To Drive or Not to Drive Your RV

One of the “hot topics” around the campfire by women to other women is, “Do drive your RV?” The usual response is the male drives the RV and the female is the navigator or drives the chase vehicle. The usual responses from the women:

• “I have no interest in driving the RV.”
• “The RV (or towing vehicle) is too big.”
• “My husband would be the worst ‘back seat driver’!! He would drive me crazy!!!”

See: The RV Forum Community Women that drive RVs

While there may be traditional arrangements, it is absolutely vital that both traveling companions are comfortable and have the ability to drive your RV. Dave and I come from the boating world. Imagine if only one person knew how to operate a boat and that person fell overboard! Who would be able to rescue that person and get them to shore safely? Of course, there are differences between boating and RVing. But it is still important for both to know how to operate their RV. You never know what will happen on the road.

Before we get hate mail, let’s be clear that there are many alternatives for who is driver and navigator!

Drivers and Navigators

If there are two people traveling, generally there will be one person whose primary responsibility is to drive your RV, while the other person’s primary responsibility is to be the “navigator”. The navigator might be the one responsible for finding the next campground or the next rest area, giving a heads up to the driver about upcoming warnings on the GPS or being the second set of eyes while traveling down the road.
See our blog on How to Choose RV Campgrounds

In traveling the country, one of the things we have noticed is that there are many more women driving RVs south of the Mason-Dixon line. We can’t even surmise why, but it is glaringly obvious.

Chase Vehicles

A chase vehicle is not attached in any way to the RV, but follows the RV down the road. There are many reasons for a chase vehicle:

• You do not have a towbar system for your motorhome.
• You want an extra vehicle at your destination.
• You have a 5th wheel and you do not like to drive your double axle full-sized pick-up truck around town.
• Your chase vehicle is towing the boat or golf cart.
• You and your traveling partner don’t enjoy traveling together.
• Personal preference.

We spoke to one husband and wife team who have their 5th wheel, a full-sized pick-up truck (tow vehicle) and a car at their site. They have been full-timers for almost 5 years. She said she has NEVER ridden in the pick-up truck with her husband when he was towing because they both want to have their own vehicles at their destination.

Another couple has a motorhome, an enclosed cargo trailer and a car. They have been full-timing for about 6 years. When they started full-timing, the car went into the enclosed cargo trailer, and they would ride together in the RV. After years on the road, they have accumulated so much “stuff” they can no longer fit the car into the cargo trailer. He drives the RV and tows the cargo trailer. She is in the chase vehicle. They have not ridden together in the RV for over 3 years.

The chase car system almost always assures that one person will always drive the RV and the other person always drive the chase car.

BOTH Need to Know how to Drive your RV

Dave and I learned this “the hard way”. One November we bought a 5th wheel from a dealership. It was Maine and we weren’t going to be going camping anytime soon, so the dealership delivered the 5th wheel to our house. We ordered a new full-size pick-up truck and it was delivered in February. We called the full-sized cab and bed pick-up truck the “behemoth” because it seemed so big!

So here we were with a new 5th wheel, a new pick-up truck and because it is Maine, there was nowhere to go for months. You can imagine our anticipation for our maiden trip in May!!!

Based on our boating experiences, Dave and I had many discussions about how Dave would initially be the primary driver of the truck towing the 5th wheel. Except for a small landscaping trailer behind our John Deere lawn tractor I had never towed anything in my life! Once he felt comfortable towing the 5th wheel, then I would take my turn and get to feel comfortable, too. Just like we had done boating.

It didn’t work out the way we planned. It never does, does it?

On our maiden RV adventure we left our house and drove to a campground on the coast of Maine. It was a beautiful campsite right on ocean’s edge. It was the first weekend of the camping season and the campground owners had done a lot of upgrades, including adding more gravel to make our site more level. Dave had a bit of a struggle backing the 5th wheel into the spot as the tires on the truck sunk down about 5” in the loose gravel. Of course, Dave did a great job, we leveled up, hooked up and we were ready to relax!

We had a great campfire and cookout that night. We relaxed and just enjoyed our new adventure with the great view. Life couldn’t have been better! We had a brief discussion about moving to a new site, one without loose gravel. Dave felt confident if he had gotten the RV into the site, he could also get the 5th wheel off the site, too. Because it was such a beautiful view and we were settled, we decided to stay where we were.

With 20/20 hindsight it probably wasn’t our best decision ever!

The next day at low tide we decided to take a walk on the beach and out on the rocks that were exposed at low tide. 23 hours into our maiden trip, Dave fell on the slippery rocks and broke his right ankle in two places. Yup.

You can imagine the resulting flurry of activity! Paramedics on the beach, a rising tide, Dave getting loaded into the bed of a pick-up truck on the beach to take him to the ambulance on shore, the trip to the hospital with lights and sirens! I followed the ambulance in the behemoth, the first time I had ever driven it! The PA in the emergency department discharged him with a boot on his right ankle and told him to see his primary care physician on Monday (this was Saturday)!!!!

So off to the pharmacy for prescribed pain killers to get him through to Monday and then back to the RV for the night. Dave was able to manage the pain and hobble on crutches up the steps into the RV. Remember we are in a 5th wheel. The bathroom and bedroom were up another set of stairs, and he had had enough already! We settled into the living room for the night.

We didn’t feel comfortable with the medical care he received and wanted at least a second opinion. We knew he would have to have surgery, but we didn’t know when. We also knew we were going to have to hook up the RV to the behemoth and go home. And Dave was not going to be driving with a broken right ankle, and jacked up on pain medication.

The campground owner was wonderful. He offered to drive the truck and the RV back to our home. We said, “No thank you.” Then was as good a time as any for me to learn how to drive the behemoth with the 5th wheel.

The next morning, Dave, high on his pain killers, sat on top of the picnic table with all of the women from the campground. The women all said they didn’t know what they would do if that happened to them. They said they would never be able to hook up the RV and drive home!!

While Dave was on the picnic table, all of the men in the campground were helping me unhook the services (water, electric and sewer) and preparing the RV for hook-up. Every one of them offered to drive the truck and RV to our home. When I said no, they offered to follow us home in the event we (meaning me!) had a problem.

With lots of help from some very kind people, I was able to eventually (loose gravel and all!) hook-up the RV and drive home. To be honest, the first time was scary, but it got much easier with practice. Oh, and by the way, on the way home with me driving for the first time, with Dave high on pain killers, he was the best “back seat driver” I could have asked for!

Dave had surgery, and we continued on with our summer camping plans. Only it was me learning the process first. You never know what is going to happen. Be prepared!

We now have a motorhome and tow a Jeep. Both of us feel equally comfortable driving the motorhome and hooking up the Jeep for towing!

Take-away Point

You never know what is going to happen. If you are traveling with a companion, both of you need to be able to hook up the truck to the 5th wheel or travel trailer or the toad (towed vehicle) to the motorhome and drive your RV.

Coming soon:

There will be other blogs related to what is important for both of you to know while traveling, for example, hooking up services or how to hook up the toad. Even if only one person always does something, the other should know what to do in an emergency. We never planned on Dave breaking his ankle!

Your partners in travel,
Kathryn, Dave and Lucky
RVing Nomads
It’s a lifestyle

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