The Simple Life Guide To RV Living: The Road to Freedom and the Mobile Lifestyle Revolution
(You can click the image or link above to view product details or purchase this book from Amazon and support Deep Green Permaculture!)
The Simple Life Guide To RV Living: The Road to Freedom and the Mobile Lifestyle Revolution by Gary Collins is an excellent book for anyone considering stepping into the world of mobile living. If you’re thinking of purchasing a mobile home, RV or trailer, with the intention of using it for travel or going off the grid and going mobile, then reading this book should be the first thing you do before anything else!
Gary Collins has a way with words, straight and to the point, telling you exactly what you need to know, without glossing over any details or downplaying any of the facts. This information in this book is reliable and authoritative, the author shares relevant parts of his personal journey along with what has and hasn’t worked in his experience. It’s like having a mentor providing guidance and sharing knowledge, which is invaluable for anyone taking their first steps into the world of RV living.
This book is packed with valuable information, it contains everything you’ll need to know to get you on the right track, and at 112 pages, it’s a quick read. I managed to read this concise and thoroughly enjoyable paperback in a day, and what amazed me was how much I actually learned in that short time. Honestly, I knew very little about RV living before reading this book, and by the end of it I felt confident enough to be able make the right decisions if I decided to explore that lifestyle tomorrow!
The author guides the reader through the world of RV living in a very structured way, beginning with the critical first step – where do you start?
Since RV living may potentially entail a major lifestyle change, which is a rather significant event, Gary Collins gives the matter the attention which it deserves, sharing relevant parts of his own story and honestly addressing the questions and value decisions that people considering this journey may contemplate. There’s also quite a few snippets of profound wisdom throughout this book about “seeking the road to freedom” which the author shares, making for an even richer reading experience.
Following this is some background information on the history of RV living, which lays the foundations for the next section, an introduction to the practical side of the RV world, a detailed discussion of the various types and sizes of RVs and trailers, their benefits and disadvantages, their differences, and what may work best for your requirements. The author also addresses the subject of the tiny house movement for the sake of completeness.
The main body of the book is impressive in that it thoroughly explores literally every practical aspect of RV living. There is an very informative chapter on recommended equipment, which lets you know all about the extra things you’ll really need, and therefore must budget for when calculating costs. Critical topics such as heating, fuel, power generators and showers are all covered in detail.
The old adage “A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from the mistakes of others” sums up one of the truly indispensable chapters of this book, ‘RV Basics – Tips to Make Your Life Easier‘. The information here is gold, as it explains to readers how to avoid the most common problems encountered, and provides many useful tips and brilliant ideas to make RV living much easier, ensuring a much happier experience for those taking their first steps. It covers seriously important matters such as waste and drinking water management, dealing with things freezing in cold weather, storage systems and other necessities such as anti-sway systems for travel trailers for example.
On the topic of avoiding preventable costly mistakes, there’s also a chapter on purchasing the right tow vehicle for fifth-wheels and travel trailers, and another on RV maintenance. Knowing what to expect can save a lot of fuss down the road, so to speak!
The author rounds off this book nicely with a chapter on RV creature comforts – no need to rough it out when you can have high-quality TV channels, mobile internet access, washer and dryer and dishwasher in your RV!
One of the closing chapters ‘What to Expect Living the Mobile Lifestyle’ really caught my attention, as it talks about a very different life, quite possibly the life that many of us secretly dream of but never have the courage to take the crucial first step. There are more ways to live than the way the majority of the population does, and this book is an excellent primer for anyone entertaining thoughts of doing things their own way and following their heart rather than following the herd.
The list of contents below shows how much information is packed into this book, and that all the relevant topics are addressed.
Contents
Introduction 9
Chapter 1: My Story: How My Mobile Lifestyle Began 13
Chapter 2: So Where Do You Start? You Have Too Much Crap! 19
Chapter 3: Motorized Transportation and Recreational Vehicles: A Brief History 31
Chapter 4: The Mobile Journey Begins – My First Trailer 35
Chapter 5: RV Classifications 39
Chapter 6: The Tiny House Movement – Is It a Viable Option? 55
Chapter 7: My Recommended Equipment for Your RV 61
Chapter 8: RV Basics – Tips to Make Your Life Easier 73
Chapter 9: Purchasing the Right Tow Vehicle for Fifth-Wheels and Travel Trailers 83
Chapter 10: Creature Comforts While Living Mobile 91
Chapter 11: RV Maintenance 97
Chapter 12: What to Expect Living the Mobile Lifestyle 101
Final Thoughts 105
About Gary 109
References 111
Book Details
- Paperback: 112 pages
- Publisher: Second Nature Publishing; 1 edition (April 12, 2018)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1570673632
- ISBN-13: 978-1570673634
This is the book to get before planning to get into the RV lifestyle, it covers every aspect of RV living, and provides readers with sound foundational knowledge from which to make educated decisions and choices. This book is definitely recommended!
Deep Green rating for “The Simple Life Guide To RV Living: The Road to Freedom and the Mobile Lifestyle Revolution” by Gary Collins is 5 stars!
If you are interested in submitting a product for review, please contact us via email at deep_green@optusnet.com.au , thanks!
Be the first to reply