RV Navigator

We never intended to buy a house in FL, but this month we ended up with a new home for the motorhome at our RV resort in Titusville, FL. We explain the decision and details in this month’s episode as move ahead on buying this new abode in FL. The sale is not final until mid-May, so we headed North to Chicago just in time to leave on our next adventure, a cruise in Tahiti and Hawaii. The weather being what it is, the MH needed to be winterized while it sits in the cold in Chicago., We’ll not be taking it to its new home until November (2025) due to our upcoming Alaska adventure which starts in July.

Just another month stuck in FL -LOL. Your RV Navigators have had several interesting RV projects in the works from getting new RV insurance to looking a new hot skin devices for RVs to speculating about the staff cuts at National Parks. What does the new T-Mobile Starlink direct to cell service mean for the average cell user? These an many other topics are covered in this months episode. Join us and then make a comment.

Lots of RV activity for us this month. As with many of you, we had to hunker down early in the month due to extensive cold and snow in many parts of the country - including FL. Titusville was spared frozen precipitation, but it was cold. Our nearly annual trip to the Tampa RV Super show was a management disaster, but a display success. We explain this in full on the podcast. We managed to buy a few things at the vendor area, including a new Starlink Gen3 antenna (is it a dish, antenna or table?). I waited 3 days for it to be delivered from Starlink. Set-up was very easy and I had it working within minutes. We customized the installation as we explain in the episode. Beyond this we headed to Sebring FL for a refurbishment of 2 of our fogged windows. The end of the month brought us to Jetty park to watch others cruise from Port Canaveral. This campground has a great view of the ships entering and leaving on the weekly cruises to all parts of the caribbean.

After a busy fall, we spent the month at our home base near Chicago. As you know we don't enjoy the cold, so after the Christmas holidays we once again headed south for most of the winter. We rang in the New Year in our motorhome in FL with a NYE ball drop party from 7-9 pm - it is after all midnight somewhere!

January will find us at the Tampa RV Supershow. If you have a chance to attend, it is one of the best RV shows in the country. However this year has brought some major changes so well if that is true going forward.

In this episode we share some ideas about cruising (our second love) as well as the latest about the new MH sales ban in CA as well as a Thor large EV motorhome which may answer the question about alternatives. Our experience has taught us some must have items as well as essential techniques for a successful RV trip. We shared these tips and open a bottle of the bubbly during this annual party episode. Have a happy new year as you travel in your RV to all parts of the country.

This month finds us at sea for the entire month. Sail the med and ending in Fort Lauderdale, we skip the long transatlantic flight for 9 days of sailing the open ocean. If have the time, it is very relaxing trip. We want to wish al our listeners a great holiday season as we look forward to the new year. We’ve attached some RV gift lists for your consideration. We wonder if the almost total band on new MH sales in CA will take effect in 2025. CA pllus 5 other states have put strick pollution standards in place that will prohibit most motorized RVs from being sold in those states. Obviously RV dealers will be out of business if they cannot sell their products legally.

We left shortly after the last podcast for a land adventure in Eastern Europe. After 3 weeks of travel, we are ready to share our experiences on the podcast. We’ve been traveling with 13 fellow travelers to the Czech Republic and other close by countries formerly part of the eastern block. The adventure has been eye openning, but we also chat about some interesint RV topics and the latest technology. Have you used whispers(?), do you have plans for snowbirding in the South. These plus many other topics are on our agenda this month.

Finally back on the road in the RV, we travel to FL on a round about itinerary that included stops in Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina and Georgia before our final stop in Titusville, FL. September is a great weather month in these northerly states so we took advantage of fall (before the colors) to slowly drive south. A major stop along the way was in Gaffney. Not a tourist stop but an important MH stop for this is the home of Freightliner - the maker of our chassis. We found the important of letting the pros work on the MH as they performed our annual check-up and found several major problems - and solved them before they became issues. Expensive, yes, but worth it if it keeps from being stranded on the side of the road. We are getting ready for our Alaska adventure next summer so reliability of our Rig is very much on our mind. With a 12 year old MH, we never know what will go wrong, so we try to do as much preventative maintenance as possible. Florida proved to be its usual hot an humid with a hurricane thrown in for good measure. Our area was not impacted by the storm so we are feeling lucky this year.

This months episode features a new cooking segment done by the copilot. She shares some ideas for maximizing the kitchen space in an RV.

“According to Nielsen's recent podcast analysis, the number of Americans listening to podcasts has increased by 45% in the last five years alone - more than doubling in the past decade to reach 183m people.”

https://content.nielsen.com/PodcastingToday

Your RV Navigators are waiting for the money to come knocking, but even though we have been podcasting for 18 continuous years, alas we have not been offered the big bucks mentioned in the article above. We continue because we love our listeners and enjoy the feedback, but we make no money. We remain non-commercial and ad free.

As most of our listeners know, we’ve traveled most of the US (and Canada) in our RV. We have been to New England, NE Canada on several RV trips. Always enjoyable. Our current adventure is via cruise ship with an itinerary from NYC north through the St. Lawrence to Quebec. Approaching this itinerary from the water side proved to be a different experience.

After this topic, we discuss several RV issues including new happenings with Starlink, and a follow up on the Tesla pickup for RV towing.

It is officially summer and the camping season has begun - but we'll let the family RVers have first dibs on the campgrounds. We'll be home for most of the summer. On our way home at the beginning of the month, we stopped to get our sofa recovered. The original factory fabric had peeled over the past few months, so we had it replaced - now it looks like new. But of course the real question is why did it peel. Cheap fabric from the factory. We learned that the key word is Ultra Leather when looking for quality long lasting fabric.

This month we share many RV topics of interest as well as what's new with Starlink and other on the road internet services. How about a softstart that installs externally? What's new at Loves?

On the road this month on a 2400 mile trip north over 2 weeks. We visited some bucket list and out of the way destinations such as Crater of Diamonds State Park and Crystal Bridges Art Museum in Arkansas. These plus a couple of old favorite camping spots kept us busy for the month.

Of course, the month started with a 5 night family cruise (with 22 participants) cruise aboard the Independence of the Seas sailing from Miami. We had a great time even though the ship was at capacity (4500) and packed with under 1440 under 18 year olds. This reminded us that different ships have very different vibes, so cruisers should choose their ship carefully. We drove back to our Florida headquarters (TGO), prepared the MH for the trip home and left on a longer than normal trip north. We spent time at Gulf State park as well as the aforementioned buck list stops.

This month we share ideas about internet on the road as well as a couple of products that you may find useful.

As February ended, we headed to Rio in Brazil to begin a cruise that will take us in and out of the Amazon before ending in Miami. Early in February we headed to one of our favorite boondocking spots, Jetty Park near Cocoa Beach in FL. This park offers a nice Atlantic ocean beach, a prime spot to watch rocket launches and the cruise ships enter the port.

Our new towed was taken on it maiden voyage with great success during the month. We review how it was altered to become a towed vehicle as well as our plans to switch to lithium batteries in the near future. Many other RV and cruising topics are covered this month on a show with 2 parts

Back to RVing! We spent the entire month in our RV doing what the podcast is about - RVing! The highlight was the Tampa RV Super Show held each January at the Florida State Fairgrounds. In our opinion this is the best RV show in the country with hundreds of rigs on display along with hundreds of vendors for specialized RV products. The weather in FL has been variable with lots of cool interspersed with warm. While the rest of the country is berried in snow or rain, we have avoided the storms. This episode brings an interview with a company in Iowa that recovers Flexsteel RV furniture.

The year ends with 123123 and our annual New Years Eve podcast with bubbly. Having just returned home from an extended trip to Southeast Asia, we are still struggling with a 12 hour jet lag. The year in review shows that we did alot of travel outside the US so the RV travel was limited. We will be heading to FL for our annual snowbird experience in a week or so. Join us at the Tampa RV Supershow starting on January 17th.

Greetings from Southeast Asia. After an unusual beginning of our trip, we landed in Singapore after 26 hrs of travel and 12 time zones. We began the land portion of the trip by adding two new countries to our growing list of visited countries. After traveling to Thailand, we made our way to Laos and Cambodia ending in Vietnam after almost 3 weeks. Returning to Singapore we picked up our 4 week cruise to Indonesia and Malaysia. We'll be sailing until December 23 when we return home just in time for the next podcast. We want to wish everyone a happy holiday season as holidays draw near.

Wd did enjoy the good weather of the Southlands as the temps headed down at home. Flying home was a shock to the system as the weather was quite cold for the season.

We do share lots of RV topics this month including the possibility of an EV RV pulled by a Tesla tracker. Also what’s new with Starlink and T-Mobile for RVers, new AI features of Bing, the new iPhone 15 as a camera and much more are on our agenda this month.

On the road once again as we make our way to our winter home in Florida. But why drive directly for 3 days? Rather make it a leisurely trip of 3 weeks, do a bit of family visiting, sight seeing, and enjoy the camping. The eastern US is known for trees, so our campsites didn’t offer much of a view for our satellite TV, so we had to rely on streaming. Hear about our experiences and what option we had as well as many other topics of interest to RVers.

Greetings from the open seas of the North Atlantic as we cruise from Bergen, Norway to NYC over 28 days. Wildlife is always unpredictable, but during the recording of the podcast we spotted a whale outside of our cabin window. It was a WOW moment and indicative of our travels this month. All three countries that we visited had an abundance of fjords with picturesque little towns at the end. Of the three countries, Norway provided the best photo opportunities. And it was the warmest. Otherwise the trip to the north was a cold and rainy experience however interesting it was.

No camping this month, but we’ll be “on the road” for the next 9 months as begin our adventures with a cruise from Bergen, Norway to NYC for 28 days. July was fairly quiet as we celebrated the 4th at home enjoying great summer weather for most of July. The Chicago area has not been plagued with the weather extremes experienced by much of the country. We took the opportunity to get out doors but just not camping or RVing. With the knee given the final OK by the doc, we are set to travel once again as the adventure continue. After the cruise (leaving on August 2) most of September will be spent heading south with the RV

Our brief camping trip to the Indiana Dunes was a big success. Perfect weather, nice campground, RV working perfectly all came together to make a great experience this year. The beach in this park is very nice plus of course the water is fresh - and fairly warm at this time of year. We stayed for 3 nights. Even though I made the reservation on January 3, this was the longest midweek reservation available. What is your experience with campground reservations lately? We are working on reservations for our fall trip south to FL and are finding reservations at public campgrounds to be fairly easy to make.

A major topic this month is photography Ai & its impact on my photos. The new Photoshop Beta includes generative AI as a major upgrade feature. It is amazing as you can see on this episodes webpage. AI has been coming to photography for a while, but this feature of Photoshop takes it to the next level.

In this episode we also share some new websites focused on RVing. How about planning a RV trip that follows the 70 degree temperatures? This plus some new RVing planning sites will give you some ideas for next years trips.

Another episode from the home base in Chicago as the copilot recovers from knee replacement surgery. Todays episode is based around an interview with the founder of CarGenerator.com. This product produces 110 volt power from your car for use in home or RV. It is an easy hookup, light weight, and powerful enough to keep either your house or RV operational in case of power failure or you're boondocking. This could easily replace that bulky generator that you have to lug around.We also have our fact or fiction question, an update on the CatSafe from last month, and what's new with RV fridges. Are propane powered fridges a thing of the past?

We also cover the latest on StarLine internet as well as some steaming ideas with Pluto TV. All in all an interesting series of of topics that you'll want to hear about.

Due to Marthas ongoing knee problems, we scheduled an operation to replace her knee months ago. Finally on April 11 the surgery was completed very successfully. Successful does not mean pain free or nothing to do after the surgery. We have spent time in pain mitigation and PT as she works to make the new knee strong and ready for the many adventures to follow. It will take a couple of months, but after her complete recovery, we can hit the road in the RV to once again due justice to the RV Navigator podcast, but for now we are at home in recovery mode. We do have lots of interesting banter as well as an interview with Betty Chambers who authored a book we mentioned last month, RVing with Bikes. We also talk about the latest developments in AI technology, alligator safety, a computer monitor suggestion and much more. Let us know your thoughts and ideas at rvnavigator@mac.com

Your RV Navigators have just returned from a 63 day travel adventure to Africa and are a bit jet lagged after the long journey home. The trip included a 3 week Safari in South Africa and a 33 day cruise of South Africa ending with a trip up the west coast of the African continent. This portion of the trip gave us the chance to visit several less touristic countries that we had never visited before. This month we share travel insights about this part of the world, new AI technology, and e-bike experiences for RVing.

This month we continued the South African safari. We stayed in several tented camps along our route. Every national park has it animal specialties, so visiting several gives visitors a broad perspective on animal viewing and habitats. We did of course manage to see the big 5 (lion, leopard, rhino, cape buffalo, and elephants) plus hundreds of other type of animals and birds. Tented camps are outposts in remote areas that offer visitors easy access to the game and a secure compound to spend the night. Although they are called tented camps, and do have canvas tents, they are on the boondocking style tents pitched temporarily by visitors. Instead they are permanent tents erected on cement pads with rooms for sleeping, changing and toilet/shower. Most are run by generator so power is limited although some of our camps had A/C. Game drives are a daily event beginning very early (before dawn) when the animals are active. A game drive is just that, driving around in an open 4x4 looking for animals doing their thing be it grazing or killing. No one knows what will be around the next bend, so game drives can be exciting or boring depending on the day and location. The drivers have radios so important animal sightings can be shared.

At the end of the safari we headed back to cape town to begin our cruise which will end up in Lisbon at the end of March.

It has been many years since we last visited South Africa (at the very southern most tip of Africa). In 2006, we drove a rental RV in South Africa for about 6 weeks. We of course cooked our meals and drove the RV to all of the attractions. This time we are on tour with meals, transportation, and sightseeing included. I remember having lunch in Kruger NP while watching elephants eating grass on the shore of a river. Now that's camping. This time our visit to Kruger will be via safari jeep driven by a guide. WE are still enjoying the adventure but just in a different way.

We boarded our flight from Chicago to Cape Town, South Africa on a Monday and arrived on Wednesday morning at 11am local time. This involved a 13hr and 10hr flights and several time zones. We moved from snowy winter to hot summer with long days and the sun in the North. Welcome to the Southern Hemisphere. We RVed here in 2006 but this time we are on a safari and cruise. Lots of travel details plus our take on Chat GPT in this episode. We'll be on the road in South Africa for another 5 weeks so the next episode will be from here also.

The New Year (2023) finds at home in Chicago awaiting our next travel adventure which begins in mid January. After some adventures at home with our furnace and the cold weather, we'll be off to Africa for a 2 month safari & cruise in the warm Southern Hemisphere. The safari will cover

Africas big 5 plus lots of interesting birds. Our accommodations say "tented camp" so we are expecting almost primitive camping experiences. I wish we could take the RV! Our 32 day cruise from Cape Town should be a bit more civilized as we travel from South Africa to Portugal up the Western coast of Africa.

Our main topic is the importance of documenting your travels as they occur. As our old selves taking to our younger selves, we would strongly recommend that you start some sort of record keeping of your travels for later reference. We unfortunately didn't start this project until about 20 years ago, so our early travels are documented only in a few photos and memory. These day with some much digital memory available, it would be a shame NOT to completely document your travels. You'll be grateful for this recommendation when you're in your 70s. Just remember, the RV Navigators told you so!

Winter has greeted us as we return to our suburban Chicago base in time for the holidays. Seasons greetings in this episode extend to our expanded list of gift suggestions for you or your RV friends. We chat about the direction that our podcast has taken over the years. Is it still the RV Navigator or has the focus changed as our lives have changed (mainly due to the pandemic)? Although we share our travels with interested listeners, RVing is always at the heart of the podcast. We always appreciate your input and comments about our topics and focus. This is especially true as we tend to travel overseas without the RV. We'd love to take the RV on our distant travels, but that is not an option, so we do the next best thing, share our travels with interested listeners. As you know, it is important to us NOT to monetize our listeners. So much of the tech world is about money, but the RV Navigators don't expect or ask for your dollars either through advertising or subscription.

So, we'll keep the moniker for the time being, and we hope to be more RV focused in the future. However the next year will be more travel outside our country as we head to Africa in January. I am sure that you'll enjoy our reports from these far off lands. We enjoying sharing and hearing about your reaction to our lifestyle.

Beyond our Xmas gift list, we expand the list to include RV news and topics. Our best wishes the holiday season.

Note that in the podcast we make a reference to this is episode 209. It should be 210.Take off on our next trip happened mid month as we flew to Riga, Latvia for the beginning of our tour of the Baltics and Scandinavia over the next couple of weeks. We have been surprised at our lack of knowledge of this area plus the many tourist attractions that make a visit worthwhile. Riga has turn out to be very walkable, scenic with art nouveaux neighborhoods. I of course had no idea what Art Nouveaux was, but after doing some touring, we learned that it is a very ornate style of building. Riga's buildings have been restored to their original beauty making them shine. We open this episode with a music selection recorded on the great pipe organ of the Riga Cathedral (dome). It is one of the largest pipe organs in the world with almost 7000 pipes. Our tour will take us to 5 countries over the next couple of months. Next months podcast will be made from the road again.

We take you on tour with us plus we share several RVing topics from an inflatable cooler to streaming hints. I watched the iPhone introduction this month with interest because I am planning to make an iPhone purchase when we return. I was shocked that Apple has eliminated the sim cards tray, but I found a solution for over seas travel. Please keep in touch via email if you questions or comments.

Just after the last episode, we moved from Italy to France to join our river cruise in Bordeaux. This involved a short flight across the 2 countries landing in Paris and a bus trip south to meet the ship. The weather was very hot as expected in Summer, but the AC was was subpar in most locations. Sailing the rivers of the Bordeaux region of France, means learning about wine. This is the heart of the wine region and the grapes are treated with reverence. We, of course, tried our share of the fine wines of the area, but din't come away overly impressed. Earlier in the trip we enjoyed many varieties of Italian wine, which we felt was equal to the French wines. Traveling does give one the opportunity to make these comparisons first hand.

After our flight home and jet lag recovery period, we pickup the RV for a quick trip north to the Cape Cod of the midwest, Door County Wisconsin. This destination, just north of Green Bay WI, is know in the local area for its harbor towns and picturesque water views, crafts and a cool weather alternative to the summer heat. Located n Lake Michigan, the views are similar to those you'd find in ocean side communities.

Of course we have our usual list of interesting RV topics. New books, an e-bike conversion, RV road services and much more are on our agenda for this episode.

With our email back in operation, we have received several questions and comments from listeners. Thanks!! New email is at rvnavigator@mac.com. As you might expect, we headed to the Indiana Dunes for our annual beach RV trip. I feel strongly that the motorhome needs to be exercised regularly to keep it in good working order. Therefore when we are not doing a major trip we do spaced out small trips to keep the gears working smoothly on the MH. Great family time for all of those staying at the Indiana State Park. We enjoyed good weather and the company of lots of families enjoying camping in the old style - beach, campfires, food cooked outdoors, bikes, sand, water and toys to keep everyone busy.

June has been a typical summer month and we have used it to recover from our quarantine experience and get ready for our next overseas travel adventure next month. We head to Italy and France for about 5 weeks starting in July, so the podcast will be done remotely next month.

This month we talk about RV electricity issues, paying tolls when traveling, RV refridgerators, photo tips with the iPhone and much more.

After joking last month about the possibility of having to quarantine, it happened to us. We were escorted off of our cruise and into a hotel for a 10 day quarantine due to positive covid tests. Neither of us were sick, but the policy is that a positive test requires a quarantine period off of the ship. So we spent the first 10 days of May ensconced behind the door of a hotel in Brussels. The hotel delivered 3 meals a day to our door to keep us healthy and well, but otherwise we were confined to our 5th floor room. We had many quarantining neighbors on the 5th floor as 3 Viking ships had their covid positive passengers transferred to this hotel. Not fun, but we have lots of insights to share about traveling abroad at this time. How to return back to the US is challenge for most of those testing positive. We did of course make it back home on May 11th after the full 10 day quarantine period so in the end we are safely back but the adventure was trying even for experienced travelers like ourselves. Undaunted. However, we'll be traveling back to Europe in July. This time we'll be ready to a quarantine should we test positive again.

We drove the motorhome north back to IL so that we could leave again but this time on a plane back to FL to meet our trans Atlantic cruise to Copenhagen. We did have a new roof installed and I am lusting after a Starlink internet dish, but for now the MH is safely parked in our new storage lot.

We are wondering why we drove the 1200 miles back to IL just to turn around and head to Ft Lauderdale to board our cruise. It's economics. Florida is an expensive place to leave our motorhome parked unoccupied. At least twice as expensive as leaving storage in IL. We'll not be using the MH for while, so storage at the home base in Chicago is our better option.

Of course we have a follow-up to our Costa Rica report that we started last month. We actually did a multistage zip line as well as several other adventure activities while in CR.

This month we share our ideas about how we plan our trips both RV and out of country as well as share RV stories. Yes, we had a new roof installed as a proactive measure. No leaks, but after 11 years, the old roof was worn. I also installed a new thermostat that is made for the RV market. You'll learn lots more about our adventures by listening to this months podcast.

The beginning of the month found us on the high seas in the Caribbean aboard the Silver Spirit for 11 nights. This was our second "covid" cruise, and like the first it went off without a hitch. Testing and vaxing were part of the routine, but these were not oppressive on a daily basis. We of course were nervous about the covid protocols that have been put in place but they were manageable and did not detract from the cruise overall. Our general reaction is that this is the time to cruise, if you can. With reduced passenger loads, welcoming crew, and generally lower tourism traffic, the ports are open to many adventures. Our ship was able to maintain it original schedule, although 2 of our shore excursions were cancelled due to low numbers. With only 50% of the passenger capacity actually onboard, some activities were naturally curtailed. This was our first time on an upscale ship (Silversea) with a large cabin and butler service (this was due to reduced per diem due to covid).

After the cruise in Mid-January, we headed to the Tampa RV Super Show. We were not shopping among the 1200 new rigs, but focus on solving a few smaller problems that plagued use recently. Being able to talk with factory representative is very helpful when solving minor problems. We spent 5 days in the Florida Fair Grounds parking lot in good weather enjoying what the show had to offer and seeing a bit of Tampa. Attendance at the show was a record levels, so RVing is still popular. We share what's new and what we saw at the show in this episode.

Fifteen years ago when we began this podcast, we were just retired and ready to hit the road with the idea to share our adventures with listeners. Of course we had no listeners at the time. After 15 years, the listener base as expanded to over 10,000 downloads/month. We regularly hear from and meet listeners from all over the world as we travel. On 2 occasions in the last months, we have met loyal listeners that have "been in a campground near us" and said hello in person. THANKS to everyone who has reached out over the past 15 years to connect with your hosts.

In this episode we try to take our listeners on a guided tour of the best of episodes from each year of our adventures. This has taken us to all parts of the US and the world.

Listen as we take you on a ride through the best of the RV Navigator.

This month started with our attending the 49th Annual Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta for 8 days in early October. We successfully boondocked for our entire stay without needing to take on additional water or empty our holding tanks. We did use about 18 galloons of diesel to keep the generator running and batteries charged. The weather for our stay was perfect for ballooning. Our parking location was perfect for easy entry into the launch field where we were able to watch the launch and recovery of the huge hot air balloons. The launch happens at dawn so we had some early starts, but there is no activity midday so a nap was in order.

We spent the rest of the month slowly heading East on our way back to FL for our winter stay. We tried to see some fall colors in the mountains of NM but were not too successful and the weather was turning cool, so we headed further south and east. The end of the month finds us in the panhandle of FL enjoying some very nice state parks. We've been testing our big rig in several states parks with great success. We are not too big and the parks themselves have been very nice. At this time of year advance reservations need only be made a few days in advance of your stay. Winter is around the bend so we'll be in our winter home at the beginning of November.

Our Western National Parks RV caravan concluded after 31 days and 1600 miles. It was an adventure so we spend much of this episode sharing the details of the trip. This journey was title Western Grand Circle because we visited several iconic national parks and scenic attractions during month of travel. Traveling in a caravan means that all of the details are planned by the caravan company. We drive between locations and the camping spot is waiting at a full service campground. This plus many additional side trips, make traveling easy. It followed the typical RV caravan flow so if you are thinking of joining a caravan, then you should take a listen. This includes our unclose encounter with a wolf that decided to disable our car. How you ask - well you'll have to listen.

We are about to attend the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta early in October, so we are preparing to do some serious boon docking (living off the grid). Although the Fiesta is well attended, to stay on the grounds means no hookups. They turn normal parking lots and fields into campgrounds for the 9 days of the event. Access to the launch field is key to attended this event, so RVers pay dearly for nearby access. Our boon docking site is costing $150/night but we are 100 yards from the entrance - an easy walk.

After over a year of being stationary, we finally are ready to cruise again in July. We’ll be traveling to Malta (off the coast of Italy, but an independent country) for a round trip sail aboard the Viking Venus doing a Croatian itinerary for 11 days. This is the first sailing of this itinerary so we are a bit apprehensive about all of the arrangements. We are Covid free and ready to travel again, so we’ll head out mid month for 2 weeks.

I am please to report that we have recovered some lost episodes from the early days of the podcast. It was fun to listen to many outdated topics and remember what RVing was like in the days of our 5th wheel.

Plus we found the lost episodes from 2008 on Martha's laptop. What's new in streaming services, surge pricing at campgrounds, new websites and much more in this episode.

I have transitioned to a mirrorless SLR (its predecessor was purchased during the missing episodes above) from my Canon system. This new Olympus micro 4/3rds camera is much more capable and much lighter/smaller than the Canon system.

Will campgrounds go to surge pricing for campsite - many think so. How your streaming going - we chat about the latest in streaming services and some you don’t want. These and many more topics are part of the RV Navigator for July.

Our world is opening up after 15 months of living under Covid restrictions, the summer seems to be back to pre-covid levels of activity. This is a very good sign for our future travels both by RV and overseas trips.

Along with a birthday this month (turned 75), Ken found that he had to renew/upgrade his driving license and take a driving test. Many states, including IL, have an RV driving test. Links on the website provide info about such states, but after some miscommunications, he passed the driving test in the MH so we're good for four more years of MH travel.

Also this month, we purchased new ebikes that more easily fit our traveling lifestyle. These are full folding bikes with 20 inch tires. Although our old bikes folded in half, they were still too big to manage on day trips. The new bikes fit into storage bins which can be lifted into the hatch back of either of our cars. A great option and one that will keep both the car and bike from damage.

Are you thinking of becoming a full time RVer. We share the 5 misconceptions of full-timing. Finally, we look at electric RVs and their potential. Are electric tow vehicles a viable option and will they become the norm in the future?

Back to IL and normal travel is our mantra this month. We left FL to head north and a more typical summer experience after 6 months being stationary. The trip home involved our annual stop in Gaffney, SC for a motorhome check up. This year due to the age of the MH, we had all of the fluids replaced - expensive, but necessary. We try to keep our Dutch Star in good condition so that we are not left on the side of the highway while on a trip. We also stopped Brunswick GA for a short side trip to Jekyll Island. The June calendar photo was taken on Driftwood Beach on the island. We’ll be in IL until August when we head West for the fall.

We share ideas about RV buying, tank management, campgrounds, boondocking and many other current topics. How about a Rv bidet? I have never thought about such a thing, but they are for sale - the Butt Buddy. Who remembers the Jetsons animated tv series from the 60s? They predicted many of our tech advances that we use today. Fifty or 30 amp that is the question. How much can your relay on 50 to run your coach? Kitchen ideas, water hoses and much more are discussed in this episode.

At our FL home, we spent the month of December in isolation living in our motorhome. The warm weather makes doing outdoor activities fun and safe. We join the many listeners in saying a farewell to 2020, it could not leave fast enough. Join us for our NYE celebration, a little different this year due to our isolation. The year has been one of waiting and watching as news reports detail the dire consequences of this virus. We hope that all of our listeners are safe and ready for a much better 2021.

We traveled from East to West to East across Florida this month. Although, traveling coast to coast is only a 3 hr drive in this part of the country, it still is a different world from our home base. This month we had the Diamond Shield removed from the MH and it looks great. Diamond Shield is one of those options that sound good, but don't work as designed. After 10 years of exposure to the elements, the front of our MH was looking bad due to deterioration of the product that is supposed to protect it. Fortunately, the original paint underweight was in great condition so now we are back to looking smart in the front.

We now stayed in many FL state parks with great success. Unlike other states, their policies are MH friendly and the camping spots are very nice. We've now stayed within a short distance of the ocean on both coasts and in the middle with great success. Reservations are necessary, but we've been able to reserve spots about 6 weeks out, in most cases.

We also share some ideas about the future of working on the road in an RV plus lots of interesting stories of life on the road. The end of the month finds us in Jupiter FL. From here we head back to our winter headquarters in Titusville. Next month we'll be at home in IL for the summer months.

As the pandemic roars on, we look down the road to when it is history - exactly when we don't know but we can see the end (we think). We've gotten our first shot so we hope to be able to travel this year but have no solid plans until 2022. We are focused on our RV and living our stationary life in FL.

There is lots of news in the RV world to share like the new adventure RVs that are popping up everywhere. What happened at the Tampa RV SuperShow? What is Diamond Shield? What is your states license plate motto? What's new with Swamp buggy tours?

All of these important questions are discussed in this episode of the RV Navigator. Be sure to visit our episode website at RVNavigator.com.

We’ve been home since April but we still manage to keep busy with “important” projects. With the expectation that the winter will see an increase in Covid cases, we plan to head south to our usual winter home during November. At least it will be warm so we can be outside during the dark months. This is the earliest that we have headed south and skipped the usual family gatherings at TG and Xmas. Covid it impacting our lives in a big way. However, we hope to remain safe and wait out the pandemic regardless of how it progresses.

This month we share our top 5 places to visit with your RV when we can again travel. We did these lists independently so they are slightly different, but we both chose Alaska as the number 1 destination. We have RVed to Alaska twice (1988 and 2012) to enjoy its many scenic wonders. We share some ideas about our virtual travel experiences as a means of getting your travel fix.

We share several helpful hints on RV shows and buying tips especially for new comers. Virtual RV shows - YES, but the Tampa Super show is still scheduled to be live in January. We are going to pass on this annual event, but if your thinking of buying this is a good show to attend.

We have had many technology adventures to share this month. For the first time I am attempting to record the podcast on my iPad with wireless mics. As it turned out, this first attempt was unsuccessful due to iPad software issues, but we hope to overcome this for future episodes. Most episodes are recoded on a desktop computer using Garageband and a studio single mic. It would be nice to have a more portable option.

I have a report on my new iPhone 12 and its many new features as well as several other technology tips (new cables with magnetic connectors?). How about the possibility of high speed satellite internet? We abandoned satellite internet a few years ago due to high cost and slow speeds when compared to current cell data plans.

Thanks for listening and visiting the RV Navigator website, no sponsors and everything is feee. We love to hear from you ESPECIALLY this month. We transitioned to a new web server which has caused some problems. Please let us know if you encounter download or web issues.

The north woods of Wisconsin is our destination this month as we travel the back roads in search of fall colors and cranberry harvesting. We spent time boondocking for several nights using various tools. Boondocking is camping without services, something our motorhome is well adapted to do. We can live comfortably for several days without outside connections. This has become very popular in this time of the pandemic. Social distancing is easy when boondocking. Many RVers think boondocking and Walmart camping are synonomous, but there are a wide variety of resources for those interested in boondocking. For the first time we used Boondockers Welcome website to fine and contact a private party who was willing to let us stay on their property as boondocks. We talk about this and other similar services.

Photography was also on our minds as we drove the back roads looking for fall foliage. Software tips and trick are on the agenda this month. Listen for the details as well as photo tips.

Alaska in 2021? Listen for our ideas on travel to Alaska. We've been twice in the RV and serval times on cruises. How should you tour our 49th state?

These plus several technology related topics are on this month agenda, so take 54 minutes for a listen and let us know what you think. We appreciate iTunes reviews if you get a chance.

You’re part of the podcast revolution that is taking place in the media world. You listen to the RV Navigator! We are navigating the world of RVs with your help. We give our best travel tips for the RV life as well as suggest new lifestyle technologies. During this travel down time, I have been tracking podcasting news. Podcasts are becoming a major player in the media world earning thousands via ads. We of course have buck this trend, no sponsorship or interruptions during our show. This is unusual as most podcasters are expecting to become rich via this new medium. We’ll continue as we are until the audience is gone. We appreciate your feedback and suggestions, so keep them coming.

We do recommend several apps for this episode. Martha has been recovering from shoulder surgery which has interrupted her sleep pattern. We share our impressions of AutoSleep as a tool for tracking sleep issues. It works.

Does the RV size have a major impact on the places you can camp? Always the question from new RVers. Listen for our answer in this episode along with our best tips for long term RV travel.

During a short camping trip to an Indiana State Park, we had to rely on video streaming rather than our usual satellite for entertainment. Find out how it worked and our suggestions on the technology. We suggest several new apps for TV watching.

These plus many other topics are discussed in this episode. Be sure to visit the episode web page on the RVNavigator.com. Thanks for listening.

With the covid virus still with us, we have remained at home, with no firm travel plans. Martha is still recovering from shoulder surgery (9 weeks out now), so we are using the time to bring her back up to normal. Should the pandemic subside, we’ll be ready to travel.

Ken is still the main cook and has found an app to help manage his many recipes which you’ll want to hear about.

Should you want to listen to previous episodes of the RV Navigator, more are now available for downloading. I have spent several hours reconnecting broken links to old episodes. It is amazing that we have been doing this podcast for over 15 years so there are alot of episodes to engage your ear.

We do feel that RVing is one of the safest travel options. There are still those RVing and enjoying the outdoors in one of the few travel modes still available. From our reading, we find that camp grounds are for the most part open and accepting guests. The summer season has not gone to waste for many of our listeners.

We share apps for documenting travel, something we have done for many years. There are a number of useful apps and websites that make journaling easy and fun. As seasoned travelers ourselves, we are advocates of journaling in some form. We OFTEN refer to Martha’s online journal to jog our memories. If you are just starting out, take our advice and start journaling. You’ll appreciate it in later years.

We also delve into several other topics including the ongoing Gas vs Diesel discussion. I try to make it easy to understand for the non technical RVer. We also share many ideas and suggestions from listeners. We appreciate their contributions and encourage sending us suggestions.

The Covid-19 induced vacation form travel continues as the summer progresses. There is no let up in sight so no travel plans for us. As we record the podcast, our original schedule called for us to be on the road with a 2 month long RV caravan to Canada on the west coast. This was shutdown and cancelled - the Canadians shut our boarder until at least the end of July and the Eastern entrance to Glacier NP (where we were had reservation to spend the 4th of July) has been closed. Even the famous Going to the Sun roaThe Covid-19 induced vacation form travel continues as the summer progresses. There is no let up in sight so no travel plans for us. As we record the podcast, our original schedule called for us to be on the road with a 2 month long RV caravan to Canada on the west coast. This was shutdown and cancelled - the Canadians shut our boarder until at least the end of July and the Eastern entrance to Glacier NP (where we were had reservation to spend the 4th of July) has been closed. Even the famous Going to the Sun road in Glacier is closed. We also learned that the Albuquerque Balloon Festival scheduled for October has also been canceled, so now we no reason to head west this year. 2020 was going to be a year spent in the RV with over 8 months of travel scheduled but this has been reduced to our 4 months spent in isolation in FL with the balance of the year in our home in IL. We are hopeful that we can get out before the year ends but we have no plans at this time.

We did take the time to have Martha's ailing shoulder repaired. The surgery took place in early June (after finding out the all of our plans were canceled) and will entail her recuperating for about 12-16 weeks. This involves lots of PT and husbandly care as she recovers. Ken now is the primary chief, bottle washer and house cleaner.

Rv topics include answering listener questions about where to winter and why we chose FL. We did buy a bargain portable freezer/fridge for RV use. We have wanted an RV refrigerator extension but they have always been too expensive. Costco had a major sale so we've taken the plunge. This fridge fits in the bay and runs off of the batteries so we should be able to keep things cool full time. We also share some tips on RV refrigerators and their care. Add to these topics some new apps we've found, suggestions for LED light replacements, and other cool stuff that we found and you have a complete episode of the RV Navigator.d in Glacier is closed. We also learned that the Albuquerque Balloon Festival scheduled for October has also been canceled, so now we no reason to head west this year. 2020 was going to be a year spent in the RV with over 8 months of travel scheduled but this has been reduced to our 4 months spent in isolation in FL with the balance of the year in our home in IL. We are hopeful that we can get out before the year ends but we have no plans at this time.

We did take the time to have Martha's ailing shoulder repaired. The surgery took place in early June (after finding out the all of our plans were canceled) and will entail her recuperating for about 12-16 weeks. This involves lots of PT and husbandly care as she recovers. Ken now is the primary chief, bottle washer and house cleaner.

Rv topics include answering listener questions about where to winter and why we chose FL. We did buy a bargain portable freezer/fridge for RV use. We have wanted an RV refrigerator extension but they have always been too expensive. Costco had a major sale so we've taken the plunge. This fridge fits in the bay and runs off of the batteries so we should be able to keep things cool full time. We also share some tips on RV refrigerators and their care. Add to these topics some new apps we've found, suggestions for LED light replacements, and other cool stuff that we found and you have a complete episode of the RV Navigator.

Another month of quarantine, what will our world look like once this is over? After 3 months of Quarantine, all of the days at home seem to be the same. The Ground Hog day movie takes this idea to the extreme. Bill Murray relives "grand hog day" for weeks before he is brought back to reality. What will our RVing future be. According to reports, RVing may be very popular and on the cutting edge of the new travel.

Here at the beginning of June, 2020 it is hard to see our way to the future however We are thinking about the future as we see RVing as the ideal way to travel. We share a bunch of ideas about now and the future as well as our usual problem solving tips and tricks. Interesting new Apps, a few jokes, and thoughts about the sun wrap up this months episode.

We’ve moved - but safely from FL to IL (both bubbles of safety in gated communities) via our mobile bubble (the MH). Owning a lot in FL allows us to be flexible about moving. Even through our park was closed to outsiders renting, we could stay or leave as we chose. We understand that many full timers didn't have this option as states closed RV parks. We definitely feel their pain. Although we were supposed to be traveling overseas at this month, We had no definite departure plans but as the weather gets hot in FL, we knew that it was time to head north. How long will the economic shutdown last, we don’t know, but we're ready for and extended stay in place.

Our 1200 mile trip home was uneventful - little traffic, low fuel prices, and open camp grounds made the trip one of the smoothest ever.

This month we make some suggestions for activities like geocaching as well as streaming lots of video. On more serious topics, we learned about toilet paper and masks. Two months ago we would not have even mentioned either of these but they have taken on new meaning in this time of C-19.

We’ve got suggestions, activities and humor to share in this episode along with some repair pain. How are YOU surviving?

It was just a month ago we were joking that the virus would never impact our lives here in the US. Naive as that sounds today, we didn't see this coming so quickly. As of this date (4/1/20) our lives are in disarray - not sick (yet) but everything on hold. Plans cancelled or significantly change, family out of touch, local business interrupted and travel out of the picture. Although our lives and schedules are up in the air, we are still optimistic and secure. Our lifestyle while on the road, is hermit like. Staying away from people is easy and familiar to RVers. For the time being, we have decided to stay at our property in FL. Our community is isolated and the weather has been good. We stay away from people, but we can still enjoy nature and warm weather. However, we don't know what our government will do to curtail our travel further. Now we can do grocery shopping but that's about it.

This month we share a few little known coronavirus facts as well as an interview with Patrick from RV Life.

We are always interested to hear how the new way of life is effecting you and your family, so please share.

Stationary in FL for another month. We are all about sharing our RVing experiences with our listeners. In January we attended the Tampa RV Supershow with the idea of learning what's new in the industry. We toured the lots and talked with vendors. This month and next we'll have some interviews vendors that have new products that we feel are of general interest to our listeners. Today, we welcome Keith with a new water filtering product as well as David sharing his fleet tire program we described briefly last month. We look at new water filtration products, replacing our 4 yr old batteries & a tire buying service you should know about. Our 8 new T105 67lbs each batteries were purchased on a discount offered at the show. Is the Tampa Supershow worth attending? Based on this months topics, absolutely yes - or listen to our podcast to learn what you should know.

We leave FL later this month to head north - a bit early this year as i will have to winterize again (April is just too early in IL) but we are cruising in mid-April headed to Europe.

Winter is time for RV Shows & we attended the Tampa SuperShow. We had several questions to get answered by the factory reps at this show. We also visited hundreds of vendors selling all types of RV products. We hope to have some follow-up with selected venders in the coming months. We mention fleet in the title because we have joined two fleet services as a way to save a few $$s on RV products. We are now getting discounts on diesel purchases at truck stops and a fleet discount on tires for our motorhome.

Lots to look & buy at such a big event. We talk about some trends that we noticed as well as some of the RVs we toured. We are not selling anything, so these are just casual observations from the field.

We had fun buying new tires and plan to buy a new set of batteries, but what type is still up in the air. Many tips and tricks in this months episode as we spend the winter in FL.

Your RV Navigators are on tour in the Middle East for about a month. Leaving in the middle of the month, we are on target to visit Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt on this month long adventure. So far we have learn much about this volatile part of the world. We have specifically taken a none domonational tour of the holy land. We have seen many religious sights, but looked at them from their historical perspective. But of course this area is more than just religious sites so this podcast was made from the Dead Sea which is 1400 feet below sea level. The lowest land on earth. Swimming is not really possible in the Dead Sea - ones body floats on the surface and putting ones face in the water is a bad idea. The extreme amount of salt (6 times that of the ocean) makes the water unpleasant should it get in your eyes or mouth. So floating is the only option.

We have also visit the famous Petra in Jordan. This is both a world class historic and scenic site. We were able to spend the entire day hiking over 7.5 miles and changing elevation of 600ft.

We share some listener Christmas present ideas and which everyone a great TG.

A month of highs & lows. We attended the Newmar Rally in Syracuse NY along with 450 other Newmar motorhomes. This 8 day event provided us with a chance to see the latest product and get some repairs-updates done to our coach. Newmar brought 55 techs to the event to provide service and repairs for coach owners. We took advantage of this service.

Also this month we spent a week using our Harvest Host membership at a variety of different types of HH boondocking experiences. Overall it was a great experience and we’ll continue to use them when available. The month ended in Niagara Falls for a couple of days at this iconic tourist attraction.

The final leg of the trip - back to Chicago - turnout to be an adventure of the negative sort. Our almost new alternator (new in January) failed again in Ohio causing a 2 day delay, purchasing 2 new batteries and plenty of waisted time. We share it all and explain it all, and answer questions in this episode.

Twenty-seven days in Ecuador gave us a chance to explore diverse areas of this small country. These 3+ weeks in Ecuador allowed us to visit the Amazon rain forest, Galapagos islands, and Andes mountains all within a country that is the size of Nevada. Small but diverse with rural-urban, hot-cold, and wet,-dry regions all on the Equator. For a small country in South American, Ecuador has a lot to offer. Our first stop was Quito, the capital. At 9000 ft and surrounded by volcanoes (some active) it is a scenically beautiful city. The hot jungle of the Amazon is what you would expect. Hot, humid and full of animals, bug and other critters. We toured on foot and canoe to see both land and water life. We then boarded a plane to fly 2 hrs off the coast to the chain of islands know as the Galapagos. They are part of Ecuador's national park system. As such they are protected and have strict rules for visitors. This control does maintain a good visitor experience (as long as the rules are followed). Getting close to nature is the rule and the preserving the animal life is the at the foundation of the visitor experience. Few places in the world have a an indigenous population of animals that do not fear man. This is one of them. Birds don't fly away and other creators don't disappear when they see your face. Long lenses are not necessary for animal close-ups. It an animal is curious, they approach without fear - and they did. This is a novel experience for most visitors.

From there we headed to the mountains that flow south out of the country. We drove parts of the Pan-American highway up to 13,000 ft before depending back to the ocean. Spectacular peaks some snow covered (even at the Equator) greeted our lenses as we took great photos of the landscape. We traveled on the "Devils Nose" train which is one of the few that handles mountain switch-backs in a novel way in order to manage the very steep mountain grades without causing engine damage.

Bottom line is that if you're looking to visit a country only 4 hrs by plane from the US that has wide range of climates and environments PLUS uses US currency and is quite stable, then Ecuador should be on your list of must visit places.

Every RV needs to be repaired from time to time. Newmar has opened a very modern service center with campground for its owners. How you'll get your RV fixed might be a factor when you come to buy an RV either new or old. Newmar pride itself on fixing any RV that it has manufactured regardless of age. Not every manufacturer will stand behind its entire line of products this way. We were in the service center campground to have our captains chair ((driver and passenger) recovered with new fabric. Not something we anticipated deteriorating, but we are able to get it fixed.

Although we have not done any camping this month, we still have lots of RV topics to share- many of them the result of emails or facebook comments. Four season RVing, taking care of older RVers, and many other topics are covered in this episode. Be sure to visit our episode website for lots more info.

A quiet month for us. In summer we fall in to routine activities centered around home in Chicago. We did do our yearly “exercise the motorhome” trip to Lake Geneva, Wis. (about 2 hrs from home) for 3 nights at a state park. We focus on photography topics this month - our camera choices, new photo options, and thoughtful ideas about photography and RVing are our main focus this month. On our short trip, we were attacked by birds - literally. Why would a cardinal keep flying into the motorhome for days? We don't know, but it happened on our short trip.

With Memorial Day behind us, we are ready for summer and the warm weather to begin. But, spring is still bringing rain and cold. We were worried about frost and the motorhome so we had to leave the heat on for a couple of nights this month. With June’s arrival, we are looking for long days and warm nights but of course we’ll be a home. We let our camping families have the campgrounds in the summer. Their season is short and we can visit any part of the year, so we’ll head out again in the fall. However, we will taking a short trip to Wisconsin just to exercise the MH systems during the summer down time.
Of interest this month is the new VR system from Oculus, the Quest. This system is the first to be stand alone - no extra wires or hardware needed. This is a major step forward for VR systems. I have enjoyed the games and 360 videos. It takes us to places we’d never get to via conventional travel.

This month we share ideas about RV generators, Harvest Hosts (which we just jointed, but have not used), inexpensive tablet computers, and much more.

April 1st we fired up the RV for the trip back to Chicago. This was to be a meandering journey that would up the month. We planned to visit Savannah, Washington DC, Charlotte SC, and the Laurel Highlands of SE PA. All went well on this journey as we explain in this months podcast. We had several new systems to test out on this 1200 mile trip.
Although we had not been to these destinations in quite a few years, it was nice to relive earlier experiences. We enjoyed Washington DC because of the welcome it provides to tourists. Many attractions are free and the transportation is easy and inexpensive.
Of course we always have to consider weather on our travels. Spring storms can cause major damage, but we were not effect until we arrive home. Then the snow arrived. Up until the trips end, the weather had been good - mostly warm and just a little rain. Then the cold and snow arrived in Chicago.
In this episode we share experiences about using a towed, the new engine monitor called Bluefire, as well as new cell data plans as well as our experiences with campground reservations and camping in the nations capital.

this episode we are focused on our recent trip to Antartica. At the end of February, we headed South - way sou In th. In the land of ice, snow and rock that makes up the 7th continent. This land mass has no native animals, insects or plants (aside from a few liken). So why visit such a desolate place? The landscapes are bleak but beautiful with black rocky peaks and crisp white snow. The marine life is abundant with penguins, seals, whales, birds and many smaller lifeforms. Cruising is the only way to visit, as there are no public airstrips or outposts for visitors. Even the cruises only have landings at remote beaches or rock outcrops where the penguins or seals congregate. Cruise ships must bring everything their passengers will need for their stay. So we were provided with jackets and knee length insulated boots to put over our layers of cold weather clothing. Daily we suited up for our zodiac trip to the landing area for the day. Once there we “toured” on foot to see the penguin colony or snowy peak that offered views. We encountered both clear sunny skies and complete overcast with snow (and/or rain) with temps in the lower 30s. Not your usual cruise. This one was like a 3 week focused college course on the land south of South America. To make this a reality, the ships company included 21 scientist/lecturers that were specialists in some aspect of Antartica including marine biology, geology, history and ecology. We learned, saw and experience a different world which is very unique and remote in this modern world.

In this episode we are focused on our recent trip to Antartica. At the end of February, we headed South - way south. In the land of ice, snow and rock that makes up the 7th continent. This land mass has no native animals, insects or plants (aside from a few liken). So why visit such a desolate place? The landscapes are bleak but beautiful with black rocky peaks and crisp white snow. The marine life is abundant with penguins, seals, whales, birds and many smaller lifeforms. Cruising is the only way to visit, as there are no public airstrips or outposts for visitors. Even the cruises only have landings at remote beaches or rock outcrops where the penguins or seals congregate. Cruise ships must bring everything their passengers will need for their stay. So we were provided with jackets and knee length insulated boots to put over our layers of cold weather clothing. Daily we suited up for our zodiac trip to the landing area for the day. Once there we “toured” on foot to see the penguin colony or snowy peak that offered views. We encountered both clear sunny skies and complete overcast with snow (and/or rain) with temps in the lower 30s. Not your usual cruise. This one was like a 3 week focused college course on the land south of South America. To make this a reality, the ships company included 21 scientist/lecturers that were specialists in some aspect of Antartica including marine biology, geology, history and ecology. We learned, saw and experience a different world which is very unique and remote in this modern world.

February is always short, but because we are leaving for Antartica in late February, we are getting ready early. This maybe a time when we’ll be totally out of touch at the beginning of the month and thus not able to do the podcast, so we did it early. Our 17 day sailing will take us further south than we've ever been at the end of their summer. However we are expecting cold - in the 20s. This is a big change from February in FL. This month has been very warm while the rest of the country is mired in cold winter weather. After getting our alternator fixed for the second time, we headed off to do a bit of boondocking. For those who are new to RVing, boondocking is camping without hookups. In this case we were at the mouth of Port Canaveral with a great view of the ships (many cruise ships) sailing in and out of the second busiest port in FL. Our motorhome is nicely set up for boondocking - and we discuss this issue on this episode.

CBS News came a calling to check out our podcast this month. This took the form of a 4 man crew coming to our RV site in FL to set-up and record your RV Navigator being interviewed by CBS Correspondent David Pogue. This took place on January 4th with the final product airing on January 20th CBS Sunday Morning program. Our segment (1 minute & 11 seconds) was part of a longer segment (5 minutes) called “The Golden Age of Podcasting” with more info on podcasting in general. This was all quite exciting for us and totally out of the blue. It was a result of a cold call from the producer to us asking for an interview.

We were also pleased that David sat down for a brief interview that will be part of this months RV Navigator episode. He turned out to be congenial interviewer and a good interviewee although he has no RVing experience.

Since the Sunday airing, our podcast downloads have gone through the roof (at our expense). A usual months worth of downloads happened on that single Sunday after the broadcast. Consistently, we have about 15,000 download per episode over a few months. This Sunday (1/20/19) we had 16833 download in a single day! Obviously a new record for our podcast. The level of downloads increase for all episodes as new listeners worked their way through some of the most recent editions.

This was not the only news this month, as we visited the Tampa RV Super Show in mid month. As usual this huge RV show was displaying all of the new RV hardware. We took the opportunity to replace our Blue Ox tow bar and upgrade our interior LED lights. We also looked at lots of other stuff but didn’t buy anything else.

We touch on a few other topics, but this is the main trust of this months edition.

Once again we are on the road away from our motorhome so we don't have alot of RVing news. Back from our 3 cruise itinerary to Spain with a sail back to Miami. We sailed on a small 100 passenger ship within Spain and Portugal, then a super cruiser with 5500 passengers for 12 days to Miami and finally a 3100 passenger ship to Bahamas. We share our impressions of these very different cruising experiences in this episode. We’ve now driven to Chicago to be at home for family time during holidays. Oh, yes, the cold has hit us hard with snow and cold in our northern home. We have cruising/travel ideas to share plus our annual holiday RV gift guide. What new gizmos should you buy your RVer? Ken knows!

We’re off on a 39 day trip to Portugal, Spain and a transAtlantic sailing to Miami. Leaving from our winter home in Florida, first flying to Lisbon for an 11 day small ship cruise to Barcelona. This itinerary would have easily been done via a bus tour - so why would you do it by cruise ship? The world of cruising is quickly changing and we note many of those as we explain how a small ship experience is different from a large ship cruise. We had a chance to try out various ebikes on this trip - have you given them a try? We also tried cell phone service in Europe, and it worked for phone and data. The world is shrinking with digital media keeping everyone connected.

We have lots of comments about this experience and even some RVing ideas and tips.

Rvers need to be flexible and mobile. We planned to be in SC this month, but the hurricane had other plans so we headed to FL early. After stopping in Gaffney SC for a quick check up of the MH, we were planning to visit relatives near the coast of SC. However, this was just as the hurricane was scheduled to make landfall, so we packed and spent most of the month on our new lot at The Great Outdoors in Titusville. Unfortunately, once again mother nature surprised us. The weather in FL was very hot and humid. September in FL is warm, but this was record breaking heat. Combined with high humidity, it was very uncomfortable. So much for seeking the 70s (our usual mantra). We are here early so that we can leave in October and head to Europe on a 3 cruise package ending back in Miami in November.

Topics include fall itineraries, looking beyond the floor plan, basics of E,W, & S, when buying an RV. What’s happening with RV buyers this year. We find that they are younger and buying smaller.

After 23 days at sea from Australia (and the outback), we arrived home in IL for the summer. We spend summers at home so that families can have the campgrounds during their summer holidays. However, with more and more RVs being sold and on the road, campsites are sometimes at a premium. We share our views on the camping crunch that the industry is experiencing during this boom time. We look at camping strategies to use during the busy summer months and beyond to make sure that your camping experience is a good one. We do of course have the usual array of interesting articles and topics from the last month in RVing.

On the road in Sydney Australis this month. We are currently about 1 day ahead of our usual world - confusing to say the least. We left mid month for a 53 day journey that ends with us sailing back to Seattle from Sydney, Australia. It started with a long flight to Fiji where we spent a few days recovering from jet lag. This was a total day for night swap so it takes a while to make the adjustment. Another 5 hours landed us in Sydney for the start of our land tour of the interior of Australia. We did most of the coastal cities a few years ago on a cruise. The end of March finds us on our way to Hobart, Tasmania, the island off the southern coast of Australia.

RV wise, we bander about several hot topics including renting your RV, solar panel issues, and what it is like to full time.

Multiple problems compounded the creation of this months podcast. Sorry for the poor audio quality. My usual travel studio set up just would not work so this podcast has a buzz in the background. I have used filters to make is less annoying but it is still there, sorry. With our travel schedule, we just didn't have time to record this episode before the first. Here in Australia, daylight savings time starts on Sunday (4/1) so we lost another hour without even moving. Please forgive this unplanned problem. I hope to get it fixed by the next episode. We'll be on our cruise ship with a few days at sea to solve the problems.

Winter in the North means we are in the warm - this year in Tucson, AZ. After a brief encounter with winter in IL, we flew back to LV for a week before heading down to Tucson via Quartzsite and Pheonix. Then on to Tucson for a couple of months in the sun. Tucson is always sunny but often cool in January. This year turned out to be the warmest January in their history with 14 days above 75 degrees (very pleasant) and only a couple of freezing mornings. We enjoy the outdoor activities provided by this area of country. This campground offers alot of actives for us seniors all under the warm sun. Plus Tucson offers great bike trails and hiking in the mountains. We are content to be stationary for 2 months when winter travel is just not reliable in other parts of the country.

We took the time to upgrade several kitchen components while here in Tucson. We've wanted replace or electric cooktop with an induction model. Induction are more boondocking friendly and are excellent heat source. We've also started air trying and using the instant for many meals in the RV. Both of these make for easier and quicker meals on the road. This month we also share several articles about various aspects of RVing that you'll want to read.

Rt 50 is considered to be the loneliest highway and we traveled much of it this month as we traversed several deserts and vast planes of CA and NV. We also visited several NPs including Crater Lake, Lassen, Great Basin, & Yosemite. Spending just a few few nights in each, we have had a block buster month of RVing ending in Cedar City UT (Cedar Breaks NM). We have driven across hundreds of miles of desolate landscape on RT 50. One sign indicated that the next service (fuel) was 167 miles ahead. In that time we saw one car going in our direction and 3 in the opposite direction. This is impossible to happen in our part of the country - as probably yours but here in the western high plains. This meant that driving the large RV on a 2 lane black top was no challenge. The scenery was interesting despite the isolation. We crossed several 7500+foot passes which did challenge the RVs 450 hp diesel but we did fine in the end.

Summer is nearly over but our travel are just beginning. We’re on our way west to Rocky Mt, NP earlier than expected after Martha’s surgery so we’re starting new. We had carved out until the first of the year for her recovery, but it is a bonus to be able to leave in September. Our plan is to pick up some of the NPs that we missed on our last trip west. We'll be headed South to Tucson for a couple of the winter months after the first of the year.

Last months eclipse was an event to be remembered. A 5 hour drive home turned in to 13 hrs due to heavy traffic as everyone headed north after the total eclipse.

For the last few years I have enjoyed flying my DJI drone, but its large size made it difficult to transport. I was able to buy a DJI Spark drone was put to good use. Ir is very small (7x7 inches) so is easily transportable in one hand. It is about the size of the old drones controller. The new one is controlled by the iPhone so no controller needed.

These topics plus lots of good RV stuff about boondocking and buying an RV are included in this episode - 54 minutes of entertaining banter about our favorite activity.

After a month of PT and careful walking, Martha is recovering from her foot surgery. She no longer has a cast or needs walking aids (we've had a knee scooter, walker, and cane this month) so we see major improvement from the original days after surgery in May. With Martha on the road to recovery, we are again making travel plans but we are still at home in IL. This month we feature a return interview with Marc & Sara from a year ago. When we saw them last, they were driving their new motorhome from the factory in Indiana to Washington state. They were embarking on a totally new full timing lifestyle as RVers.

After removing our roof mounted internet satellite dish, we have been looking for an alternative solution for internet on the road for several months. I have been trying to get an ATT Mobley for some time. Finally I found it on Amazon and made the purchase. The local ATT store set up my account without a hassle and it has worked well since. The $20 a month charge for unlimited internet is a very good deal at this time. We were going to get the FMCA Verizon offer as a backup but Verizon pulled out of the deal at the last minute so our phones will be the backup until something better comes along.

The beginning of April finds us traveling again. We are currently sailing the high seas on our way from Singapore to Rome for a total of 30 days. However we began March in Cuba so we spend some time debriefing our Cuba adventure. It was not your usual Caribbean island adventure. Our tour involved several intense cultural experiences - as required by our visa. We traveled about t1500 miles from rural Cuba to Havana. Most roads (even the 6 lane expressway) have almost no traffic. Private cars and even motorcycles are not in common use so the roads are empty most of the time. The flights to and from Cuba are short so we were able to drive to and from Miami without any extra nights stay. TGO is only 3 hrs from Miami. After a short stay at TGO during which we had our washing machine replaced, we headed the motorhome to Chicago. We arrived after a couple of nights, to find cold weather. Enough so that I decided to winterize it even though the calendar said spring.

We are also looking at the many new "unlimited" cellular data plans. A new one using the ATT Mobly we'll be trying our first unlimited data plan in the near future.

March 28th takes us on a 16 hour flight half way around the world. More details next month.

A quick flight from Miami brought us to Cuba for a long planned 12 day tour of this forbidden island. We started in the East with our trip heading to Havana in the next week. I have been worried about the viability of the internet (Wifi) in Cuba, but have been pleasantly surprised. Not free, but fairly fast so it was worth the cost. As I write this, the actually podcast has been successfully uploaded, so only this linking file (XML) is necessary to make it active. This should not be a problem. We'll be sharing details of the trip over the next two episodes. It is different than we expected - and how? Well listen to this episode! and we'll tell you all about it.

We have had fun with our resident owl and the excellent photo opts provided. When we left you last, our owl was just hatching into a chick. Now after hundreds of photos, our owl is all most ready to fly. Cuba may have caused us to miss this big event. I have learned alot about wild bird photography in the last few weeks. One of the new essential tools is a flash extender. An inexpensive tool to give your flash more range.

Another happening this month was the first RV Navigator Potluck at TGO. Not only did we have TGO residence but listeners from other campgrounds joined in the fun. An evening of good fun and food. Thanks to everyone who planned and attended the event. We did have a RV Navigator Trivia contest with big prizes and 3 winners who know much more about our lives than we do! If you'd like to try your hand at the trivia questions, follow the link in the show notes.

On top of these topics we share some RV news stories and other topics of interest.

Next month we'll be on the road once again this time in Singapore. I assume that the internet will not be a problem, so the upload should be on time.

July was a month at home, but we are thinking of RV topics. We do an extended interview with our single RVer friend Mike about his adventures since our last interview. Now that his rig is more that a year old, he is considering an extended warranty. Does an extended warranty give you peace of mind? It should, but do the contracts really deliver what most RVers expect in terms of service. Hear our take on this topics (with RNR) plus bad weather horror stories, getting into VR and drones.

We are traveling in the desert west this month with stops in Las Vegas, Palm Springs, and Lake Havasu. Lots of photo ops as we attended the fireworks extravaganza & modernity week on our travels. We also visited Death Valley NP. Good weather made these adventures lots of fun. Death Valley which boosts the hottest temperatures in the world, was a pleasant 70 degrees at this time of year. This park is very large with several camping opportunities. The newest option are the FHU sites at Furnace Creek which we were lucky enough to find an open spot. Otherwise it is boondocking only. The month ended in Pahrump, NV just prior to our travels to South America.