10 easy tips to gain confidence driving your motorhome or camper
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2024
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Driving a Motorhome or camper for the first time? Feeling a bit nervous? Whether you're a complete beginner to motorhome life or want some tips to feel more confident in driving your van, this video will help.
Here are the most important tips for driving a motorhome or camper in the UK, France and Europe, as well as tips for vanlife newbies who have never driven one before!
If you're nervous about driving a motorhome, RV or campervan - this video will hopefully help and show you it's not as bad as it seems! If you'd like more tips, you can find them in this post: www.wandering-...
Go on, go drive your motorhome or campervan and let me know how it goes! Feel free to photograph yourself driving and tag me on Instagram (@wanderingbird.adventures)
Good luck!
#motorhome #vanliving #driving #tips #ukvanlife
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Wandering Bird was created to help motorhomers and campervanners make the most of their time on the road. We share weekly tips, tricks and reviews to encourage and inspire your next adventure, whether you're a complete motorhoming newbie, or a more experienced owner looking for new ideas or places to visit.
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Thanks for watching!
All good advice. I booked in for a session at a local driving school that specialises in HGV training. Excellent value for money - loads of useful tips and plenty of practice manoeuvering around cones and reversing into spaces in their yard.
Thanks for this, I know there are hundreds of ladies out there who will benefit from this video. I am really thinking about those that have just lost their partners and have their motorhome in the driveway, the first thing they think of is to sell it because they cant see them driving that monster machine. Many decide to down size to something they feel more confident in, later they regret their choice, missing the memories the van held for them and also the living space and extra freedom. I shall be posting this video on the various facebook groups for lady only motor home drivers. So once again thank you so much for sharing you valuable knowledge. Lots of love as always from the Netherlands Janette
Thank you for the advice Kat. I lost my husband recently and he always drove the motorhome. When he passed I was so over whelmed as I had never driven it so I sold it which I now regret, However I have just bought a 6mtr campervan which is just big enough for myself and small dog. Watching your video has given me confidence in my driving and also the tips are so useful, so thank you. Perhaps one day after growing in confidence buy another motorhome. I live in Spain and am going to drive to the beach daily before going further afield, as like yourself I would like to tour Europe. Do you have any tips for single people like myself as to where to go on your own, and how to keep safe,
We purchased MH in march of this year, and shortly afterwards my wife attended a MH manoeuvring course run by one of the caravan clubs, it is completed over a very full day, and very well worth the cost. I now have a co driver ready for our first trip to Europe at the end of August. She has driven in this country since the course, both confidently and competently.
Fantastic! So pleased it was helpful (and what a lovely comment to write. 💕)
Hello, I just found your channel and watched my first video. We are in America, Florida. Our motorhome is 42' long. With the car hooked up for towing we are 61' long. We are 12'6" tall and weigh in at 20 tons. We have a Cummins turbo charged professional bus grade diesel engine. We have air brakes and ride on a full air suspension. We use a Garmin RV-890 GPS system. It allows us to put in our height, length, width and weight. It also allows us to put in our tow vehicle. It's dimensions and weight along with our combined length. The Garmin keeps us on roads that are safe for us to travel on. On our first trip it was a Friday evening in Tampa Florida. It was raining and during rush hour in the evening. The dealership took longer than expected setting our car up to be towed then teaching us how to tow it. Talk about being nervous. Like I said, it was raining and very heavy traffic. I was not use to driving anything that size. Both my wife and I took a one day driving course. Merging off of one highway onto another with my wife telling me to be careful remember how much the motorhome and car cost definitely was not helping me. Lol!!! Fortunately everything went well. Two things the driving instructor told us was use your side view mirrors to help you center in your lane. When looking in your mirrors make sure you have the same distance in both mirrors between the sides of your motorhome and your lane markings. The second was tail swing. Tail swing is the distance from the center of your rear tire to the tip of your rear bumper. When making a turn or even pulling away from a petrol pump your tail is going to swing a certain distance outside of your lane. You need to allow for this so you don't hit another vehicle or take out a petrol pump. I hope you enjoy your motorhome and take many fun trips. I hope you become comfortable driving it. My wife is terrified of ours and leaves all the driving to me. Do you have the FMCA, Family Motor Coach Association, where you live? They have a yearly membership fee, but if anything happens to the driver they will make sure your motorhome gets home safe and sound for free. If required, after a hospital stay, they will even air lift you home for free. Happy camping.
Great video. One other point you didn’t cover is the overhang in the rear of the van and how it affects making turns. Central reservation filter lanes can be interesting, I always make sure traffic is clear both ways before turning right as you can find the rear of the van swinging out and blocking the inside carriageway.
Great point Lenny & thanks for mentioning it.
Great video for anxious first time drivers. I thought it was just me feeling very nervous of getting in my van and driving on unfamiliar roads. Thank you 🙏
Perfect timing for this video! My wife and I are going to pick up our first Motorhome this very evening. My wife will be driving our car back while I will be driving our Swift Kontiki 640 all the way from Bristol to our home in South Wales. I think I’m more worried about getting it up our street and onto to the drive than driving it on the main roads. Wish us luck!
Good luck! Let me know how it goes!!
@@WanderingBird Just got it home now through backed up traffic, fading light and pouring rain. Managed to get it on to the drive with a half inch to spare. Not sure how I’m going to get it off though. I’ll leave that for another day. Woohoo I own a Motorhome!
Picking up a hire motor home tomorrow and doing Scotland ........like you i`m more worried about the driveway 😢😢
Hi Kat, great video with good tips. When we got our new van my husband and I went to the local HGV driving school. What a brilliant few hours, it really helped my confidence and pointed out a few bad habits my husband had picked up over the years ( which he previously denied).
We have just driven to Croatia, and as he is still waiting for his C1 licence to come back from the DVLA, I drove all the way. Great confidence builder. 😁😁
Great advice, thank you. Earlier this year I had a solar panel fitted to the van roof. I’ve a sticker stating the van hire of 2.8m, but i later forgot to take into account the extra height of the solar panel. I nearly lost the whole lot by forgetting this! Just a reminder to allow for anything extra fitted to your own van height. I’ve allowed a comfortable height now of 3m and changed the sticker accordingly! x
When you have overtaken something, wait till you can see the front of their vehicle in your nearside(kerbside) mirrors before you start to pull back in. A permanently on, rear viewing camera is also helpful if you a nervous overtaker.
Fantastic tip. Thanks for sharing
Like the idea, Kat, of putting the height and width etc on the sun visor. Will certainly use that!
Yep- that has been so useful, especially with a new van & you can’t quite remember!
I occasionally drive a manual charity van after years of driving an automatic with an electronic handbrake - that was fun the first couple of times - kept forgetting to dip the clutch at junctions so some unwanted stops! The width was ok because vans are square but I had to remember the height was much more than the car, nor did we have a sat nav so had to be aware of road limitations. Useful info here Kat!
Brilliant points.
Hi Kat. You have a great natural way when you make your vlogs, it’s like you’re chatting to a friend. I have learnt a lot. Haven’t bought a motor home yet. Still checking out my options.
Sorry to read that your husband is unwell. Hope he is back driving your ‘bus’ soon.
Thank you. That’s kind of you to say. He’s doing ok & does still drive, just gets tired very quickly. It’s a long term illness sadly.
@@WanderingBird I can relate to that as I have fibromyalgia and currently being tested for MS. Take care.
Ah thanks !
This popped up at the right time. We are new to driving a motor home & my husband is very confident but not me .
I will give it a go & definitely get to grips with it .
Brilliant tips 😊
Glad it was helpful! Let me know how it goes! 💖
Thanks for the video kat, i have driven our motorhome some times but very rarely that i do, i am ok driving it but always a bit nervous going around roundabouts due to the length of it and not wanting to clip the kerb i am usually aware of the turning circle so always make a wide turn, i usually follow what the large lorries do.
Also, as well as fixing a point on the dashboard for the middle of the lane, more importantly have one for when you are close to the kerb/edge, so you know how far you can pull over with another big beastie approaching you!
Fantastic tip! Thanks for that Chris
Thanks for this video ... Still trying to get use to left hand drive 😄😁😆
Thanks Kat any help is much appreciated, as you said in your video it’s trying to get behind the wheel when a certain person wants to drive all the time, as they look really nervous if you try to get behind the wheel.
I have done it once last year coming back from Scotland two whole hours and boy was it tiring and I was really hot but the main thing is I did it. Looking forward to another go sometime soon.👍👏🏻
It is tiring- very true. So much concentration. To be honest, that’s why I’m enjoying taking it out by myself now I know the basics. I can learn without… commentary 😏🙈
Thanks Kat,some very good tips .were off to Scotland Friday ,our first trip !!!!!! looking forward to the experience,,,
Have an amazing time!
Don't forget the hangover at the back when turning. The underneath of the van when parking on uneven ground 😜. Enjoy all, thanks Kat very helpful
And on speed bumps! Great point Sue- thank you
Great video. Y Husband had an accident whilst on holiday I’m hoping he will be able recouperate enough to drive us back to the French Ferry at Caen but I will have to do some if not all off the driving in several parts to get back home to Scotland. 😩🥴🥺 Your video has given me more confidence.
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that. You can do it. Just go slow and remember the length. Let me know how it goes & wishing your husband a speedy recovery
Enjoyable vlog and looking forward to seeing your next one now!☺️👍
Thank you 🙃
Thanks Kat for your honest advice. 👍
Glad it was helpful 💕
Had my sub VW campervan for just a week so this was well timed thanks. Notice Steve Radford Roaming Radfords is always grounding the tow bar on their beast.
Glad it was helpful- and hopefully you won’t ground anything!
Thanks for the tips, still trying to get my wife to drive.
We have really tall mirrors on our van which is great because you can glance in both mirrors regularly as you pass parked cars to see both the gap you left behind you between yourself and the parked cars and also the gap between your other side and the centre line of the road. Easy then to centre the van and get a good feel of width.
Great point. Looking to see the gap is helpful in learning road position
Great point. Looking to see the gap is helpful in learning road position
Thanks Kat! A useful reminder!
Glad it was helpful
This is helpful. Thank you. 🌻
Glad it was helpful!
Very useful weldone!
Thank you 🙃
Ours is a left hand drive. I wouldn't even sit behind the wheel last year and this year I drove around the UK !!!!! Still not happy on the UK motorways... But I'll get there...... Next year I'll try France....
Superstar! That's the way to do it. France is fine- don't let it scare you. :)
Your a highlite of my day :-) x
Aww. Thank you
Driving forward is good
Ha- true.
Thnks
Be aware of your length when going on and off ferries. Seen a few long motorhomes bottoming out.
Excellent point!
Love your show btw
Thank you!
Thanks for your tips. Which reverse camera do you use? I saw that you have a dash mirror, right?
Good video. If you can well afford a posh new motorhome, chances are you can a little cash for a couple of two way radios hand-held [walkie-talkie type]. For some park-ups will involve reversing and it is great if you have a partner outside to guide you into the slot. These big vans look like tanks, but they can be very easily damaged, and usually expensive to fix unless you have the skills yourself.
Iif in doubt, buy an automatic transmission version, especially if you are new to driving them. A big van in stop-start city driving can get old very quickly, and the name of the game is fun, sooo, go for an "auto".
Most of these RV' types are strictly for good sealed roads. Smaller, 4WD vans can be a lot of fun. less comfort, but you can go to so many out of the way places, and leave the crowds behind.
We use hand signals instead of walkie talkies. 🙃 years of boating
at least if you forget the handbrake the calipers or discs get a good polishing the rush is gone for a bit lol
Very useful thank you.
You mentioned a good sat nav, I use Google maps .... what would you recommend?
You definitely need a proper sat nav. Here are some of the best ones around, including the one we use: www.wandering-bird.com/best-motorhome-sat-nav/
When I'm driving my motorhome, I notice the camber of the road so much more and sometimes it feels a bit weird, as though I'm listing to the drivers side or the other way
Fantastic 👏 👍🍾
Thank you. Glad it was useful
Everything you say / do is useful 👍😊
Surprised there is no mention of overhang.
😬 forgot that bit! Thanks for mentioning it
Rev and Speedo dials have an annoying habit of swapping places on the dashboard between car and MH
How very dare they!! 😬
My wife is insured to drive our motorhome.. but I don't know if my heart could stand it ...
😂😂 awww. Let her have a go. She won’t learn otherwise
Reversing - remember that the pivot point is the rear wheel for turning into a space. Watch the overhang does not swing out and hit something.
Just take your time.... practice off road if you can.... supermarket carpark when closed or industrial estate at the weekend.
Great tips!!! Thanks for those Albert
Beware of camber on roads / entrances…the van is higher and can lean over a long way and is at risk of hitting something hard and sharp !
Excellent point Mike. Thanks for sharing
Watch your tail swing, especially when manoeuvring in tight spaces.
Great point
Thank you for this video. I collect my motorhome in 2 weeks. I've had them before but my husband used to drive. This motorhome i will be driving. Its only 6m long..... but the biggest vehicle i have ever driven is a small transit. Im worried about the swing..... and tight roads 😫
How's it going so far??
I will do it at the end of this month in our first long trip. Scared
It’s ok to be scared. I still get nervous too. But you’ll feel much better the more you do it. Let me know how it goes! 💕💕
Morning, could you please perhaps answer my questions in your other videos on TH-cam. Many thanks. Martin.
Sorry Martin- I do my best but I’m only one person and you left them less than 24 hours ago!
@@WanderingBird Thanks for all your videos. Really helpful. I aim to go on the road too. On the mean time you are our mentor.
Trying to get the wife to give the van a go, like you say she is on the insurance etc., So far she is not keen. I'll show her your clip, hopefully that will help, The big sticking point is we live in France and it is left hand drive.
I get that, but LHD in France is way easier. Go somewhere quiet and let her practice. My first time driving was in France too
@@WanderingBird Thanks. She says she has problems with the position of the steering wheel and where it relates to the road position, Our road car is ex UK so right hand drive. I think once she try's she will be fine and yes a nice quiet road will be perfect, it's not that we don't have many here 🙂