RV LIFE: TOP 5 COSTS & UNEXPECTED EXPENSES

Alright, we're recording, we're recording, let's start with this fantastic video, but very requested, very, very requested, we're talking about money for RVs and

unexpected

expenses

, and if you don't know who we are, our names are Mark and trish we're from keeper daydream we have been traveling this beautiful country united states canada mexico new zealand for four and a half years and every once in a while we take a break from all our shenanigans which is following our family doing things visiting places to answer your questions that is which is today, yeah, and we went to Facebook and Instagram to ask what questions you had related to money and we got over 700 questions between Facebook and Instagram in one day, so this is a big question that people have in mind, yeah so we've broken it down into the following categories let's talk about what the video is about and then there's a couple more things I want to talk about just in terms of the season and stuff.

Well, we've been keeping track of all of our lodging and fuel related

expenses

since we left this season in one document. We want to share some totals with you for now June and July and then we want to talk about our maximum. five

costs

and then we want to talk about some of the

unexpected

costs

because that was something important, like what was a surprise or what expenses did you have that you didn't know you would have so far along the way and then as it relates to our five main costs, we want provide a tip or two on ways to save in each of those categories because if you could cut the top a little bit in a lot of different areas, you'd be surprised how much money you can save.

Absolutely yes and then we'll fill in with how much you actually need to start traveling or possibly even full time. So good question and then there were many other questions related to Airstream insurance prescription mail, how is the kyd? the cabin operation has impacted uh how the cove has impacted our travels our RV park and the campgrounds are getting too crowded with so many new campers and then also a quick update on the airflow because in the past we've been changing platforms more frequently, but now we're not doing that so people want to know, hey, it's the airstream, everything seems so good and just a real bonus, very fast right now, Charlie is well, yeah, Charlie's good, a lot of questions from Charlie, a lot of questions from Charlie, okay, real quick, the last one, uh. last week we did an RV washing video, but before that it was, if you didn't catch it, Michigan, part one, did you see part one?

That means there will be a second part next Sunday. On Sundays we left Mirror State Park and went up to Silver. The lake camp made the dunes amazing and surprisingly we were not expecting this. We actually went to Mackinac Island again. Mackinac is great, right, it's an experience, yeah, so definitely check out the video next Sunday because we haven't edited it yet, but the footage. it's ridiculous and then, I've been getting a ton of emails from people saying, hey, I've been following you since the first puncture and I didn't get the notification from youtube. I'm not even subscribed to kyd anymore, so youtube. is experiencing some glitches and you might want to see if you're still clicking the subscribe button, but the best way to keep in touch is email, so if you go to our website and sign up for our email , that's amazing because every week in your email box we will not spam you we will not reveal your information we will tell you what's new and trendy yes here on the calendar and you will like it when they wear the Kyd caps or you like the summer t-shirts and all that email is our best way to communicate and that means you should also have like hello keeper daydream.com on your safe list because it's probably going to turn into spam, yeah, okay, and then, uh , cleanliness control just a little. a little bit of housekeeping and a lot of people are like, how do I watch the videos and sort our playlists?

This is something about YouTube that everyone should know. Yes, yes, if you go to our home page and then click on videos, the newest video is always in the top left corner, but if you want to catch up on seasons or binge-watch them, something we hear a lot of people go to our playlist and then each season plays in order and then one last thing before we jump. We have no control over the ads or ad content so the ad you are seeing we don't choose YouTube photos many times it has to do with search history or demographics so no otherwise we are not in charge of that. it would probably be all Ford, it would be nothing but Ford truck commercials, people, okay, okay, keep going, okay, keep going, so categories number one, okay, so for topic number one, review June and July, I have them here.

Let's put that puppy to the side, okay, we'll just turn it off right there and then we'll take it all out okay, this is June and July, the cost of fuel is okay, and the phillips number, so I. refueled six times in June eight times in July for a total of 449.66 tenths in June 460 in July this is the lowest we have ever spent on fuel, yes, because we are not moving that fast and that is a tip that you can use for you is to stay somewhere a little longer to save money. We've stayed about a week in each destination and that really shows up in the fuel cost, um six six fuel to six phillips, that's really six stops, um we have a 60 gallon tank We did a full truck update video , which is great.

I love it, someone loves the 60 smd in the fuel tank. Many people ask about fuel economy and the truck gets 12.5 combined. When I say combined, I mean towing and not. towing I get 12.5 yes that's 2 miles per gallon more than when we had the same f250 6.7 liter diesel 4x4 with a five and five speed ratio okay exactly the same truck that goes two miles an hour better pulling the current of air than the reflection, our reflection, which Weighed two thousand pounds more, we got ten miles per gallon combined, okay, there you go, there you go, okay, so next let me show you all the things, uh, nights in a trailer park, state park, dry harvest house. camping and docking and even a hotel so for June nights at RV park 21 on July 12. state park 5th of july four harvest hosts three in july one ain't close enough to host the harvest yeah not close enough that's because all our mooch talk about dry camping in june was the one and july it was zero, it hits zero, but in July, it hits zero, that's right, we really tired our friends out, yeah, now you're probably wondering why there were three nights, actually, four nights in a hotel in July, three nights .

At the hotel, when we were installing the lithium battery, we installed some battle batteries in the front and that video will be coming soon. In fact, we're going to come back to do a little solar upgrade on that deal if it's ever needed. stay in a hotel because they are repairing your equipment, not because you go to a luxurious place and you love having them wait for you to make your bed, it's terrible, okay, because when you stay in a hotel because they repair your equipment every time you buy that morning cup of coffee or go out to dinner that's actually not that good but is still very expensive, that's when you really appreciate it and then spend, you know, a hundred and fifty dollars or a crazy 150 a night on a hotel and then that room The night, that's because we had to organize ourselves to go to Mackinac so we could maximize our first day in Mackinac, so we spent the night in Mackinac City written differently and then took the ferry in the morning , so I hope that video is next weekend.

If we include Mackinac, it was pretty fun, yeah, okay, cool, so how much did we spend? The most we've probably spent in June was seventeen hundred dollars seventeen, seventeen hundred and ten dollars and 29 cents, yes, and in July 926. Since we're talking, I don't think I've ever seen our accommodations this expensive and this is a good point to To say that the reason we have never shared exact numbers in the past is that we never thought that the way we did

life

in an RV was a fair representation of how anyone would do

life

in an RV well, at the most On the other hand, people are part-time weekend warriors, they want to go out for a weekend and you can do it in the woods for free or you could do it. that in Fort Wilderness is about 125 a night so it's really up to you and it varies so we don't want to put parameters on you to make you think, oh my gosh, RV is so expensive or, oh my gosh, RV is so cheap .

It really depends on what you like to do and where you want to go and where you want to be. I would say it also comes down to your mission, so if your only mission for quote-unquote RV living was to save money, then you would prepare yourself and prepare to save money, you probably wouldn't buy a motorized RV or tow vehicle. triple axle diesel, I would probably buy a truck and a trailer, I would probably have a generator so I could dry the camp properly and then let's say right now it's your monthly lodging at home or in an apartment or rent or mortgage, however you look at it, let's say 750 okay so you might say hey how do I spend 750 on RV living?

Well, you could organize a trip in an RV. wizard, yeah, and you can start looking, you can say, okay, hey, look, I'm 14 days into this blm. I could go find some good weather. I could stay five nights in this blm. I could go to this RV park for 50 a night. I could stay there for three nights and I could break up and regroup. I could buy shares with some friends here. I could stay with them for about five days. Yes, and you can save money. Following the weather is a great thing, yes, because then no. burning fuel if you're too cold burning propane you're not trying to look for air conditioning you know you can keep your animals inside your rig because it's light and cool anyway you can do whatever you want.

We have more to talk about when we look at ways to save, but let's talk about our top five costs. Well, again, you know, the way we do it is a fair representation, I don't know, I mean, we have our high five. number one expense and this is again something probably specific to us, the way we eat and being a family is food, yeah well anyone who has a teenager here understands that their food costs double and triple, yeah maybe have a second dinner and a second breakfast, it's okay. So food, accommodation, entertainment, fuel and then repairs and maintenance, and I would say this is one of our top five.

They may be prioritized a little differently, but overall, these are in the top five and we're going to talk a little bit. a little bit about insurance and prescriptions, email me, but in general, insurance is also a very personal thing, it's not something like that because you're automatically in an RV life, which means your health insurance is going to go up and down , it's kind of what it is. at home and now you're doing it in an RV, yeah, okay, so now unexpected cost number three and I didn't see it coming, it's actually pretty surprising, our unexpected cost number one is pretty surprising, right, yeah, in It's actually the 2021 Ford.

Bronco, I mean, I just didn't do it, it's a crazy expense, I didn't do it, I didn't know it was coming, so I have a feeling we're not going to buy a Ford Bronco, but he loves it. the new Ford Bronco. I love the new company, it's beautiful, Fort Bronco was my first truck, yes, there are pictures of us when we were 12 years old. It's fine on the Ford Bronco, so I have a feeling that's going to be our biggest unexpected cost, we won't buy one. fork, that's right, okay, anyway, okay, so doing laundry I felt like it was actually more expensive than I thought it should be, so it really depends on where you're going to do laundry.

I started to stop doing laundry in RV parks because I felt like that was the case. almost double the cost and I would go somewhere out of town but then my convenience factor went way down so doing laundry is somewhere, I do it once a week and it's like 10, 15, 20 per week, okay, everything is fine there and then I would say we had five people most of the time, yeah, and a lot of people wonder why we didn't have a washing machine when we had our toy hauler because we had hookups and again it was because we had four of us and I personally feel like if we were doing laundry in the RV, every day would be laundry day which would have been convenient okay but those machines don'tThey work so well, yeah, they don't know it, so I'm the only reason we did it.

But I don't have that, it's a little expensive, yeah, and we knew we were only going to have the platform for a while, okay, so I would say hosting is increasing surprisingly as we start these four and a half years. A while ago it seemed like the average nightly rate was in the 35's, 45's and 50's to 55's, maybe even 60's for the really nice parks or you know the destination places, yeah, and now it seems like 50's for the house parks. RVs is average and we are seeing prices go up at campground similar to Coulter Bay in Teton National Park it is an amazing RV park or amazing campground but I mean we paid 80 for a night now I admit that they were full of connections on a shortcut site because we came in at the last minute and that's a Quick Savings Tip: The more prepared you are, the more you can save because then you'll get the right site for you, maybe like a backend of 30 amps versus a 50 amp pull-through, because that's what's left, you know, yes, but I would say that housing is starting to go up a little bit more, especially in the prime locations, yes, absolutely, yes, it is okay, and then we have, oh, this is interesting, so the flights are okay, that's definitely our most unexpected cost, but it's a little bit of this, a little bit of that because it's not a real cost for us because we have airline miles.

We like to use Delta in the southwest, mostly in the southwest, so if you have kids that are gone. you go to college and you're still traveling, someone is flying somewhere, yeah, because if you go out exploring and you want your kids to come visit you or let's say you're on the other side of the country and you meet a parent, something happens to a father, a grandchild arrives, chances are, and everyone is different, you don't pick up your vehicle and drive around the country and do something for a week and then drive back to your destination, get on a plane and come home . you'd stay with some friends, you'd find out why you're there, so just to give you an example, two weeks ago, Carson flew back to get his license, about a month and a half ago, Victoria flew back to see. us for the 4th of July and we use southwest dots and we use southwest dots for all of that there's a link below dot com slash swa for southwest airlines yeah because it's cool that's how we get all our kids around the cool coco chat um are those guys our unexpected those were our unexpected costs and yours could be totally different maybe your um your insurance your health insurance doesn't pay for out of network coverage that could be an unexpected cost for you maybe um your food bill might go up because you think I'm in Memphis or I'm in You know, when we were near New York we wanted to go out to eat and fold.

Oregon was a food town and where did we go? I just came from Jackson, super awesome city to eat there, so anyway, we suddenly found out that Bozeman Bozeman was so good, oh my gosh, okay, so you can see how this could quickly get out of hand, yeah , um and then everyone. Suddenly you're eating out four days a week and that could be detrimental to your budget, although I think if you really want to find ways to reduce those unexpected costs, you could get something like a 2021 Ford Bronco and that would actually end up creating so much entertainment value that you wouldn't have to do this other stuff, okay, you know what I mean, you could do more off-roading, you see how hard he's trying, okay, okay, okay, okay.

So there are four ways to save, so we have a tip or two for each of these categories, starting with food, Trish, a tip or two, good food, first of all, go to the supermarket with a menu that helps me in all the time because I know from my menu what kind of ingredients I need and then I stay on track. I leave the kids at home because it's 10 to 20 more instants. She could also leave her husband at home. Yeah, for different reasons, so anyway, and then we. I don't really buy food for lunch per se, I just make more dinner than we need and then pack it into small things.

Sometimes I make a special lunch if we're going on a hike or things like that, which could be really delicious, but Um, I just take the extra portions, make them in small containers, put them in the refrigerator if I know it's a travel day so we can grab them real quick or I throw them in the freezer so we have something quick when we need it. something yes, amazing, yes, and also when Trish prepares like this, we usually eat better on driving days, yes, and now we are not susceptible to being hungry and saying, let's go get some unhealthy food, yes, it's expensive yes there is some.

What is starting to trend in these ways of saving is that preparation saves you money, yes, being last minute, go ahead, letting it be last minute costs a lot of money because you have to go to a more expensive RV park and then you have to get somewhere more expensive and then you don't have food so you eat expensive or I'm sure you don't have the food prepared you have to go out to dinner so preparation is the key, I'm starting to realize in this video, what? OK? lodging um we like it we said we think you could save 25-50 on your lodging by taking advantage of dry camping options yeah um and programs that are membership based with a small fee like boondockers, welcome and hosts harvest, they have a membership that's pretty nominal, but we provide all kinds of dry camping options that you can spread out based on your budget, we use moose, oh yeah, and then there are others like what have fraternity, not fraternity, but fraternal organizations like moose and moose, yes, they generally have a philanthropic base, yes, so they help. the community in some way and then there are benefits to them, yeah, and you know, three dollar drinks, so it also reduced the alcohol bill, okay, now someone said how much we spend on a harvest host, which is a good point, well, and in another way. to ask the same question is I said you only need to participate when you go to a harvest house because they like that and someone said what does that mean so if you stay at a winery you would buy a bottle of wine.

If you were going to stay in a market you would buy a bar of soap, you know, etc., like when we stayed with the alpaca, I bought a little hat, if you are going to use the harvest host as a way to stretch out. your hosting budget then and that's like if your main mission is to save money then I would participate at the minimum level and I don't think any host would have a problem with that because that's the deal but if you're using Harvest Host because I just like it camp quietly along a fence and look at the vineyard all night, then buy a few bottles of wine, yes, sure, yes, great, very good, and then you know we have never used boondockers, welcome, but we are members and I think that that is. another great way to save and then of course there are thousands of trails and there are other programs like that.

We have been thousands of trail members before just because we got it through the RV purchase we made and found out that we traveled the country in such a way. At great distances it is difficult to choose an area, so we only really found one location that fit our needs, so we only used it once, yes, but again, if our mission was specifically to reduce accommodation costs , we would plan ahead, okay. So entertainment, I would say for entertainment, how to save one or two tips for saving is we really like to be outdoors and most of the time the outdoors is completely free and one of the things we like to do is incorporate whatever we're going to spend money on and stretch it so that, like we're going out to dinner, we're going to walk around town first.

I don't normally buy a bunch of sweet stuff to keep on the shelf. otherwise we'd just be eating them all day, so we book, we book like ice cream nights and then that's our night, we have dinner, we do what we have to do and then we go out for ice cream, we walk around. go watch the sunset, that's how we do entertainment, but you can also look for free days at museums, you can go to the local library, sometimes they give you a punch card you can go to, maybe a member is free . there's just so many ways to connect to the visitor centers they're amazing really they'll really give you a lot of information and then also um the guides in the national parks what are the rangers?

Rangers are something that this is the rank and is that the universal symbol universal symbol for rangers. so the ranger will help you in all kinds of ways, um, what's local, I mean they're very smart, yeah, no, it's cool, very helpful, and I would also say that RV life is kind of a trip and when you first start, uh. it's fun to participate in a lot of the touristy things and the things that require tickets and tours and then over time you know a lot of those tours and touristy things start to feel the same way, like it's the same type of tour in a different city so now that we have been traveling for four and a half years and our kids are older we are now appreciating our progress on our people seeing route yes of course the kyd community and gatherings unfortunately at the moment are a bit on hold due to cobit, but typically we'll choose a route based on getting to know the kyd community well, doing meetups, hanging out with friends, and doing great hikes because that's what we like most, so we're doing things that require less entrees so our entertainment bill goes way down, we're substituting that for the fact that Trish is working on a cookbook, so if we're in a foodie town we'll be dining out a lot, yeah.

Our kids are at the age where we can go on a date every night, so you know, not every night, but you get the point, if we're in a food town, we'll go out a couple of times, yeah, okay, cool . gasoline fuel, this is a big one, okay, if you have a gasoline truck, it doesn't mean it's not diesel, um, you could use come back, that goes back to the preparation, you can use gasoline, friend, and fill it up right when you want, start to think about when you go. to fill up after that, that needle is below half a tank so you have options as to where you want to fill up so you don't have to get ripped off for expensive fuel, plus it adds a little security because when you pull up to a gas station and you look inside you're like, man, I don't want to go in there because it's a little sketchy, well, maybe the overhang is too low or the curbs are weird or it looks like a sharp curve, that's what now you have options, you can continue because no. you have to stop there but if you're a diesel you have a few more options and it's because of those fuel saving cards or diesel and all that. and there are actually a couple of options now, tsd is what we mentioned before and that has been a big savings for us.

I think the last time we used it it was like 12 and it's automatic which is great plus I don't have to go. at the gas station yeah, truck stop should say okay, do it. I can do it right there at the pump, which is great, but there's another one that caught my attention that I want to share with you. Requires a 10. to sign up but I think there are a few more locations there could be more savings I definitely think it's worth mentioning and checking out there is a transaction fee although yes there is two dollars per transaction but I think most Sometimes the savings will far exceed that and if not I think net net would be fine so anyway instead of going into all the details now just go to keeperdaydream.com and then there I will have both programs and This other program I'm mentioning has a commercial option, so if you're a business owner or you have a fleet or let's just say you have an ein number, then there could be even more additional savings from being very commercial, but I think these are fuels.

Cards are a no-brainer for this reason alone, going to truck stops is not only the fastest fuel but it's also cheaper and safer because you have plenty of room, plenty of room to get in and you don't have to put your card in. twice you don't put your card in twice you don't have to go in and you can definitely get, which for those who don't have diesel is diesel exhaust fluid on newer straight truck models, they have depth and you get death. at the pump so there's a lot of reasons to sign up for those things yeah and let me know if the new program I'm linking to is you get a lot of savings out of it we'll both be number five on the list for repairs and maintenance repairs and good maintenance we will deliver this mobile home in a couple of weeks for repairs yes we have a water leak problem in the bathroom and that won't be cheap no they quoted me about fifteen hundred dollars and I have to replace the floor because the water It went under the floor, like thisthere's a leak somewhere over there. um, of course, we replaced the um, the board, the water heater board on that same board that I replaced on the grand design, yeah, the same Atwood water here.

Same plate replacement which was about 112 um other than that there has been nothing else and then as far as trucks go we have had fords our entire RV life so to speak but we have had very good luck . with trucks, our Ford trucks, but before we even started traveling, you had an old f-150 that had how many miles 150. sorry, how many miles 175,000. no repairs, no repairs and then a hundred thousand on our next f-150 no repairs, except for that fuel pump fuse we replaced in Bend Oregon mm-hmm and then of course, you know, windshield wipers, brakes and wipers, brakes, oil, tires, yeah, okay, um, but yeah, so you know, I think generally speaking repairs and maintenance are going to be in the top five for a lot of people, especially if it's a motorized RV, uh, and if you have an older truck, you know the best truck is a truck paid for at some point, especially if it is a diesel truck and paid for at At some point, I know people who have spent five to ten thousand dollars a year on repairs.

At some point, if you're going to travel a lot, you have to draw, you're going to balance all that. Okay, great, so those are the ways to save number five, how much you need to get started, whatever you have and we're not even kidding, so start small starting now because if you're waiting for the perfect platform, the moment perfect, the window will close on you and therefore the best. What we always come back to is starting with what you have, we get so many stories from people who have taken it seriously, they put up a tent in the back, they come to wherever they want to go, they send us photos and say what do I have for do the same hike, ate the same food and I just didn't have the gear I wanted to have, so what happens is it evolves and we have a really fun story of the same thing, we love the lake, we're boaters at heart, um, and in the beginning, When we first got married, we didn't have the resources to go into the lake, so we just brought our truck, lowered the bed, and brought some food.

The kids were playing in the lake, it was super fun, we were like we were here and then one of our friends gave us this sea thing that he would like to get rid of, because it was like a jet ski. Yeah, and anyway we had to go fix it and a friend of a friend did it for us and we got the story that he said, "I'm polishing shit." Those were these guys. These guys apologize. These guys. They're polishing shit because the jet ski was really bad, so anyway, but what happened was we were on the lake, our kids were having flashbacks, the thing was going two miles an hour, it was really terrible, but it The only thing our kids can remember is remembering that we had We were there on a jet ski because the only thing they remember is that we spent the weekend together at the lake, yes, and I've said it before, even when it comes to travel, yes, when you look back, like the trips you've made. done the bumps in the road tend to be forgotten the fish tend to get a little bigger but you don't remember it like no one said oh man remember that trippy was 10 years ago it was a lot of fun but i just wish we had done it i did it in a better platform because that would have made the memory much better.

True, he said that no one was ever right. That's why we're such big advocates of starting small now, it's better than not starting at all. So what do you need to take that seriously and don't you need anything more than what you have? Just get out there and then you'll learn a lot, what you like to do, what you want to spend money on. What type of recreational vehicle are you? We remember our first rig that we brought to Mexico with us, it took us all over the United States, it took us to Canada and it took us to Mexico and it was literally falling apart, the front end. part of the platform was separating from the rest of the platform, it was following a dog on the way to Mexico.

I'm not suggesting that you want these experiences, but I'm saying we did it, we did it, we did it with that platform, so and I. I don't even remember the RV. I remember what we did. I remember where we went. where you are with what you have not what you do what you can with what you can do anyway it's a good quote look it up well I'll put it here now oh brio yeah okay that concludes our five sections on uh money RV life money and unexpected expenses, and um, to give you an idea, because we gave you the actual dollar amount for where we stayed during those two months.

We gave you a dollar amount for that meal is totally relative, so what you're spending. Now you could probably spend on the trip. The only caveat is that you can't go to Costco and stock up for the month. Many people ask how often you shop. Did you mention once a week once a week once a week? week, um, anyway, the cost of your food is totally relative, what you're spending now is what you're going to spend down the road, maybe a little more, maybe a little less, okay, well, let's go to the q a section of the video and let's round up. things like that for sure, prescriptions and mail, let's start with the mail, okay mail, we use the travel mailbox, it's totally awesome, they take a picture of the front of our mail, we tell them to open it, shred it, forward it and then we have all the digital mail. it's amazing it's all in pdf it's like 50 a month no it's like 29 but we've added some things so it starts somewhere in the 25 to 29 range and you can go up so sure we use insurance progressive for the motorhome. um, because we have a 16 year old girl and another person with a permit and Tori is 20 and she got into a Porsche a couple of months ago, her full car insurance and her full car insurance, our car insurance is a little expensive but um you know that's subject to our situation I don't think um oh and we have a house so that helps the kyd cabin is like your primary residence but the reason I mention that is that if not I don't have a primary residence, I think it's progressive and you can ask me about this progressive and Geico are the only ones that offer RV insurance for full-time workers and I'll tell you if you're going to buy an RV and plan to finance it. .

RV and you are planning to sell your house you may want to make sure you get all the financing for your RV because when you sell your house you fall into this thing called the Patriot Act and you can't get the right financing and then there are only a couple of companies that They finance RVs properly, so you have to keep in mind that those are some pretty serious problems, yeah, okay doctor, for years we paid a fortune for a private Blue Cross Blue Shield plan because we never had a big company to be low so we had to buy privately, we have almost always been self-employed and the problem is when we went on the road we were always out of network so not only was the premium ridiculous but the deductible was crazy and then on top of it.

It was when we say ridiculous, we really mean ridiculous, oh, like a good 1500 a month for our premium and then the deductible was 2000 per person, I had certain things going for me, so as a result of all that, when we got to the On the road We switched to Medishare, which is a kind of group share plan. If you're a business owner, it's not deductible, it's not, it's not deductible. It's been working great for us for years, but we also haven't had any similar illnesses or anything underneath, right, we've talked to people who have and haven't had any problems, but anyway, what am I saying?

I'm saying I'm not recommending it, we're telling you that's what we use, okay, okay, okay. So now we don't have prescriptions or things of this nature, yes, but okay, so people have written in and said I have to see my doctor because the rules have changed. I have to see my doctor every three months so I can get my prescriptions renewed, so my answer is that southwest guard again so you can come back and fly back and see your doctor. That sounds a little excessive, maybe if you have the same type of travel circle, maybe you're a snowbird. in two locations throughout the year, I have two primary care doctors, so it's like if you go back to that one for the second visit, you go back to the other one for the second visit so you can get your medications taking care of yourself, yes we have a dentist in Arizona and we have a dentist in Michigan, so that way we get checkups when we're supposed to, but it's not like flying home to go see someone, okay? kyd cabin quick update on the kodi cabin um people want to know how it's going, it's going great, we love what we love, it's a lot of fun, I'm sorry, it's a lot of fun to see people taking pictures in the cabin that they're excited to be.

There they are doing all kinds of things in northern Arizona, it's wonderful, let me tell you a couple of things about real estate if you're thinking you want to go full time and you don't know what you're going to do. with the house that maybe you raised your kids in or the house that you live in now, we chose to get out of the real estate market completely to continue living, but then as our kids got older, we wanted to have a place where we could live. We could have Thanksgiving and holidays and things like that and we also wanted to get back into the real estate market, but if we were going to get back in we wanted to do it in a place that was very deliberate, was in a 12 month rental market, meaning we could rent it out. winter or summer, spring or fall, it's fine and we wanted the fact that it was an investment to be the main mission.

That's the second trend of this video: what is your mission and if it is your mission. is to have land to be an investment, then all the arrows have to point to the investment, you cannot say, for example, if your children are raising, you could say: I want to have this house because it is close to the school zone or it is near a supermarket, those are all your needs right when you buy a place specifically to rent, they are all the needs of who will stay there and serve other people. If your real estate is to serve other people you need to think about their needs If your real estate is to serve yours you need to think about their needs and all of this is to say we are not real estate agents or investors well someone was , but we are not yet.

This is still not advice. Charlie has some really good advice. real estate advice and listening to it is as wise as listening to us yes, I just want your own property, you have to make your own decisions, I'm just going to say that there are many people who are making changes, yes, sometimes people sell the house on the who have lived for a long time, take out some capital and then very deliberately buy a smaller place so that when they're done traveling they can come back or rent it outright so that's how they are. coconut shells that you can consider, yes, and it is important to remember that being an RV and staying in RV parks is like being a renter because that money you will never see again, you are spending it on rent, you are not spending it on a The asset shouldn't be too much of a disappointment to Debbie, but your trip is depreciating and your accommodation is going bye-bye, so, that's why we started thinking about well, what are we going to use for the future?

Well, how has covid been? It's impacted our trip well so far, for one it's slowed us down a lot, which has been pretty nice, actually, so look, we start in Arizona, head to Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and then, here, we decided. Straight ahead, take a boat and get to Michigan, so right now we should be in Canada, but Canada is closed to the United States, so now we're considering whether to go to Maine and come down here and cross or come back. and we hang out in the mountains and we'll decide in two weeks and we'll keep you posted on what the rest of the season is going to be like, but, you know, I mean, we're just moving forward and yeah, let's go. a little bit slower, I would say a lot of people have asked, well, this will lead us to the next question: with so much new demand for RVs, are you finding it difficult to get into the campgrounds and make a reservation?

What is no like? The reservation thing is underway and here is my opinion on it. Actually, I don't think it's any different than it's ever been. I think there might be a few more people because we're all in the United States right now. I think it has more to do with the fact that someone from the United States stays in the United States, think about all the people who would make a pilgrimage to Alaska or go to Canada or Mexico and even abroad and spend their summer vacations, people you're not doing what they're buying rigs and doing things in the world just think about all the places you drive through a neighborhood and see all the RVson the side of the house behind the RV park yeah well right now they're using them because they can I don't do anything else so I think there's a bigger influx of RV's right now but I haven't really noticed a big difference if you compare summer with summer, I think it is very similar.

The fact is, uh, to covet or not to covet. new rvrs or not new our viewers, if you are going to a popular destination between May and September, Thursday to Saturday, you will probably have to have a reservation, yes, and you have always had to have a reservation at the place where you are. You're going to have to show up at the last minute or you're going to show up, you're going to show up on the day off, yeah, yeah, and then of course the big question: everyone wants to know how it's going with the draft now that we've been on the road for how many miles . like over four thousand miles 5000 miles yes I love the airflow yes I love the airflow of all the equipment we've had we should probably love the reflection more it was the most practical because it was the most practical it was great price it had slides that made it wide it had an island and with kids in the bunk I call it like the minivan of motor homes, it really was, it was a really great platform for our family, but there is something special about a draft that I really love it and most people will say but there's no storage I mean that literally comes out of everyone but there's no storage but everything that was in the back of your truck is now hidden outside and we're going to take a tour of the air current.

I'm going to show you there's a little place for it everywhere around the airstream and I'm pleasantly surprised with how much storage it has underneath here, even people who are bigger rigs will come sitting here because at first you walk in . "Well this is small so there are no signs, there's just a long hallway that leads to Charlie getting trampled a lot, but anyway the big truck people will come here and I'll open a cabinet and them." "They'll be like, wow, that's a lot of space, I had no idea and the way it opens is easy to use, so I think those are the reasons we like it, yeah, they'll dig a little deeper and say, oh , that is". where do you keep that and oh that's a clever thing and oh that's interesting that they thought of that and yes the lights are in the right place so we like that they're easy to open and I like the attention to detail which I'm enjoying .

The important thing is that driving days are a big part of an RV's life and so a lot of times it's very easy to tow, so it's easy to hook up, it's easy to tow, the truck makes a great job on it we're getting almost 13 miles off the gallon which is great and then we'll stop at a truck stop and since there are no slides Trish will go back to the motor home and I'll come back when I'm getting gas and she'll be like cooking the lunch and then we'll stop and then we'll sit in the dining room and then we'll use it a lot more, yeah we don't have to go down stairs alone and someone 10 feet tall so I don't have to worry about as many low height bridges so All the little pros add up to why we like it so much, but you know, I wouldn't say there are big pros and big cons. just a bunch of pros and some cons right and I really think it's kind of funny like when we stop at a chipotle and we have bowls and you can't sit there and most of them and we're like no problem we have our own little dining room, we come here, we eat, we have our own bathroom, we're like we're having our own cold drinks, like, yeah, yeah, I don't know, it's easy, that's what we love about RVs. life and every time I stay in a hotel I think I can't stop this, it's exhausting, I go out to eat all the time, breakfast, dinner, I go out all the time and I'm thinking about every checkout time, like where is it when we get our money back? trailer.

Yeah, okay, so that's our money talk. If you have any other questions, please write them below. We are very happy that you are here with us every week. We love getting your responses, like when we chat on Instagram or Facebook, so thank you so much for being here and sign up for that email list because that's really how we can stay in touch with you and Then next weekend we'll be back to the travel videos and then we'll find a route and start making even more travel videos every Sunday at seven. Yes, see you and then goodbye.