Rv Navigator

On the road again in Italy and France as we traverse the wine making regions of these countries. Follow our adventures outside of the RV as travel with a small group through the Alps. Weather has been hot but sunny for great photos. RVs in Europe are much different than those in the US but we've seen a lot of family's enjoying the outdoor experience.

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 electr

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. Und

This months finds your RVNavigators sailing on both the oceans (Atlantic) and Rivers of Europe. We had ventured across the Atlantic in order to attend the famous Tulip festival in Amsterdam. In this episode we compare ocean to river cruising as well as large vs small cruising. Of course there is the usual Ring news and comments on RV topics.

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

This episode was recorded on the road, as we traveled south this month on a planned group trip to Costa Rica and its many national parks. Although CR is only the size of West Virgina, it has as many national parks as the US.

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-J

Our annual New Years podcast finds us feeling lucky to be healthy after another year of Covid. Little did we know at the beginning of the year that we'd still be in the grips of this pandemic. Last January we were so thankful to be vaxed and hoped that we'd get this pandemic under control. However the fates turned our differently and we are still in uncertain times.

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 sev

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 tur

After cruising last month, we are back on the RV trail. We embark on our trip west to meet the planned RV Caravan leaving from St. George UT. We left a few days early because the trip is almost 1700 miles from our home base in IL. Lucky we did because we had a couple of extra stops along the way to get tires fixed.

Your RV Navigators have successfully made their way to Malta and back without incident. We enjoyed 10 days on the beautiful Viking Venus as it made it way to several ports in Croatia and then back to Malta. There were many covid protocols that were observed, but over all the experience was worth the hassle of completing the paperwork. We had to provide proof of covid testing throughout the trip both at the airports, boarders, and on the ship. Once completed, the cruise was almost normal. However with only 1/5 the ships normal passenger load, we experience great service and a sense of being on a unique cruise.

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 lighte

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. W

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. We share ideas about RV buying, tank management, campgrounds, boondocking and many other current topics.

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

Although we are still in FL, we have gotten the second Covid vaccine shot so we should be good to go for travel when the industry opening up later in the year.

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.

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.