Forum Discussion

jmatteis's avatar
jmatteis
Explorer
Oct 13, 2019

New to the forum, new to TT's as well

Bought our first camper this fall. Have only been able to get out once due to timing of the purchase and my work schedule, but already have a few dates booked for the Spring and next fall...

Joining and reading as many forums as I can, to gain as much knowledge as possible. It's incredible seeing how much of a subculture this truly is.
Excited to learn as I go and then hopefully impart knowledge as well, once I've gained enough.
  • Congrats on your new toy! Half the fun of it is figuring everything out. Don’t over think it all and realize that things break, so don’t let that spoil a trip. On of the hardest things I had to learn was the oh well attitude.
    Happy travels!
  • The search function on this site is awful - you go ahead and ask any question you want. Welcome to the great adventure of camping!
  • ask away we are here to help. I'm a young buck only about 6 years into my adventure but many here are far more knowledgeable than me. this is my go to for trailer help.
  • Terryallan wrote:
    Great!. Enjoy your self. Hardest thing to remember. Don't make it harder than it has to be.


    welcome and great advice here.
    rv's aren't stick and brick homes, they weren't designed to be. you can overthink the experience to the point of not being enjoyable
  • Welcome to the cult!

    Remember that whatever you read anywhere, do what works for YOU. Theres an infinite number of ways/things in this lifestyle.
  • This is a great forum for newbies. I am a 67 year old female and I bought my first travel trailer 2 years ago. The people on this website helped me tremendously. I couldn't have done it without them. Another really

    good souce is a book I purchased. It is called "The Idiots Guide to RVing." I take it with me whenever I travel. It covers all types of RVs including travel trailers, popups, etc. It covers virtually everything and is in a language I understand not technical terms. I think you are really going to enjoy yourself. My travel trailer is parked on my land. Even after 2 years, I sometimes go out and sit in it and the feeling of being on vacation comes back to me.
  • I think one of the biggest misconceptions new folks to RVing have is the idea they need a bunch of specialized "gadgets" specific for camping. This is not true. There may be a few things you may want that will be dedicated use with your camper, but nothing special about that. The same folding lawn chair you use at home is the same folding lawn chair you use around a campfire when camping. The same set of kitchen knives at home, work just as well in the camper. Bed sheets, blankets, even electric blankets, all the way to the toothpaste you use to the type of coffee you enjoy...nothing special. Outfit your camper with known products that work for you at home and your entire camping experience will be simplified a lot.

    I remember when we were younger and fairly new to RV ownership (our first pop-up), we took a lot of pride in dragging out all kinds of "stuff", almost as if saying ... "Hey! Look at us. Look at all our gadgets! We're camping!" Yea, we did that! We had a bunch of yard ornaments we always put out as well as show off all our fabulous over-the-fire cook ware and such. Little did we realize we were impressing no one, except ourselves.

    This last week end, the only thing we put outside were lawn chairs and had a camp fire. That was it.

    However, over the years, we have slowly swapped out second-hand items, dishes, silverware, yard sale stuff for more classy and elegant items, including bed linens, pillow's, floor mats, bath towels, and even the toilet paper!

    As our needs have changed and as electronics and things break, we've changed and swapped the gadgets for nicer more refined items, more elegant, more enriching. But, it took us 30 years to do this too.

    With all this being said, what I'm trying to say is, when you outfit your camper, use the same items you'd use at home.
  • If you have a question the chances are it has already been discussed so do a search before asking. It's not as much fun as seeing answers pour in to your questions but it might get you answers more quickly.
  • Great!. Enjoy your self. Hardest thing to remember. Don't make it harder than it has to be.