 Good morning everybody. Happy Sunday. It's May 19th and welcome to another VUQ. Now today I'm going to try and do this video with very little editing. You'll see that there's no intro like there normally is because I cracked the screen on my monitor and it's a touch screen. So it keeps thinking I'm touching it when I'm not and it's almost impossible to edit a video. So I am getting a new laptop and hopefully I won't have this problem after this but bear with me. Usually I spend many hours editing these videos. So we'll see how I do in just one take. So as usual you guys came up with the best questions on the VUQ. I appreciate you all so much. So let me get right into them today. Okay first of all you guys said you prefer the how-to videos. Some shots of my travel would be appreciated but you don't need me to do a lot of travel videos. But if I want to do a sprinkle that's okay and I hear you and that's exactly what I want to do anyway. So that's great. Expect more how-to videos. In fact I filmed a whole bunch while I was in my last campsite because I had no connection. You can see it's raining. I was rained in for three days and I actually have a list of 41 videos coming out for you guys as soon as I can edit them. So and I agree with all of you my hair looked better when I cut it myself. I'm still getting used to this and I'm already cutting it. So note to self when you go to a new hairdresser communication is key and I did not communicate with that lady. So I'm going back to cutting it myself. Thanks. Okay so a guy named Bulldozer commented this. I find it disturbing when folks that have zero idea what it's like to be a soldier with PTSD to say they are experiencing it and then giggle about it. So Bulldozer you're absolutely right and I apologize. After I read your comment I realized that that was wrong and I apologize. Okay. Patricia says, hey Robin you talked about and answered an AC question but I was wondering about heating. Can you give me any tips on how you keep warm if the temps drop to the low 40s, upper 30s? Thanks. Well Patricia I call it the three C's which is cook, cuddle and close. So depending on what you like to cook in your RV if you know cold weather is coming save it for that day. Like if you bake something on top of your stove top or even if you use a slow cooker or your oven if you have one that really heats up the inside of an RV quickly. Of course layers of clothes and cuddle. If you've got a little snuggle bun like I do or a dog or another person. Cuddling is key. I also will say this if you put rugs just throw rugs on the floor it stops the cold from going up through the floor. And if you're worried about your outside pipes freezing just a little bit because it's getting around 32 or that temperature. If you're running the heat inside your rig open up all of your cabinets like in your kitchen and your bathroom where the plumbing is because it lets the hot air from inside your rig get closer to those pipes so they don't freeze. And somebody's hi. Somebody's standing outside my window. Just hi. Okay. I'm just going to keep it moving. They don't know what's going on in here and they just want to stand there and try and figure it out. Okay. All right. Sherry said hello and could be Cherie. I apologize if I'm saying that wrong. Hello. I have a question about the updates you're adding to the book. How do I know what was added and when. Okay. So you guys know my book be a nomad change your life is in a digital format only it's on Amazon because we update the links every quarter. Now this one has taken a little bit longer because you guys I am adding a ton of job info into this one. And I'm updating some other stuff on health insurance option and camping options. Now I have not been able to figure out a great way to tell you guys what the updates are. Except that I'm going to add a page at the beginning of the book that says you know what when this new version came out and the updates. And I'm going to announce it on Facebook and Facebook and see this is why I edit. I'm going to announce it on Facebook and Instagram and here on YouTube. So you know when they come out but I did want to tell you the new updates if you guys have the book will be out a week from today. If you have the book yet or you don't just go into your settings and tell it to update the book or update automatically when you have a connection and you'll always get the updates. Okay. Sweet lavender. I have a ton of lavender now. I love it. Hey Robin I have a possible question for the next view queue. I love how you have a garden in your RV. Such an incredible use of space and a great air purifier but I was wondering how you deal with extra moisture. Do you use damper at those little containers like Tiki does or they scattered around the RV. So one of the videos that I have coming out actually this week is an FAQ on my garden. But this is an important question and I have it in that video but I didn't want to have anybody miss it if they're not interested in the garden. So I did pull this out to show you. I show this in that video. But this is called an Everdry dehumidifier. Now I did use those little boxes that have what looks like kitty litter in them that are supposed to absorb moisture and they never did. They never got wetter or you know there was never water in the bottom like they're supposed to and I just didn't feel like they were working. And I didn't want to use a plug into dehumidifier because it takes power and I didn't want to use my power for that. So I've only found these on Amazon. As you guys know I have one link now for all my recommendations. It's at the bottom. If you go down to comments I have it pinned there at the top of comments. I've never seen this in a store but here's what's cool about this. It's about $15. I have four of them now in here. I have two up in the garden and I have one in each of my bathroom rooms because you know my shower and my bathroom are separate in here. But here is why this is genius and it works. See how it says you have orange and green there and you can see that the colors of my crystals which are right here are a little bit dark orange. So when you first get this thing the crystals are bright orange and then without being plugged in without doing anything I mean the hook comes with it. You don't have to use it. It comes off. You can just hide it somewhere. I have two hidden up there in the garden. The crystals start to turn from this bright orange color to a dark green color and then once it does you plug it into a wall. You don't plug it in all the time only when you're ready to renew it because this thing is renewable. I think it says it lasts 10 years so you have to plug it in for about 10 hours. So I wait until I have a hook up generally which is rare for me and then I go ahead and I do all four of mine. Having it plugged into the wall actually removes the moisture from the crystals and then you can reuse it again. So instead of spending money on those little damp red things that I didn't even think were working. Yes these are $15 but they work and you can reuse them for years and years and years and I love them and they absolutely do work. This person's channel is called Mom I'm Hungry. I love you guys. Robin you have such a fun personality. Thanks. My question, do you recommend any annual RV Expo's biggest best variety? I am in the early stages of planning and have never even driven an RV. I feel like you need more exposure to varieties of motorhomes and we're limited to dealers. Oh you know what? I resonated with this question because like you guys know I had never driven an RV. I bought the one that I bought and I'll tell you what I did do. I felt the same way. I didn't know anybody that had an RV. It's not like I could go to my friend with a fifth wheel, my friend with a trailer, my friend with a van, and go hey can I drive each of your rigs to see which one I feel more comfortable with. But I'll tell you what, if there are any dealers out there that want to invite me to come do that, I would love to come do that. I would love to drive a B plus, you know, drive a C, drive an A, trailers, all that stuff and tell people how they handle and how they do in the wind and that kind of thing. But because I knew what manufacturer and length of RV I wanted, actually after I bought the one I bought, I went to another dealer in my town that had the same chassis and length vehicle. I couldn't find the one that I wanted, but I went to a dealer that was closest to a mountain and I asked them to test drive that similar vehicle up and down one of the scariest hills coming into Denver, which is I-70 going down into the city, very steep, just to make sure that I feel comfortable with it. But you know that's a toughie. I've gone to Expo's and I don't love them. I think it's a good way to see a lot of different varieties, but you know you're going to be crammed in with a lot of other people if it's a busy Expo. And you know there's just going to be a lot of sales guys everywhere and you don't usually get to drive them. So I would say maybe cut it down to your top four or top five types of rigs and even if the manufacturers or the dealers around you are limited, try and drive a similar height and length vehicle with a similar engine because then you'll get an idea and then if you need to travel farther to test drive the one you think you want, I think that would help. This person says, by the way, their name is stressedRN11. It could be stress doctor, but I think it's stressedRN. Says, I love your cheerful attitude. You never seem to get frustrated. Oh girl, I get frustrated. I just do a lot of editing. You know what? I added up how much time it takes me to research and plot out and film and edit these videos. And normally my videos take me about 13 hours a piece and I'm actually trying to cut that back a little bit. You guys may have noticed that I haven't done videos on the last couple of Wednesdays. First of all, of course, my computer has been broken, but I've been trying to work out a new schedule because I am just knee deep in a couple of new books. I have two more nonfiction books that are coming out this year, I hope. And I am working on a suspense series that I'm hoping is going to launch next year that I am in right now and I'm loving it and I can't wait to share it with you guys. But when I edit, like I'm going to do this section on my phone, you guys don't see if I get frustrated. I'll show you this. I get frustrated just like everybody else. In RV life, you have to be resilient. That's the thing. I mean, I have a video coming out soon called my Top 10 Rookie Moves and I talk about that, you know, you're going to get hurt physically and you are not going to have spots work out that you were hoping were going to work out and I get super frustrated sometimes, but you know, you just got to keep in mind what it's all for to keep it moving, which is what I try and do. Victoria says, What do you use to clean the floors? I never see a space in a camper to hide a small vac or broom or a dustpan. Okay, so yes, I have a little dust buster I use all the time. I have a charging when I'm driving down the road, so it's always charged. I keep that in my wardrobe closet. Besides that, you know, command, which you guys know I love, has a broom holder that I put up on the wall in the bathroom to hold a little tiny broomstick and dustpan because this is a small area and I hated having the big broom and mop in here and I'll tell you guys that I have been working out a hack for a mop and I will show that to you guys soon. So far it's working great for me, but I want to, you know, super test it before I share it with you guys. So look out for that. Okay, so now I've got two that are kind of similar about insurance. So let me read them both and then I'll answer them. Heather Rose says, hi Robin, this is a question. I'm in the process of purchasing an aluminum cargo trailer to make my big escape from corporate America. Good for you. I was wondering what your experience with hail storms and damages. Are there any precautions that can be taken? And then Shannon says, I've got a question about service repairs and insurance. I remember you talking about the problems you had with your last rig, whose name shall not be said. And some of them took a long time to get fixed. Where did you stay when your van was in the shop and how did you manage the big boy? And have you given an insurance 101 talk? Is there an equivalent to homeowners insurance? And what about extended warranties, AAA? What are your experience with those types of products? Okay, so I'll say this. I'm really happy that Heather, you are escaping corporate America because I worked in corporate America and insurance for a long time. And I'll tell you, when I worked in insurance and I was a city girl, someone would say, oh, yeah, I have a fifth wheel and I would go, oh, like I knew what they were talking about. And I thought, is that like an all terrain vehicle, like a four wheeler? Like I had no idea. I had no idea. I had to refer to a diagram to tell me what the difference was between like a bumper pole trailer and a fifth wheel. And I just, I knew nothing. So first of all, I'll tell you that. I do want you to know that if you have a trailer that you're pulling behind you, sometimes your car insurance will cover that automatically, but then it doesn't automatically cover all of the contents inside or any liability that you have from that. So that's why I'm tying it into the other question. I did do an insurance 101 video that I will link actually below for you guys that goes through every single coverage and explains it and tells you what you need to look for when you're covering something. To answer the other girls question, yes, I've done that and I'll link it below for you. Super important stuff because your liability exposure is a little bit different in an RV than it is in a home. So the coverages have to change a little bit. And don't think that you just need coverage for the engine or the outside because I mean everything you own is in here. And if this were totaled, like your rig were totaled, you'd have to go out and buy everything again. I mean, tells to computers and it adds up. And also in those coverages, there are coverages for things like loss of use, which basically means if you can't be in your RV because of a covered loss, some policies will pay for you to be in a hotel. But keep in mind that's only for a covered loss like a collision, not for repairs like when things break down to go back to the other question. So when I had to go to the dealerships, it was an all day event, you know, get some popcorn and a laptop because you're going to be in their lobby all day, but it's never just one day. They'll take all day to assess what they need to do and then they always need to order a part or it's going to take longer. You know, I was lucky because I, at least when I was in Colorado, was able to stay with Doug or stay with my family for a week or two weeks while they were getting things done. A lot of people don't have that option and I don't know what I would have done otherwise. When it came to the big boy, I was at LaMesa RV in Courtsite and just had it out with this guy there. LaMesa RV in Phoenix had put in a component into my shower which broke five hours after I had left that dealership. So the dealership in Courtsite, which was a pop-up only for the season, said I could come in and, of course, it wasn't new money for them. I wasn't a new client, so I went to the very back of the list and I said to the guy, look, my cat's in here and he said, well, I can't work on it unless the cat's in a carrier. So I put the cat in the carrier, which I don't love because he can't eat and, you know, he can't use the litter box and I would say, okay, well, you know, keep me updated, let me know when I can come back and no one ever called me. So about three hours later, I walked back and he said, you can't be back here. And I said, look, dude, I see you eating a sandwich. Let me let my cat out so he can have some food. And he said, well, you can't let your cat out. And I said, well, my cat's going to be let out to eat MP and we were just staring each other down and I let the cat out and the cat peed for like four minutes and I was just eyeballing the guy. And I was like, oh, I guess he really had to pee. Yeah, they're not, they're not the best. He didn't like his liability exposure in case the cat got out. He didn't want anything in his way. He clearly didn't want to deal with the full-timer. It's tricky, you guys. I mean, this is one reason that choosing a manufacturer that has lots of different places where you can get the rig repaired is good because then you have more options to go where you might have friends or family or not have to wait as long to get into the shop. It is a double-edged sword, right? Because if you choose a brand like Winnebago, for example, which, you know, is everywhere and has a ton of shops, you have more options for repairs, but they go down in value faster than other ones because there's so many of them. So it's hard to say I had friends and family to stay with, which was helpful for me. And when it comes to a pet, I've had both things happen. I've had dealerships that let the cat roam and put a sign on the door that said, cat inside, be careful, and I really appreciated that. Or they let me sit back. I've had two dealerships just let me sit while they were working inside my RV and work so I could be there with the cat. You just have to ask and then roll with it. Then I want to go back to the other question about hail damage. And I'm sorry that I'm bopping around here, but the two questions seem tied to me. So there's not a lot you can do in certain seasons about hail damage. There are certain regions that are going to be worse than others. You can get one of those blue tarps at Home Depot that you keep in a storage container and then throw it over the top. That will stop a lot of the hail damage from getting through to the exterior of your rig. But mostly, I want to tell you guys this. Look at your coverage. If you have full coverage, then that means that you have collision and comprehensive. Those are the two physical damage portions of your policy. So collision obviously covers your rig if there is a collision with impact. Comprehensive covers everything else like hail damage or fire, flood, squirrels eating the wires. So your comprehensive deductible with most companies on most policies can be a lot lower than your collision deductible and you can change these coverages anytime. This is what people don't know. They think you buy your policy for six months or a year and you're locked in. You can make changes and they just prorate the cost of the policy period. Some companies will still let you do a zero comprehensive deductible which means if you had hail damage, first of all, it doesn't count against you for your rates at all because it's comprehensive and you would pay nothing to get that damage fixed. On my policy, the lowest I could go was 100. I keep it at 100 for the deductible on my comprehensive all year long. But when I used to have a car, I keep it at 500 or 1000 for comprehensive most of the year but then when hail season came I dropped it down to zero and then put it back up again. So just know that there's not a lot you can do. I've seen people run into a pizza parlor and get pizza boxes to throw over the hood of their car trying to stop hail damage. There's not a lot you can do except for have a good deductible and try and stay out of it. Donna Harrell said regarding the litter box why not just leave the top off altogether? Well my boy will kick litter up into the sky. He loves to get down in there and kick it up. So I prefer to have the lid plus what I do my cat video which is coming up. You guys will see that because of that top entry litter box where the cat actually crawls down into a hole there's a platform on the other part of it and he'll sit on it and look out the window while going down the road and I can't take away his platform. So that's why. Love it. I just love your videos. Thank you. I just purchased a very used class A in February and went from Michigan to Georgia for five weeks in April. My question is does your book include some of your favorite boondocking places and how much solar power and battery as an amp hours do you have? What do you feel like is enough? No, my book does not have my favorite locations but I am working on something else for you guys about that I'm trying to put together a list for you. So stay tuned for that. How much solar and batteries do I have? You know what? Like Bob Wells says get as much as you can afford. I'm a boondocker so I really rely on my solar but I have 480 watts of solar I have two 6 volt batteries and a thousand watt inverter. If I'm someplace sunny like Arizona I'm like oh my god it's working great I'll see that my battery panel says I'm in 13, 14 but if it's cloudy like right now I don't know if you guys can see I'm in a parking lot in a store to open. It's been cloudy and raining here for god five days or something I've got cabin fever. I have to run my generator about an hour every morning and an hour every night because there's no sun so it's just not enough but you know one of the things you have to think about when you're choosing a rig like I have a 25 foot class C they put 480 watts on the roof because that's what they could fit so I've gotten more I would have and if I had room for more batteries I would get more batteries so get as much as you can afford but I'll tell you 480 watts of solar and two batteries for me if it's sunny I can charge all my devices I can run my lights during the day I'm always charging an external battery pack so at night if I want to watch TV on my laptop or something I can. I hope that helps I know it's tricky to figure all of that out Rob and love your channel and your videos thank you. Tons of information and fun to watch I have a question. Was it hard for you to drive an RV when you started? I've lived in New York City forever and I haven't driven a car in 15 years I am afraid that it will be my biggest challenge well look driving an RV is not like driving a car it's similar it just depends on the length and the height I'll tell you I have been having to adjust to a class C. My class C was just like 5 inches taller than my B plus so I wasn't expecting it to be that different but it is because it catches more wind and I've been adjusting to that but the more that I drive it the better that it is. I'll tell you when I very first started driving every time I made a right turn even in my 25 foot last rig my back right tire would hit the curb it took me about two weeks and then I figured out like my turn radius and it has never happened again but the very first day of my rig Doug flew out with me from Denver to South Dakota to pick up my rig and you know it was new and I pulled into my very first gas station and I was looking in the side mirror you know and I'm cranking it and you're really tall and I'm looking in my side mirror and all of a sudden we hear this crunch crunch crunch and I was like oh god what did I do well you know those concrete pulls that they put around the gas station pumps there was one there but it was so low I didn't see it in my side mirror now I know that right now I know to like crane and look and find those little pulls because when I was just looking in the side mirror I wasn't thinking about anything being shorter than that you know I was just thinking about big things and sure enough it went right up against my will well and I had a nice scratch there and I was like well I was going to scratch it you know I was going to dent it at least that's over with okay Ruth Thomas said I think I heard you mention you have a rad e-bike but I haven't seen anything else about it is there an episode where you talk about it yes I do have a rad e-bike thanks to Bob Wells Bob gave me his e-bike because he wasn't using it when we first met and I'll put a link to the e-bike that I have but frankly I talked to Bob about doing a video on this for him but we just never got together so that's why I haven't done one for myself you know Bob email me call me so we can work that out because since he gave me the bike I wanted to do the video for him but I will give you guys the link for the one that I have and I'll tell you it completely changed how I feel about camping sometimes it has a battery on it and I have the one with the big fat mountain tires on it so it's 70 pounds it's hard to get on and off the hitch a little bit but I do it one tire at a time no big deal and it has a couple of batteries so you can go many many many miles on this thing and because I don't have a tow car I wasn't leaving my campsites you know I would drive through a town to get supplies but then when I would go to my campsite I didn't want to break camp to go into town I didn't want to wear things and so I didn't realize it but my experience of the area was more limited until I got my e-bike you know I don't want to tow a 3,000 pound car but towing a hitch and a bike which is like 300 pounds was doable for me and so now I really have my eye on camping places where there are some good bike trails that I can ride because it completely changes your perspective of a place and the e-bike is great to not help you at all so it's like you're really pedaling a 70 pound bike so if you're trying to get some exercise that's great but if I'm going through sand like I rode my e-bike on Pismo Beach with this soft sand and you know when the sand was getting soft I would just kick it up into gear and the motor takes over and you zoom right through when other people are on their bikes like struggling through the sand or you know if there's a big hill coming up and a bike helped me or you know sometimes I would just ride my bike last summer I haven't been able to do it so far this year for a couple of hours and normally if I was on a real bike and by the way you guys I had not been on a bike since I was 12 I just got on this thing and figured it out and of course it's like riding a bike but I would ride this thing for hours and normally I would get tired because I was on a real bike and I would go oh I wonder what's up over that next hill the path goes up over that next hill and in a regular bike I would have said oh well another day I'm going to get back but on an e-bike if you're tired it'll just do the work for you you can go a lot longer so yes I love my e-bike I recommend e-bikes and I'll put the link for the one I have below so you guys can see what I have okay Linda Bowen says I just watched your spiders and space stations video and that one's so funny you mentioned living in Costa Rica when, where, and why were you there I was in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica and yes Costa Rican spiders are in a class by themselves so um yeah I did leave in Costa Rica in 2000 I was 30? I just turned 50 so I was an English major you can tell I'm not a smart man but um a long time ago I wasn't there to teach English kind of I mean I had a business at the time but I had been teaching English as a second language for the Department of Education in Colorado for a long time just in the evenings and on the weekends um because I studied that a little bit in college and I got into that and taught literacy and um taught ESL and then when I went to Costa Rica on vacation I was at a place where these people were like oh wow let me check out this university because they only hire Native North American speakers and teachers and um you know I had the background to do it so I went home and I thought about it and I always wanted to live in a foreign country and speak a foreign language and it was on my list and um I called the university and they said yeah you sound great but we only hire people that live here so this will give you guys a window into me for about four hours called somebody I thought would be interested in selling my business called him he bought the business gave my mom power of attorney um to sell my condo and um packed up and moved to Costa Rica I got the job at the university I was there for a year I taught classes not only at the university but also for the national phone company and for an architecture firm and it was just really a great experience that's it you guys I am going to try to edit this on my phone which might be a nightmare so bear with me if it was terrible I appreciate you all just know that going forward I will have a video every Sunday but I'm going to cut it down to probably six videos a month so maybe every other Wednesday just consider it a bonus video um I'll have another one out because I've got lots of great videos coming your way I'm thrilled with the content that is coming up but I also need to get more work done on my books so um I wish you all the best out there thank you for the questions if you have any answers to the questions that were in this please put them below for everybody else and if you have questions for the next view queue which will be in two weeks please do put them there also until then I wish you all happy travels out there and be free