Updated March 2022, Original Post September 2017
We rented an RV! Now what?
Deciding to broaden our travel experiences, we rented an RV for a long weekend trip. Our reasoning: we could enjoy fall weather at a nearby location and test-drive the RV trip experience. Then we could decide about a week-long rental to Disney World and other RV trips beyond.
Our destination: FD Roosevelt State Park, located near Pine Mountain, GA. It’s Georgia’s largest state park featuring camping, hiking, fishing, boating and more.
Here are a few things we learned about renting and having fun on RV trips:
- Choose carefully. For a first-time renter, selection can be a daunting task. We found peer-to-peer sites RVShare.com and Outdoorsy.com to be excellent sources to compare RV options, amenities, prices and availability. Extended resources (like blogs and user reviews) offer excellent tips and insights, both on what to expect and specific experiences with the rental units and owners. Carefully consider the number, ages and sizes of your travelers and potential sleeping arrangements. Think about bed times (early for young children, but not others), personal habits (who takes forever in the bathroom!), any physical requirements (frequent nighttime bathroom needs?) and your meal plans (cook and carry, campfire cooking or other). Don’t forget to evaluate included (or excluded!) amenities, like extras sheets, towels, cookware and a coffee pot – or you’ll need to bring them along from home
- Understand your bathroom expectations. Most larger RVs include bathrooms, but don’t expect them to match up with an ensuite in an HGTV luxury home. They often are functional, basic and cramped. Hot water is in limited supply, shower space is tight, toilets can be complicated, and every drop of water that is used must later be drained. For us, the bathroom was used in limited fashion by the younger travelers and for less-odiferous bodily functions. For two days, our girls of all ages preferred the camper shower rather than using the camp ground bath house, but by day 3 sought out the space and luxurious hot water supply of the bath house.
- Communicate with the owner. Rental sites make this relatively easy. And you should consider the timeliness, thoroughness, and attentiveness of your unit owner in the pre-rental decision period. While not a guarantee, a timely, responsive pre-rental owner likely will be a helpful, flexible and considerate owner throughout the experience. After much consideration, we selected a Coachman Freelander 31BH, rated to sleep 8 people, offering two slide-outs for extra space and a bunk-house configuration that could have accommodated a few more kids. The unit owner, Ken, was very helpful during the consideration process, answering questions by e-mail quickly and offering practical advice. He worked personally with us to overcome some schedule and coordination issues that made the pick-up, familiarization and return process super-easy. And when we discovered we left a few personal items behind, he mailed them back to us.
- Make a packing list. We do this no matter where we’re traveling. But since this was a first camping and RV excursion, we took extra care to create our packing list. Multiple clothing types, extra socks and shoes, rain gear, pre-cooked refrigerated foods for quick warming, beverages and snacks, fresh fruit and more all made the list, as did the Vitamix blender which travels with us on almost all non-airline trips. We included bicycles, fishing gear, play toys for the little boys, our favorite electronic devices for communication, reading, entertainment and pictures, and all the requisite charging devices. We were confident we had it all.
- Double-check an experienced RVer’s packing list. When we compared our list with the voice and lists of the experienced, we realized everything we had forgotten. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t do this until AFTER we were confidently and distantly on the road. To avoid our rookie mistake, check the rental sites, RV blogs and Pinterest boards at least a week in advance of your departure.
- Bring your little red wagon. Even if it feels like you’ve packed everything but the kitchen sink, go back to your garage and take along your little red wagon. Seriously, do it! Thinking about this in advance cuts down on the loading process, trips and personal carrying weight. If you’re doing RV trips with kids and grand kids, having the wagon along provides some easy activities and much-needed respite from carrying tired, crying young ones.
Bring your little red wagon. It provides some easy activities and much-needed respite from carrying tired, crying young ones. - Tools, bungee cords and rope are your friends. Thankfully, on my final home lock-up check before departure, I grabbed this short list of last-minute items. Maybe my dad was whispering in my ear from four states away, or maybe it was my years of Boy Scout experience. Whatever the source of inspiration, the trip was made immensely easier with these handy and much-used items. Tools were essential for some quick gear adjustment. Bungee cords made it much easier to carry fishing rods and extra gear.
- Consider your excursion requirements. Class A and Class C RVs are great for RV trips — once you get to the campground. But you don’t want to depend on them as your daily transportation. Thus, if you plan side trips, local excursions or other essential travel, have a backup transportation plan. For us, that was a second vehicle.
If you’re going to take excursions or side trips, you’ll need a second vehicle. We brought our own van, then also used one of these rental vans at Wildlife Safari Park near Pine Mountain, GA. - Don’t expect to save money. If you want a budget trip, RV rental is not a good option. In addition to the nightly rental fee and any campground space rental, you’ll likely have to arrange for extra insurance and some incidental costs (LP gas, extra mileage or generator use fees, cleaning fees, etc.) charged with some rentals. Fuel costs can also be expensive, depending on the unit you choose and your travel distance. Plus, depending on amenities provided or excluded, you may find yourself making some extra purchases.
As mentioned at the start, this was a test-drive for a potential week-long, longer-distance trip to Disney World. That’s out – we’re going to rent a home that accommodates additional family members and provides a few more luxuries for the long days at theme parks.
We’ve decided that we enjoyed the RV experience and are looking forward to future adventures in a rented RV — but not for the week-long Disney World Trip. We’re going to rent a house that comfortably accommodates more family members.
Still, after the weekend, we’ve decided that we enjoyed the RV experience and are looking forward to future adventures in a rented RV. Those likely will be similar to this most recent trip – long weekends, or close-by journeys that may include two or three stops of multiple days in “natural” settings. Additional Georgia state parks, trips to the Smokey Mountains or maybe a beach excursion to the Golden Isles of the South Georgia coast are all considerations. Renting a unit in Denver or another Western city, flying in for the pickup, and then RV-journeying for a National Park adventure is another possibility. We might consider doing something similar to explore the natural wonders of the upper Northeast US and Novia Scotia.
And, we have marked our calendars for an upcoming regional RV and camping show to explore more options. Who knows where that will lead!
Helpful RV Planning Resources:
As always, there’s a wealth of information available from experienced travelers, first-timers, and other sources. Here are a few we found helpful:
RVShare.com: We used this peer-to-peer site to location units, compare and price options, communicate with owners and, ultimately, complete our rental transaction. The filter and search features simplify the process. And if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the home page, you’ll find a footer link to a valuable blog site. RVShare.com includes roadside assistance with each rental, and offers a rewards program.
Outdoorsy.com: We discovered this site later in our search and found that many of the units we considered are listed on both sites with similar or same transaction terms. Overall, we think Outdoorsy.Com is more user friendly, especially in the trip planning and travel tips. When we rent again, we’ll definitely come here.
19 Things You Should Know. We read this and several other posts by Erin and Josh Bender. The writing was fun and the insights useful.
RV Blogs: Just do a google search and you’ll discover many. We avoided those that focused on full-time RV living, and instead gravitated to blogs that focused on destinations and tips. Some we liked best included Everything About RVing, and GO RVing. We also checked out a variety of dealership sites — mostly to check out future ideas for remote rentals. We liked Lazy Days among the best.
Campgrounds: While we choose F.D. Roosevelt State Park in Pine Mountain, GA, as our first destination, the options are endless. If you’re considering a US National Park, you’ll want to visit Recreation.Gov for reservations and planning tips. For commercial options, check out GoodSamClub.Com and KOA.Com
