YOU IDIOTS! An RV is the perfect way for that family of four to tour the USA. There are many sizes of RVs, and some of the newer ones are fuel efficient. RVing beats motelling to pieces. You have the same bed (sans bedbugs) every night, you don’t have to pack, unpack, pack ad infinitum. You eat what you want, when you want. The bathroom is always as clean as you want it, and very close. RV camps are fun for kids and adults. And, it takes about a day to learn how to drive the RV well. Don’t be fooled by what you’ve seen on the road, you’ll see much worse driving from automobiles. The trucks respect you.
Boy, you guys should know when you’re out of your league.
Who idiots ???
background reference ?
Before I know whether I am being insulted or not, could you kindly clarify two issues for us?
Specifically to whom are you referring when you say, “you idiots”, and “you guys”?
What is this post referring to?
Is this just one more stream of consciousness post, as we have–unfortunately–started to be exposed to more and more frequently, or does this relate to something that we should be aware of?
I’m not familiar with what this post is about but the thing that sticks out to me in this post is why is a family of four is going on tour for a year and keeping their kids in school. (unless home schooled of course)
To be honest, an RV is going to feel mighty cramped after a few months much less a year.
Ditto for the hotel/motel/greasy spoon restaurant scenario.
I have a vague recollection of an RV post from maybe a couple weeks ago and I think it originated from a caller on the show. I didn’t hear the show but it was something about someone looking to drive around the country & RVs were part of it.
So I’d imagine that nelsonwi is one of those posters who thinks that they clicked on the link to send an email to the brothers, but ended up on the discussion board instead. So I’d assume that the “idiots” are Tom & Ray.
As I mentioned in another thread - mostly in jest, but only mostly - maybe its time to require a training program before anyone is allowed to use the internet for actually trying to communicate with other humans.
I suspect that this was on the radio show and the OP is referring to the Magliozzi brothers. But eve if the reference were to the regular list of suspects that haunt this board, why would you care? Anyone that comes on this way reduces the list of serious responders dramatically.
Or there’s the Honda Element take on the vanagan. Might need a trailer to haul gear and luggage, but it could work…
This forum is for discussing items from the show, is it not? It’s not the general or auto repair discussions. “Discussing the show” would require that you listened to the show and had some knowledge about it. The OP didn’t click on this link by accident or think they were sending email. If you look at the Email and Chat menu, it lists 3 items. “Discuss the Show” is one of them. Maybe people who don’t listen to the show should avoid this forum and stick with the other 2.
I don’t think the OP meant anything negative with their post. They were just in the same spirit as Click and Clack with “knucklehead” comments. It was an attempt at humor.
So what’s your point? Its either very poor communication or a complete misunderstanding of where they were & what they were doing.
If it is the call they recommended a Van and pop up camper, I could not agree with car talk more. Driving and parking an RV in any city can be difficult. Leaving the pop up camper and driving and parking a van in more cities is probable. Then there is the gas mileage of an rv, and a van. Sure it varies but a winnebago might get 8 mpg while a van towing a pop up should get at least 16 mpg.
If you can’t figure out who’s being addressed, it’s probably Tom and Ray.
If it’s in a forum called “The Show” it probably has to do with the show.
If you don’t know whether you’re being insulted or not, you’re probably not.
My point is that the OP was communicating just fine. I understood everything they said and they posted in the proper forum. They obviously do know how to use a computer. I don’t understand comments posted here that say they are in the wrong forum.
People that obviously don’t listen to the show (that excludes you BTW since you were familiar with the story) are posting in this forum, telling people they are in the wrong forum when they are actually in the correct one. This is the forum for discussing the calls to the show. I agree with you that the post, although meant to convey humor, was somewhat misleading.
I think the web site admins need to make some improvements here so that people realize they aren’t speaking directly with the program’s hosts.
You are right that the admin needs to make improvements though this does come up from time to time & it doesn’t seem so likely to happen.
However, I totally disagree that the communication was just fine or that the OP really understood what they were doing. No one here said that this was posted in the wrong forum, and that’s not at all what I was saying in case that’s how it was interpreted.
What the OP did is analogous to this: a week or two ago you overheard a conversation between two people and you thought one was an idiot for some reason. Its now a week or two later. You see a group of people in a coffee shop who also heard the conversation. You burst into the coffee shop and abruptly say “YOU IDIOTS!” - and then start blathering about something that was discussed a week or two ago. Sorry - but this is not good communication.
You have to establish context rather than just starting somewhere in the middle of your own stream of consciousness - especially if you want have “YOU IDIOTS!” in big capital letters.
The biggest expenses are going to be:
- Lodging
- Food
- Fuel
So if you’re looking to stretch your dollars, you need to find ways to minimize these to reasonable levels.
If you can carry / drive / haul your lodging you have the option of staying in your place or renting something local for days or weeks.
Food, eaten at restaurants can be quite a drain. Carry a camp stove and small refrigerator or ice chest and you can save a lot of money.
As far as fuel, you need to find something with outstanding MPG.
The thing I think fits this bill well is a Sprinter (Dodge, Freigthtliner, Mercedes) Loads of room and really excellent fuel mileage (diesel engine). Big, but not unwieldy.
If you can’t afford the RV conversion unit, consider a passenger version, pull out all but two rows of seats and outfit the back with a couple of places to sleep / sit (futon/bunk), storage (wardrobe and small pantry) and said refrigerator/stove. Campgrounds can be relatively inexpensive, have water and electricity and toilets with showers.
We family camped and vacationed for years with a tent or pop up camper. While they fit our needs well, they are a hassle to set-up and take down at each stop, especially in foul weather. Being able to pull into a spot and simply set the parking break and plug in an extension cord is very attractive.
If you choose and RV, think about where and how you’ll anchor the car seats for your two children. One of the couches or dinette seats may have seat belts, but they’re probably just screwed to the frame (which could be wood) of the seat. A slide in camper on a 4-door pickup gives you proper seats and seat belts for all concerned, as would towing a trailer.
A van conversion might be the right compromise - compact but okay for occasional camping, and you should be able to find one with factory seat belts for four.