DutchmenSport wrote:
My "Boot Camp" was on an old Alice Chalmers tractor towing hay wagons and dragging a single bottom plow when I was a kid. It look almost identical to this. I have a couple old photos of riding with dad on that thing when I wasn't even old enough to walk yet! Later, I drove it myself.
I think one of the best ways to learn to tow is to start with a riding lawn mower and a utility wagon attached. From there, move upward in size and scale and you'll learn to tow, back-up, turn, learn how different wheel base lengths affect turning and backing when they are different on tow vehicle and trailer.
Then there is the other side of the home-grown "Boot Camp" ... RV maintenance. With an RV, you put all your own self taught skills to the test. You utilize your intuition, and have to exercise your brain to figure out how to fix or repair something. You do a lot of reading, and you do not acquire this knowledge base over night, or in a text book. You acquire it over time ... actually ... every single time you take your camper on the road, set it up, take it down, do a repair, do a cleaning, you are adding to the home-grown version of "RV Boot Camp".
The best teacher is yourself!
My son taught me there are 2 kids of people in this world. He's a very gifted (intelligent) person. As a kid, he had to play an instrument in Junior High School. He choose the violin. For him, playing the violin was a very mechanical endeavor. He played "by the book". Step 1, Step 2, Step 3. One note at a time, exactly as written down, exactly as told.
I told him on many occasions to throw the music away and simply let your fingers and blow move according to your "heart". FEEL the music in your soul, and let the music come from with-in you! He NEVER got it! He's still mechanical.
The same is absolutely true with RV ownership. There are those who are the Step 1, step 2, step 3 ... mechanical, manual, driven individuals, and then there are the ones who just .... do it by the heart! Doing it by the heart is the best way!
I agree with the idea that there are two kinds of people: people like your son who learns by following an established set of rules; and people like you who just go on intuition/heart/etc.
I don't think either is right or wrong (or better or best) because I don't believe you can change how you learn. It depends on the person.
I like to follow steps for the most part. I read the instruction sheet while putting together furniture, etc. I am willing to do most things on my own, but I often like to have someone "waiting on hold" in case I need help. I've done that several times with the RV and household repairs - call a friend/relative with the knowledge and just say "hey, are you going to be around for a couple hours? I'm going to install X and if I get stuck, would you be able to come help me?" Only once did I have to have them come out - and it was a situation where someone who "do it by the heart" was able to solve the issue because it needed an "outside of the box" solution. I will say that by watching people who can just figure it out as they go, I have learned a lot of how to create a solution outside the box - but it took watching others and learning WHY what they did worked (meaning, I had to put the logic/pattern/process into their creative thinking solution).
To the OP - if you are worried about doing something wrong and making a mistake that you won't be able to fix, then go to a bootcamp (or ask an RVer friend or neighbor) to walk you through it. If you are not worried about making mistakes along the way, then learn as you go.
When I started, I did ask a relative to show me how to dump the black tank. For me, that was something that while I had read and watched videos, I just didn't really want to deal with a potential mistake because I missed/forgot something. He showed me once and that was all I needed - just didn't feel confident that first time in regards to the potential mess.
My "Boot Camp" was on an old Alice Chalmers tractor towing hay wagons and dragging a single bottom plow when I was a kid. It look almost identical to this. I have a couple old photos of riding with dad on that thing when I wasn't even old enough to walk yet! Later, I drove it myself.
I think one of the best ways to learn to tow is to start with a riding lawn mower and a utility wagon attached. From there, move upward in size and scale and you'll learn to tow, back-up, turn, learn how different wheel base lengths affect turning and backing when they are different on tow vehicle and trailer.
Then there is the other side of the home-grown "Boot Camp" ... RV maintenance. With an RV, you put all your own self taught skills to the test. You utilize your intuition, and have to exercise your brain to figure out how to fix or repair something. You do a lot of reading, and you do not acquire this knowledge base over night, or in a text book. You acquire it over time ... actually ... every single time you take your camper on the road, set it up, take it down, do a repair, do a cleaning, you are adding to the home-grown version of "RV Boot Camp".
The best teacher is yourself!
My son taught me there are 2 kids of people in this world. He's a very gifted (intelligent) person. As a kid, he had to play an instrument in Junior High School. He choose the violin. For him, playing the violin was a very mechanical endeavor. He played "by the book". Step 1, Step 2, Step 3. One note at a time, exactly as written down, exactly as told.
I told him on many occasions to throw the music away and simply let your fingers and blow move according to your "heart". FEEL the music in your soul, and let the music come from with-in you! He NEVER got it! He's still mechanical.
The same is absolutely true with RV ownership. There are those who are the Step 1, step 2, step 3 ... mechanical, manual, driven individuals, and then there are the ones who just .... do it by the heart! Doing it by the heart is the best way!
I think one of the best ways to learn to tow is to start with a riding lawn mower and a utility wagon attached. From there, move upward in size and scale and you'll learn to tow, back-up, turn, learn how different wheel base lengths affect turning and backing when they are different on tow vehicle and trailer.
Then there is the other side of the home-grown "Boot Camp" ... RV maintenance. With an RV, you put all your own self taught skills to the test. You utilize your intuition, and have to exercise your brain to figure out how to fix or repair something. You do a lot of reading, and you do not acquire this knowledge base over night, or in a text book. You acquire it over time ... actually ... every single time you take your camper on the road, set it up, take it down, do a repair, do a cleaning, you are adding to the home-grown version of "RV Boot Camp".
The best teacher is yourself!
My son taught me there are 2 kids of people in this world. He's a very gifted (intelligent) person. As a kid, he had to play an instrument in Junior High School. He choose the violin. For him, playing the violin was a very mechanical endeavor. He played "by the book". Step 1, Step 2, Step 3. One note at a time, exactly as written down, exactly as told.
I told him on many occasions to throw the music away and simply let your fingers and blow move according to your "heart". FEEL the music in your soul, and let the music come from with-in you! He NEVER got it! He's still mechanical.
The same is absolutely true with RV ownership. There are those who are the Step 1, step 2, step 3 ... mechanical, manual, driven individuals, and then there are the ones who just .... do it by the heart! Doing it by the heart is the best way!
