RV Wanderlust

Full-time Living in Our Diesel RV

Searching for the Best Portable Gas Grill

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I needed a portable gas grill. Heck, everyone who RVs needs a portable gas grill, right? After all, who wants to be “that guy”? You know who I’m talking about - that one guy who shows up to a campsite without the essentials. I mean, would other campers look at me funny if I rolled up in a 40′ diesel and had no grill? That guy on the right is looking at me funny even now.

People at a campsite grilling

See how happy they look? (Photo credit: SteveR via FlickrCC)

I envisioned myself looking longingly at other people’s campsites as they enjoyed their evening festivities with the aroma of seared meat filling the air, my stomach grumbling something unintelligible to me…nope, I wasn’t going to let that happen.

It was decided. I wanted the best portable gas grill I could get. [Read more…]

3 Cold Weather Tips for a Diesel RV

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It was sunny when we bought the Diesel RV. Then the cold front came.

It was sunny when we bought the Diesel RV…then the cold front came

I’m shivering like a mobster in a tax collector’s office.

It’s 21 degrees in Austin and dropping to 16 degrees tonight! Ok, ok, I get it. All you South Dakota folks and Canadians out there are just snickering at us. But hey, anytime you have to open the refrigerator to heat the house (or the RV), it’s too darn cold!

So here’s the story. Brittany and I bought our brand “new to us” RV on January 2nd. On the 3rd, we took it to an outdoor storage facility and parked it. Our intentions were to clean and prep it for full-timing by February 22nd when our lease expires.

It was a good plan. A solid plan. One that worked with our timeline. What could go wrong?

Then came the cold weather report. Immediately I started getting texts and messages from quite a few people with cold weather tips for a diesel RV. [Read more…]

Best RV Forums and Blogs We’ve Found So Far

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The last few nights have been restless. My stomach is in knots, my mind is running at max capacity, and yet we move forward.

With no practical experience whatsoever, we’re selling most everything we own and moving into a 2003 40’ long Phaeton Class A Diesel Pusher RV by Tiffin Motorhomes.

Truth be told, I really don’t know how the RV starts and there is some random lever on the left of the driver’s seat that when you pull it up makes this whooosh sound, much like the big Greyhound buses. Oh yeah, and there is that ominous cut-off switch near the door that seems rather important. ~shifts eyes~

As you can tell, we’re truly starting in a complete state of ignorance. As of this writing, we literally know nothing but what we’ve read online. (We don’t even have an owners manual as we got a used RV that was missing one.)

Thankfully, we’ve found the RV online community to be beyond helpful. Specifically in the areas of forums and blogs. [Read more…]

Choosing Class A, B, C…Easy as 1, 2, 3?

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The switch to a full-time RV lifestyle has been a long time coming. There was money to save, priorities to order…and we had to come to terms with the fact that we’re crazy to have a home on wheels.

Even though we weren’t ready to pull the trigger and make our purchase, we used the time to research and decide which type of RV was right for us and our unique needs.

The conversation went something like this, over the course of a couple of years:

Brittany: “These Class C’s look nice.”
Eric: “I don’t think Class C’s are big enough for us to live in full-time. We need to look at Class A’s.”
/time passes/
Brittany: “Okay…you’re probably right.”
/time passes/
Eric: “I’ve done some research and diesel Class A’s have more power and can carry more weight. We should get a Class A diesel pusher.”
Brittany: “Okay…”
/time passes/
Brittany: “Newer Class A gas models have more power than they used to. I think a diesel might be overkill, and they sure are expensive! Hey, I think we can afford this new Class A gas.”
Eric: “Okay…”
/time passes/
Brittany: “Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could pay in cash and not have a monthly RV payment?”
Eric: “Okay…I guess we need to buy an older RV.”
/time passes/
Eric: “Diesel Class A’s have more power and can carry more weight. We should get a Class A diesel pusher.”
Brittany: “Okay…you’re probably right.”

(And somewhere in the middle at an RV show)
Brittany: “Look at these fifth wheels!” [Read more…]

Living on Hopes and Wishes

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Thank you for stopping by our brand new blog! Our journey towards purchasing a Class A RV and setting off on our new grand adventure has been a few years coming. At long last, it looks like we’re nearing our purchase!

Here’s hoping:

2003 Tiffin Phaeton

2003 Tiffin Phaeton diesel pusher

More updates will be coming soon! I look forward to chronicling the past, present and future here on RV Wanderlust.

-Brittany

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About Us

Welcome to RV Wanderlust! We're Eric and Brittany Highland and we're on a pretty amazing adventure. As of 2017, we're starting our fourth year as fulltime RVers and we've been transparently documenting the journey all along the way. In December 2016 we … Keep reading

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