what are you doing i'm training we only have one week left of course how could i forget the 2022
rv super show is only a week away will we see you guys there hey y'all we're jimmy elise of
a fondness camping in today's tuesday talks for rvers we're going to share with you but first of
all let me just say don't you you don't have to be a jimmy yeah because i am worn out now
as self-proclaimed rv show junkies we do want to share with you how we plan and navigate the rv
show and that way you can maybe follow some of our direction don't forget 10 miles a day on your bike
two miles running 25 push-ups it doesn't have to be all that but if you spend just a little bit of
time planning ahead you can get so much more out of the show that's what we want to share with you
so here's step one of five watch the weather i know that seems so stupid and they don't always
get it right but keep an eye on the weather you know when you get to like now or a week
out keep an eye on the weather and see what it's all about because the weather in florida changes
daily it does but you need to be prepared is it going to be hot is it going to be cold is it
it's hot today so i'm sweating after that long walk that wrong run is it supposed to rain and
i don't just mean like you know in florida there's pop-up showers i mean is rain forecast all day for
one of the days of the show so step one is going to be watch the weather see what it's what you
can expect and step one will influence some of the further steps going through step two you need to
plan your attack and that is another reason i've been training so hard wrong attack this attack
wrong attack so your plan of attack needs to you know take a couple things into consideration
number one how many days do you plan to be there and let me just throw in that that is probably
subject to change because you may find that you need more days than you think but number
two is going to be plan what you want to see so what's important to you are you just going to
see rvs because you're wanting to buy a new rv are you going to check out the vendors we've
discussed in previous videos that there's going to be everything from people with the trailer hitches
a lot of vendors yeah to camping chairs like there's just all kinds of stuff so are you going
to see one or the other of those are you going to see both because that's going to affect your day
so we usually like to do both we like to go check out the new rvs um mostly just because
i want to see what's new and up coming i mean i'm not planning to buy anything right now but
you never know so we have certain rvs we want to go see of course for us it's always toy haulers so
that's what we plan to go see and then the vendors we have different vendors that we
want to go visit you know maybe he's looking to upgrade suspension or something like that so
we go through the list upgrade suspension dear god it's time if you go online to the show
and you go to their map there's a place in their interactive map where you can um it lists
attendees maybe is what it's called i'm not sure but it'll show you everybody that's going to be at
the show so you can scroll scroll through that and it's going to have all the rv um brands as well so
you can skip through those if you're looking for vendors that you want to check out but then it
also tells you where they are on the map because there's going to be two different buildings that
have vendors in them and then there's going to be some that are scattered amongst the rvs but
there's vendors for the most part the vendors are in the building so let's backtrack to weather and
where the weather comes to play so weather weather does a lot in the rv show because it's outside and
inside so the bottom line is i mean we've been here when it was cold like they had roads closed
down because of black ice and guys they were closed which is kind of funny when you're in
florida but um and then we've been here years that it is so hot like today where you're just sweating
your butt off and so here's the thought guys if you're wanting to do vendors which are indoors
and you're wanting to do rvs which are outdoors plan accordingly if it's supposed to be really hot
today get there early check out the rvs first while it's cool outside then go inside to the
air-conditioned buildings and see the vendors once it gets super they will have the air conditioners
or the heat on whichever way it is outside in the campers but you know how it is in these campers
if the doors are open but so that's also another point because if you're looking at a specific rv
and you're wondering how maybe the ac is going to perform then maybe you want to plan to be
outside in the heat or outside if it's cool so think about all of those things because weather
just continues to be an important part of this whole process so plan out where you want to go
plan your day accordingly based on the weather so what we usually try to do is on a big show like
tampa um we try to schedule three days two at a minimum and you know that's going to be different
for everybody but so our plan of attack typically is this we have a list of places we want to see
people we want to talk to on day one based on the weather we either do inside first or outside first
and we go and visit all those places we go and check out the vendors we go into the rvs keep in
mind if you're searching for an rv take pictures take notes this is your chance so we always
carry a camera with us we will film as much as we possibly can we will take all the pictures we can
lisa will open them up open drawers up i'll take a picture of the drawer she'll take her handy dandy
tape measure and i'm telling you that's another thing you guys need to carry is a tape measure
measure everything so we open up the drawers she will take pictures of what that drawer size is if
we go up to the bed a lot of people don't realize king beds in campers aren't the same as a king so
we if we're looking at a certain camper we will take picture we'll take pictures and measurements
all the bed sizes so we'll know and you don't have to be fancy and take a camera like use your
cell phone if you need to yeah cell phone case i have been known to take a picture on my phone
and then measure the inside of a cabinet and then like in the edit function on your picture
scribble the measurements in there so i'll know because let me tell you it sounds silly but the
camper that we have one of the prerequisites was there had to be a cabinet that would hold my crock
pot and there's nothing worse than you take your crock pot with you all the time or you're instant
pot or your last time we used our crock pot well but at the time we did and so now it's air
yeah now it's the air fryer but you know there's nothing worse than you buy this camper and you're
so excited you get home and then you start putting stuff in and like you can't live without your
insta pot or your air fryer and it won't fit anywhere that's the good thing about a camera
phone now you don't have to have the big high dollar cameras that we all carry around no your
cell phone will take everything you need don't be afraid to take too many pictures because thank
goodness now with a cell phone you can delete them you don't have to worry about having them
developed so take pictures write everything down use a little notepad use note in your phone or
whatever however you take it or record a video and even talk about it if you want to see what it is
then what we normally do is day one we'll eat dinner and so at dinner that night generally
all about rv we will pull out all of our pictures we will pull out any brochures
we've picked up along the way we will discuss discuss discuss everything that we have learned
on day one now then we're gonna make a list at that time for what we're gonna do on day two
so say you're looking for an rv and you've gone in and you've measured and you've taken pictures
and all that stuff so that evening when we're discussing it it may come up that we forgot to
look at this or we forgot to check that so we pull out the camera so we pull out the camera
we go through it and maybe we didn't get a picture of that so that's when we're making our list for
day two so on day two we're going to say hey we want to go three back to that rv or maybe when
we were going through the different vendor areas we saw something and went oh i'd kind of like to
check that out but they're not on my list for day one and they're not like on the important list so
we'll come back on day two so that's how our day two list comes to be um and then typically our day
three is just kind of a walk through and a recap and that's just what we do you don't have to do it
but you need to if you're gonna do that stay focused like stay on your list because if
not you go in you go to one vendor you go to two vendors i'm staying focused and then you see
something and you have that squirrel moment and you've run off you have a squirrel moment no way
you've run off to another vendor that's why we have to write everything down because it's
squirrel moments she says oh look at that over there oh look at that over there and that's
great if you're not on a time crunch but if you only have a certain amount of time to take in
everything you want to do you need to stay focused on your list but you don't have time
for squirrel moments let me tell you one thing if you go on one day you're not going to see it all
you better just you better have just plan for two days at least step three you need to be happy with
the choices you made so this is more so geared to the people that are looking for an rv are we
looking for an rv no we're not looking for an rv you keep saying rv we're looking for an rv
i'm always looking i'm not really in the market at the moment so but if you are looking for an rv and
that's why you're going to the show because you're looking to pick out an rv and after step one and
step two you've narrowed it down so let's say we're at the end of day two and you've narrowed
it down and you've decided that this is the rv for you this is the fun part this is when you move in
move in move in thought you said we want to buy an rv well we're not but you might be and if that's
the case and you've narrowed it down and you've decided before you sign the paperwork before you
sign on the dotted line check out the bathroom move in and when i say move in i mean move in
move in as if it's yours so i can use the bathroom don't use the bathroom i've heard that people do
that and it's really kind of disgusting so let's not do that but the rv show is not porta john's on
wheels first of all no please don't use it every year we hear about display it's nasty there's
porta johns out there use them don't use the rvs go into the bathroom especially if you have in any
physical impairments that you know you have special needs or you're super tall and you don't
always watch shoulders and don't fit in the shot you have these broad shoulders and the showers too
narrow get in the shower shut the door or if it's a curtain shut the curtain see if you have enough
height see if you have enough width see if you have enough room to turn around and be comfortable
see if when you get out of the shower you're going to have room to get dressed if it's
you know a separate room that you can't like walk from there into your bedroom and get dressed
try it out as if it's yours the one thing we have learned
is we sit in the recliners we'll sit in recliners we'll kick the recliners out and as you're coming
in you're walking by uh oh if he has to put his feet down every time that's not that's not my
or every time the kids come out of the bunk room or whatever if somebody has to move every time
that's probably going to not be convenient so sit down where you think you're going to sit
kick the recliner out if that's what you're going to do and make sure that it works and
the bed we can try out the bed don't well don't try out the bed but we used to be adamant on it
had to be a king-sized bed and we have since switched to a queen and the amount of stuff
and i still can't see still too close to me the amount of space that we gained that makes
it easier to get in and out of the bed or to make the bed or to get in between the bed in the closet
is crazy so now i sleep on the floor whatever nobody sleeps on the floor but whatever it is
go into the bedroom see if you've got room to maneuver see if you're happy with you know that
if it was yours get in and out of the bed see if it's easy and then go down to the living room the
bunk room whatever and and think about it so with us we do that we move in we put the recliners out
we you know we try everything we actually sit in there for 35 to 40 minutes maybe to an hour and
we listen to people as they come in and they go oh no i hate this because or it doesn't have this or
i wish it had that and then we look at each other and go oh we never thought about that
but something you also need to think about is it's just the two of us so we can go in and be
perfectly comfortable and ninety-eight percent of the time it's just the two of us so that's
what's important but yeah you have dogs well see there's that so are the dogs going to be
with you not at the rv show probably not is there going to be room in the floor for their beds or
what you know whatever they think my dogs don't sleep on the floor well two of them do
as you can see there's dog hair all over you yeah well you know what are you gonna do
if you have kids that are gonna be with you like you have a bunk house whatever make sure that
on that cold day or that rainy day when everyone has to be inside is there a place for everyone to
comfortably co-exist because i'm going to tell you when you go to the shows the sales people there
a lot of them don't camp and they go why do you need that why do you need this well when you're
camping you're going to be outside all the time when it's cold and it's raining you're not outside
you're inside and all the kids are watching tv they're all on their game station they're
game con controllers or you just got to be ready they're online yeah you got to be ready for them
to be inside so if it doesn't fit while they're while you're there it's not going to fit when you
own it so think about it and so that brings us to a point of size matters guys it's very important
there's nothing worse now you tell me there's nothing worse than getting an rv and for instance
we'll say the two of us try it out and go this is perfect it's everything's great and you get
it and then you take the kids out or the grandkids or both for the first trip all of a sudden it got
smaller and all of a sudden it got small and there was a similar floor plan that we could have gotten
that was just a couple feet longer but you think oh we don't need anything that big i'm scared
to pull it that much longer let me just tell you that it's not that big of a difference and
most people get really comfortable with the extra two or three feet on the rv and
if you're gonna have more than just the two of you you need to be sure you're getting enough
space because there's nothing worse than getting out there the first time and going this is awful
it happens all the time you know when you used to have your sticks and bricks and you get that
garage or you get that shed and you put that rotting lawnmower in it and you go wow all of
a sudden we should have went two more feet bigger so think about that as you're going out there and
you're looking at these campers it may look huge when you get it but as soon as you start moving
in all of a sudden size matters and unless you're going from like a travel trailer to a fifth wheel
like say you're at a travel trailer or you're in a fifth wheel and you just want like the same type
of thing but a few feet longer it's not usually that big of a price jump either so it's mostly
just you and your head being comfortable pulling it and from experience i'm gonna say it's probably
not that big of a deal if you're going to be so so so much more comfortable you went from
pulling 16 feet uh landscaping trailers to a 45 foot tall higher camera and it's really you know
the first couple times i was a little nervous about it but then after that it was the cool
thing about it it stays behind you it does so size matters move in get comfortable with your decision
number four love your feet you love my feet harley have you seen those feet hope you get
them done before the show on a serious note love your feet here again is one of those weather
things pay attention to the weather flip-flops sound like a great option until it pours rain
and then your feet are all nasty and wet the rest of the day or maybe that doesn't bother you
maybe it's going to be super cold and you wear flip-flops and your feet are freezing
maybe it's going to be super hot and you wish you'd worn your flip-flops bottom line whatever
you're going to wear you better check the weather and you better make sure they're comfortable
because you're going to put some steps you're going to put some you're going to put some miles
in walking and there's nothing worse than like him saying oh can we just go look at one more thing
like he always does the steps aren't the thing that bothers us the most it's more of the
in and out of the camper talking about working your tailbone
up and down up and down but here's the thing so let's say the show's still open and whoever you're
with wants to go check out one more thing and it's clear on the other side of the park i'm just
saying and you say i would love to go see that but my feet are dying and i don't think i can stand to
walk that much further and back i'm not even sure how i'm going to make it to the car to go home
so i'm not carrying you love your feet it's very important when you're going to be on them all day
plus it's concrete asphalt up and down yeah it's all hard flooring it's nothing it's nothing nice
until you get in the camper and you know then it's just it's just wood so yeah love your feet
number five the final one have fun guys it's it's it's not work it shouldn't be hard i mean it's
gonna be hard on your feet but at the end of the day it's gonna be hard on your brain and your your
head you're gonna have a headache when you leave it especially if you're looking for an rv
but at the end of the day take it all in see as much as you can see meet as many people as you
can meet talk to as many people as you can and the most important thing truly is take it all in
and have fun see i see it do you quickly i think the most important things to find us camping