I have written many times about the people we meet while traveling and that RVers are the nicest people in the world. RVers and especially fulltimers also are smarter and more educated than average people. J We have met working and retired educators, lawyers, business owners, engineers, nurses, military people and police officers. Most of the people we meet worked long and hard during their careers, invested their money and are now able to enjoy life traveling around the country in a RV.

That said, I'll also say many RVers have no idea what they are doing when they buy their rig and have no idea how things aboard work or how to service their rigs. People will lay out $100,000 - $400,000 for a motorhome without doing research and then do not read the owners manuals. About 25% of the people I talk to in campgrounds stopped at a RV dealer, saw a pretty motorhome or fifth wheel and bought it without doing research.

I can give an eight hour seminar on how to buy the wrong RV with the wrong features and options, but I'll list just a few items here. Most of the below people travel fulltime in their RVs and somehow survive, but they are actually "Traveling Ignorant."

• The fulltiming owner of a year old Allegro Bus asked me to come to his motorhome and explain how his systems worked. He had been afraid to press the Mode button on the transmission because he did not know what would happen. (The owners manual explained the Mode button places the transmission in economy mode to increase fuel mileage.)

• That same person had always driven with the generator running so the TV and VCR would work for the grandchildren and his wife could make coffee and run the microwave. He ran the generator because he did not know how to operate his 2000-watt inverter. (The owners manual explained pressing a button turned on the invertor and it powered all 110 volt outlets.)

• A fulltiming friend told me he never uses the motorhome's battery charger because it boils the batteries and is hard on them. He uses two solar panels to "try" to keep the batteries charged. (All technical publications explain a charger keeping a float charge on batteries makes them last longer.)

• At a RV electrical and parts installation facility a motorhome owner complained she could not run her coffee pot and hair dryer on her 400-watt invertor. (The service technician and her owners manual explained her inverter was connected to the TV and VCR only.)

• A fulltimer in a four year old motorhome told me he changes the oil and filter and lubes the chassis once a year, but he was not aware it needed other services like fuel filters, air dryer filters, new coolant and filter, transmission and filter fluid change, etc. (His owners manual had a list of scheduled services.)

• A fulltimer told me he was going to trade his motorhome because he hated the shower. It was so small he couldn't raise his arms. (He should have noticed that before buying the motorhome.)

• Many people have told me they wish they had an inverter, a larger refrigerator, dual pane windows, a larger generator, etc. (I asked why they bought their motorhome and they always say it looked pretty setting on the dealers lot.)

• Several people have told me they want to install two solar panels so they can run an air conditioner when not connected to shore power. (Two 80-watt solar panels will light two 75-watt light bulbs during mid-day bright sun. There is no way they can power an air conditioner.)

• Fulltimers have told me their motorhomes came with basement freezers and stand-alone ice makers and they never use them. (Why would anyone pay over a thousand dollars for something they don't want?)

• A fulltiming woman saw me checking my batteries and asked what I was doing. I told her I was adding water to my batteries and she asked me to check her batteries, but she didn't know where they were located. (Her batteries were so low on water they were destroyed and she had to buy new ones. Her owners manual told her to check the water level every month.)

• Fulltimers came to our motorhome and asked how we could run a hair dryer with no shore power and the generator not running. (We said we use our inverter. They asked "What is an inverter?")

• About 90% of RVers have never weighed their rigs and of those about 80% are overloaded and unsafe. People will wear seatbelts and put children or grandchildren in car seats, then drive down the highway in an overloaded and unsafe RV.

• Over 80% of RV owners don't know how to weigh RV wheels and adjust air pressures to manufacturer's specifications and many people don't follow the rule of replacing RV tires at six years no matter what they look like. (Over 90% of tire blowouts are caused by motorhome owners who apparently don't care or worry about their safety.)

• I often see standard sized pickup trucks pulling 40-foot fifthwheels with four slides. After parking in campgrounds the owners always raise the hood and check fluid levels. (Most complain about overheating and burned up transmissions. They have the mentality that a pickup can pull anything.)

• OK, I saved the best story for last. While I was at the Newmar plant for warranty work a new $300,000 motorhome parked beside me. I introduced myself and asked the owner what his problem was. He said he bought his motorhome one month before and the house batteries would not hold a charge. The dealer were he bought it checked it out and replaced all four of his batteries, but they still would not hold a charge. So he drove from Oregon to Indiana to get the manufacturer to repair the problem. I asked if his combination inverter / charger was turn on and he said he didn't know. I stepped inside his motorhome and sure enough, his charger was turned off. I turned it on and his batteries began charging immediately. The next day Newmar verified that was his only problem - his charger had always been turned off. The next day he started his trip back to Oregon. Oh, I asked the motorhome owner if he had read his inverter / charger owners manual and he told me he had not read any manuals that came with the motorhome.

Before buying a RV do lots of research and I mean months and months of research. Know exactly what features and options you want and don't pay for options you don't want. Attend RV shows, visit dealers lots (but don't listen to sales people), tour RV plants, talk to RVers in campgrounds, attend seminars, if possible attend a Life on Wheels Conference, surf internet RV forums and ask lots of questions. Then and only then, buy the perfect for you RV.