RV Road Trip Budget Expense Report, November 2008

When we began our sabbatical, I had no idea that we’d be still be on the road six months past our original “year off” scenario. But thanks to crafty money saving tactics like workamping and free campgrounds, we’ve been able to stretch our finances and live frugally enough to keep us on the road until at least May of ’09. We are presently under budget …

Read more

Workamping for Small Businesses: Are You a Good Fit?

Workamping job duties Vickers Ranch COWorkamping is great; work a few hours a week in exchange for no rent and other perks like free laundry. Sometimes you even get a small salary too. But if you’re a fulltimer who’s thinking about applying for workamping jobs in order to save money, there are some important things to consider before sending out your resume.

What kind of work environment are you most comfortable in?

Are you someone who craves structure? Do you work best when you act as one integral cog in a large corporate machine? Are you more comfortable when working within a well-defined job description? If the answer to all of these is “Yes”, then perhaps you should focus your search on large organizations, like State and National Parks.

Because workamping job descriptions can sound identical from place to place, but how those jobs are managed from the top down can make all the difference in the world when it comes to your happiness, and that of your co-workers’.

Read more

Lessons Learned (Vol. 42)

digital trailer brake controller installationIf you’re going to spend just a couple thousand dollars – or the rest of your life – in a travel trailer, do yourself a favor and invest the extra money on a decent electronic brake controller. You might just save yourself from a complete brake system overhaul.

We discovered the hard way that a good digital controller can make all the difference in the world, compared to the cheap pendulum based controllers most RV dealers will install upon purchase of a trailer and hitch. Why they don’t try to upsell unsuspecting fulltimers – like they do with the special toilet paper, levels, wheel chocks, fridge fans and all the other “necessities” – is simply beyond me. But buyer beware, a good brake controller is well worth the money!

After we replaced the brakes on our truck, and discovered we had cooked them, I adjusted our trailer brakes tighter thinking they might be worn out. The opposite was true … we hadn’t been using them!

Read more

Spacesaving Hobbies for the RV Lifestyle

Baking bread in my RV magic chef ovenBack in the day when we lived the conventional life, I had some pretty conventional hobbies. Sewing, baking, scrapbooking, you name it.

Out of all the stuff we’ve put in storage, about the only things I miss are ny scrapbooking and stamp stuff, my gardening tools, and my cookware, like my bread machine.

I wish our RV was bigger so I could’ve brought some of these things along. Even if I could, where would I draw the line? You bring one stamp, you bring ’em all!

To satisfy my urge creative urges, I’ve managed to find ways to do some of these things in our RV.

Read more

On Being the New Kid in Town, Again . . . and Again

Bad brake system 2006 Dodge Ram 2500While sitting in the Dodge dealer today in Jackson, WY, as they did over $2k in repair work on our truck brakes, I realized that I’ve finally discovered a couple of real downsides to living the fulltime RVer lifestyle.

Fulltimer Downside #1: when you pull into a town with out-of-state plates, and tell the local auto shop that you’re having vehicle trouble, who do you trust? You gotta wonder; Is that service guy really drooling? Are those actual dollar signs in his eyes?

From Florida to Wyoming, three different shops have looked at our truck, to find out the cause of a loud, chirping sound coming from the wheels. One wanted to charge us $700 for what they claim was the real problem (we said “no way.”). We paid another shop $75 to determine we had dirty brakes.

But the sound keeps getting louder, and we have some steep mountain passes to tackle on the way to the Pacific Coast. So today, we took it to a third shop.

The problem, Shop #3 said, is that our entire brake system is blown to hell. We are left wondering: why didn’t the other shops see this? The service guy said that’s because they didn’t tear the break system apart to investigate. We have to go on faith that he’s not a scheister. Jim saw our parts lying on the floor, next to good ones from another truck, and verified that ours looked blown. The caliper seals were all indeed shot. And the rotors had a deep blue tinge to them – discoloration indicating they had been cooked pretty hard.

So what would you do, dear reader? Take your vehicle to another no-name shop in town, and pay another $60 estimate fee? Or run away, hoping the dealer was lying while praying for the best on those seven percent downhill grades?

Read more

The Nitty Gritty Details of Running a Resort: Wimps Need Not Apply


Workamper housekeeper jobSince Jim got the world’s tiniest violin out and told you about his hard days here at the ranch, I’ll take this opportunity to tell you what I’ve been up to.

This summer, for me, it’s all about cleaning. I’m on the housekeeping and laundry squad. Rah! Rah! Rah!

Some days it’s just me, another workamper, and co-owner, Paulette Vickers. Mid-week, my job can be easy, and there might not be a single cabin to clean. On these slow days, I’ll go work in Paulette’s garden, which is a great change of pace, since I love playing in the dirt, and her yard is awesome.

But on the weekends, when we have to turn over nine cabins before 3pm check-in, that’s when things get really dirty, and the “all hands on deck!” call will go out for everyone to pitch in.

Read more