Monday, December 07, 2009

Worldwide RV Travel For Less Cost

RV / Motorhome owners can now enjoy low cost worldwide travel. How? They use the investment they have made in their RV to give them virtually free travel and accommodation in another country. This is now possible through being able to exchange RV’s with like minded RV owners worldwide.

We all know that the airfares are just a small part of the total cost of international travel and the major expenses are for accommodation and transportation at your destination. When you exchange your RV there is no additional accommodation or travel costs to what you would normally incur using your RV at home. We all know that accommodation and travel costs worldwide can be substantial and by enjoying an RV exchange there are huge savings to be made.

As all RV owners know, you also can visit a local supermarket and cook your own meals in your RV saving the expense of restaurant meals and also avoiding the perils of fast foods. Many people enjoying an RV / Motorhome exchange spend several weeks or even months at their chosen destination so any savings made quickly add up.

It works much like a home exchange except it offers much more. It is not just your accommodation but also your transportation plus you get to experience a lot more of the country than you would located in just one place.

You also do not need to swap simultaneously as it’s not your home. Who really wants to vacation in the U.K. in the winter, so with a RV worldwide exchange both parties can travel at the time of year that is best for them. This may actually be six months or more apart.

Have safe and exciting international travel through an RV worldwide exchange.

Written by Stephen Smith, director of http://www.rvworldwide.com

This article may be reproduced or distributed so long as no contact or links are changed without the author’s permission.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Holiday travel heads-up

A recent CNN story began with a great holiday travel headline: “Stuffing planes like Thanksgiving turkeys” by Aaron Smith, Nov. 11, 2009 and discussed travel over the busy holiday weekend.


Expect that planes will be full even though there are fewer people traveling, because the airline industry has cut capacity by 6.9% since last year to improve efficiency, says the Air Transport Association. This year has seen the biggest capacity reduction since 1942, when civilian aircraft were diverted towards the war effort. Planes will be full but there may be fewer delays if weather doesn’t create problems as there are simply fewer planes flying. However, the “once-a-year” passenger headed home for Turkey Day is often less experienced in negotiating airport systems and security so may hold up the lines for frequent travelers.

Solution: Make sure you employ all the savvy traveler and smart packing strategies possible.

1. Print boarding passes and prepay for checked baggage before leaving for the airport. Use curbside check-in if available. Consolidate both checked and carry-on items to as few as possible – it’s only a 4-day weekend!

2. Allow enough time for heavy traffic en route to the airport, full parking lots, and crowded airport transportation systems. Give yourself at least 2 hours at the airport to safely check baggage and pass through security.

3. Wear clothing that is “screening friendly” – minimal metal parts, slip on shoes, jewelry removed and tucked into a zip-top baggie before entering the security line, coat packed into a checked or carry-on bag.

4. Pack plenty of snacks, water, reading materials and patience. You may need all of it.


******

Reprinted with permission from Susan Foster and Smart Packing. Sign up for Susan's e-newsletter at www.smartpacking.com - THE place for packing light information,airline baggage rules, airport security updates and packing tips for every kind of trip.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Skateboarding around the US

Hey - what a fun and educational idea. This 11-year old and his dad are traveling to all 50 states instead of going to the 6th grade. It looks like they are having a fabulous time and I know that Logan will definitely learn more by doing this than by going to the 6th grade. Horray for them. We believe that this is a wonderful way to teach kids about our great country - and have some fun at the same time.

Go visit Logan and his Dad here:

http://50skatekid.com/

Friday, October 30, 2009

Want a $1250 fuel card for traveling?

Here is a great offer - to see a list of the applicable motorhomes, go here:


Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC) is now giving a $1,250 fuel card with any new purchase of a qualifying motorhome built on a Freightliner chassis from dealers in the United States and Canada. This exclusive, temporary offer is designed to help motorhome and RV enthusiasts pursue a road trip of a lifetime, even in a sluggish economy. Complete details are included below for you to share with your readers if you think it would be of interest to them.


Take your next road trip on Freightliner
Between now and Dec. 31, motor home enthusiasts can kick off their road trip of a lifetime by receiving a $1,250 fuel card with the purchase of any qualifying motor home built on a Freightliner chassis from dealers in the United States and Canada. For more details about this offer, and to learn which RV manufacturers offer vehicles built on Freightliner chassis, visit www.freightlinerchassis.com/fuel or chat with us on our Facebook page at http://bit.ly/1dAcGT.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Build a trip home into your itinerary

We planned for a trip home during our year long trip - we had built that into our original budget. About half way through our trip (June-June) was the Christmas holiday. Around the first of November, we projected about where we would be and started checking airfares from several possible cities until we saw a really inexpensive one and jumped on it - that then became the city (Raleigh NC) that we headed for in mid-December. Another nice thing on a long trip like this - you have the flexibility to adjust your trip and dates to fit the less expensive airfares home. We headed home about the middle of December and stayed through New Year's - avoiding all the heavy travel times. It was sure fun to see everyone, but it was a whirlwind time. We had leased our home while we were gone, so we had no home to come home to. Our solution? We found friends of friends who were leaving for much of the time we were home and we house-sat for them, fed the dog, watered the plants - and had a great place to stay. There is a solution to every problem. What did we do with the RV (Class B Van) while we were home? We didn't want to leave it at the airport all that time, so we took it to a local RV service center and had them service the refrigerator, AC, furnace, etc. while we were gone at their leisure - they even took us to the airport! The van was safe, we got some service work done and their was no charge for the "storage." Hundreds of these kind of tips are in our book.

Carol White

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Where I've been

This was kind of a fun little Facebook Application








Tuesday, September 01, 2009

The RV industry marks 100 year Anniversary

NEWS RELEASE
1910-2010: The RV Industry Celebrates 100 Years of Exploration and Innovation
A century ago, the popularization of the automobile, improving roads, and America's passion for exploration gave rise to mass-produced, manufactured recreation vehicles, and the RV industry was born. In 2010, Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) and the RV industry will mark this centennial with an array of special activities celebrating the 100-year journey of a uniquely American product.

In 1910, there was no TV, no air conditioning and no phone, but there were RVs. Through war and peace, booms and busts, fuel lines, fads and the cyber revolution, the RV lifestyle has endured and is still going strong, even in today's challenging economic times.

"Think about how far we've come in the past 100 years in terms in technology, yet the reasons to RV remain the same," says RVIA President Richard Coon. "RVing has been able to thrive and grow because people still enjoy the freedom that it provides."

The industry will celebrate its centennial in 2010 with a series of events that showcase today's innovations and new products while emphasizing America's century-long love affair with RVs.

"Recognizing and celebrating the 100th anniversary of the RV industry is a unique opportunity to tell our story to the media and public," says Coon.

The roots of RVing are as old as pioneers and covered wagons. But 1910 is the year that America's leading RV historians — David Woodworth, Al Hesselbart and Roger White — cite as the beginning of what has become the modern RV industry.

"The first motorized campers were built in 1910," says Woodworth, a preeminent collector of early RVs and RV camping memorabilia. "Before then, people camped in private rail cars that were pulled to sidings along train routes. The year 1910 brought a new freedom to people who didn't want to be limited by the rail system. RVs allowed them to go where they wanted, when they wanted."

Hesselbart, archivist for the RV/MH Heritage Museum in Elkhart, Ind., also pinpoints 1910 as the birth of the RV industry. "Camping has been around for centuries, but 1910 is when the first auto-related camping vehicles were built for commercial sale."

Known as "auto campers" or "camping trailers" a century ago, these vehicles were a forerunner of today's modern RVs.

"There were one-offs [individual units] built prior to 1910," says White, an associate curator for the Smithsonian Institution. "But 1910 is a good benchmark for the industry."

"The 1910 RVs offered minimal comforts compared to today's homes-on-wheels," says Woodworth. "But they did provide the freedom to travel anywhere, to be able to get a good night's sleep and enjoy home cooking. One notable exception to today's RV was the bathroom. In 1910, it was usually either yonder tree or yonder bush."

Hesselbart points out that one brand of auto camper in those days was equipped with a bathroom onboard. "Pierce-Arrow's 'Touring Landau' had a potted toilet," he says.

A version of today's Type B van camper, the Pierce-Arrow "Touring Landau," was unveiled at Madison Square Garden in 1910.

In addition to Pierce-Arrow, there were several other companies or auto-body builders producing motorized RVs. These companies and innovative products were featured in a Popular Mechanics issue in 1911, but Woodworth says the motorhomes highlighted in the article were actually built in 1910.

Camping trailers made by Los Angeles Trailer Works and Auto-Kamp Trailers also rolled off the assembly line beginning in 1910. Hesselbart says the earliest RV on display at the RV/MH museum is a 1913 trailer, ancestor of the contemporary travel trailer.

Photos of 1910 RV models appear in White's book on the history of RVing and exist in both Woodworth's and Hesselbart's libraries.

To mark the centennial, RVIA is creating a special 100th anniversary logo and commemorative decal that everyone in the industry will be invited to use in their own promotions and marketing. RVIA is planning an industry party on June 7 during the 2010 Committee Week in South Bend, Indiana, to which media and political guests would be invited.

RVIA will soon announce details of an RV caravan led by Woodworth with one of his early RVs, as well as a menu of celebration and promotion ideas for dealers, campgrounds, clubs and shows to use on their own.

"Celebrating our centennial will create excitement and pride throughout our made-in-America industry and provide an opportunity for manufacturers, dealers, suppliers and campground owners to unite under one banner," says Coon. "For 100 years, we've been helping Americans explore their scenic treasures and heritage more comfortably, affordably and enjoyably. That's something to celebrate."

Friday, August 28, 2009

Ready to Retire? What now/

The “grind”; the “treadmill”; your “career” – has STOPPED. You are RETIRED. What now?

For the first time since you were a kid, you get to choose what to do every day, who to do it with, how to do it, and when to do it. Ahhhh. BUT WAIT: Your new life is beginning to descend upon you – new demands on your time, new things to do, new places to go, new experiences to explore. Yes, it is of your own choosing, but a new lifestyle pattern so soon begins to emerge.

Stop the train before it leaves the station. Travel is no doubt in your plans, but now getting away to see everything on your ‘bucket list” is becoming just as mired in minutia as when you were working. Why not step back, do some planning, and run away from home for some really long time before you settle into retirement. Get healthy, be free-as-a-bird, and have the time of your life.

Boomers by the thousands are beginning to do exactly that, guided by the best-selling, award-winning book, “Live Your Road Trip Dream.” Whether your dream vision is a trip around the US, a year on a sailboat, backpacking through Asia, or a year in Tuscany, this handy guide, chock-full of tips for healthy living that are applicable to every income level, and every type of dreamer, will have you moving from the dreaming to the doing in no time at all.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Seattle Day Trips

I've been doing some writing for RoadTripAmerica.com about road trips. Here is my latest one on day trips from Seattle.



Enjoy.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Boomers Getting More and More Sites


Part of the fun of being involved in the boomer marketplace is learning about new sites that are offering good content and ideas to help this generation make decisions on all types of issues from lifestyle to finance to retirement.

In the last couple of weeks, I have been working with two newer sites by providing some articles to them. They are good sites and I know you will enjoy poking around for new information. Here are the links to what I wrote as a jumping off point for you.

Boom Voyage

Top Retirements

I hope you enjoy these sites and maybe even the articles.

Carol

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Dreaming - January, 2009 Newsletter


Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

Or, Happy New Year in Vietnamese. We have just returned from a wonderful trip to Vietnam and Thailand and were lucky enough to be there during their lunar New Year celebration welcoming the "Year of the Ox".

It was a road trip of sorts in that we took almost every conveyance you can think of including rickshaws, bamboo boats, bamboo rafts, elephants, ferries, Junks, and good old buses. There were a small group of us and we had the time of our lives. We highly recommend Overseas Adventure Travel for their spirit of adventure in taking us places that large groups can't go and for planning activities so varied that we were always trying to guess what might come next.

So now it is back to work.

Phil and Carol



After nearly four years of publishing this newsletter, I've decided to take it to a blog format instead of this periodic epistle. I'm hoping that it will give you more timely information in shorter, more digestible bites and make it easier for all of you to leave comments and ask questions.

I do need your help though to make this transition.

You can subscribe by going here and telling me in the upper left hand side just how and where you would like it delivered or you can "follow me" and get notifications when I post something new. This is so much more flexible than just having me send it to your inbox. I hope this will make our communication even more effective by taking advantage of new technologies.

Try it - I think you'll like it.



Here is a new website that tells all kinds of interesting stories of retirement, reinvention and travel - among other things.


Last month I promised a copy of "Essential USA" for your best tips.

And the winners are:

Steve Albrecht

We struggled with the question, “What do we collect as souvenirs?” for a long time before we left on our 6 month trip.

On the 2nd day of our adventure, at the Grand Canyon, my wife had an epiphany. “We should get a Christmas ornament everywhere we go,” she said.

“They’re small, inexpensive, and every year when we decorate our tree, we can relive our adventure.” We’d keep a small box on hand, and add ornaments until the box was full, then send it to my parents for safe keeping.

We plan to put up our “Adventure Tree” this evening (we now do 2 trees), and I am so looking forward to reliving our great adventure.


Sharry Buckner

Measure the height and width of your rig, in BOTH feet and meters, then write it down and tape it to the dashboard of your rig or tow vehicle.You don't have time to think when you're headed for an underpass in Canada. Here's a link to convert: http://www.metric-conversions.org/length/feet-to-meters.htm

Congratulations!

Your books will be on their way to you this week.

Thanks to everyone who entered an idea.


We are eager to hear from you... share your feedback...

Till next time.. Keep Dreaming...