Are You RV Ready?: Novice to full-timer, a guide to all things RV. Paperback – May 10, 2017

My wife and I have flirted with the idea of buying an RV for several years now. We have gone to dealers, and a couple of the roadshows that travel around the country, but have never been confident enough to actually make an offer. A purchase of this magnitude is one that should not be made on a whim. I have done quite a bit of research along the way. I have read books and magazines, listened to friends and acquaintances, and watched a few of the RV TV specials. It is all quite alluring in deed. At the end of the day though, investing in an RV of any size is a huge life changing decision. Do not make that decision without reading this book!The author took this incredibly complex topic and presented in a way that is enjoyable to read. There are a couple of sections that, at first seem completely overwhelming and too technical for the novice to comprehend. The author did an excellent job of explaining why it is imperative for an RV owner to understand them, and provided details sufficient to fully comprehend them. I never new tires and gross vehicle weight would be so involved. At the beginning of the chapter on weighing your RV I thought there would be no way I would understand it, but the author did a great job of explaining this topic. He included detailed worksheets too! By the end of the chapter, I felt confident in my understanding.What I liked best about this book is how the author was able to write the book in such a way as to relate to his intended audience. I do believe that anyone "Novice to full-timer" will find this book informative and helpful. Often times, guides like this play too heavily to one end of the spectrum. This book is balanced, a beginner will not get lost and I think there is enough expert level information to keep a seasoned RVer engaged and entertained. I think the anecdotes presented in the book will relate to a lot of RV owners, and probably make quite few wish this book had been published before they bought their first RV. The writing also made me feel like I was having a friendly Q&A session with a very well informed "expert". Well done!Now, at the end of the day this book essentially convinced me that my wife and I are not "RV Ready." This is a very good thing. This book basically saved me a ton of money and heartache. I believe that many people who are RV Ready will be better prepared to make an informed investment after reading this book. The section on pricing, and the very detailed Pre-Delivery Inspection checklists will most certainly save you money, time, and a lot of aggravation.

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For several years my wife and I have kicked around the idea of owning an RV but never felt comfortable enough to make the leap. This was due mostly to a lack of understanding of what owning an RV really meant. Visiting dealerships and talking to sales people that promise rainbows and unicorns every time you start heading down the highway with your new RV never rang completely true with us. Enter "Are you RV ready?", a real eye-opening experience to all the joy, work, and sometimes pain that comes with RV ownership.The book is an absolute pleasure to read. While there is no shortage of technical information, it reads like a conversation between you and a long time RV owner sitting in a lawn chair under the awning of their fifth wheel.For prospective RV owners: Walking into a dealership armed with the information provided in this book will certainly make for a much better transaction and help you avoid any potential pitfalls that come along with being an RV newbie.For current RV owners: After purchasing an additional copy of this book for my father a long time RV owner of multiple configurations. I can say with the utmost confidence that the included checklists alone are worth the price of the book. In addition, I guarantee reading this book will provide you multiple "aha moments" that will further your enjoyment of RV ownership.Perhaps the best review of this book came from my father who said, "I wish I had this book when I bought my last RV."

While many chapters of this book would be valuable to RV owners and experienced RV folks, I have no doubt, the core audience for this book would be a person looking to buy their first RV. Someone who is pretty sure they want one but hasn't made the leap yet.This is me! I am VERY close to making the leap, but I'm a fairly deliberate person when it comes to expensive purchases that may been marred by impulsiveness. So I research alot. There are certainly tons of great resources and some really helpful videos on youtube. But to capture all the useful stuff out there, I'd need to bookmark twenty articles on the internet and dozens of videos. But ARE YOU RV READY hits all the needed basic topics from selecting to buying to inspecting to upkeep. The inspection checklist is frighteningly thorough... If you read the list and feel you can get through 90% of it, you may be ready for an RV.Frankly, this book is a great reality check. It doesn't discourage you, per se...but it does a great job of giving you an idea of what you might be in for. A young couple happily sharing their tips on you tube is one thing...but this book is grounded and thorough and daunting.The author (for whom this appears to be a labor of love) sprinkles the book with humor, but mostly it is quite serious. It's a decent sized book. Don't get it if you're just dabbling...you should be pretty serious. My only quibbles with the book are relatively minor. I wish it had more photos, graphs, etc. And I wish an editor had a chance to go through and correct a few punctuation errors that occurred regularly. Finally, while having a hard copy of the book is great, I wish I could also have a Kindle version. A sort of "always have it handy" thing. To me, that's the best testimony to this book; the fact that I would pay for it again to have an electronic version. (Heck, I'd even take a well narrated audiobook version too!)Very much recommended.