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Girl Camper #5 – Check out all the great Apps that make travel and trip
planning fun and easy. I love ‘RV Trip Wizard’ for trip planning. It’s
By: Janine Pettitr – Editor in Chief of Girl Camper Magazine a great website for planning out a bucket list trip. It has unbiased
reviews from actual RVers, over 20K campgrounds, tens of
It seems like a whole lot of people just discovered what many of thousands of points of interest you might not have known about,
us have known all along. Camping is a great way to bond with the ability to project the cost of a trip and it can be customized to
family and friends, enjoy the outdoors in comfort, and destress your specific RV. When combined with the RV Life App, you get
from a long week in front of a screen. Camping is suddenly all RV safe GPS routing so you won’t end on a road with a 12’ foot
the rage! The covid restrictions put in place in 2020 opened our bridge when you have a 13’ clearance on your trailer. ‘All Stays’
world to those who might never have given camping a chance. is a great App for finding a campground. SkyView Lite lets you
RV sales and campground reservations soared as those reluctant explore the stars and the ‘ITunes Podcast’ App lets you check
to get on a plane or stay in a hotel looked for a change of scenery out the RV and travel podcasts while you are logging some
and a way to vacation away from the masses. If you are one of miles. Check out the Girl Camper Podcast while you are there!
those people, welcome to our campfire!
#6 – Take your time – in all things. Take your time getting
I have a few suggestions to help newcomers navigate that there. Enjoy the journey and don’t worry about making it to the
learning curve so your travels can be as stress free as possible. campsite by a certain time. Sometimes things happen and they
slow you down. Don’t let the unexpected things take the fun out
of it. Take your time making your RV your own. I reorganized my
camper several times the first season I had it. It takes time and
use to figure out the best place for everything, the best way to
store things and what to leave behind. It’s all part of the fun. Take
your time with the people you meet. Be willing to chat at the
camp store and the mini golf course with fellow RVers. Social
media and screen time have reduced our opportunities for old
fashioned conversation. There are people I now call friends who
were total strangers until I happened to be camped next to them
one weekend. Be open to meeting new friends.

#1 – Don’t be afraid to ask for help at the campground. You
are going to be happy to discover that campers are among the
kindest people out there. They are always willing to lend support
to those new to backing in a rig, working the dump station, or
figuring out solar panels and batteries. Everyone was a beginner
at one time and usually love helping others get the hang of it.
#2 – Take advantage of social media and learn from the comfort
of your own home. YouTube has so many channels put out by
experienced RVers and they can help you avoid a lot of rookie #7 – Share the love- Invite your non camping friends to
mistakes. I am hooked on RV Education 101 and often go to their experience the lifestyle. Book a site at a campground with
website or YouTube channel when I am unsure of something. cabin rentals and let your friends experience firsthand the things
Mark Polk, the founder of RV Education 101, has encyclopedic we all love about camping. If there are no cabins available,
knowledge of all things RVing and a gift for conveying even log into Outdoorsy and rent a camper for the wannabes you
complicated things in simple terms. know. Outdoorsy is a peer to peer rental program that lets you
rent an RV from an owner that is not using it. They come with
#3 – Keep your trips close to home until you figure out your rig everything you need and sometimes the owners will deliver it to
and hone your towing skills. Many Rvers do a “shake down” trip the campground for you. It’s also a great way to test out an RV
at a campground close to the RV dealership they bought their you like before buying it. You might discover you love it or that
rig from. This allows them to call with questions if they are having the counter space is too small, and you need to keep searching.
trouble with some component of the RV. Keeping your first trips
close to home allows you to focus on getting acclimated to your #8 – Subscribe to RV news outlets starting with Girl Camper
rig and not on how many miles you still have to drive. Magazine. It is not just for girls!! It is an inspirational quarterly
subscription full of camping stories, recipes, and destinations
#4 – Join a Facebook group of fellow owners of the model RV you will want to put on your list. It also offers how to’s from
you purchased. You will get so much help here from people experts in health and wellness, automotive, RV maintenance and
who know what they are talking about. Chances are high that even tips for traveling with pets.
your question can be answered quickly or has already come
up in the group and is archived there. Knowing there’s a whole Also, be sure to check out GoCampingNJ.com, GORving.com,
group of people who have your back is a confidence builder. RVLove.com and Rollinontv.com

26 GoCampingNJ.com