What an RV Travel Day Is Like

RV travel days bring exhilaration at the adventure ahead, but they can be bittersweet when we have to say goodbye to loved ones we enjoyed spending time with. 

Typically, we start prepping for a travel day the night before by packing nonessentials, such as family photos and kitchen items we won’t need the next morning. I like to clean the trailer before a move as well so that we arrive at a new spot with a fresh start.

On the morning of a travel day, I make sandwiches and pack snacks and water for our journey. This accomplishes two things: It prevents us from eating unsatisfying truck stop food, and it ensures I have something gluten-free to eat. Then, we get busy securing everything for transit. Bob handles the electronics and outside preparations while I oversee the interior. 

Safeguarding Items for Travel

Once I get everything put away from out in the open, I follow a checklist to ensure I don’t forget anything. It includes securing doors, ensuring windows are closed and shades are up throughout the trailer, installing spring bars to keep items in the pantry and refrigerator from shifting, and things like that. The final steps are retracting the four slideouts, stowing our stairs, and locking the trailer door.

After that, I help Bob finish any outside preparations. He’s in charge of taking down the kingpin stabilizer, disconnecting the electric, water, and sewer if we had full hookups, stowing all our hoses, and packing the electric bikes in the back of the truck cab.

Hooking Up the Truck to the Trailer

Then, we work together to go through our checklist to hook up the truck to the trailer. This involves a number of steps that need to be done in a precise order to prevent a potential disaster down the road. The steps include raising the back and middle trailer stabilizers, adjusting the trailer height to align with the hitch in the bed of the truck, backing up and coupling the truck to the trailer, removing tire chocks, and doing our all-important walkaround. 

When those tasks are done, we’re ready to go. If we didn’t have sewer hookups at the stop we’re leaving, we head to a dump station to empty our holding tanks before moving on to the next destination. That’s another involved process that needs to be done in a certain order to prevent a messy situation. 

Hitting the Road

We usually have a fuel stop picked out that we navigate to as we burn through our 32-gallon tank of diesel pretty fast, getting only about 8 miles per gallon fuel efficiency while towing. We have to stop every two to three hours. But that works out well, because we usually need to stretch our legs and find a restroom after that much time has passed. 

One of us drives, and the other navigates. If we’re not on an interstate that has definite clearance for semi-trucks, we usually navigate on both of our phones using two different apps. Google Maps provides lane guidance and the fastest route. Co-Pilot directs us on roads that have enough clearance for our 13-foot, 3-inch height. 

At our fuel stop, we gas up where the trucks do because of our height and length. Plus, we can get diesel exhaust fluid (DEF, which our truck requires) at the pump that way, and we have a truck fuel discount card. Sometimes, we get coffee at our stop, but we usually opt for the food we brought with us in the truck. 

With our bladders empty and our fuel tank topped, we hit the road again to complete the journey to our destination. 

Parking the Rig

Upon arrival, we assess our parking spot and determine the best way to get our rig situated in it. We’ve gotten faster at this the longer we’ve been on the road. We park the rig, sometimes having to add levelers under the tires on one side or the other to make the trailer level side to side. 

The trailer itself is rigged with an automatic leveler to get it level front to back. Its leveler also handles side to side, but if one side starts off lower than the other, the rig sometimes raises the tires completely off the ground, which is not a good idea. 

With the coach in the position we want it, we run through another checklist to unhook it from Gulliver. 

When that’s all done, we can finally start setting everything up for the week or however long we plan to stay in that spot. Bob again handles the electric and water outside, and sewer if we have full hookups. I busy myself inside opening the slides, putting our normal things out where they go, setting up my office for the week, hanging pictures on the walls, and removing the spring bars from the pantry and refrigerator. 

Once Bob’s done outside, he sets up the internet, TV, and his computer. If we’re in a cold place, he also sets up our portable propane heater. 

It takes us about 1.5 hours to get ready to travel and about an hour to set up at our new destination. After that, we’re home and can relax in celebration of a job well done — or go exploring. After all, adventure awaits.