{"id":3377,"date":"2018-06-28T14:05:27","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T18:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=3377"},"modified":"2020-10-05T15:55:23","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T19:55:23","slug":"hit-the-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/hit-the-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Hit The Road"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeremy Puglisi \u201901 and his wife, Stephanie, bought their first RV on a whim after they decided staying in hotels with their young children wasn\u2019t fun. They were hooked instantly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could put the kids to sleep, step outside, have a campfire and reconnect as a couple,\u201d says Jeremy. \u201cThen the next day, we\u2019d do it all over again and have a great time with the kids at the campground. We quickly realized taking family vacations in our RV was something we wanted to do very, very regularly.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve done just that, and in the process have built a mini media empire around that passion.<\/p>\n

Jeremy says they started blogging about their experiences early on because they like writing and thought family and friends would enjoy reading it. But they built an audience beyond that group, and increased followers exponentially when they began podcasting about four years ago.<\/p>\n

\n

At the time, most RV-related content was created for and by retirees, says Jeremy. \u201cThere was really no content out there for busy, working families who own an RV and use it recreationally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listeners loved it, and the Puglisis soon had major companies in the RV industry sponsoring their shows. Those relationships led to freelance writing opportunities for the Puglisis and, eventually, to Penguin Random House, where publishers asked them to write Idiot\u2019s Guide: RV Vacations<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Today, Jeremy and Stephanie produce three RV-related podcasts, work as spokespeople for the industry\u2019s \u201cGo RVing \u201d global advertising campaign, and have appeared on nearly 50 local and national TV talk shows.<\/p>\n

They have over 50,000 followers on their various social media channels, and continue to write for various publications (pick up the July issue of Trailer Life<\/em> magazine for their latest cover story).<\/p>\n

Their website, rvfta.com, provides a wealth of information, reviews, and other content for RVers of all experience levels.<\/p>\n

We asked Jeremy to share some tips for readers thinking about taking their first RV vacation this summer:<\/p>\n

Start In A Cabin<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\nMost campgrounds rent them, and if you\u2019ve never been camping before, it\u2019s a good way to see what the camp- ground experience is like, says Jeremy. \u201cThey\u2019re very social places, and most people love that, but it\u2019s not for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rent Before Buying<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\nYou can get your feet wet without spending a lot of money, says Jeremy. There are numerous peer-to-peer sites to help you find local vehicles for rent, almost like Airbnb for the RV world. (He recommends Outdoorsy.com.) If you do buy, stay within your budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always tell people: The family in the $500 popup camper is having just as much fun as the family in the million-dollar motorhome,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Kick The Tires<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\nBetter yet, get a gauge. \u201cOne of the most common roadside accidents people have is a blowout because they didn\u2019t monitor the tire pressure,\u201d says Jeremy.\u201cA little boring, but super, super important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keep It Private<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\n\u201cWe love state parks, and highly recommend camping there, but if it\u2019s your first trip you might want to go to a privately owned chain, like KOA or Jelly Stone campgrounds, because they offer more customer service,\u201d says Jeremy. If you have a technical question, or just need someone to help you back up without hitting anything, you\u2019ll have more luck finding someone to help at a private campground, he says.<\/p>\n

Take It To the Next Level<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\nHead to Hershey, Pennsylvania, in September for one of the biggest RV shows in the country. \u201cIt\u2019s a carnival-like atmosphere with thousands of RVs,\u201d says Jeremy, who\u2019ll be there with Stephanie to do meet-and-greet sessions. \u201cYou can see what this whole RV lifestyle thing is about and see what all the options and price points are.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tips for vacationing in an RV, from the alumnus who wrote the book on the subject. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":3380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"{\"x\":52,\"y\":31}","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[75],"class_list":["post-3377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-summer-guide"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"Uncategorized","issue":"Summer 2018","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3377"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11719,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3377\/revisions\/11719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}