1) Yeah, a big, sweaty wad of money. The bigger the better. Quantity of sweat is a personal matter, suit yourself.
2) Tools- choose carefully as they take up room & weight. I carry 18V battery powered tool set because they are handy all around, plus a compact right-angle (corded) drill for those tight places (corded cuz its a way better tool than the battery type and for those few times I need to get where no drill has gone before, I can live w/dragging a cord. 12 ton Craftsman jack, cuz the cheapos from cheena blow up at times you wish they wouldn't. I haven't found a good, lightweight set of jack stands yet but will pack them when I do. More than anything else, I use a volt-ohm meter, and the tool cache my wife calls the "
man-purse" which consists of the odd variety of hand tools, epoxy, spray leak detector, mini-Machinery's-handbook, mini-torch (soldering, whipping poly or nylon rope ends...), mini-oiler, needle files, angled needle nose pliers, etc...., all of which is stored in the space tween driver's chair & ext. wall.
3) When stopping & choosing a campsite, always arrange a space where you can park between an HWH tech, and a helpful Xantrex employee who knows a lot about charging systems and solenoids. If you own an Apex, you can substitute either of those for a Silverleaf guy on vacation (none of them are old enough to retire). I've tried parking next to bankers, but they are not as helpful as one would hope with your finances. Don't park next to attorneys if you have AquaHot or really full waste tanks, or you'll get dragged into court & have to explain it to the judge and a jury of 12 people who have never RV'ed.
4) Get a decent, lightweight laptop that can store all the PDF files for the random assembly of junque parts we commonly refer to as a coach. And a good PDA-phone with caller ID and loaded with the whole ACA roster, so you know when to activate "
Call-Thwarting." And some way to organize all the paper pamphlets, etc. that came w/your coach for those lucky enough to have received something passed off as "documentation." You will also need a nuclear accelerator of the type used in the movie
Ghost Busters, for trapping & holding vaporous apparitions, like your WRV Warranty
and the strange variety of semingly sincere promises from motorhome salespeople in your recent past
.
5) Before retiring, make sure you have a good spouse. This is truly indispensable. Get one with an imperturbable sense of humor, and the patience of Jōb
(since I may have gotten the last of those, you may have to settle for one with the density of a black hole, which on occasion can provide a manageable substitute). I've found it really helps when crossing the border into Mexico and the Customs (Aduana) officer threatens for 9 hours to impound your vehicle and the friend's trailer with the donated medical supplies you are towing (you can ask Ann about about how that works in the context of a healthy marriage next time you see her, but if there is a lerge vein still sticking out of her forehead and she is beet red
, please defer that conversation till later).
6) Most indispensible of all is a sense of adventure and a willingness to rock & roll w/the punches
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Most important, a sense of humor!
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