Dennis Brewer

RV camping is for everybody. No other form of travel adjusts so readily to any sort of special need. RV vacations are family-friendly in the extreme. RVing is a cheap and convenient way to take the whole family on vacation, including your pets or elderly parents.In most cases, having the kitchen and bathroom with you makes the “I’m hungry” and “I have to go potty” requests easy to deal with, and traveling together as a family can foster closeness and communication.

Okay, take a deep breath. Get ready to check into an RV campground and spend your first night on the road. If you’re worried about whether you can handle it, don’t fret. How to choose a site When I started RVing, I wanted only model sites, secluded from other campers, surrounded by shade trees, preferably at the end of a row facing a view.

Keeping the RV camper as clean as possible day by day while on the road is easier than going through the equivalent of spring cleaning every week or two. A rechargeable vacuum is very helpful for cleaning as you go. ©welcomia/Shutterstock.com Cleaning outside the vehicle Although car owners are accustomed to wielding a hose in the driveway or in one of the little wash-it-yourself bays at a car wash, cleaning the outside of a motor home by yourself is akin to bathing an elephant; you can’t do it in a short driveway or the average car wash even if you want to.

Driving an RV isn’t difficult, but the experience is different from handling the family car. No special license or driver training is required in most states, depending on the size of the rig. Before hitting the road for your RV vacation, you’ll want to know a few basics and brush up on your road etiquette. ©Lisa F.

Although an RV campter usually comes fully furnished and ready to go from the manufacturer, you’ll probably want to pick up a few practical tools and gadgets. You can usually find these items at camping-supply stores or sometimes at the small convenience stores at campgrounds.Marching into a specialty store and buying only what’s on the shopping list can be difficult.

Budgeting for a trip in an RV has a few different wrinkles from a vacation on which you’re not driving your accommodations around. You won’t be able to figure out to the last cent how much you’ll be spending, but the RV Vacations For Dummies Cheat Sheet and the information in this article can help you develop some reasonable estimates for building your travel budget.

The cool gadgets in this list—from smartphones to CB radios—will make your RV vacation easier and take away many of the petty annoyances involved in getting where you’re going. Smartphone As an RV traveler, you probably need to give up your flip phone. Smartphones and the apps that run on them can do just about anything but the laundry.

If you can’t check out the world’s largest ball of string or take a look at the corn palace while on an RV vacation, when can you? Countless gems like that ball of string are located all over the United States. This list shares some of those places (one per each state you might visit by RV). Read about places to play, see, find adventure, just rest, learn something new, stay for a longer while, dine, or shop.

Renting presents a great opportunity to try the RV experience before you buy into it fully. Trying different styles of RVs by renting them first has the potential to help you make the best purchase decision if you’re on a path to buy one. Renting an RV every summer for vacation is another alternative to buying; you get all the benefits of going on vacation in an RV without the added responsibilities of ownership.