Listen to RV Radio Shows via Podcasts

If you haven’t discovered podcasts about RVing, you’re in for a treat!  Think of them like Blogs that you can listen to, rather than read.  I know of two personally, and I’m sure there are more.  RV Navigator is a show by Ken and Martha Wiseman.  They have been extended RV travelers since 2005.  Their home is in Chicago.  They also travel by cruise ship.  Ken is a gadget king and you will hear a lot about Macintosh computers, iPhones, iPads and all things Apple from Ken in addition to RV and Travel topics.  RV Navigator podcasts are produced once or twice each month when they are traveling. Each podcast is about an hour long. Living the RV Dream is a show by John and Kathy Huggins.  They have been fulltime RVers since 2005.  Their goal is to visit all the US National Parks.  They also do a lot of volunteer work since hitting the road including working at the Escapees CARE center in Livingston, Texas. Living the RV Dream podcasts are produced weekly.  Make sure to check out the Jan 19, 2011 episode where they interview Geeks on Tour – the author of this article! What is a Podcast? The term ‘Podcast’ originated with the popular iPod device from Apple.  The iPod is a dedicated device for playing audio files.  However, you do not need an iPod to play podcasts.  Any computer will do, and most smart phones, as well as dozens of makes and models of ‘.mp3’ players. A podcast is a computer file, usually in the .mp3 format.  What I’m talking about in this... Read more

RVIA Expo. Monday Nov. 29

Greetings to all from Louisville, Kentucky!  Linda and I are parked at the Expo center campground.  (Under the topic of “name dropping”, we are next door to Bob Tiffin’s son’s motorhome)  It is nice to see that at least some of the manufacturers actually “go rv’ing”! Since  the actual show doesn’t start until tomorrow, we went over to the center, registered, and then went on a tour of Louisville, and our main objective was to visit the Louisville Slugger factory and take the factory tour.  If you are in the Louisville Ky area, and if you have ANY interest in baseball (and what good American doesn’t?), this is the place to go.  The factory, museum, and gift store are all located together, downtown, near the Ohio river.  The downtown area is very clean, and parking in this area is plentiful.  We parked right across the street from the museum, and of course took the requisite photo of the world’s largest baseball bat. Read more  Read More →

RV Rallies can be Enhanced by Facebook

We presented our computer seminars at 8 different rallies this summer, and at each one, we asked for a show of hands of how many people were using Facebook.  We were astonished to see a consistent majority of hands go up. At the last rally, The Escapade, we noticed a lot of Facebook activity amongst our own friends who were there.  They arranged happy hours and meetings during the rally, and even some get-togethers after the rally was over.  They were able to do this because a large group of them were all friends on Facebook. Read more  Read More →

Amish Buggy Ride – an example of using MovieMaker

by Chris Guld, www.GeeksOnTour.com We are currently in Elkhart, Indiana.  We’re here for the Gypsy Journal Rally last week, and the Escapade next week.  Last Friday we were invited by our friends from TechnoRV to join them for dinner at an Amish Family’s home.  In addition to dinner, they would take us on a horse and buggy ride if we wanted to go.  Read more  Read More →

New Travel Diary Software

OK – you are almost ready to hit the road. You have been planning your trip of a lifetime for months (or even years) now. For some you have a planned route with day by day stops pinpointed and booked, for others you just have a general direction of travel planned. You have purchased or built the motorhome, caravan or trailer of your dreams. You have retired, taken long service leave or just given up the job to fulfill your dreams. When you get home again you will have some great memories and lot of photos. But what about the rest of the memories – where was that great campsite I found, how much did I really pay for fuel, what is the phone number or email address of those great friends we met along the way, or how much did the trip cost me. There is a great new tool for recording all the details of your trip. Nomads Notes allows the traveler to record all aspects of a trip. Features include a day-by-day journal for chronicling daily activities; track multiple vehicle mileage, fuel consumption and fuel cost, nightly campsite details, locations and costs etc, as well as a photo album to record pictures taken, and a contacts list to record details of the friends you meet along the way. Other features include all expenses that you can categorize yourself, vehicle maintenance and radio and TV stations. Here is a sample screen shot of Campsites (center). A trip log is on the left and a current trip mileage, fuel and expenses dashboard on the right. There’s no need to worry... Read more

North Dakota on the Map – Bully!

With the addition of North Dakota – we now have filled our RV’s visited states map with all of the lower 48.  We were actually in North Dakota in 2005, but we flew here – so that doesn’t count!  This state has been the one gaping hole in our map for a couple years now, so we made a point to route our travels this way so we could finish the map. Read more  Read More →

Facebook and Twitter for RV Parks?

by Chris Guld, www.GeeksOnTour.com As we were traveling thru Kansas, we consulted our Streets & Trips software to find an RV park.  We found High Plains Camping listed in our ‘Wi-Fi Campgrounds’ Pushpin set.  It was at about the right spot for a night stop, so we called to inquire as to availability and confirmed that we would be there in a couple of hours.   The name is certainly appropriate, we were indeed camping on the High Plains!  The wide open view is mesmerizing, but the best part was the Hot Tub, and the Wi-Fi! Just a Website is Not Enough While we checked in, I was intrigued by the fact that a Facebook address and a Twitter address were prominently featured in the literature for the park. Do we just have a fellow geek here?  Or a smart businesswoman? How about a little of both?  The owner of High Plains Camping is a woman named Mary Arlington and, yes, she is retired from a technical writing job where she was very involved with technology.   But now, she is the sole proprietor of an RV park, and she sees social media as a great way to be in touch with clientele and prospective clientele who are scattered all over the country. Do RVers Use Facebook? You might think that her potential clientele aren’t the type who would be on Facebook.  You think of kids, not their RVing grandparents, as participating in today’s social media.  But, you know what?  Retired folks, and specifically RVers *are*... Read more

The Rally – our Last Day

by Chris Guld, www.geeksontour.com We’ve been here at The Rally in Louisville, KY this week and we’ve been hanging out in the RV.net booth.  It’s so fun to have all the people come by and say how much they love RV.net!  Here’s a group that I made repeat it for the camera: We’ve had our share of Geeks on Tour fans too – Thanks Everybody!  All of our seminars have had larger crowds than we expected – and we ran out of handouts.  If you want a handout for any of our seminars we encourage you to download them for free from the Geeks On Tour website: Internet on the Road How to Make a Blog Picasa for Managing Digital Photos GPS Navigation and Trip Planning w/Streets & Trips Narrated Slideshows with Photo Story 3  Read More →

See you at The Rally!

We hope to see you all at The Rally in Louisville, KY this week.  We’ll be hanging out in the RV.net booth (#340) much of the time.  Check out this listing of all 278 Vendors and their booth numbers. When we’re not in the booth, it’s probably because we’re presenting one of our 5 seminars: Internet on the Road: Wed 8:30 – 10 Seminar E Every RVer Needs a Blog Thu 8:30 – 10 Seminar C Picasa  Fri 1pm – 2:30 Seminar B GPS & Streets and Trips: Sat 8:30 – 10 Seminar G Photo Story 3 Sun 1pm – 2:30 Seminar E And, we’re not the only ones giving seminars!  Here’s the listing of all the seminars you can attend at the Rally.   Here’s a video with Brian Brawdy from last year’s rally:  Read More →

Brian Brawdy Show to Launch at The Rally

Little more than a week away, The Rally is fast approaching. I’m heading towards Louisville next Monday to set the SRMR in position for one of the biggest shows in my RV’ing year. The Self Reliant Mobile Residence is my “Just In Case Place.” When “IT” hits, tornado or terrorist attack, man-made or those disasters wrought by Mother Nature the rig is ready to go and stay gone. I designed the SRMR to be fully functional while “Off The Grid” be it boondocking or bugging out, sojourning or surviving. In addition, the Self-Reliant Mobile Residence is a full radio/tv production studio. I have chosen one of my favorite events, The Rally, to launch the Brian Brawdy Show. RVers are the quintessential “off the grid gang” and epitomize the nomadic, self-reliant mindset that will be the focus of my show. With thought provoking attitude about the news of the day, special guests interviews and discussions, the show will focus on surviving and thriving in a century where political, economic, environmental and meteorological challenges face us all. We will be streaming live from the main entrance of the Expo Center daily so stop by and give me your feedback. Please join me at The Rally or in the meantime @brianbrawdy.com Join Brian on Facebook Follow Brian on Twitter  Read More →

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