I found this story online. I can relate to the feeling of being behind the wheel of a huge RV for the first time. I drive a 34 footer and the first time taking it out on the public road, with salespeople yapping in my ear, was quite intimidating. A year later I would take that beast up through the Rocky Mountains and on up to Alaska. After that journey, I didn't consider myself a rookie anymore.
I would encourage anyone that is considering a purchase to rent 1 for a long weekend. I had rented an RV twice before. It was what gave me the bug to go out and purchase my own road yacht.
on the road again
I would encourage anyone that is considering a purchase to rent 1 for a long weekend. I had rented an RV twice before. It was what gave me the bug to go out and purchase my own road yacht.
I WAS IN NO WAY qualified to be in the driver’s seat. As the 27-foot Thor motor home squeezed into rush-hour traffic outside Missoula, Montana, my knuckles whitened around the steering wheel; meanwhile, Caroline, my wife, braced for impact, clinging to the passenger door. I’ve never been a great driver, and, looking back, I’m unsure why I thought I could handle a vehicle equal in size to our New York apartment. As car after car buzzed past, I tried to keep the RV steady, fully expecting to lose control, plunge over the railing, and meet my end in the Blackfoot, one of the rivers we intended to fish that week.
I’d long been fascinated by RVs, for reasons I can’t explain, so the trip was a chance to indulge the curiosity. Over the past decade or so, Airstream trailers have enjoyed a nostalgia-fueled resurgence, in no small part thanks to their Instagram-worthiness. The Thor, I admit, lacked the same sex appeal. But it was pretty nice. Roomy, well-designed, easy enough to operate.
Motor homes represent something of a quandary, I realized. To travel in one is to reject both camping and sleeping indoors. You’re neither roughing it nor resigning yourself to the comforts of a house or hotel. You’re close to nature, but not too close. They’re easy to mock, sure. But it’s hard to hate the convenience, and the fact that most any public pull-off can become your campsite for the night.
on the road again