RV Lifestyle RV Podcast

Mike Wendland
  • 0.0 (0)
  • PLACES & TRAVEL
  • EVERY TWO WEEKS
RV Lifestyle RV Podcast

Celebrating the RV Lifestyle by Mike and Jennifer Wendland. Tips, travel ideas, RV news and great interviews about the RV Lifestyle.

  1. 6 HR AGO

    2025 Florida RV SuperShow Preview, RV Refrigerator Basics, Travel Advice

    This week on the RV Podcast: * A 2025 Florida RV SuperShow Preview of all the hot new RVs that will be shown at this year's gathering in Tampa * What you need to know about RV Refrigerators, solid advice from one of the top experts in the industry * All this plus the the Social Media Buzz and your questions coming up in Episode 330 of the RV Podcast You can watch the video version from our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel by clicking the player below. If you prefer an audio-only podcast, you can hear us through your favorite podcast app or listen now through the player below. The 40th anniversary of the Florida RV Supershow Happy faces on the day BEFORE the show opens... This is the 40th anniversary of the Florida RV Supershow, and representation from every major RV manufacturer, as well as hundreds of accessory booth exhibitors, will be there. Some of the country’s finest campgrounds and resorts will also have booth exhibits to show attendees the best camping opportunities found anywhere.  Plus, a huge display of camping accessories and supplies will be found in the General RV Store. The show encompasses 2 million square feet of exhibit space at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa and will feature over 1,350 brand-new RV products. To see the interactive map click HERE. See the interactive map HERE Over 450 booth exhibitors showcasing the latest and greatest RV after-market products and destinations are in Tampa this week. It opens to the public on Wednesday, Jan 15, and ends at sundown Sunday, January 19. Over 80,000 people are expected, depending, of course, on the weather, which is forecast to be dry with temps in the 60’s most days. There will be lots of new floor plans and updated models from all of the manufacturers, with lots of hype.  But the show always features introductions of brand new models and this year is no exception. New RVs to be introduced this year At last count, according to show organizers in a news release sent out over the weekend, there will be six new Class B models, two Class C introductions, two Super C introductions, five Fifth Wheel product debuts, nine new travel trailer models, one new toy hauler, and three new truck campers!  Here are just a few of the many new RVs that will be making their first appearance at the show: * The Italian-made Winghamm Class B Oasi 540.1 on the Fiat chassis will be introduced to the US market, and the company is making a big splash at the Hard Rock Casino with a press party announcement last night in which they will say this long-promised and uniquely styled van will be in production and sold in the US market by this summer * Montana will show to the public for the very first time a new Fifth Wheel with a side patio and will also show models with dedicated and quite deluxe office space aimed at those who work from the road. * Brinkley, which made its debut with Fifth Wheels three years ago at the Florida RV Supershow,  then followed up with travel trailers last year,  will this year introduce a much-anticipated new toyhauler at Tampa.

    49 min

  2. 8 JAN

    RV Show Tips, Ford Truck Recall & Dangers of Overconfidence

    This week on the RV Podcast: * It’s RV Show Season, and if you’re planning on visiting a show, we have RV show tips to save you time AND money. * If you use a late model Ford Heavy Duty truck to pull your RV there’s a major recall that you need to know about * In Mike and Jen’s storytime, the dangers of bad weather and overconfidence  * All this plus the RV News of the Week, and answers to your questions coming up in Episode 529 of the RV Podcast. You can watch the video version on our RV Lifestyle YouTube channel by clicking the player below. If you prefer an audio-only podcast, you can hear us through your favorite podcast app or listen now through the player below. RV CONVERSATION OF THE WEEK - Tips on Visiting an RV Show We've lost count of how many RV shows we've attended. So, here are our RV show tips for attending, whether this is your first RV show or your hundredth… Jennifer and I love attending RV shows. We visit and report from many of the biggest and best RV shows every year, and smaller shows, too. It's a great way for us to stay up-to-date on the latest innovations in the RV community to share with our RV Lifestyle community. We also attend RV shows because we really enjoy them! We always run into fellow RVers we've met on the road, and it's a great place to make new friends, too. The RV Show season starts in January and runs through late May. After summer break, it picks up again in September and runs until almost Thanksgiving. To see a complete month-by-month RV Show Schedule, see our calendar at https://rvlifestyle.com/rv-show-list/ The following RV show tips will help whether you're attending large RV shows known nationwide or local shows nearby. It doesn't matter the size of the show or your purpose for visiting; they will help you have the best visit possible. What to Bring You need just two things: The most important is comfortable shoes. At a big show like the Florida RV Supershow in January or the Hershey RV Show in September, you will cover a lot of ground. Four or five miles is not unusual. And you’ll want a pen or a marker, like a Sharpie. That’s for the map you’ll be using, which we will explain now.. Know the Layout Get a map! First, check online. or go online to familiarize yourself with the show layout and the location of the RVs you most want to see. Every large or regional RV show has a website and an online map you can print out. Then, study it with your pen or marker in hand. Ideally, you can do this the night before or before the doors to the show open. If that's not possible, at least do this before you walk off in a random direction. Highlight any of the must-see booths, newest models, and new products you really want to see. As you do, the most efficient path to see everything you want will reveal itself. Don't forget to factor in stopping for snacks and bathroom breaks! Mapping this out can save LOTS of time. In fact… Plan Each Day the Night Before If you are attending one of the big RV shows that you can't see in a day, I highly recommend you plan each day the night before. Take your map and pull up the show's website to review the special events each day,

    39 min

  3. 1 JAN

    2025 RV Travel Goals: Ideas, Tips, and Help

    This week on the RV Podcast: * We’re On the Road Again: We share our 2025 RV Travel Plans and Goals. Maybe you can get some ideas for your RV trips, too. * By popular demand, we bring back the Mike and Jen’s Story Time segment this week, focussing on our trip to Plains GA., a while back, where we encountered Jimmy Carter. As the nation celebrates the former Predsident’s 100-year life, we remember a sweet encounter with a very decent man. * All this plus the Social Media Buzz, the RV News of the Week, and your questions coming up in Episode 528 of the RV Podcast. You can watch the video version from our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel by clicking the player below. If you prefer an audio-only podcast, you can hear us through your favorite podcast app or listen now through the player below. Click the CC logo on the right side of the player, and you can follow along in a word-for-word transcript of the podcast as it plays. This podcast is being released on New Year's Day 2025, and we want to start out by wishing you a very happy New Year. The RVCommunity online forum is now Ad-Free  We are also very excited because our RVCommunity.com is now a private, ad-free online haven for passionate RVers like you. As of Jan 1 it is member’s only. That’s for the online community. This Podcast, our RV LifestyleYouTube Channel, Blog, daily emails, Facebook Page and Group, and all our other social accounts will always be free and open to anyone.  But for an exclusive, ad-free experience with the most passionate RVers around, RVCommunity.com is the place to be. You can Join now! AT least check it out at RVCommunitycom - there are so many perks and advantages that were we to start mentioning them we’d take up the entire podcast. So please, check it out. Just go to RVCommunity.com We’d love to have you be a part of it. It’s hard to believe it is now the year 2025. There is always an excitement about a new year. So many new possibilities, places to go, people to meet, new experiences, and adventures awaiting. Big Arctic Blast with Snow is Coming! We’ve been busy this past week prepping our RV for our first big trip of the year. After a bunch of snowstorms in Southwestern Michigan between Christmas and today, the weather has been abnormally warm for this time of year so as we've cleaned and started to pack the RV up, it’s been comfortable. The snow has all melted and the inside of the RV has been quite warm. But wouldn't you know, as we get ready to hit the road next week, we have a winter blast headed our way, with frigid temperatures returning, along with snow and bad weather. So we are watching the weather and hoping to avoid a repeat of what happened to us last year at this time when we had to get a heavy-duty tow truck to help get the RV out of the snow in our front yard. The forecast is not looking good for this year. AccuWeather meteorologists are saying that drastically colder air from the Arctic will invade the Central, Southern and Eastern states and could set up a stormy pattern with areas of substantial snow and ice for much of the first half of Jan...

    39 min

  4. 18/12/2024

    What’s Ahead? Our Honest, Unfiltered Predictions on 2025 RV Camping and Travel

    This week on the RV Podcast: * We share our no-holds-barred predictions on 2025 RV Camping and Travel. We’ll tell you what to expect and identify 10 trends that will impact your RV Lifestyle in 2025. * Plus the Social Media Buzz, RV News of the Week and your questions coming up in Episode #527 of the RV Podcast You can watch the video version from our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel by clicking the player below. If you prefer an audio-only podcast, you can hear us through your favorite podcast app or listen now through the player below. Click the CC logo on the right side of the player, and you can follow along in a word-for-word transcript of the podcast as it plays. RV Conversation of the Week - 2025 RV Camping and Travel This is the time of year when we look ahead to the next RV and Camping Season, and we give our predictions of the top trends that we think will characterize the new year for RVers. * Camping Fees will keep rising - Inflation has really hit the campground industry. Its not that unusual to find nightly full hookup fees in many private campgrounds to be i  the $70 range. Even state parks are upping their rates. And for weekends and holidays, dynamic pricing, which raises prices to meet demand takes the fees to budget-busting levels, * Road and infrastructure repairs and construction will cause more traffic jams - Our nation's roads are in worse shape than last year. We know major repairs will disrupt stretches virtually every major north-south and east-west route in the country… way too many for us to list here. Some, like the emergency repairs to I-40 in North Carolina and Tennesee from damage caused by Hurricane Helene, will result in a major closure expected to last until September. But many of the major interstate repairs are multi-year projects with resulting lane closures and massive traffic jams. * The sad fact is that bad roads will get worse before they get better. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that through 2025, the United States has funded only about 56 percent of its needed infrastructure spending. That means 44% of the roads needing repairs in 2025 won’t get fixed next year. So it becomes even more important for RVers to carefully plan their routes and ways to Detroit around the bottlenecks. * Many State and National Parks will be shut down or have limited space because of repairs and upgrades. There is so much work to be done there. Most state parks are in dire need of repairs. And 2025 is going to see more disruption than ever before. * The very controversial and complicated California Clean Air regulations that have threatened to disrupt the sales of new large motorhomes in five states there will continue to be controversial but the public outcry has been so overwhelming that several states have backed adjusted their timetables or are considering exemptions for big RV motorhomes. The bottom line is that we expect that in the end, not much will change for the sale of these big RVs in 2025, though we’re going to continue hearing a lot of conceding information about it until the bureaucrats and the RV industry reach some sort of compromise - which we’re sure they will. * The RV Industry itself, will have a a bit better year than 2024. Not great, but not as stagnant as 2024 has been. That's if bank interest rates keep falling or don't start rising again. For consumers, 2025 is shaping up to be more competitive, with manufacturers and dealers more willing to deal. 2025 should be a bit more of a buyer’s market.

    29 min

  5. 11/12/2024

    How to Handle RV Warranty Disputes

    This week on Episode 526 of the RV Podcast: How to Deal with RV Warranty Disputes - perhaps the industry's best-kept secret. You can watch the video version from our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel by clicking the player below. If you prefer an audio-only podcast, you can hear us through your favorite podcast app or listen now through the player below. Click the CC logo on the right side of the player, and you can follow along in a word-for-word transcript of the podcast as it plays. Mike & Jen's Florida RV Supershow Meet-Up Dates and Times As usual, we'll be attending this year's Florida RV Supershow in Tampa, Florida, January 15-19, 2024. Also, as usual, we've booked some time to meet our friends and followers. This year, we have two on the schedule: Meet us Thursday, Jan 16, and Friday, Jan 17 at Booth 770, the Montana Display at the show. We can't wait to take some photos and get to know everyone. We’ve got something exciting to share about RVCommunity.com – the online space we created to bring RVers like YOU together! Over the past year, it’s become the go-to hub for trip ideas, tips, and troubleshooting advice. Now, we’re making it even better! Our Big Announcement! Starting January 1, 2025, RVCommunity.com will become private, ad-free, and spam-free – a premium, members-only experience for RV lovers. Think of it like a gated campground online, where you can connect without distractions. And here’s what’s new: "Mastering the RV Lifestyle" at-home study course – exclusive to members! Exclusive campout gatherings – we’re hosting THREE next year, each 5 days long! A clean, ad-free space to explore, learn, and connect with other RVers. Here's a video explaining it all: Membership plans start at less than the cost of a cup of coffee a month! Learn more and join now at RVCommunity.com And if you are already a member of our Community, explore your options at RVCommunity.com/plans Join us today and make sure you’re part of the ultimate RVing experience in 2025! Don’t miss out on all the perks, events, and fun waiting for you. Tag a friend who loves RVing and let them know! RV CONVERSATION OF THE WEEK How to Handle RV Warranty Disputes We regularly hear warranty repair horror stories from our audience, be it someone writing to us or sharing on our social media platforms like Facebook or our RVCommunity.com. Our hearts break for these people who dream for years of RVing, pour their savings into a new unit, only to find their camping season interrupted by things breaking constantly under warranty, long waits for those repairs, and worse. Recently, we learned of a program that may be the industry's best-kept secret: The RV Warranty Dispute Program. This FREE program provides an avenue for any RV owner whose unit is constantly breaking while under manufacturer warranty. This program matches RVers with attorneys specialized in RVs to mediate disputes so RV owners can get their rigs fixed and maybe even get a whole new unit if warranted.

    41 min

  6. 04/12/2024

    RV News Update: Now they say it’s not a “Ban” but may just be Motorhome “Unavailability”

    This week on the RV Podcast: * We answer all your questions about the controversial clean air regulations in California that are threatening to limit the availability of all large motorhomes in a bunch of states starting next year. * Is an all-electric, no water RV toilet right for you? Maybe… we’ll tell you the pros and cons  * Plus, the Social Media Buzz and your questions coming up in Episode #525 of the RV Podcast You can watch the video version from our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel by clicking the player below. Click below for an audio player: Weekly Update As we’ve been reporting, a half dozen states have stringent clean air regulations threatening the availability of gas-and diesel-powered RVs built after Jan 1, 2025.  California, Washington, New York, Oregon, Massachusetts, and New Jersey are the states affected… though there is some indication this week that a few of those states may push back the effective date. This all stems from California's Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation, which, aims to increase the adoption of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by requiring manufacturers of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to sell a growing percentage of ZEVs each year. This initiative has raised concerns within the RV industry about its potential impact on motorhome sales. Now, these rules are not directed at RV Companies, per se, but at the companies that provide the chassis on which those motorhomes are built. We’re talking all motorhomes, by the way, Class B, C, and A… and chassis using gas and diesel engines. On Tuesday Dec. 3, the Recreational Vehicles Industry Association (the RVIA)  held a webinar to try and aleve industry and consumer confusion and concern - you could say near panic - about these very complicated regulations. The key takeaway is the industry, which had been claiming that these clean air regulations would create a motorhome sales ban, has now backed way off on the use of the word “ban.” Instead, they are now saying after meetings with California officials that while sales and registrations of new motorhomes in California and the other states are not prohibited after Jan 1… the regulations “may affect the availability of motorhomes there." We’ve been extensively reporting this for a month now, and as the story has been picked up by major news outlets and the mainstream press, it’s become big news.  Despite Tuesday’s webinar and meetings between the RVIA and California clean air officials, there’s probably even more confusion now.  So in this episode of the podcast, I want to try and sort it all out by answering the many questions I can about what is now is no longer called the California Motorhome Ban by the RVIA but instead is now called a threat to the “availability” of motorhomes. At the end of this update, I’ll tell you of two more complications involving the RV industry and California’s clean air regulators. So stay tuned for that. And Jennifer will join me after this update for the rest of the podcast. So. here are the questions I’m getting the most. Q: Does the ACT regulation explicitly ban the sale of new motorhomes in California? A: No, the ACT regulation does not explicitly ban new motorhome sales. The word ban is not used. And the RVIA, as I just noted, has backed away from using that word. However, there are a lot of people who are saying the pr...

    45 min

  7. 20/11/2024

    More Confuson over Motorhome Ban

    This week on the RV Podcast: * There's more confusion over the so-called Motorhome Ban: The California Air Resources Board now denies there is a ban coming in 2025. The RV industry still insists there is. * RVers are urgently needed in North Carolina…to help those displaced by the hurricane to learn about their temporary RV housing. * In our RV Conversation of the Week: 7 Red flags about bad camping neighbors that may make you want to leave a campground. * All this plus the RV News of the Week and your questions coming up in Episode #524 of the RV Podcast. You can watch the video version from our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel by clicking the player below. If you prefer an audio-only podcast, you can hear us through your favorite podcast app or listen now through the player below. Before we get to the confusion over the so-called California Motorhome ban, I want to share this email requesting help from RVers to those still homeless from this fall’s flooding in North Carolina from Hurricane Helene: “We are having safe housing problems for hundreds of families in the area of the Southern Appalachians after the historical damages from hurricane Helene.  We are helping people find temporary housing and RVs that are being donated from all over the country.  We are desperately in need of people who understand RVs and all of the different things someone needs to know when they first move into one. Especially winter living and propane safety and maintenance.  Because these units are being donated we do not have people who always understand even the very basics about the campers they are picking up.  My goal in sharing this with you today is asking if there would be a way that we could ask for volunteers within the RV Lifestyle Community who might be close enough to be of assistance to hundreds of families in this difficult situation.” Thank You - Janet Hensley If you are able to help, you can contact her directly at themissjanet@gmail.com . Email from the California Air Resources Board Now, let's get to the follow-up over the controversial issue of what is being called the California Motorhome Ban.  We’ve been extensively reporting on this for the past several weeks, and this week, I want to share an email I received from the California Air Resources Board. Basically, they say there is no “ban” that prohibits the sale of diesel RVs in California. In fact, the spokesperson says “False claims asserting otherwise are outright lies.” But it’s all semantics. The email reads like bureaucratic gobblegook and uses a lot of words and regulatory language to basically say manufacturers must meet all the requirements of the state’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule. If they don’t meet those requirements, which involve meeting zero emission benchmarks for having zero emission vehicles, then they can’t sell. That, at least according to RV dealers, suppliers, manufacturers and the RV Industry Association - indeed is, for all practical purposes… a ban. The RV Industry Assessment Here’s the industry assessment: “In 2025, California's Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation, aimed at promoting zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs),

    34 min

  8. 13/11/2024

    More Bad News! 2025 California Motorhome Ban even includes Class Bs

    This week on the RV Podcast: * There’s more bad news about the 2025 California Motorhome Ban, which even includes Class Bs, as well as some Heavy Duty Trucks * A whole bunch of new RV Recalls was just announced * And what to do during the RV Off-Season * All this plus the RV News of the Week, Social Media Buzz, and your questions coming up in Episode # 523 of the RV Podcast You can watch the video version from our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel by clicking the player below. If you prefer an audio-only podcast, you can hear us through your favorite podcast app or listen now through the player below. Click the CC logo on the right side of the player, and you can follow along in a word-for-word transcript of the podcast as it plays. 2025 California Motorhome Ban includes Class Bs, even some Heavy Duty Trucks There has been massive fallout over the very controversial regulations that will, in effect, prohibit the sale of new 2025 motorhomes weighing over 8,500 pounds in California and five other states starting Jan 1. Those other states are Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. Five other states are also slated to enact the same regulations in 2026 and 2027 - Vermont, Colorado, Maryland, New Mexico, and Rhode Island.  We reported extensively on this last week, and if all this is news to you I urge you to go back and listen to Episode 422, where we go into great detail about it. There’s just too many new developments to rehash it right now. Outrage and Dire Warnings... As news of this decision by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and its Advanced Clean Truck Regulation has spread over the past week, so has outrage and dire warnings. The RV Industry Association, the RVIA, which represents RV manufacturers and suppliers, issued a detailed report on this situation, which has reached a crisis stage for the industry. “In 2025, California's Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation, aimed at promoting zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), will create a near-total “ban” on motorhome sales in the state, as well as in additional states that follow the California Air Resource Board (CARB) regulations. While the regulation does not specifically ban motorhome sales, the ACT regulation mandates manufacturers of medium and heavy-duty vehicles to sell an increasing percentage of ZEVs each year. This has led chassis manufacturers to halt sales of traditional internal combustion engine chassis for motorhomes in California, stemming from the lack of ZEV chassis suitable for motorhomes.” In explaining the situation, the RVIA addressed one misconception, that it only applied to supersized Class A diesel motorhomes. This ban affects just about all motorhomes. It says: “While the majority of the attention thus far has focused on Class A and Class C diesel motorhomes, the regulation, with a few exceptions, applies to all medium-duty or heavy-duty vehicles with combustion engines. Any non-exempted on-road vehicle over 8,500 GVWR is included is covered by the regulation, including Class B motorhomes most of which have a GVWR over that amount. “Vehicles exempted from the ACT regulation include emergency vehicles, military tactical vehicles, transit vehicles subject to the Innovative Clean Trans...

    42 min
See All (465)

Hosts & Guests

About

Celebrating the RV Lifestyle by Mike and Jennifer Wendland. Tips, travel ideas, RV news and great interviews about the RV Lifestyle.

Information

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada