Things every RV'er should belong too.
There are three organizations you want to become a member of if you vacation in an RV. Two offer significant discounts on RV camping spots, those are Elks lodges and Passport America. both offer RV camping spots at an unbeatable price. The third one is Family Motor Coach Association which offers a lot of benefits. I highly recommend that you attend one of their regional rallies where you can learn a lot from the seminars presented and vendors’ discounts provided to attendees. They also publish a monthly magazine that has helpful articles.
Elks Lodges
Elks Lodges https://www.elks.org/lodges/ There are three organizations you want to become a member of if you vacation in an RV. Two offer significant discounts on RV camping spots and they are the Elks Club and Passport America. The discounts are unbeatable. The third one is Family Motor Coach Association which offers a lot of benefits. I highly recommend that you attend one of their regional rallies where you can learn a lot from the seminars presented and vendors discounts provided to attendees.
Passport America
Passport America https://www.passportamerica.com The best discount camping & RV park club in America. They provide a 50% discount on the normal camping fee when camping at one of the 1,200 plus member sites. There are sometimes restrictions on when the discounts can be used but it only takes using it for two nights a year and you have paid for the yearly membership. I do recommend purchasing one of the multi-year discounts. You may even want to purchase a lifetime membership.
FMAC
Family Motor Coach Association https://www.fmca.com/ This association provides several benefits to RV’ers. Some of which are a the monthly “Family RVing” magazine, technical support, emergency medical evacuation, RV insurance, camping fee discounts, etc.
Vacation Planning tools that will make your planning easier
The First Step is to ask yourself the following vacation planning basics:
- How much time do I have for this vacation?
- Do I just want to relax, kick back and get away from it all?
- What are specific activities like fishing, hiking, water sports, etc. you want to do?
- How much of my vacation planning am I willing to do yourself?
- Who is your vacation designed for, adults, your children, or both?
- What is the budget? Can you afford to do what you want to do?
Want some ideas about Want some ideas one where to go?
Do not forget to check the weather:
- Check what the weather is going to be where you are going to vacation.
- Dress for weather pattern at the location you are going to vacation at.
- Do not bring a lot of clothes with you it is just extra baggage you have to handle. You will not be meeting the same people every day unless you are on a cruise or packaged tour. Do not over pack.
Odds and Ends that will help you plan:
- Take Mosquito repellent. DEET-based products normally work the best. If it is not working, check with the locals about what they use. We forgot this step several times and provided meals for various insects. As well as having to cut the time we spent and those locations. One was specifically annoying as we were unable to eat outside along the Venice canals as we had planned.
- I founded this site different and interesting tour model Tours By Foot. Check it out. I think it may be the way to go if you are going to be in an area they cover with their tours.
- Roadside America identifies interesting “Short Stop” locations along your route between vacation destinations. Make sure you check this site out. It is definitely a website you should check out. This is nothing, if not an amazing tool, that you should be using. They have an iPhone App and are working on an Android App.
- Other tour organizations, I think, have possibilities for improving your vacation. I have never used most of these, but after reading up on them, I believe they are worth looking at. (nothing listed yet! That is because I just thought of this idea)
Cruise Information
- Cabin selection—Cruise ships are not normally close enough to land to see anything except when coming into a port. I recommend picking the location of your accommodation based on shipboard convenience. Food and entertainment are mostly forward and amidships. I have purchased balcony accommodation and only recommend it if you really want to sit out and look at mostly water. They are nice but may not be worth the extra cost, depending on your vacation budget. My wife loves them, but I could care less. However, Happy Wife Happy Life.
- Information on Cruise ships - Easy way to look at cruise ship cabins is to go to Compare That Cruise and select 'Cabin' on their menu. 'Compare That Cruise' is a price comparison site but it does have lots of great information, that is why I recommend you look at it.
- If you want tips on how to select cabins, look at Cruise Critic.
- Finally, there is Cruise State Room where you can select a ship and see the cabin layout and read information about each cabin type.
- If You want to really be pampered, take a voyage on a Disney Cruise Ship.
- Excursions - Most of these you can arrange directly from a vendor at considerable cost savings. For example, in Ketchikan Alaska, we were able to combine three excursions into a one 6-hour excursion all at a relaxing pace. I did that by renting a car I could pick it up and drop it off at the dock.
If it is worth a vaction, it is worth recording it so you can revisit your good times.
- Camera Tip: Unless you consider your camera a throwaway, make sure your camera can have a UV filter attached to the lens. Some cameras will have a paste on UV filter available, others require an adapter, while some have threads on the lens. The reason is UV filters protects your lens.
- B&H photography is a great place to get specific information on cameras. If you have questions call or chat with them. They actually know something about what they sell. Their prices are close to those on AMAZON.
Photographic Equipment
- Cameras - Three basic types of cameras.
- If you are going to spend thousands of dollars on a vacation, get a camera that has optical zoom capability. The Lens and size of the image sensor determines the quality of your pictures. Compared to a professional grade camera a Bridge camera censor is typically 25% smaller, a Compact camera censor is about 60% smaller and your iPhone censor is about 85% smaller. If you only take snapshots in sunlight and do not print 8 by10 pictures, then smart phones are ok.
- Bridge Cameras – Take adequate photographs for serious armature photographers. They do not have interchangeable lens, and they have building flash. These types of cameras allow you considerable control over when taking photographs.
- Compact Cameras – commonly known as a point-and-shoot camera. They usually come with standard, automatic settings. Some have limited optical zoom features.
- Smart phone camera. None of the smart phone cameras have optical zoom capability.
- Good sources for camera and photography information:
- Good reviews and information Imaging Resource.
- Good info because I recommend a bridge camera MWest Photography Lesson 1 .
- You can purchase M West Photography’s complete course, which I recommend for those that want to learn how to take great pictures, here Photography Training.
