A Beginner’s Guide to Traveling in an RV

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RV Insurance in Seattle, WABuying your first RV, camper or trailer is an exciting time! Before you make the purchase, you are already visualizing how you want to enjoy your trailer or RV. Owning an RV or camper allows you to enjoy nature & relax. Here are a few things to consider to have the best time.

  1. Get Comfortable Driving Your RV

Whether you must drive your RV or tow your camper, it is important to be comfortable. We’re not talking about physical comfort; we’re referring to being comfortable with driving the vehicle. Begin by driving it around unpopulated areas such as neighborhoods and less-populated streets. When you’re ready, hop on a freeway and try it at freeway speeds. Remember, your braking will be dramatically different in a larger vehicle and especially so if you’re pulling a trailer.

  1. Check the Roads if Using the Backcountry

If you are going hiking or camping on forest service roads, be sure to watch for signs for “no turn-around” or “no trailers.” While most rural roads won’t mention this, it is important to remember you’re going to have to turn around. While traveling on forest service roads it isn’t uncommon for the road to be obstructed by a fallen tree or other hazards. Be sure you’re prepared for unplanned situations.

  1. Tie Down Your Luggage, Coolers, Etc.

Loose items inside of the vehicle can be a hazard when you must take evasive action or brake hard. Loose items inside of the vehicle will accelerate at the same deceleration as the outside of the vehicle. So, if they aren’t strapped down, they can move around your cabin and cause serious injury or damage. Be sure all your items inside are strapped down; especially the heavy items such as coolers.

  1. Make a Checklist for Packing

Referencing a master checklist for packing can be great to ensure you do not forget anything. This can be made on paper or your notes app on your phone. With each trip, you’ll learn what you need to create your perfect master list.

  1. Make Your Food Ahead of Time

By owning an RV or camper, you can easily save money by packing your meals for the road. Consider cooking your meals ahead of time or making double batches of easy meals you normally cook in the comfort of your home that can be frozen for future use.

When you pack food for the road, choose meals that can be reheated on a stovetop or a portable BBQ. For meals where you don’t want to spend the time reheating, pack items that taste good colds such as pasta salads, sandwiches, quiche, and more. You might feel like you are eating a gourmet meal out in nature! Consider examples such as pre-cooked burger patties, chili, stews, and even pizza (reheated on a BBQ for a crisp bottom).

If your RV does not have a refrigerator, you can pack a cooler. If you plan to use your RV for an extended period, there are temperature-controlled electric plugin coolers you can invest in. This may save money over the long run as it avoids you from having to eat out for many meals.

Owning an RV can be bring you joy and wonderful memories. If you have any questions about insurance for your RV, trailer, van, or camper, reach out to our agency. We can help you determine the best RV insurance coverage to protect your investment.

What is Travel Protection Insurance and Do I Need It?

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Travel insurance can minimize the financial risks associated with traveling. From accidents to illness to lost luggage, travel insurance has you covered.

Travel map

Vacations are usually an exciting time, filled with anticipation and activity planning. What travelers seldom plan for, however, are events that are a little less sun-and-fun and a little more doom-and-gloom. 

Interruptions, cancellations, and complications always seem to pick up around the same time, which is, of course, the end of the season and very inconvenient. 

Where health insurance shoulders financial burdens in the event of an illness, travel protection insurance offers the same protection for your trip. Even more uniquely, it does so both before and during travel, because mistakes, accidents, and acts of god won’t wait until you’re safely back home.

Make it Right, Right Away

Although most travel methods will offer some sort of assurance or coverage for your belongings and itinerary, often it’s opt-in, expensive, or difficult to navigate. In addition, if you’re traveling via one airline for one leg of the journey, but a different airline’s connecting flight, a single lost suitcase can cause multiple issues. 

Travel protection insurance guards you and your belongings so that you have a single point of contact for financial remedy. Rather than playing “phone tag” with several different forms, companies, and claims, your policy will give you a single well-defined route to submit a claim. 

With too many “moving parts,” paperwork often gets misplaced, which is why a central point makes the entire process run more smoothly.

Expecting the Unexpected

Imagine you’re rushing to get to a museum tour on time and stumble, knocking a tooth out, or breaking a wrist. What now? With the right travel protection insurance, you won’t need to waste time worrying about incurring overseas medical costs. 

With coverage available to address everything from missing or destroyed belongings up to and including bodily injury or harm, you’ll enjoy peace of mind even in the most unfamiliar of locales. 

It’s important to openly discuss your planned trip itinerary and needs with your insurance agent, as this will ensure you’re well-covered by a comprehensive policy before taking your trip. 

Do I Really Need Travel Insurance?

While it’s true that you could fly or travel to a vacation spot without insurance coverage, it’s a big risk. That means the lack of coverage can be particularly concerning if your friends or family will be traveling with you. 

The longer your planned travel itinerary, and the larger the area you plan to visit, the more important a solid policy will be. 

If you plan on traveling outside of the country, the need for travel insurance ratchets up a few notches, as you’ll be in an unfamiliar place and exposed to scams and schemes in addition to more mundane delays.

If you’re still on the fence about getting travel insurance for your next journey out into the world, consider this: the cost of obtaining your travel insurance is, and always will be, cheaper than the worst-case scenario. While it’s admittedly a very targeted variety of insurance, it’s an extremely hardworking one as well, and one that will help keep you and your loved ones safe, even when abroad. 

It’s Prom Season! 4 Tips to Keep Your Teen Safe

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Corsages, limousines, too much cologne, and a million and one selfies. That’s right, it’s prom season again! Learn how to keep your teen safe on this milestone night.

Teens at promProm — a time of exhilaration and celebration for teens eager to get out and enjoy themselves, but a nerve-wracking test of trust for even the most “laid back” parents. When your teen is eager to hang out with their friends and head to the event in style, here are a few important – non-intrusive – tips you can use to keep them safe.

Make a Plan and Trust But Verify

Teens may fib or push curfew now and then, but their parents should know where they are whenever possible. Discuss your expectations for their whereabouts, including when you expect a “check-in” call, clearly and often. Then, make sure that you call them as well. 

Resist the urge to test your teen and reach out to them if they don’t reach out to you first. Remember, it’s easy to get caught up in conversations with friends, and they can forget for innocent reasons.

Offer to Drive with No Judgment

Teens don’t want a chaperone, but they need a driver. Make a deal with your teen and their friends that they can call you with no consequences if their other ride option is intoxicated or impaired. 

When teens know they have a safe way to get home, they’re less likely to chance driving while intoxicated or riding in a car with an impaired driver. If you make yourself a safe ally, friends of your teen that may otherwise be reluctant to approach a parent may confide in you – ensuring your teen stays safe as well.

Encourage Awareness

Whether it’s keeping a close eye on their drinks at a party or agreeing to walk as a group to any car parked in an unfamiliar place, there is strength in numbers. Encourage your teen to hang out with friends they know and trust, and to form a plan among themselves for how to help one another get out of questionable situations. 

While honesty and transparency are an important part of communication with your teen, discuss the possibility of knowingly placing tracking or GPS apps on their phone to help you stay in contact. 

Consider A House Party

Rather than having your teen head to an unfamiliar “after-party” once the prom has concluded, consider letting your teen and their friends stay at your house. This will allow you to keep an eye on the festivities and ensure that any of your teen’s friends that are impaired are in a safe place, and can get home safely as well. This isn’t necessarily an approach that your teen will embrace, but better to make the offer and have it turned down. Teens can be, after all, full of surprises.

Prom season is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for teens, and with a watchful, caring parent ready to guide them through it, it will be a great memory as they grow older.