now if you've been living this lifestyle or even just researching this lifestyle
for any length of time you've probably like me watched dozens of RV tour videos now there are
literally thousands of RV tour videos out there from basic travel trailers to people living in
their RVs and luxurious million dollar RV and let me tell you there's some big lies
and misconceptions that the majority of these videos contain and actually after living this
lifestyle on both a part-time basis and a full-time basis I could tell you a thing or
two that you're not going to see in those RV tour videos so you're going to want to stay
tuned if you're new here my name is charity and in 2017 we begin a life of travel in our RV now
our family has visited all of the lower 48 states now in this RV and we have learned a ton along the
way and we created this channel to really be a resource with all of you and the RV Community
the YouTube Community some of the things and the hacks that we wish we would have known when we got
started and to also share what we've been learning as we go so you can benefit from our sometimes
mistakes now let's talk about RV tours whether they're found online on television or given in
person at an RV dealership or an RV Show they can sometimes paint an overly Rosy picture of the RV
lifestyle or even the features of a particular model and after watching a lot of these tours
here are some common exaggerations misconceptions or in some cases Flatout Lies perpetuated by some
of these [Music] tours now number one is space and layout and let me tell you some RV tours give the
impression of spaciousness by using wide angle lenses or careful stagings and they might claim
a particular layout can accommodate a large number of people comfortably now usually the
number that an RV says that it sleeps doesn't take into account what size a person is great
example of this could be maybe a dinette that converts into a bed where they'll say that
sleeps too no no no no no let me tell you one one is about what you're going to get out of that and
then the actual usable space inside of an RV can be quite different once that you put everybody
inside I mean 300 sare ft is still 300 Square ft and then add in a family all of their belongings
and especially if you throw a pet or two in the mix things can get tight really quick ask me how
I [Music] know now number two are the luxurious Interiors you see on some of these tour videos and
this is especially true of how well a renovated RV looks on camera again ask me how I know because we
personally have renovated not just one but two RVs and we'll talk more about that in a future
video but needless to say the RV tour videos that show amazing finishes and Interiors might make
it feel like a high-end apartment or condo but in reality those materials might look really good on
camera but they're usually not super high quality or durable because especially in an RV you have to
consider how much something weighs you can't use the highest of the highend Granite for countertops
or other items that just add a lot of weight wear and tear becomes super noticeable after just a
few trips and this is true of most all newer RVs where the materials and workmanship can actually
be marginal at best I mean I can tell you we get emails from some of you guys out there in the RV
community on a weekly basis about RVs you guys own that are only a year or too old and are literally
falling apart now repairs are a huge part of RV life because if you think about it if you were
moving say an actual house from place to place to place things are going to get loose things
are going to break and RVs are no different when we first started rving another experienced RV her
told us a very wise saying and that is if you're not polishing your RV you're fixing it and then
when you're not fixing it you're polishing it and the circle goes around it's seriously never
ending either maintenance or repairs or sometimes [Music] both now after watching a lot of these
tour videos I have to say there's probably one of the biggest lies of them all and I'll be sharing
that in just a few minutes but number three lie is that some of these Advanced gadgets and Tech
Integrations like big wi-fi boosters here's the reality the functionality of a lot of these items
can actually depend upon ideal conditions and let me tell you there's never ideal conditions
when you're living the RV lifestyle for example the efficiency of say air conditioners could be
much less than what they're actually suggested to produce or rated for or things like that
fancy Wi-Fi booster probably is only going to work really well in certain geographical areas
where the conditions are just right and not all the latest and the greatest when it comes to
Tech is what it's cracked up to be just ask an RV owner whose electronic leveling system failed and
they can't even move move their RV now before we move on to the next big lie let me know in
the comments if any of this is resonating with you and remember our comments are really for you guys
in the community as a whole and we can all learn from everybody reading the comments on a video I
know I do every time that you guys leave us some comments so let us know in the comments what you
guys think about this what you think about tour videos in general are they helpful are they not
let us [Music] know now the next misconception really has to do with costs now remember the
listed price of an RV during the tour or during an RV Show might seem like a one-time cost when
in reality the actual cost of RV ownership is so much more than that initial purchase price
when you factor in things like maintenance fuel Insurance park or Campground fees potential costs
for storage if you are a part-time and you can't have it at your place of residence these things
can really add up now I recently shared a photo I ran across on our Instagram stories and if you're
not following us on Instagram you should really go over there because we do share a ton of just fun
stuff and kind of more real time updates photos of campgrounds all that good stuff anyway this
particular photo is of a Halloween costume where for Halloween you can become an RV owner complete
with empty pockets and busted Knuckles from making repairs now there are five more lies to come that
I have seen perpetuated by RV tour videos and I'm going to get to that in just a few minutes
now since I just mentioned Campground costs when it comes to campgrounds one thing people
ask us frequently is about our process for trip planning and finding campgrounds and this last
year we were introduced to a new travel agency booking service called RV and we have been using
it ever since now RV members like us get unlimited real time availability when they're searching for
campgrounds at over 4,000 RV parks and campgrounds and if campsites available I can just book
with one click and then RV us uses my profile to complete the reservation and send our confirmation
number just within minutes now I also like to use RV to find and book near impossible campsite
cancellations at some of the greatest parks in America now think like yosity Glacier National
Park the Florida Keys anybody now we've been able to score some reservations with our RV membership
at soldout locations and we have the RV Pro Plan which is the best value because we get 10 soldout
search scans every 2 minutes so this is improves our chances of scoring those warm weather location
cancellations this winter when the competition is really truly the toughest now this is super
beneficial to be able to get in at popular state parks in the southern areas of the US this
winter because these areas will book up quickly especially if you are in one of those areas where
the snow's starting to fly up north now I actually have several soldout searches running with my RV
membership right now for the state parks down in the Florida Keys this winter and it's super
helpful as I start to trip plan for 2024 because RV routinely finds in books cancellations that
are even 8 to 12 months out from the arrival day as well now I love using RV because whether I'm
booking a campground for next week next month or next year RV is always looking and booking
for me and since we do want this channel to be a resource for you guys in the RV Community we only
talk about things that we're actually personally using like RV so we have partnered with RV for
an exclusive 10% discount for our viewers only so be sure to visit grateful gamer.com rvy or check
out the link in the description below and a huge thanks to RV for sponsoring this video and their
continued support of our Channel now misconception number five is how some Modern RV tours tout their
green or eco-friendly features such as solar panels and composting toilets now as an rver
who actually has a solar setup let me be the first to tell you that the reality is while it is night
is having a solar system when we're boondocking it might not be as efficient as portrayed for
example no sun equals no charging in addition to the fact that just because the solar panel
is rated for a certain number of Watts you rarely are actually getting that full amount of stated
Watts that that's rated for and a lot of these numbers can be overly exaggerated so you end up
having to get more panels it's it's a whole thing just let's say it's not always what it's cracked
up to be when you're prison into this in an RV tour [Music] video now misconception number six
is everything that is in an RV that's portrayed as easy to set up when in reality there is a learning
curve especially for new RV owners now when you're setting up camp managing Waste Systems
or even driving an RV definitely takes practice so once you get the hang of things it's actually not
that bad but many end up learning in the School of Hard Knock which is another reason reason why
we started this channel to share with you some of the things that we learned so you can avoid the
mistakes and we have a ton of tips and tricks in our videos about basic things like even just using
a dump station now number seven is probably the biggest lie of all and that is the glamorization
of the RV lifestyle now RV tours especially those that are geared towards promoting this lifestyle
often showcase the freedom of the open road and don't get us wrong way we love the RV lifestyle
and we know many that do it does have some amazing moments and we wouldn't trade our time on the road
for anything else but the scenes of the Beachside campgrounds and the Epic scenery are not going to
be your everyday experience with this lifestyle the RV life comes with lots of challenges and not
every campsite is picturesque in fact there's a lot of ones that uh could be pretty dumpy
honestly and living in a confined space when it's on wheels isn't for everyone now why RV
tours can provide valuable insights into various models and floor plans and features if you're
considering this lifestyle do your research or better yet go rent an RV for a week or two and
take this lifestyle for a test drive first before you decide to just jump and go all in
on a full-time basis and speaking of that if you do choose a full-time lifestyle with an RV have
an exit strategy for what you want to do in that season of fulltime RV living is over because most
people don't live this lifestyle for more than two three four five years at a Max now we've got some
important announcements coming up in the next few weeks you want to make sure you're subscribed with
your notifications on to not miss any upcoming videos with some of these important announcements
now I am going to leave a video right up here with a full tour of our RV which is close to
20 years old because you might just be surprised what a 20-year-old RV can really look like so if
we don't see you out on the road or around the campground we'll catch you in the next video