll discuss that in two weeks. And episode 148. We had a great show today. This is Eric Stark with TheSmartRVer Podcast. It's been great hanging out with you. And if I don't see TheSmartRVer and Alexis on the road less connected, say goodbye to everybody.

Alexis

Goodbye. Bye.

Eric

Next time we are out of here.