Hi Hanks, I've been full-time RV'r for 6 years now. Only stayed at Walmart 3 times, once when I broke down in Kansas and one time in Wyoming where my tow car was broken into. One time in Oregon was uneventful. I use allstays, elks and moose lodges, compendium and I stay at a lot of casinos. I have paid $109. per night at a KOA in west Yellowstone and $20 per night with full hookups in Mississippi. I never make reservations and have always found a place to stay. It was a little scary one night in Connecticut when I had no place to go when I saw a billboard for a casino. I had to backtrack about 12 miles but I found my spot for the night. As you know, full-timeing is not the easiest lifestyle but it is the one I have chosen as well as you and many of my friends and others. Thanks for the good Info and you just keep doing you.
Thank you so much, David! It sounds like we are on the same page with the way we enjoy traveling 😃 We appreciate you taking the time to share this with everyone!
David, good for you and your adventures. I know RV life has its challenges, but I just realized, people are forgetting the challenges in life, in general, just a different set of challenges on the road. My friend and I coined the phrase “unrealistic expectations”. He had that when getting a neck operation, it didn’t pan out well. I think people think “I’ll sell my home with all the maintenance and cost, and drive off into a blissful life”? I’m being a little silly but think there’s some truth to it? I;m not minimizing the problems, just trying to adjust the way we deal with them, think about them. With Help from people like tge Hanks, life will get better, even on the road
In the beginning of this video, you assume those that have money don't need to listen. We are recently retired and saved a ton, but we still shop at some thrift stores, use apps to save gas and occasionally use dollar stores. Thats how you stay wealthy! Great tips btw.
I boondock in one spot for two weeks at a time. Regarding electric, I have 1000w of solar and a generator as back-up. I can run pretty much what I want. For water: 40 gallon lasts me the whole two weeks. I take showers sparingly and always a navy shower: wet for a few seconds, turn the water off to lather up, water back on for thirty seconds to rinse. A shower takes less than a gallon of water. I use no water for dishes. A few sprays of hydrogen peroxide from a bottle, wipe the dish out with a paper towel. The rest of my water is for drinking. Grey only has a few gallon of shower water at the end. Since I'm boondocking, I use the natural facilities as much as possible, but I can always fill up the black tank if the weather is nasty.
👏Explaination of how to do it. Solar capture capacity and storage of that energy is the goal. Whether you augment or Let-rrrr-Rip! and get a complete system as the solution. Or is it? I guess that many never even utilize the full potential of their system. Potable water is the stickler like you said. If you take measures to conserve, you won’t be running out to fill up tour tanks or jugs! Makes logical sense.
If you have an RV and don't have a good solar setup, including lithium batteries and solar power bank and either a portable or built in generator then your not using your RV to it's true capabilities. As for water it's very easy to conserve fresh and your grey and black tanks. You can also use food grade 5 gallon buckets with tight lids that you can fill with fresh water and also utilize for grey water dumping they stack nearly together when not being used and when traveling and full put them in the shower/tub. Anybody that boondocks regularly knows this and many more tricks. To stay cool hang reflective tarps on the sunny side and utilize reflectix bubble wrap on your windows in cool or hot conditions. For really cold weather get a diesel heater.😮
@capodad2u 😂 eh.. lithium retrofit costs more than I have in my rv.. it's a 34' diesel pusher, and we just do weekend goofin off. The upgrade to lithium is so much money, it doesn't make sense. You can replace standard batteries 3-4 times before you hit the price point on lithium.
Been full time traveling the US and Mexico for 3 years, mixture of boondocking and rv parks. The best investment I’ve made is a Thousand Trails membership which gives me access to over 200 parks for no extra costs. Gas Buddy is helpful in the US, Mexico gas has been $5-6 a gallon and beach campsites have been $10-35
I agree on the Army Corps campgrounds. I applied for a National Park Lifetime Card (I'm over 62 and it is available free for veterans) and get a 50% discount. We stayed in Georgia. We also like to stay in state, county, and city parks, many offer discounts based on age and the National park pass. Overall, we've been satisfied with these parks. They are usually in great locations, are beautiful, have power and water hookups, and are less expensive compared to private campgrounds. As far as free dump stations, we've found many in rest areas. We really like your videos and appreciate all the work in producing them. Safe travels and hopefully our paths will cross.
I personally have found that I appreciate army COE campgrounds more than I do the national parks. COE does a great job in engineering outstanding RV campgrounds.
12 years full-time living in van. Waste management is the number one issue. Boondocking places are closing because people are dumping human waste…. obviously. I use human cat litter system. Much easier to transport and dispose of… free.
Deer pellets at Tractor Supply or a farm type store is a big 40 lb bag for about $7. Absorbs much better than kitty litter and has no smell. It absorbs and pretty much turns to sawdust. Just throw it away. We've used it in our cargo conversion for over a year
We are Canadian snowbirds who spend our winters in CA. Diesel costs us an arm and a leg here, we are always so happy to cross the border and pay less. We joined the Open Roads program a few years back and WOW what a difference it makes, it's saved usTHOUSANDS of dollars over the years. I also love the fact that Open Roads give us $25 of free fuel for every new client we introduce to the program. I just wish that Open Road membership covered us here in Canada. 3 years ago we decided to experiment and find out exactly how much fuel we used at slower speeds, until then we were travelling at about 65mph. After a few weeks we found we could save about $30 on a 300 mile trip by reducing our speed to 59 mph, our fuel economy at 65 mph was between 9.5 and 10.5 mpg, at 59 mph it is between 11.5 and 13 mpg. Another benefit of the slower pace, traffic is always passing and going away from us so there is always an open road (no pun intended) in front of us. Yes a 300 mile leg takes us about 40 minutes longer but is a much easier drive with way less stress.
With a motorhome I can’t imagine driving more than 45mph It’s huge piece of metal ur hurtling down the highway with urself ensconced inside, for good-till it stops
And keep in mind, the faster you drive the more punishment your trailer takes just as if it were in a hurricane! Add to that the fact that you are already giving your trailer, constant earthquakes, and you find that driving slower is probably better for your trailer overallin addition to the savings and gas. Personally, regardless of the upper limit of the speeds available I will stay at 55 mph.
I wonder if the math still holds up; for every MPG at or above 60mph, you will lose 17% per. mpg. I do not yet RV, but I drive a 2018 Kia Soul. Bought it new with 13mi, on it. I live in rural NW Ohio, about 1hr and 15min north of Dayton. I am a DAV and have to drive there for major stuff like prosthetics, dental, etc. On a good day (wind had to be behind me both ways) I was able to get 40mpg driving at 59mph. So it would only make even more sense if you are driving a truck/5th wheel, or a motor home of any type. I know you will have to sacrifice your time spent on the road, leaving earlier, etc. That money you save will open up a whole lot of new ways to enjoy your RV living and you may even get to see what you may have missed driving faster, and still feeling rushed. Yes, I know that there are times when circumstances may force you to drive beyond that money-saving speed, but it does not have to be permanent. I would hope that as many as possible would be able to reap the benefit of a bit slower pace will grant an exponentially greater reward due to less stress whenever possible. Sorry for such a long post. I could not pass up the chance to share RL experience rather than just an opinion. Y'all take care and have a great day!
I’m over 62, and National parks with full hook ups is $14/ night, dump station near Oregon Inlet NC, right near the beach, same views as the multi million dollar homes up the road.
This is so-o-o much better than dwelling on negative aspects. A lot of full timer video headlines now read like CNN. There is a not-so-fine line between describing an unfortunate incident in a positive way (heads up's and lessons learned) and sensationalizing that incident like the National Inquirer. Y'all are always upbeat. Good on ya!
If you think about it though, and you stay on government land, if you do go to a KOA since the government land is nothing to stay on you know Boondocking that way for like 5 or six days, paying $25 at KOA is really not a big expense when you consider you’ve been camping for free all week
A campground we stayed at is looking for a camp host. Your space is free and water, electric and internet are included. It's the Hometown RV park in Jonesville North Carolina.
Many campgrounds have, "kitchen water disposal" dumps throughout the campground. A 5 gal. bucket can empty your gray water easy enough. This can add several days before your black water needs a dump.
We are retired on social security only so a budget is a must. We boon dock when at all possible. We have a little solar 380 watt panels total and we have a back up generator 450 w duel fuel. We live in a Micro Minnie 2108 FLX. We have lived out here for over 19 months. We are not on vacation so we are living where the weather is good moving to higher elevations and further north in summers and south in winter. We do not use air conditioning and we’ve removed our rv commode and replaced it with a Trelino composting toilet. We now have 2 grey tanks cleaning & using the black tank as grey water storage. We use campendium to find free camping and free dump stations. Most Maverick and Speedway gas stations and travel centers have them. We’ve learned a lot and love our life and freedom. We find beautiful places and take many amazing pictures. Oh and don’t forget the national park pass gets you into parks for free and if you’re 62 you only pay for the lifetime senior pass for one of you and you get all of you in free.
Retired two 1/2 years comfortable income, not full time Rv But still have the frugal instincts for spending. Probably spend to much time researching locations bang for buck never been to an Rv resort (I’m not worth those kind of prices) truly enjoy the nature at smaller campgrounds. Thanks Hanks for your continued “real life experiences“ videos.
We've stayed in some awesome Army Corps of Engineer Parks and city parks. We bought a used Thousand Trails membership and we use it the most, because once we pay our yearly fee, we can camp up to 3 weeks for free. The key is to book your stays ahead of time, which we do. The key to saving money with Thousand Trails is, the more you use it, the more you save. When we average it out over the year, we are paying around $10 a night. But it's not for everyone, and there's a HUGE range in quality between parks. So look at the reviews.
How would a person find a used Thousand Trails membership? We own a timeshare and those are for sale all the time. Does Thousand Trails have a site for selling those or do I have to go to FB Marketplace and EBay? Thanks!
I spent last winter in a COE campground in KY. It was $6/night when I got there but they raised it to $8 a few months later. No electric or water but I built my van for boondocking so no problem. 2 years ago, this campground was free in the winter. I have been to about 6 COE campgrounds in the 10 months I have been on the road so far and all of them were beautiful places.
We use open road lately. Seems really good, after being a driver for 40 years we have retired and every penny counts. Ready have enjoyed your videos for the last two years
Great tips. I also hate cali fuel. So much that I changed out to a larger tank boosting my tank to 65 gallons and also added a transfer tank. This way I can take advantage of lower fuel prices. Often I can get from las Vegas to LA and back and never buy fuel in California Living in the mountains you will save fuel by not mashing it on the hill climes. Take your time nice and slow keep those RPM down. It will also keep your EGTs down too. Let your truck idle before shutting down after a long pull. This will stop oil from cooking in the hot turbo.
Great comment. Let things cool down a bit, keep oil flowing while your baking engine (and truck firewall), exhaust as well as radiator gets some moving air and exchange some of that heat! One other savings tip I can offer is to anticipate your stopping so that you save your brakes for when you really need them. Don't accelerate toward a light that turned red, or a stop sign ahead. Same as stopping, get going from a start is tough on all RVs. Take your time. Learn your vehicle's shift points, then start backing off the accelerator earlier to get a high gear where a torquey engine likes to run. Your ears may provide a lot of info on your vehicle if you listen! I fix a lot of problems by turning up the radio!
Auxiliary fuel tanks are a great investment. I'm an RV transporter after retirement from teaching. When my wife retires in 4 years we plan on full-time RVing. My Auxiliary tank saves me hundreds of dollars every trip I make.
It's a shame that so many Walmarts ban overnighting, a loss to Walmart as well, because, in the morning, there's ALWAYS something that you need, and you're already there, where they sell everything, and for the best price, so it means more business for Walmart.
Not a full time camper, but as I was exploring the Walmart overnight stay stuff, there are 3 issues to deal with. First issue, many areas where there is a Walmart have city ordinances that forbid overnight parking lot say and that's why those Walmarts won't allow it. Another issue is where some Walmarts have has abusers that abused the privilege of the stay and those Walmarts were compelled to discontinue the offer. And the last issue is, you have to stay connected up to your vehicle so that means your trailer will likely not be level.
FYI... we live full time in our 5th wheel and love it. We love meeting new friends and seeing new areas. As retirees we don't have a schedule but we do plan our trips.
Hi y'all - Awesome info... A penny saved is a penny earned... Here's a couple of penny savers. Gas prices are usually lower on Monday & Tuesdays ANDgasoline expands when it's warmed and becomes denser when it's cool. Therefore, if you purchase gasoline in the afternoon or evening after the sun has warmed the ground, you'll get less gas in your gallon than if you had refueled that morning, when the ground temperature was still low.
We absolutely love Thousand Trails and Encore camping. We save so much money. We have been full time for 5 1/2 years now. It costs about #3.00 a day to stay in these parks with most nights with full hook-ups and the rest are electric and water with free dump stations for up to 21 nights park to park. Instead of #30.00 to hundreds of dollors a night we have the money to eat out or do fun stuff.
We love these too. I know many don’t but we have not had too many bad experiences. If we don’t like a park we just don’t go there again. It is an adventure and nothing is perfect.
WE have been using Open Roads for 9 months. Using this program we save 30 - 50 cents per gallon depending upon what location we are in. We always use truck stops since they also always have DEF. You are right about the speed sucking the fuel. If we keep it 65 or less we easily get 11-12 mpg but if we increase to 70mpg or more our milage drops to 9mpg. We love Buckeyes but don't use them for fuel. The top 2 reasons people stop at Buckeyes... #1 and #2. Think about it.
We have a gasser; but Gas Buddy has saved us a lot over the years. Especially in Ca. $1 difference driving 10 miles down the road than where we originally were going to stop. Driving 62-64mph vs 70+ has saved us a lot as well. We do not let fuel prices stop our travels though. It's just the cost of admission. We'll make it up in other ways. Like Boondocking, COE & Fed CG with out 1/2 off Senior card. I have never paid more than $10 to dump. Numerous gas stations & truck stops and many municipalities have free dump stations or very, very low cost. Google can be your best friend.
Thousand Trails is good IF You're OK with 30amp back ins w/water and no sewer (that's all their reservations guarantee) and you don't mind hunting for a spot when you arrive (because they don't track individual site availability). It can work, but it is not for everyone.
Levelland, TX - free RV parking with water & 50 amp electric for up to 3 nights. Free dump station on site. Near airport, trees for shade, nice gravel spots, safe area.
The only way to find your optimal speed, is to do a highway mileage test at various speeds. I did this with a 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan, and I found that I got the same mileage at 65, as I did at 55. So 65 turned out to be the optimal speed for that van. 60 and 70 both got lower mileage than 55/65 mileage.
We only use Open Roads and truck stops for our diesel. Our Wanderlodge is 44' long and with our toad we are over 63' long. Also stop at rest areas when traveling to a destination for stopovers to sleep. I prefer to not unhook until we reach our destination. We are retired but not full timers. Currently winter in Florida and take a few other small trips during the year. Thank you for your content. I appreciate it.
You prompted me to go into RV Trip Wizard and search for 4*+ city and county parks along routes we routinely travel. Found several priced $15-25/night and “favorited” them for future reference. Driving back from Salt Lake to Dallas over the past few days we enjoyed Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont, CO ($20 electric only) and a real gem - Frazier Park in Ulysses, KS ($15 FHU in a pretty little city park). Frazier Park also has a golf course with beer and soft drinks in the clubhouse and free coffee and popcorn all day. Contrast this with a recent Harvest Host stay in Tularosa, NM that charged $40 for an electric hookup! I would be OK with $10-$15 for electric at an HH, on top of my wine purchase, but I thought $40 was highway robbery.
In 3 years of snowbirding down south ive only paid once for rv spot EXCEPT, LTVA 180.00 per year i only have 300 watts of solar and 4 6v batteries and never run out. Its a great life-style if thats what your into.
When using gas buddy, if you enter the name or zip code of towns you are going to, so you will know the prices ahead of time so you can plan fuelling stops. If your a member of Wal-Mart plus already you can save money at the fuel pump. On C.O.E. getting a senior pass can save you 50% off. There are more cities putting in RV stops and parks for overnight traveling.
We love those little town rv parks where you can stay for free. Some are free for one night but we've also seen three nights. We've stayed at several in Texas and one in New Mexico. Some ask for donations and we're happy to do that.
@@ChrisMiller.reinvestor I use a couple of apps (free): iOverlander and RVParky. I found that most of the free spots are in NW Texas and NE New Mexico.
We’ve stayed at some nice small town parks. The challenge is they don’t have reservations, you usually can’t call to see if there are spots, they are usually small so it is pretty iffy if you will get a spot
Hooray Iowa and Arkansas, small town parks. Get away from Interstate and see the county and meet people who are "the backbone of America". Camp was $6 a night.
Not a huge savings, but grocery store chains (Kroger, Vons) have rewards programs where you can save $0.20 per gallon at their partner gas stations (Chevron for Vons). Of course, you have to buy groceries at that chain to earn points/rewards. Also, check for county parks. Here in San Diego, Sweetwater Regional Park has great pull-through sites (and smaller sites) with partial (W/E) and full (W/E/S) hook-ups for $34/$39 per night, respectively.
Keep in mind when talking about gas station and their pricing. Loves and flying J pilot,, have ethanol in their gasoline. That is how they’re able to give you $.10 off a gallon because it’s a lower grade gas. I use gas additive, but going forward I may use those stations less Because I don’t like putting ethanol gas in my husband‘s truck. I recently had the opportunity to go to a Buckys, and it was absolutely amazing,, but the one thing I noticed they have no window washing equipment😮 Thank you for another great video. Love you guys. ❤
Y’all hit so many points with the “just do this” or “just join that” that all the “they people” point out without addressing the up front costs. We’ve live y’all from the beginning. Still my favorite channel. I want to be young again and y’all haha.
Long time subscriber.... Well, i haven't seen any comments about something i have been noticing lately.... You are both quite FIT! Wow! Great job. Looking good, you got to be feeling great. Appreciate what you both do!
Be careful with Murphy feul. It's a great money maker for repair shops! Yes I speak from experience as a shop owner! On another note, I have 2 duramax trucks. 07 3/4 ton and a 17 dually. Both get 14-15 in hilly area driving 60-65. Both are stock
@kevinmontgomery1383 multiple items. The average tow is our 2016 5th wheel but constantly have a trailer hooked up to one or both between tractors and daily use items
Thanks for this information!! I am one of those that is in California, since when my son was born here, I decided to stay. Luckily, I traveled through 10 Western states, since February 2023, before I came back to Cali. I have learned and love long-term stays, and that's what I've been doing since I've been back. It took me awhile to learn which locations were reasonable.
We are full-time, retired and have been on the road for 2 1/2 years. We bought the adventure plan Thousand Trails, the highest plan you can get. It was $16,000. You can book out 180 days or 90 days. We have a yearly dues of $900 that are frozen due to our age. Not all places are great, most are in some great places. Definitely worth the initial investment, we also have RPI with TT. We pay nothing to stay at parks unless we go to places like Key West, $20.00 a night, full hookup. Our stays have always been up to 21 days at a park, mostly all full hook up, or a dump station, or a honey wagon. We also use all the other things you discussed in your video. You can leave the membership to your family when you die, or sell it at any time. There are many more perks with the membership. Our fee for paying somewhere to stay last year was $2,000, that included the maintenance fee. We paid $500 to belong to HH, Elks Lodge and RPI. Love watching your family travel. See you on the road, safe travels.
Also you can buy a large fuel charge @ the site yiu stop! If diesel is cheaper pay cash or if more you can use your fuel account then you can use it @ a cheaper $$$! Me and my brother traveled around the country! Bought fuel for the year @ a set price sa ving thousands a year
On the West Coast we use cardlock stations. CFN and Pacific Pride. Thru a company called Staroilco. Open 24 hrs, never have to wait or worry about heights. They have both gas and diesel and their prices are below most other stations. Not sure how far east they are but plentiful in Oregon and Washington.
Tire pressure also goes up/down about 1psi per ten degrees Fahrenheit. So if you tires are at 50psi first thing in the morning when it is 55F outside, they will be at 52psi if the day warms up to 75F. Or, they will drop from 50 to 48 if the temperature drops by 20F. It can sneak up on you!
Love watching/listening to you guys! Question: You started your RV life sharing your coveted nursing skills (travel nurses) with those in need . . . do you still work as nurses? It would be a shame to lose you both from the medical community - I get the impression you enjoy your work, and I imagine you both have a fabulous bedside manner, making people in an ER under stressful circumstances feel just that much more at ease.
Good angle for backing up, but for a rearview camera, going lower and farther out would be better. And that is how I would mostly use it to plan my lane changes out.
COE are my favorite campgrounds to stay at. They are just so affordable. There are a few near my house we just do weekend camping with several of our friends. Makes for a great short weekend.
We have several new Buckee's in MO now, but they are often among the higher fuel prices. I've had good luck with the Pilot/Flying J app, the Loves app, the Shell app, Gas Buddy, and the Upside app. All these are free and between them, I can always find discounted fuel. And yes we also use Sam's because we shop there every week anyway and we get cash back at the end of the year too.
Great tips! Nebraska gets a bad rap but they actually have some nice free camping along I80. Streeter Park in Aurora has 4 days for free and they have electric and water and a dump. There are only 12 sites and next to a park and pool.
The aggravating part of RV life is the amount of money being asked by campgrounds, especially for those with little to no amenities. Consider how much urban real estate costs vs. rural. Consider how much it costs to build a huge hotel vs. dig a few trenches, string some wire and PVC and get a septic plant running. Also consider the difference in taxing in most urban areas, increased labor costs, linens, housekeeping, etc. and compare those to the operation of a campground. Big difference. So why do so many campgrounds think they deserve the same amount of money per night? Even if they're only open six months per year they're not accumulating the same expenses when idle/closed.
Thank you for sharing all this great information, I am still researching on what type of RV I would like to purchase, but as soon as I do, I am looking at solar and generator facilities to to Boondocking. Once again, thank you for all the great information you guys keep having fun on the road.
@@HappilyEverHanks it’s not a problem. I know it takes a lot of work and a lot of time to do the videos that you have created. From watching all of your videos I have learned a lot. I am looking at a 35 exactly like the one that you have I am a single retired man and I think that will give me the amount of room that I want and the comfort. I’m also looking at a wonton pick up by Chevrolet. It’ll be a diesel of course getting started in this is more expensive than I had anticipated. But I’ve done it before and I have enjoyed myself. I have a great time Boondocking and I take lots of photographs and send them home for people to frame. Once again, thank you for everything that you do and the time that you spend making these videos, they are important for everyone and I hope you continue to do it, I’m a travel nurse and nurse practitioner. Take care. I’ll talk to you later.
I am guessing I spent about $700 to be able to boondock for free, and do so 'breaking even' comfort and electrical wise - my RV came with 300w of solar on the roof, and I paid for another 300w of ground panels, and a backup gas/propane generator, all bought during a black friday sale. To transition that to boondocking in comfort, it's closer to $17,000 - 1000w of solar on the roof, a second mppt for 800w of ground panels, the Victron 3000 series converter/inverter and 600Ah of Lithium - if it's a bright sunny day, I can run the AC, woooo! and even in full cloud-over days, the roof solar still brings in about 200-300w which helps on those days. The final cost item for boondocking that's been a game changer is a three-stage filter for my water intake that includes a 12v pump so I can draw water pre-filter from streams or springs, cattle tanks, etc.
We are not yet on the road, saving for the RV. Our plan is to camp host, we can get paid to host (but maybe not always) and possibly free camp, so we will still be working while following our dream. Then take "vacations". This way we can live how we want.
Good job guys. We're doing a cross country from California to South Carolina then NY. Then Washington State. We're gonna do RV sites for purposes of electricity,dump station etc. when we camp at home for a week at a time we dry camp. Hoping to have a good trip. Looking at 6 weeks.
I believe I can beat OpenRoads. I buy from Walmart and I never go in a truckstops, I have a 109 gallon auxiliary tank plus I can save 5% but only if I swipe the card. I use GasBuddy and I normally run 63mph
My niece is a traveling nurse, and she’s loving it. So far she has rented rooms, but she’s talked about RVing. She talks to my husband and me about our camping experiences and is still mulling over getting a camper. I’m curious about your nursing assignments. Approximately how many weeks each year do you work, and how much time off do you schedule between assignments? By the way, I only recently found your channel, and I love it and you. ❤️❤️
I have 101 gallons, and it cost me 618$ per tank in califorina it gets me from 800 to 1000 miles depending on if all tanks are full and if their is mountains unfortunately i have a gass guzzler thanks for the tips 😊
We love COEs and love that they are half price for us - whoohoo! We are at a fabulous city park right now - granted it’s $15 for dry camping, but we are overlooking a lake! Had some great city parks in ND, SD & some of those other states up there.
Great information! We often use State Parks which are almost always less expensive and usually offer a better experience. On Boondocking trips, we mix in RV parks to fill up water, charge up and dump. In the summer we use them a lot more. We Booondock at high elevations in the summer where it's cooler too
We get 10 cents/gal off gas at Love's with the app and 5 cents/gal with our Pilot/Flying J card. Scanning your bar code at Love's or card at Pilot/Flying J also gives rewards including free COFFEE! We definitely love COE campgrounds, but, at least in the east, I have found many of them are more like $20-$30+/night depending on the services available...still a good deal for a great camping experience. Thanks for another informative video!
All of the large truck stops ( Pilot,Flying J Petro, TA etc.) offer a rewards program for diesel at the truck lane you can earn a penny a gallon that can add up it’s good for goods in the store and most of the restaurants or fast food places at the stop .!😳😁
People don’t know it either but if you want to boondock and you have thousand trails you can swing by a thousand trails Rv park and dump for free and fill up your tanks also. You can also use the laundry pool and other stuff for day use only.
Thanks you guy's! Good Job! We are retired now ,and we have found out BLM land is our friend! We will take advantage of what ever mooching we can do! I think fuel started going up 10 minutes after we hit the road! Love nat parks and Fed stuff to use our senior pass. Thanks for info!
So I have friends that are snowbirds that come to Arizona and volunteer with the forest service for 6 months and they get their campsite water sewer and electric free
Fuel and Lodging and the two main things we track on our camping log book. Just over $10k in fuel and $17k in lodging over the past 4 years for or part time travels.
If you don't have a Sam's Club membership but you do have a Wal-Mart Plus membership you can still fill up at Sam's Club. Something I had noticed the Murphy's discount for Walmart plus and the Sam's Club price in an area are typically the same.
Hi Hanks, I've been full-time RV'r for 6 years now. Only stayed at Walmart 3 times, once when I broke down in Kansas and one time in Wyoming where my tow car was broken into. One time in Oregon was uneventful. I use allstays, elks and moose lodges, compendium and I stay at a lot of casinos. I have paid $109. per night at a KOA in west Yellowstone and $20 per night with full hookups in Mississippi. I never make reservations and have always found a place to stay. It was a little scary one night in Connecticut when I had no place to go when I saw a billboard for a casino. I had to backtrack about 12 miles but I found my spot for the night. As you know, full-timeing is not the easiest lifestyle but it is the one I have chosen as well as you and many of my friends and others. Thanks for the good Info and you just keep doing you.
Thank you so much, David! It sounds like we are on the same page with the way we enjoy traveling 😃 We appreciate you taking the time to share this with everyone!
David, good for you and your adventures. I know RV life has its challenges, but I just realized, people are forgetting the challenges in life, in general, just a different set of challenges on the road. My friend and I coined the phrase “unrealistic expectations”. He had that when getting a neck operation, it didn’t pan out well. I think people think “I’ll sell my home with all the maintenance and cost, and drive off into a blissful life”? I’m being a little silly but think there’s some truth to it? I;m not minimizing the problems, just trying to adjust the way we deal with them, think about them. With Help from people like tge Hanks, life will get better, even on the road
In the beginning of this video, you assume those that have money don't need to listen. We are recently retired and saved a ton, but we still shop at some thrift stores, use apps to save gas and occasionally use dollar stores. Thats how you stay wealthy! Great tips btw.
I boondock in one spot for two weeks at a time. Regarding electric, I have 1000w of solar and a generator as back-up. I can run pretty much what I want. For water: 40 gallon lasts me the whole two weeks. I take showers sparingly and always a navy shower: wet for a few seconds, turn the water off to lather up, water back on for thirty seconds to rinse. A shower takes less than a gallon of water. I use no water for dishes. A few sprays of hydrogen peroxide from a bottle, wipe the dish out with a paper towel. The rest of my water is for drinking. Grey only has a few gallon of shower water at the end. Since I'm boondocking, I use the natural facilities as much as possible, but I can always fill up the black tank if the weather is nasty.
👀
👏Explaination of how to do it. Solar capture capacity and storage of that energy is the goal. Whether you augment or Let-rrrr-Rip! and get a complete system as the solution. Or is it? I guess that many never even utilize the full potential of their system. Potable water is the stickler like you said. If you take measures to conserve, you won’t be running out to fill up tour tanks or jugs! Makes logical sense.
If you have an RV and don't have a good solar setup, including lithium batteries and solar power bank and either a portable or built in generator then your not using your RV to it's true capabilities. As for water it's very easy to conserve fresh and your grey and black tanks. You can also use food grade 5 gallon buckets with tight lids that you can fill with fresh water and also utilize for grey water dumping they stack nearly together when not being used and when traveling and full put them in the shower/tub. Anybody that boondocks regularly knows this and many more tricks. To stay cool hang reflective tarps on the sunny side and utilize reflectix bubble wrap on your windows in cool or hot conditions. For really cold weather get a diesel heater.😮
@capodad2u 😂 eh.. lithium retrofit costs more than I have in my rv.. it's a 34' diesel pusher, and we just do weekend goofin off. The upgrade to lithium is so much money, it doesn't make sense. You can replace standard batteries 3-4 times before you hit the price point on lithium.
Been full time traveling the US and Mexico for 3 years, mixture of boondocking and rv parks. The best investment I’ve made is a Thousand Trails membership which gives me access to over 200 parks for no extra costs. Gas Buddy is helpful in the US, Mexico gas has been $5-6 a gallon and beach campsites have been $10-35
I agree on the Army Corps campgrounds. I applied for a National Park Lifetime Card (I'm over 62 and it is available free for veterans) and get a 50% discount. We stayed in Georgia. We also like to stay in state, county, and city parks, many offer discounts based on age and the National park pass. Overall, we've been satisfied with these parks. They are usually in great locations, are beautiful, have power and water hookups, and are less expensive compared to private campgrounds. As far as free dump stations, we've found many in rest areas. We really like your videos and appreciate all the work in producing them. Safe travels and hopefully our paths will cross.
I personally have found that I appreciate army COE campgrounds more than I do the national parks. COE does a great job in engineering outstanding RV campgrounds.
12 years full-time living in van.
Waste management is the number one issue.
Boondocking places are closing because people are dumping human waste…. obviously.
I use human cat litter system.
Much easier to transport and dispose of… free.
Cat litter. Omg. That made me laugh so hard.
Deer pellets at Tractor Supply or a farm type store is a big 40 lb bag for about $7. Absorbs much better than kitty litter and has no smell. It absorbs and pretty much turns to sawdust. Just throw it away. We've used it in our cargo conversion for over a year
We are Canadian snowbirds who spend our winters in CA. Diesel costs us an arm and a leg here, we are always so happy to cross the border and pay less. We joined the Open Roads program a few years back and WOW what a difference it makes, it's saved usTHOUSANDS of dollars over the years. I also love the fact that Open Roads give us $25 of free fuel for every new client we introduce to the program. I just wish that Open Road membership covered us here in Canada. 3 years ago we decided to experiment and find out exactly how much fuel we used at slower speeds, until then we were travelling at about 65mph. After a few weeks we found we could save about $30 on a 300 mile trip by reducing our speed to 59 mph, our fuel economy at 65 mph was between 9.5 and 10.5 mpg, at 59 mph it is between 11.5 and 13 mpg. Another benefit of the slower pace, traffic is always passing and going away from us so there is always an open road (no pun intended) in front of us. Yes a 300 mile leg takes us about 40 minutes longer but is a much easier drive with way less stress.
With a motorhome I can’t imagine driving more than 45mph
It’s huge piece of metal ur hurtling down the highway with urself ensconced inside, for good-till it stops
And keep in mind, the faster you drive the more punishment your trailer takes just as if it were in a hurricane! Add to that the fact that you are already giving your trailer, constant earthquakes, and you find that driving slower is probably better for your trailer overallin addition to the savings and gas. Personally, regardless of the upper limit of the speeds available I will stay at 55 mph.
I have a Ford chassis RV, it's a 1989 model designed for 55 mph, no faster until I get an overdrive transmission for it.
I wonder if the math still holds up; for every MPG at or above 60mph, you will lose 17% per. mpg. I do not yet RV, but I drive a 2018 Kia Soul. Bought it new with 13mi, on it. I live in rural NW Ohio, about 1hr and 15min north of Dayton. I am a DAV and have to drive there for major stuff like prosthetics, dental, etc. On a good day (wind had to be behind me both ways) I was able to get 40mpg driving at 59mph. So it would only make even more sense if you are driving a truck/5th wheel, or a motor home of any type. I know you will have to sacrifice your time spent on the road, leaving earlier, etc. That money you save will open up a whole lot of new ways to enjoy your RV living and you may even get to see what you may have missed driving faster, and still feeling rushed. Yes, I know that there are times when circumstances may force you to drive beyond that money-saving speed, but it does not have to be permanent. I would hope that as many as possible would be able to reap the benefit of a bit slower pace will grant an exponentially greater reward due to less stress whenever possible. Sorry for such a long post. I could not pass up the chance to share RL experience rather than just an opinion. Y'all take care and have a great day!
I usually drive at 60 mph for both fuel economy and safety and stopping. Thanks for the tips of saving the cost of fuel.
❤I'm right there with you,,just think how much fuel was saved when 55 was the national speed limit.😅
I’m over 62, and National parks with full hook ups is $14/ night, dump station near Oregon Inlet NC, right near the beach, same views as the multi million dollar homes up the road.
I am a veteran and found out I can stay at all Natural Parks for free, bonus!!!
This is so-o-o much better than dwelling on negative aspects. A lot of full timer video headlines now read like CNN. There is a not-so-fine line between describing an unfortunate incident in a positive way (heads up's and lessons learned) and sensationalizing that incident like the National Inquirer. Y'all are always upbeat. Good on ya!
If you think about it though, and you stay on government land, if you do go to a KOA since the government land is nothing to stay on you know Boondocking that way for like 5 or six days, paying $25 at KOA is really not a big expense when you consider you’ve been camping for free all week
@tchrof6th
Your dreaming $75 & up@ koa
I have never seen a KOA for $25. We paid almost $200/night at the Key West KOA @@tchrof6th Yes that is Key west prices but a far cry from $25
FOX is one sided 2
A campground we stayed at is looking for a camp host. Your space is free and water, electric and internet are included. It's the Hometown RV park in Jonesville North Carolina.
You may want to look into the ELKS, they are throughout the country & usually have parking areas where you can park for free or for a few dollars.
Many campgrounds have, "kitchen water disposal" dumps throughout the campground. A 5 gal. bucket can empty your gray water easy enough. This can add several days before your black water needs a dump.
I used passport America a lot, so a Week before the 2020 lockdown I bought the LIFETIME plan.... Never went on another trip since.
These are the type of videos that led us to some of our favorite channels. Great job and thank you-
Happy Nae Nae day from gulf shores! That’s what I call Thursdays so my wife stays cheerful.
We are retired on social security only so a budget is a must. We boon dock when at all possible. We have a little solar 380 watt panels total and we have a back up generator 450 w duel fuel. We live in a Micro Minnie 2108 FLX. We have lived out here for over 19 months. We are not on vacation so we are living where the weather is good moving to higher elevations and further north in summers and south in winter. We do not use air conditioning and we’ve removed our rv commode and replaced it with a Trelino composting toilet. We now have 2 grey tanks cleaning & using the black tank as grey water storage. We use campendium to find free camping and free dump stations. Most Maverick and Speedway gas stations and travel centers have them. We’ve learned a lot and love our life and freedom. We find beautiful places and take many amazing pictures. Oh and don’t forget the national park pass gets you into parks for free and if you’re 62 you only pay for the lifetime senior pass for one of you and you get all of you in free.
Retired two 1/2 years comfortable income, not full time Rv But still have the frugal instincts for spending. Probably spend to much time researching locations bang for buck never been to an Rv resort (I’m not worth those kind of prices) truly enjoy the nature at smaller campgrounds. Thanks Hanks for your continued “real life experiences“ videos.
We've stayed in some awesome Army Corps of Engineer Parks and city parks. We bought a used Thousand Trails membership and we use it the most, because once we pay our yearly fee, we can camp up to 3 weeks for free. The key is to book your stays ahead of time, which we do. The key to saving money with Thousand Trails is, the more you use it, the more you save. When we average it out over the year, we are paying around $10 a night. But it's not for everyone, and there's a HUGE range in quality between parks. So look at the reviews.
Thanks Hanks, I will be rewatching this and taking notes. 😊
Completely agree, we use TT at the moment and lemme tell ya park to park conditions vary greatly
How would a person find a used Thousand Trails membership? We own a timeshare and those are for sale all the time. Does Thousand Trails have a site for selling those or do I have to go to FB Marketplace and EBay? Thanks!
@@Mariae.L CMO Campground membership Outlet.
It might take a few months. Be sure to get all the details because some memberships are re=sellable, others are not.
I spent last winter in a COE campground in KY. It was $6/night when I got there but they raised it to $8 a few months later. No electric or water but I built my van for boondocking so no problem. 2 years ago, this campground was free in the winter. I have been to about 6 COE campgrounds in the 10 months I have been on the road so far and all of them were beautiful places.
We use open road lately. Seems really good, after being a driver for 40 years we have retired and every penny counts. Ready have enjoyed your videos for the last two years
We use Gas Buddy quite often. We’re retired and full time… but that means we are on the proverbial “fixed income,” so we can’t see everything.
Great tips. I also hate cali fuel. So much that I changed out to a larger tank boosting my tank to 65 gallons and also added a transfer tank. This way I can take advantage of lower fuel prices. Often I can get from las Vegas to LA and back and never buy fuel in California Living in the mountains you will save fuel by not mashing it on the hill climes. Take your time nice and slow keep those RPM down. It will also keep your EGTs down too. Let your truck idle before shutting down after a long pull. This will stop oil from cooking in the hot turbo.
Great comment. Let things cool down a bit, keep oil flowing while your baking engine (and truck firewall), exhaust as well as radiator gets some moving air and exchange some of that heat! One other savings tip I can offer is to anticipate your stopping so that you save your brakes for when you really need them. Don't accelerate toward a light that turned red, or a stop sign ahead. Same as stopping, get going from a start is tough on all RVs. Take your time. Learn your vehicle's shift points, then start backing off the accelerator earlier to get a high gear where a torquey engine likes to run. Your ears may provide a lot of info on your vehicle if you listen! I fix a lot of problems by turning up the radio!
Auxiliary fuel tanks are a great investment. I'm an RV transporter after retirement from teaching. When my wife retires in 4 years we plan on full-time RVing. My Auxiliary tank saves me hundreds of dollars every trip I make.
It's a shame that so many Walmarts ban overnighting,
a loss to Walmart as well, because, in the morning, there's ALWAYS something that you need, and you're already there, where they sell everything, and for the best price, so it means more business for Walmart.
We had more than one Walmart tell us to go next door to Sam's . And they do close earlier, parking lot not as busy.
Not a full time camper, but as I was exploring the Walmart overnight stay stuff, there are 3 issues to deal with. First issue, many areas where there is a Walmart have city ordinances that forbid overnight parking lot say and that's why those Walmarts won't allow it. Another issue is where some Walmarts have has abusers that abused the privilege of the stay and those Walmarts were compelled to discontinue the offer. And the last issue is, you have to stay connected up to your vehicle so that means your trailer will likely not be level.
FYI... we live full time in our 5th wheel and love it. We love meeting new friends and seeing new areas. As retirees we don't have a schedule but we do plan our trips.
Hi y'all - Awesome info... A penny saved is a penny earned... Here's a couple of penny savers. Gas prices are usually lower on Monday & Tuesdays ANDgasoline expands when it's warmed and becomes denser when it's cool. Therefore, if you purchase gasoline in the afternoon or evening after the sun has warmed the ground, you'll get less gas in your gallon than if you had refueled that morning, when the ground temperature was still low.
Thanks for sharing those penny-saving tips! We love learning new ways to save while on the road. Appreciate you watching! 🤗
Just sold house, upgraded our camper, and moving in to an all-year campground. Wish us luck.
Love hearing this! You guys will do amazing 😊 Congratulations and good luck in your new lifestyle!!
Just curious, what do you guys do for a living? I mean those you who are not retired yet
We absolutely love Thousand Trails and Encore camping. We save so much money. We have been full time for 5 1/2 years now. It costs about #3.00 a day to stay in these parks with most nights with full hook-ups and the rest are electric and water with free dump stations for up to 21 nights park to park. Instead of #30.00 to hundreds of dollors a night we have the money to eat out or do fun stuff.
We love these too. I know many don’t but we have not had too many bad experiences. If we don’t like a park we just don’t go there again. It is an adventure and nothing is perfect.
Yes and if you buy your membership from the secondary market, it’s much cheaper.
Exactly...that is what we did!
WE have been using Open Roads for 9 months. Using this program we save 30 - 50 cents per gallon depending upon what location we are in. We always use truck stops since they also always have DEF. You are right about the speed sucking the fuel. If we keep it 65 or less we easily get 11-12 mpg but if we increase to 70mpg or more our milage drops to 9mpg. We love Buckeyes but don't use them for fuel. The top 2 reasons people stop at Buckeyes... #1 and #2. Think about it.
We have a gasser; but Gas Buddy has saved us a lot over the years. Especially in Ca. $1 difference driving 10 miles down the road than where we originally were going to stop. Driving 62-64mph vs 70+ has saved us a lot as well. We do not let fuel prices stop our travels though. It's just the cost of admission. We'll make it up in other ways. Like Boondocking, COE & Fed CG with out 1/2 off Senior card. I have never paid more than $10 to dump. Numerous gas stations & truck stops and many municipalities have free dump stations or very, very low cost. Google can be your best friend.
Thousand Trails is good IF You're OK with 30amp back ins w/water and no sewer (that's all their reservations guarantee) and you don't mind hunting for a spot when you arrive (because they don't track individual site availability).
It can work, but it is not for everyone.
My 5-er ran on 30W just fine
AC in TN summers too
I used all electric appliances too as electric was incl
Levelland, TX - free RV parking with water & 50 amp electric for up to 3 nights. Free dump station on site. Near airport, trees for shade, nice gravel spots, safe area.
Thanks for sharing, Monica! That Levelland, TX spot sounds like a great find-free RV parking with hookups and a dump station is always a win!
The only way to find your optimal speed, is to do a highway mileage test at various speeds.
I did this with a 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan, and I found that I got the same mileage at 65, as I did at 55. So 65 turned out to be the optimal speed for that van.
60 and 70 both got lower mileage than 55/65 mileage.
We only use Open Roads and truck stops for our diesel. Our Wanderlodge is 44' long and with our toad we are over 63' long. Also stop at rest areas when traveling to a destination for stopovers to sleep. I prefer to not unhook until we reach our destination. We are retired but not full timers. Currently winter in Florida and take a few other small trips during the year. Thank you for your content. I appreciate it.
You prompted me to go into RV Trip Wizard and search for 4*+ city and county parks along routes we routinely travel. Found several priced $15-25/night and “favorited” them for future reference.
Driving back from Salt Lake to Dallas over the past few days we enjoyed Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont, CO ($20 electric only) and a real gem - Frazier Park in Ulysses, KS ($15 FHU in a pretty little city park). Frazier Park also has a golf course with beer and soft drinks in the clubhouse and free coffee and popcorn all day.
Contrast this with a recent Harvest Host stay in Tularosa, NM that charged $40 for an electric hookup! I would be OK with $10-$15 for electric at an HH, on top of my wine purchase, but I thought $40 was highway robbery.
In 3 years of snowbirding down south ive only paid once for rv spot EXCEPT, LTVA 180.00 per year i only have 300 watts of solar and 4 6v batteries and never run out. Its a great life-style if thats what your into.
Love the open roads program! You two have answered so many questions for us! Stay safe, and keep helping us out, please!
When using gas buddy, if you enter the name or zip code of towns you are going to, so you
will know the prices ahead of time so you can plan fuelling stops.
If your a member of Wal-Mart plus already you can save money at the fuel pump.
On C.O.E. getting a senior pass can save you 50% off.
There are more cities putting in RV stops and parks for overnight traveling.
Great information!!! Thank you very much for sharing this 😊
We love those little town rv parks where you can stay for free. Some are free for one night but we've also seen three nights. We've stayed at several in Texas and one in New Mexico. Some ask for donations and we're happy to do that.
Yes good over notes or short stop 1-3 days
I'm heading to texas in a couple of weeks on a 3 week trip. What parts of Texas did you find these and how did you find out about them?
@@ChrisMiller.reinvestor I use a couple of apps (free): iOverlander and RVParky. I found that most of the free spots are in NW Texas and NE New Mexico.
@@ChrisMiller.reinvestor there are two stillhouse campsite and A.C.E
@ hollow lake Belton Tx
@@ChrisMiller.reinvestor I answered you but it was deleted! Try Stillwater or A.C.E. Campground @ Hollow Lake Belton Tx
We spent $3600 on campsites, over 5 months driving our trailer to Alaska and back to Indiana. Boondocking and no hookups made the trip affordable.
We’ve stayed at some nice small town parks. The challenge is they don’t have reservations, you usually can’t call to see if there are spots, they are usually small so it is pretty iffy if you will get a spot
Hooray Iowa and Arkansas, small town parks. Get away from Interstate and see the county and meet people who are "the backbone of America". Camp was $6 a night.
Love the positive energy and all of the information each week.
All of those discount cards and membership programs earn money from selling all of your personal purchases and travels to companies.
Army Corps campgrounds are the best. If you are retiree it just adds bang to the buck....
Hey Hanks - you two are awesome. Thanks for helpful info.
Aww thank you so much!! We appreciate your support in watching our videos. We couldn't do it without you, Priscilla ❤️
Not a huge savings, but grocery store chains (Kroger, Vons) have rewards programs where you can save $0.20 per gallon at their partner gas stations (Chevron for Vons). Of course, you have to buy groceries at that chain to earn points/rewards.
Also, check for county parks. Here in San Diego, Sweetwater Regional Park has great pull-through sites (and smaller sites) with partial (W/E) and full (W/E/S) hook-ups for $34/$39 per night, respectively.
I just came from Sweetwater. Newer RV Park, beautiful views, great sites.
Even with all the criticisms of Thousand Trails - we love it. We could not have traveled as much as we have without it.
I love the way most of the convenience stores have upgraded their coffee selections!
Keep in mind when talking about gas station and their pricing. Loves and flying J pilot,, have ethanol in their gasoline. That is how they’re able to give you $.10 off a gallon because it’s a lower grade gas. I use gas additive, but going forward I may use those stations less Because I don’t like putting ethanol gas in my husband‘s truck.
I recently had the opportunity to go to a Buckys, and it was absolutely amazing,, but the one thing I noticed they have no window washing equipment😮
Thank you for another great video. Love you guys. ❤
You both are so very positive, a great change from some half empty and negative people out there. Keep up the RV teachings!
Thank you very much! We appreciate your time and support in watching 🙂
Y’all hit so many points with the “just do this” or “just join that” that all the “they people” point out without addressing the up front costs.
We’ve live y’all from the beginning. Still my favorite channel. I want to be young again and y’all haha.
I use Open Roads and Mudflap almost every time I buy diesel. Grateful for the savings.
Thank you for the things yall share. The Hanks do so much to help us do the RV life the best way possible. Great tips yall stay safe
Long time subscriber....
Well, i haven't seen any comments about something i have been noticing lately....
You are both quite FIT!
Wow! Great job.
Looking good, you got to be feeling great.
Appreciate what you both do!
Clean your MAP sensor with every oil change for increased mpg and power. This is a must do!
Be careful with Murphy feul. It's a great money maker for repair shops! Yes I speak from experience as a shop owner! On another note, I have 2 duramax trucks. 07 3/4 ton and a 17 dually. Both get 14-15 in hilly area driving 60-65. Both are stock
@bobbyhoward266 Towing?
@kevinmontgomery1383 multiple items. The average tow is our 2016 5th wheel but constantly have a trailer hooked up to one or both between tractors and daily use items
@@Lovinglivinghowardstyle That is awesome! Thanks for your response.
Thanks for this information!! I am one of those that is in California, since when my son was born here, I decided to stay. Luckily, I traveled through 10 Western states, since February 2023, before I came back to Cali. I have learned and love long-term stays, and that's what I've been doing since I've been back. It took me awhile to learn which locations were reasonable.
We are full-time, retired and have been on the road for 2 1/2 years. We bought the adventure plan Thousand Trails, the highest plan you can get. It was $16,000. You can book out 180 days or 90 days. We have a yearly dues of $900 that are frozen due to our age. Not all places are great, most are in some great places. Definitely worth the initial investment, we also have RPI with TT. We pay nothing to stay at parks unless we go to places like Key West, $20.00 a night, full hookup. Our stays have always been up to 21 days at a park, mostly all full hook up, or a dump station, or a honey wagon. We also use all the other things you discussed in your video. You can leave the membership to your family when you die, or sell it at any time. There are many more perks with the membership. Our fee for paying somewhere to stay last year was $2,000, that included the maintenance fee. We paid $500 to belong to HH, Elks Lodge and RPI.
Love watching your family travel. See you on the road, safe travels.
Thanks! This is great information.
We do the same and definitely found it was worth it
Also you can buy a large fuel charge @ the site yiu stop! If diesel is cheaper pay cash or if more you can use your fuel account then you can use it @ a cheaper $$$! Me and my brother traveled around the country! Bought fuel for the year @ a set price sa ving thousands a year
when talking about dump stations having a plan B is a good idea. But having a plan BM is better.
On the West Coast we use cardlock stations. CFN and Pacific Pride. Thru a company called Staroilco. Open 24 hrs, never have to wait or worry about heights. They have both gas and diesel and their prices are below most other stations. Not sure how far east they are but plentiful in Oregon and Washington.
Tire pressure also goes up/down about 1psi per ten degrees Fahrenheit. So if you tires are at 50psi first thing in the morning when it is 55F outside, they will be at 52psi if the day warms up to 75F. Or, they will drop from 50 to 48 if the temperature drops by 20F.
It can sneak up on you!
I would mention that a lot of Walmarts no longer allow you to stay overnight.
True mainly because of homeless druggies camping out.
Love watching/listening to you guys! Question: You started your RV life sharing your coveted nursing skills (travel nurses) with those in need . . . do you still work as nurses? It would be a shame to lose you both from the medical community - I get the impression you enjoy your work, and I imagine you both have a fabulous bedside manner, making people in an ER under stressful circumstances feel just that much more at ease.
Good angle for backing up, but for a rearview camera, going lower and farther out would be better. And that is how I would mostly use it to plan my lane changes out.
COE are my favorite campgrounds to stay at. They are just so affordable. There are a few near my house we just do weekend camping with several of our friends. Makes for a great short weekend.
We have several new Buckee's in MO now, but they are often among the higher fuel prices. I've had good luck with the Pilot/Flying J app, the Loves app, the Shell app, Gas Buddy, and the Upside app. All these are free and between them, I can always find discounted fuel. And yes we also use Sam's because we shop there every week anyway and we get cash back at the end of the year too.
Winning!! Love this 🙂 Thank you for all your great support in watching
I use gas buddy in Ontario I love the section that you can enter all your gas purchases and it keeps records for you. ❤❤love watching you Hanks. 🎉
Great tips! Nebraska gets a bad rap but they actually have some nice free camping along I80. Streeter Park in Aurora has 4 days for free and they have electric and water and a dump. There are only 12 sites and next to a park and pool.
The aggravating part of RV life is the amount of money being asked by campgrounds, especially for those with little to no amenities. Consider how much urban real estate costs vs. rural. Consider how much it costs to build a huge hotel vs. dig a few trenches, string some wire and PVC and get a septic plant running. Also consider the difference in taxing in most urban areas, increased labor costs, linens, housekeeping, etc. and compare those to the operation of a campground. Big difference. So why do so many campgrounds think they deserve the same amount of money per night? Even if they're only open six months per year they're not accumulating the same expenses when idle/closed.
Open roads is a great program and my savings on my diesel paid for the DEF.
Thank you for sharing all this great information, I am still researching on what type of RV I would like to purchase, but as soon as I do, I am looking at solar and generator facilities to to Boondocking. Once again, thank you for all the great information you guys keep having fun on the road.
Love this. Thank you for taking the time to leave such a kind and wonderful comment! 🙂
@@HappilyEverHanks it’s not a problem. I know it takes a lot of work and a lot of time to do the videos that you have created. From watching all of your videos I have learned a lot. I am looking at a 35 exactly like the one that you have I am a single retired man and I think that will give me the amount of room that I want and the comfort. I’m also looking at a wonton pick up by Chevrolet. It’ll be a diesel of course getting started in this is more expensive than I had anticipated. But I’ve done it before and I have enjoyed myself. I have a great time Boondocking and I take lots of photographs and send them home for people to frame. Once again, thank you for everything that you do and the time that you spend making these videos, they are important for everyone and I hope you continue to do it, I’m a travel nurse and nurse practitioner. Take care. I’ll talk to you later.
I am guessing I spent about $700 to be able to boondock for free, and do so 'breaking even' comfort and electrical wise - my RV came with 300w of solar on the roof, and I paid for another 300w of ground panels, and a backup gas/propane generator, all bought during a black friday sale.
To transition that to boondocking in comfort, it's closer to $17,000 - 1000w of solar on the roof, a second mppt for 800w of ground panels, the Victron 3000 series converter/inverter and 600Ah of Lithium - if it's a bright sunny day, I can run the AC, woooo! and even in full cloud-over days, the roof solar still brings in about 200-300w which helps on those days.
The final cost item for boondocking that's been a game changer is a three-stage filter for my water intake that includes a 12v pump so I can draw water pre-filter from streams or springs, cattle tanks, etc.
We are not yet on the road, saving for the RV. Our plan is to camp host, we can get paid to host (but maybe not always) and possibly free camp, so we will still be working while following our dream. Then take "vacations". This way we can live how we want.
Good job guys. We're doing a cross country from California to South Carolina then NY. Then Washington State. We're gonna do RV sites for purposes of electricity,dump station etc. when we camp at home for a week at a time we dry camp. Hoping to have a good trip. Looking at 6 weeks.
I believe I can beat OpenRoads. I buy from Walmart and I never go in a truckstops, I have a 109 gallon auxiliary tank plus I can save 5% but only if I swipe the card. I use GasBuddy and I normally run 63mph
You guys are adorable! Great info and humor. Keep it up!
My niece is a traveling nurse, and she’s loving it. So far she has rented rooms, but she’s talked about RVing. She talks to my husband and me about our camping experiences and is still mulling over getting a camper.
I’m curious about your nursing assignments. Approximately how many weeks each year do you work, and how much time off do you schedule between assignments?
By the way, I only recently found your channel, and I love it and you. ❤️❤️
I have 101 gallons, and it cost me 618$ per tank in califorina it gets me from 800 to 1000 miles depending on if all tanks are full and if their is mountains unfortunately i have a gass guzzler thanks for the tips 😊
Absolutely! Let us know if you have any other suggestions on gas apps that help to save 😃
What Hanks said! Especially in CA
We love COEs and love that they are half price for us - whoohoo! We are at a fabulous city park right now - granted it’s $15 for dry camping, but we are overlooking a lake! Had some great city parks in ND, SD & some of those other states up there.
Great information! We often use State Parks which are almost always less expensive and usually offer a better experience. On Boondocking trips, we mix in RV parks to fill up water, charge up and dump. In the summer we use them a lot more. We Booondock at high elevations in the summer where it's cooler too
We get 10 cents/gal off gas at Love's with the app and 5 cents/gal with our Pilot/Flying J card. Scanning your bar code at Love's or card at Pilot/Flying J also gives rewards including free COFFEE! We definitely love COE campgrounds, but, at least in the east, I have found many of them are more like $20-$30+/night depending on the services available...still a good deal for a great camping experience. Thanks for another informative video!
All of the large truck stops ( Pilot,Flying J Petro, TA etc.) offer a rewards program for diesel at the truck lane you can earn a penny a gallon that can add up it’s good for goods in the store and most of the restaurants or fast food places at the stop .!😳😁
People don’t know it either but if you want to boondock and you have thousand trails you can swing by a thousand trails Rv park and dump for free and fill up your tanks also. You can also use the laundry pool and other stuff for day use only.
When I was rving with my 21qb I drove 70-80 mph and usually with a full water tank. Yep, 6-7 mpg... But not much more without the water full.
On my last 3 years I Walmarted as much as I could... They were 24/7 back then... Was great before 2020
Thanks you guy's! Good Job! We are retired now ,and we have found out BLM land is our friend! We will take advantage of what ever mooching we can do! I think fuel started going up 10 minutes after we hit the road! Love nat parks and Fed stuff to use our senior pass. Thanks for info!
Loves has a 10cent per galloon discount plus free drinks and rewards always clean restrooms and sometimes rv spots in emergency...
Free or cheap, so important to full-time RV life. Thanks for all the tips
Slow DOWN,Check air Pressure when cold.Do a Pre-Trip inspection WalkArounds. Buckee’s has cheap bad gas That later will cost U.
Auxiliary fuel tanks for diesel! I have a 69 gallon. Ram it full when i find cheap(er) fuel
To change the subject I bought dots pretzels they are awesome thank you❤❤ take care
Wahoo!! We are currently snacking on some right now as well 😁
Same. Dot’s owes them a box of pretzels for the free advertising
@@kristinaschmit8009 Our pantry is still stocked from that Costco run 🤣Help us LOL
Awesome info - So how did that eclipse turn out for you guys
We are gassers, and have been using Gas Buddy and Upside, as well as gas station apps. Love’s has 10 cents off per gallon too.
So I have friends that are snowbirds that come to Arizona and volunteer with the forest service for 6 months and they get their campsite water sewer and electric free
That's really neat to hear! Love that they are taken care of like that 🙂
Just started Full-timing in January, currently in CA and 9 tanks of gas for unleaded is over $1k :,)
Tx for this great video that does not sound like an infomercial. See you around somewhere !
I find that a lot of the gas stations on Gas Buddy and Upside in the city and in small stations. I have learned to satellite Google before I go
Fuel and Lodging and the two main things we track on our camping log book. Just over $10k in fuel and $17k in lodging over the past 4 years for or part time travels.
If you don't have a Sam's Club membership but you do have a Wal-Mart Plus membership you can still fill up at Sam's Club. Something I had noticed the Murphy's discount for Walmart plus and the Sam's Club price in an area are typically the same.
Hi. First time watching you guys. Thanks for the content.