Monday 6 February 2012

Driving an RV in America.


I just thought I’d take some time out to tell you how renting an RV and driving around America is much easier and perhaps cheaper than you might imagine.

I’m 26 years old and have just returned from holiday in America with some friends, all of whom are younger than me, yet we were able to drive a 32 foot RV (if you’re not sure of how big 32 foot is, it was enough room for 6 of us to sleep comfortably!) I have an ordinary full UK driving license, now HGV or 7.5 tonne or anything and I had no problems whatsoever.






We all had different ideas, renting a villa, apartment, staying in a hotel – all of which would have meant hiring a car or 2 as well because we wanted to drive to San Francisco and Las Vegas. I’m a big dreamer so I considered renting an RV and suggested it to the guys… we all thought ‘no there will be way too much red tape.’ I just wonder how many others have dismissed the idea so quickly.

After some research I managed to find an RV rental company that were able to provide us with a massive RV for a fraction of the cost of accommodation and car hire… I think we paid around £200 in total for the rental including insurance and mileage. We didn’t pay anything when we got there; it was really as black and white as they explained to us on the phone.

So the vehicle itself… had everything we needed and more. Double bed in the back and over the cab, and 2 fold out beds in the main area… this would comfortably sleep 7 people. It had a shower which took 5 minutes for the water to heat up, a gas hob, microwave and toilet. We literally parked this on the side of the road some nights in spots that demand a premium if you want to stay in a hotel there… Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco for example, we parked 3 minutes’ walk away from Pier 39. In Los Angeles we parked just off of Hollywood Boulevard right in the mix.
















There were some negatives, predominantly with parking spaces on some occasions. We were hell bent on going ad-hoc though – no plan, winging it… against our sense of sensibility. But with a small amount of planning and foresight these crinkles could easily be ironed out, don’t rule this option out… driving around California and Nevada for 2 weeks with some good friends was a completely insane adventure that I’ll never forget.

I'll be sharing some more information on our Journey next week.