RV EXPERT

Warning: This article is strictly based on my opinions on this subject matter and, having been forewarned, any insecurity or angst you have over it is not the authors responsibility.

So, you are an expert in the field of RV knowledge and a veteran RVer?

I was just recently in the audience of a live podcast by self-proclaimed “Highly Experienced Veteran EXPERTS” in the field of RVing and RV knowledge. Tell me, if you will or can, what makes an expert or a veteran in RVing and at what point are they qualified to give advice to others?

There are some great folks out there with a wealth of knowledge gained from years of experience and then there are the one-off OOPS moments that make us all instant professionals (sewer hose not connected, not checking locking pins on hitches). There are some very slick channels out there where the people have put in the effort to gain insight on how to put out information that they have gained though personal experience and then there are folks who regurgitate anything someone from the industry puts out.

Pick a Vlog or podcast by whoever is your favorite presenter and they will, probably, have a wealth of information. Is it their own personal educated expert information, their opinion or point of view, or is it plagiarized from someone else? These are all considerations that should be taken when partaking in their content. Listen or watch objectively.

When does an expert become an expert? An expert is defined as someone who has extensive and comprehensive knowledge of a subject. Do you have this qualification to be able to pass on your knowledge to non-experts? Can you give evidence in a court of law regarding you area of expertise? Do you know your subject matter well enough to teach it to someone who is on the same level as you?

A Veteran (military service notwithstanding) is defined as someone who has long experience in a field. What exactly is long experience? We once spent a week one day in the desert alongside the freeway with broken springs; that was a long experience but does it make me an expert on suspensions? On the other hand, I spent 23 years in my chosen field (not RVing) with many of them as an instructor teaching to my peers; this, I think is the definition of expert in my field.

So let’s look at the hobby, career, past-time, lifestyle of the RV’er. Are you full time, part time, or have a piece of yard art with wheels? If you claim to be a veteran or an expert, I expect you to know enough to inform me how to do something in a way that I can expect to accomplish. I also expect you to have been an RV’er longer than my 4 year old cat. We have some basic criteria for you to pass to be either in our eyes. Remember that there are many types of RV travel and camping out there and things that make you a veteran or expert in one area, may not even scratch the surface in another.

Our Made up criteria for veteran status:

1. Boondocking: At least 4 years or more boondocking more than 50% of the time, not just park living with hookups. There are many out there who do this efficiently and consistently. This means you are out there on batteries, solar, wind, or water power, relying on your tank capacity and ingenuity.
2. RV’ing: At least 5 years cumulative experience full or part time/recreational use. If you go out once or twice a year for two weeks, I don’t believe this qualifies you as a veteran RV user.
3. Full-timer: At least 3 years living full time, not part time, towing to destinations or traveling is a requirement; being permanently parked somewhere does not an RV’er make. Being a snowbird with a sticks and bricks in one climate and a permanently parked RV in another does not qualify you.
4. Part-timer: The folks who vacation a few times a year, know their RV and how to maintain and use it to fulfill their goals (see #2 =/> 5 year criteria).
5. Snowbirds: At least 5 years but you only qualify as an RV’er if you actually drive/haul your rig to another climate and then live in it full time while in that sunny clime. Having it delivered to and set up in that beautiful RV Resort in the Florida Keys does not qualify as an RV’er in my mind.

In conclusion: If you are going to claim to be an expert or veteran in the RV world, you should make sure that you actually are able to qualify for those claims. If you suddenly decided (2 years ago) that you should buy a rig and live in it part (“full”) time, have never visited a National Park, are currently parked in front of a friends house, using their bedrooms and bathrooms, and run a podcast to pay for living expenses with sponsorships, YOU my friend, are not an Expert or a Veteran in my or any real RVers’ eyes. This would be like me claiming to be a sports reporter to gain access to the stadiums during games (I follow no professional sports well enough to be either an expert or veteran).

BTW: You will not be seeing me running a podcast and I have a Youtube channel but don’t post VLOG’s.

PS: I have been in and around RV’s most of my adult life as a user, owner, operator. My wife and I have been using a fifth wheel (Piper) part time since 2016 (bought it in December 2015 according to my old blogs), we swallowed the kool-aid in 2022, sold everything and went full time in our second fifth wheel (Bebop). We are now in our third fifth wheel from a third manufacturer and believe we have found our permanent rig. I do consider us to be active veterans of the RV life with journeyman level expertise but do not consider us to be experts.

Rant over, Thanks for reading and feel free to leave comments.

Jeff

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