Rv Navigator

On the road again! We dusted off the MH & hit the road for a short trip to Northern Michigan this month. Too early for fall colors but we enjoyed the shores of Lake Michigan and close by state parks. This month we interview new owners of a Noovo class B RV van. This small RV is in contrast to our large MH (44 ft vs 19ft). Which style of RV travel is for you? This plus many other RV topics are on the agenda for this month, so join us for some lively discussion.

Another month at home so no first hand travel experiences however we are always thinking of travel and its benefits. To that end we found an interesting article with issues for travelers to contemplate. Is having citizens travel a benefit to society and the US specifically? Hear our thoughts on this weighty question. I have been a long time subscriber to Consumer Reports because I like to have impartial information when deciding on purchases. However CR does not test RV specific products like black tank treatments, so where do you go for unbiased info about RV related products. We have some ideas. Other topics like how to keep your rig catching fire also on our agenda this month, so for these any many other catch up topics, take a listen to this months episode.

The shoulder surgery recovery is going slow, so we were correct in not planning any travels for the summer. Even after 8 weeks of in activity, Martha’s shoulder is only slowly healing. So we focus on RV memories and updates to the many RV topics that we love to cover. What’s new with Starlink (actually alot), making smoothies with a new machine, and some luggage tips from our travels. You’ll want to listen to this episode for the many RV topics on the agenda.

Yup, it is shoulder season for us as Martha recovers from shoulder replacement surgery. The operation was successful, but it limits our travels to staying home for at least 6 weeks including all of July. We expect a 100% recovery within a year. But now, we take the time to reflect on many RV topics that have been percolating in the RV Navigator inbox hopper for some time. The latest from Starlink, new AC units, towing capacities, and selected disasters make up this month itinerary. Join us for a summer RV romp in the digital domain.

Who eats gold? It is a thing, and your RV navigators had the opportunity to give gold a try during their trip to Japan. This plus the return back to Chicago via a repositioning cruise is on this months agenda.

Yes, we’ve learned alot while on tour in Japan. As a tourist, It is unlike any other country we’ve visited. Tokyo, our first stop, is one of the largest cities in the world and you’d think that one city is like another, but Tokyo is very different. Of course the language with over 2500 characters is impossible for us to use thus we have to rely on a few English signs and our phones with navigation. You’ll hear our extended impressions of this world class city as we share the our trials and tribulations while touring the city.

We’re celebrating 50 years of RVing and 20 years of podcasting in the 56 years of marriage in 2026. Yes, we started young and are going tn to old age with just as much gusto for RVing as when we started. We’ve RVed in 49 states (and I don’t mean we just drove through), most of Mexico and Canada. This in addition to extended RVing adventures in South Africa and New Zealand. With this experience, we thought that we’d share 10 essential things that we’ve learned about RVing that we hope will help others with less experience. We are not full timers, but we do travel for several months each year so our tips are focused on longer term travels - but apply to any destination. We hope that this sparks some lively conversation on our FB page. What are your favorite RV tips and tricks for making the journey more enjoyable?

A month in FL at our new seasonal home with an RV garage. However, the RV spent much of the month in the paint shop getting some body work after an incident on the Alaska trip last fall. She has been restored and it ready to travel once again. As heppens when moving into new living quarters, outfitting them is a time consuming task. Home automation is coming of age, so new home gear needs to be automation compatible and Matter makes it happen. What? Well take a listen to get a better understanding of what this is about. TAir travel in the near future? Then you’ll want to hear about our experiences at the airport on oiur return from Mexxico. And yes we had a run-in with Mark Zukerberg. All of this an lots of RV info in this episdoe of the RV Navigator.

A busy month for your RV Navigators as make our FL home ours and take a vacation from our vacation. Yes, we are traveling without the RV this month as we make our way South to Mexico. We are checking off another couple of bucket list items off the list. We travel to Mexico City to start the trip to view the Monarch butterfly migration. Every year millions of butterflies make their way south to the mountains outside of Mexico city for no apparent reason. After six days of this adventure, we headed to the Baja Sur to board an expedition ship to seek the whales. More logical than the butterflies, they migrate to this area to give birth and mate before heading back to Alaska to feed in the summer. With 14 naturalist on board we had daily lectures and presentations about the local wildlife (there was more than whales to see), flora and fauna. We have not forgotten that this is an RV podcast so we have several RV topics on the agenda for this episode. What’s on your bucket list?

A very happy New Year 2026 to all of our loyal listeners. We hope that you have a very prosperous New Year. Our new year begins in at our new house in FL as we traveled (via car) back south at Christmas. This month mostly was spent enjoying family and friends in the holiday season. Our travels consisted of heading North and then back South where we’ll spend most of the winter. This episode is our annual NYE episode that includes some champaign and noise makers - so beware of unexpected frivolity and loud sounds as we ring in the new year in style.

Your RV Navigators want to wish all of our listeners a very merry Christmas and a prosperous new year. For your favorite RVer, we’ve included some gift suggestions in case your still shopping. This month has been a busy one for us, as we travel to Churchill, Manitoba to see the polar bears in their nature environment. This was not an RV trip as we traveled by plane 1300 miles North to Hudson Bay, home to the Polar bears. Viewing is done in tundra rovers. These are large bus like vehicle that are designed for rough terrain with huge wheels and special suspension/engine. We were luck to get within feet of the bears for some great photos. This was a 6 day adventure so we were back home in IL before we knew it ready to head back to FL for a couple of weeks. Now after TG we are once again back up north ready too enjoy the holiday season in snow.

We’ve been on the road 85 days for the round trip to Alaska, but finally we returned home without incident. The final leg of the trip allowed us to visit Jasper and Banff for 6 days before making the final push to Chicago. This month we had a final exit interview with Chris and Jean from an earlier episode as they share their impressions of the trip.

We’ve ended up back in Dawson Creek where we started the RV caravan 63 days ago. After a brief introduction by your RV Navigators, we invite fellow caravaners to join in the debriefing. This is the same group that shared their hopes for the trip 2 months ago. See what they think about this buck list destination in this months episode. **The episode webpage will be slow in appearing this month due to some technical issues with the web site, sorry.

At this midpoint in our Alaska caravan, we draw on the experiences of our fellow travelers to broaden the Alaska perspective. We are joined in interviews with Chris & Jean and Kevin and Jennifer to gain their insights into Alaska caravanning. As one of our guest commented, we’ve all ODed on beauty. Alaska is lived up to expectations with many stunning experiences for all in our group.

Alaska 25 is this months adventure. We begin our 2 month long caravan to the 50th state. After driving over 2000 miles we are at the beginning of the Alaska highway that is the gateway to Alaska. The podcast will change a bit for the next couple of months as we try to give listeners a picture of the Alaska experience. This is a bucket list trip for many so we are encompassing as many viewpoints as we can to give a accurate picture of the sight and sounds of Alaska. Joins us and our companions as we describe this travel adventure

As we plan for our upcoming 3 month long motorhome trip to Alaska and back, we thought that it might be helpful to share some of our planning ideas. We have done several extended trips over the years, so the planning has become second nature, but many listeners may be contemplating such a trip, so here are some of our tips and tricks for making the trip go smoothly. We will be taking you with us as we travel the 10,000 miles r/t to Alaska. Martha will be blogging daily as we make the journey. Her blog can be found at mytripjournal.com/wiseman63. You can also look back at all of our recent trips both RV, ocean and lan

Ending our April cruise in Maui (Hawaii), we headed home to Chicago for the duration of the spring. We did take a short flight to Orlando to close on our new (to us) house at the Great Outdoors (TGO) that will be our winter home starting in 2026. This house has a nice RV port which will give our aging MH a covered parking space during the off months. We chat about many RVing topics as our attention turns to RVing in the summer. Cooling your RV and fridge topics as well as the latest tech issues are discussed in this episode.

This month finds us sail the warm waters of the South Pacific around Tahiti. We share our many impressions of this area and compare it to our next destination, Hawaii. Many assume that Tahiti and Hawaii are similar destinations but in fact they are significantly different. Hear our impressions and suggestions for Polynesian travel. Of course RVing is always on our minds, so we share new websites, articles and topic of interest from the RVing world.. Project Kuiper (Amazon) is about to launch a competitor to Starlink thus offering world wide internet via portable satellite receivers. Tune in for our take on these interesting topics.

We never intended to buy a house in FL, but this month we ended up with a new home for the motorhome at our RV resort in Titusville, FL. We explain the decision and details in this month’s episode as move ahead on buying this new abode in FL. The sale is not final until mid-May, so we headed North to Chicago just in time to leave on our next adventure, a cruise in Tahiti and Hawaii. The weather being what it is, the MH needed to be winterized while it sits in the cold in Chicago., We’ll not be taking it to its new home until November (2025) due to our upcoming Alaska adventure which starts in July.

Just another month stuck in FL -LOL. Your RV Navigators have had several interesting RV projects in the works from getting new RV insurance to looking a new hot skin devices for RVs to speculating about the staff cuts at National Parks. What does the new T-Mobile Starlink direct to cell service mean for the average cell user? These an many other topics are covered in this months episode. Join us and then make a comment.