I’m not going to lie, when I first hitched up to tow it was very scary. Especially with that kind of money behind my truck, but over time though still cautious it gets easier. Great video bye the way.
I have not bought the camper yet and hopefully will soon but like yourselves, I have never towed anything before. So my fear is turning street corners or switching lanes and just knowing when to put the foot on the brake to slow down because I need that much more time with something in tow. I have a fear of not hooking the camper up correctly, and that when I drive , the camper will get loose! Or the opposite fear that I cannot unhook the camper from the car!
When you do buy a camper see if the dealer will walk you through those steps. The first dealer I worked with actually took me to a parking lot and helped me practice driving it around before I took it home.Practice and doing it over and over will certainly build confidence. Thanks for watching:)
Big shout to Indian Valley camping center mentionedi n the video. I did not buy my camper there, but took it there for service, when my purchasing dealer was too busy to fix it. Indian Valley did such an awesome job with the repair in a timely manner.
They are wonderful to deal with. We will be doing a video on dealers and experiences in the spring. They deserve tons of praise compared to some of the other dealers in the area. Glad they brought you a great experience .
Thanks for sharing your experience. We just towed home our new Opus OP4 last weekend and can’t wait for the weather to warm up and start our first camping season! I had a fear of towing and sway before picking up our camper but the 3 hour drive home from Pittsburgh helped give me a little more confidence. I still have a lot to learn but I’m hopeful that will get better with time. Beautiful dogs btw.
Hello Philip, thank you and I am glad we could help by sharing. 3 hour ride home for first time will make you learn fast hahaha. I remember when we took ours home I looked calm to the wife, but was terrified inside. Like you said after some time that fear melts away. Warm weather is around the corner! Happy camping and thank you for the comment about our dogs. They are our buddies:)
Like anything else.. practice makes perfect. Just take your time and keep relaxed. When you rush or feel anxious that’s when mistakes get made. Trust me my first handful of times took a while and were not graceful haha. Happy camping!
We have a 16 ft travel trailer that we built Yeap we built it in case we needed to stay in for a month or two in case we wanted to travel longer camping fun !
2021 will be a great year for camping. Best advise is to go with the flow and roll with the punches. Sometimes those imperfect times make the best memories. Thanks for watching and happy camping!
I am new to the camping scene and still learning all the ropes myself. Some of your fears I still think about as well. Lets just hope 2021 provides more camping experiences and i'll see you around the firepit!
Yes, let’s hope 2021 brings more opportunities to get out and enjoy nature. We can’t wait to get back out and get those camp fires going. Thanks for watching and just dive in with both feet and enjoy the experience. Trust me you will be fine:)
I upgraded from a plastic toilet right away to a porcelain. Then I went crazy and got a toilet seat with built in bidet and it makes a world of difference. The plastic ones a lot of these travel trailers come with flex and you won’t feel comfortable on it. Porcelain is the way to go. Glad I’m not the only one lol it was a real fear for me. When looking at RVs make sure you sit on toilet and close the door. You will know quickly if you have enough room . Hope this helps
@@FrankandTori thanks for the info! I didn't know that there was porcelain options and we use bidets at home and wondered if it was possible to use one in an RV! I am relieved to know it is possible. Very helpful 👍
Our pleasure. I will do a video in the future to show how I retro fitted a bidet. It’s fairly easy. Dometic 320 is the toilet model we upgraded to. Glad we can help:)
I can relate about towing as I'm in the process of purchasing my first travel trailer and I know that as soon as I drive it off the lot its all on me. Towing in bad weather, possibly sway, and backing up are all concerns I'll need to work through.
Yeah, it’s one of those “unknowns” that scare the heck out of you to think about. However, after driving in rain, on highways and narrow roads.. after getting over my initial white knuckle experiences... I feel great about it and have a new found confidence. Take your time and enjoy the journey. Trust me you will be good. Congrats on the new Purchase! Keep us posted! -Frank
Hi … my wife and I just picked our 26ft hideout trailer an I have never towed anything like that before an I was pretty nervous but I calmed down an it all worked out
Thank you! Glad you are enjoying the content. We will be coming back soon with some nee content. Been a crazy fall and winter unfortunately. Thank you again:)
Biggest fear: Breaking down. We purchased our RV April 2019. Our first big trip we broke the engine in PA. Made it back with out the RV got my other truck and at the end of the trip needed to replace breaks. For 2021 we upgraded our two vehicle. 🤞🤞🤞
Yes, I can see that being a fear. Knock on wood we have not run into that. I do everything I can to prevent such as tire pressure checks, walk around, etc, but all things mechanical eventually do break down. We have AAA premium with RV and motorcycle option and I can change a tire and do small things on the fly for repair. Otherwise, we are all at the mercy of this possibility. Fingers crossed we both have safe travels with no break downs on 2021!
My biggest fear is having to troubleshoot and fix issues with an RV. It may be worth the extra expense to purchase an Airstream or equivalent trailer to reduce such issues.
I think no matter how much or how little you spend you will have issues. Certainly do research on what brands do well, but the fridges, appliances overall, multiple items inside of campers are not made by the RV manufacturer. They are made by companies such as furrion, etc. best thing is to have a good tool kit handy and RU-vid is a great place to learn something on the fly. When it comes to repair even though I’m decent with it.. electrical is one of my bigger fears. Thanks for watching and safe travels!
We are just starting out and my biggest worry is finding camping that allows our Lab, and German Shepherd! I've heard stories about people getting to where they are going and the camp ground not allowing certain breeds of dogs! ANYWAY - That's my worry!
Very understandable. We run into that ourselves sometimes. Mac is a pit mix and some campgrounds do not allow “aggressive breeds “, which I think is complete bs and we choose not to spend our money with such places. You can go to policies and FAQ on camp site websites and they will express if they have these policies in place. We rarely run into it, but as I said just avoid these places as they obviously are not dog people. Good luck and enjoy. We had the same fear and with research before we arrive we have not run into that issue thus far. Happy camping with your fur babies. Ps. Lab and German shepherds are amazing breeds. Glad you get to enjoy them:)
We're picking up our camper Friday! We're excited and looking forward to getting started. We have 3 weekend trips planned already. Thanks for your videos!
@@FrankandTori we'll let you know. We also enjoyed the dog video as we have two small breed dogs that we hope will enjoy camping. Our yorkie is just chill like your max or is it mac? But we have a young female that is just wired all the time lol. I'm afraid momma will be in the camper with lil girl quite often.
@@sbledsoe1966 haha our chill guy is Mac. You never know, your younger dog might surprise you! Dee (our wild child) barks occasionally at campsites (mostly at squirrels), but not nearly as much as she does when we're home. They both love it though, and I hope your dogs enjoy it as well!
Sitting in my newly renovated trailer thinking about this last night. She’s a ‘93, but the bed is in the back - My biggest fear capsizing it lol! 🤣 is that crazy?
Haha capsizing. Just don’t take it on water and you will be ok haha jk. I know what you are saying with flipping. Always a concern especially with breaking too fast. You will be okay and I think it’s awesome you have a renovated trailer!
Our pleasure! It does get easier over time. Best way to help with anxiety is plan out the route ahead of time as well. Avoid overly narrow roads and sticking to main roads always makes the ride easier.
Biggest fear is that my husband won’t like camping. He has only been camping in a tent. He has never camped in a travel trailer. He is concerned about towing.
This is Frank. I spent most of my life tent camping as well. Travel trailer is much more enjoyable especially as I get older… sleeping on the ground was ok in my 20s haha. Also, if a rain shower comes through you don’t have to worry about gear getting wet for sleeping in a musty tent. Now with towing it’s a little scary at first, but you get used to it. Feels good first time you back a trailer up into a spot too. Get a smaller travel trailer under 30 ft for your first one if you can. It’s just Tori, myself and our dogs so our first camper you see in our videos is 22ft long. Spoiler alert we just got a new travel trailer recently that’s 28ft (video coming soon) and now that I’m used to towing .. the extra length is no problem. Hope this helps:)
@@FrankandTori Yep I did tearing down older trailers and redoing the whole inside or even outside and then did their inspections, I’m not sure if he still there but did Claire I think his name was did he show you the trailer?
Claire did not show us , but I know who he was. The son Dan showed Tori and I around and was very low Pressure and very knowledgeable. We were in there for inspection the other month and checked in. Great people and great service.
Couldn’t agree with you more. People are very aggressive and do not always let you in and cut you off. You take more time to stop and can’t make any really quick movements hauling a trailer. I have had motorcycles for past 17 years so I’m used to it and always been a defensive driver. Kind of have to predict what people are going to do. Also, Tori edits out when I swear at people while driving haha. Safe travels!
Good call Debbie! I often use the terms interchangeably but you're right! Exciting news about the motorhome! You'll have to keep us updated on how you like the switch to that motorhome life!
Nothing like buying an expensive house on wheels and having it break down 20 times per day. Nothing like going to campsites and having noisy neighbors playing music and whooping it up all night long. Nothing like finding out that you can't book dock in a parking lot overnight. Nothing like buying an RV the size of the 51st state and then finding out that most camp sites won't let you camp because your RV is too big! Nothing like being robbed and there is no one around to help you. Nothing like finding out that you have no cell service while you are dry camping in certain areas! Nothing like having your Norcold refrigerator catch fire and burn up your expensive RV. Everything like moving back into your REAL home and starting to live life like normal people!
@Don Sliger RV living is just plain stupid Constant breakdowns! Trying to live off the grid! Desperation at trying to find RV parks that are decent! Coping with rodents getting into the kitchen area! High cost of filling the gas tank every 15 miles! And what happens if you get really sick? Can you bring your 40 foot RV to the ER? Worrying about being robbed and broken into! High cost of RV parks! Worrying that your Norcold refrigerator will reduce that $250,000.00 RV to ashes! RVing is fine for short trips and weekends, but full time- it's just plain stupid!
