Okay, you're from Australia ( or NZ,UK wherever ) and you're planning to RV ( Caravan ) around the USA and or Canada. Good luck to you, it's not easy and planning is essential.
We purchased our first 5th wheeler in 2003 and our second in 2004. Please note that things change from time to time so this checklist can only be used as a guide.
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Step 1....Visa
If you're staying over 3 months then you will need a visa. You cannot just cross the border into Canada or Mexico and expect to get the normal 3 month visa. As a matter of fact to get another 3 month visa you have to leave the North American continent.
You can apply for a multi entry 5 year visa if you intend to come and go. For Visa information go to ....US Consular Service Sydney
Even though you have a "multi entry visa your stay is usually limited to a max of 6 months at any one time. We have friends who wanted 6 months and 2 days and this was refused at point of entry.
Just tell them at the border that your buying an RV to tour around the USA & Canada and tell them your date of departure, and they usually give you those months. Maske sure you do have a return ticket, and you are NOT goint to work in the US.
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Step 2....Airline Booking
This is the easy one as all you have to do is look for a cheap fare. We usually take a Round the World BUSINESS class fare for around A$5300. That allows us to explore other Countries either going over or on the return. Flight Center offer this fare, it's a little bit restrictive, but is usually offered through Flight Center by Singapore Airlines or Thai and Lufthansa. The fare is not well publicised.
Airfares for internal travel in the US are reasonable, but dont expect real cheapies that we enjoy from Virgin and Qantas from time to time
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Step 3....Travel Insurance
You need good quality Travel Insurance as the medical and hospital prices in the US are "over the top". Hunt around. We use ....Mondial Assistance Australia
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Step 4....Motor Vehicle & RV Insurance
Before you go get a letter from your present Insurance Company showing your No Claim status. Also get an explanation of Australia's green slip insurance and what it covers. The US insurance covers third party property as well as comprehensive as they find it hard to understand that our Australian insurance is broken up into two parts. This will help you when you apply for Insurance in the USA. We have used GMAC and Progressive Insurance in the USA. Both are very large companies. GMAC will insist you have a US Drivers licence. However, if you intend to keep your truck and/or rv and put it into storage for when you next visit the US, GMAC will drop the insurance to cover just fire and theft (not collision) and the premium drops substantially. Progressive Insurance do not insist on a US drivers licence, but they will not drop the insurance premium when you store your rig.....Progressive Insurance...OR...GMAC Insurance
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Step 5....Mobile Phone
Unless you have a "Tri Band" Mobile phone, your mobile will not work in USA or Canada as their frequency is different. Logon to your manufacturer's web site and have a look at the specs of your model. Many Nokia's are Tri Band. If you have a "Tri Band" mobile then you can purchase over the web a simm card with PREPAID calls on it, and when you want to top it up, you just go to Wallgreens, a big chain of Chemist shops everywhere in the US, and buy a top up. Here is where you can order the simm card ....Telestial
If you don't have a Tri Band then you can buy a Pre Paid plan including mobile phone from Radio Shack, and they are everywhere in the US and Canada.....Radio Shack....my favourite store
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Step 6....Internet
I saw very few Internet cafes in the US & Canada, and I can't recall seeing a computer in any campground, so consider taking a small laptop over ( or buy it there ) because you're going to need it to connect to the internet and for email. Besides, if you have a digital camera, you will need it to download your photos and burn them to CD.
SO YOU WILL NEED AN INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER. Towards the end of 2004, a lot of campgrounds were offering WIRELESS broadband connections, and that is great as one can listen to the ABC across the internet and get all up to date on Aussie news., footy results included. ( dont think your "friends" will send you emails with news of OZ and footy scores...they do for a week or 2 then forget you)....so back to the topic again...
Local calls in the US are free of charge so most campgrounds have phone plugs for the internet in a general area and some even have phone connections right at your site. Consider joining Earthlink ( they are everywhere...well almost ), and you can do that just before you leave OZ..... Earthlink
Alternatively, you may consider a WIRELESS adaptor card as many campgrounds are now offering Broadband. They are really easy to set up. We brought one last year, installed the software, connected the card through USB and it picked up the signal....so easy....have a look at this...Linksys Wireless Card.. and you can buy them in any computer store.
The latest on Wi Fi in RV Campgrounds as at August 2005.
Many RV Parks are now offering Wi Fi, sometime its free and sometimes it costs (can be expensive).
Sometimes it works if your near the Campground Office, sometimes the signal is too weak and thats frustrating.
Here is where you can download a full list of Wi Fi spots in RV Parks in the US :
List of Wi Fi Spots
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Step 7....Mail
You WILL need a mailing address in the USA, and if your blessed with a good friend in the US that you are confident you can ring and ask them to forward your mail to you from time to time then use them ....else consider a Post Box with Postnet. They are everywhere, not expensive and will forward your mail to wherever you wish, on a phone call.......Postnet
For mail forwarding we use 2 ways....either we ring Postnet and tell them to send our mail to "General Delivery" such and such a town, usually a smallish town so the Post office is easy to find. ( we actually go into any Post Office before we ring Postnet and ask the for the exact address of the General delivery Post Office whever. They bring out the big book that lists all the USA Post Offices.) ELSE we have our mail forwarded to us care of a campground. We usually allow a week from ringing Postnet to collection. ( Hope this all makes sense )
TIP: be VERY careful who you give out your postal address to as the US is the very best country for junk mail. For instance, if you join the Good Sam club (see below) they will bombard you with surface mail advertisements etc. etc.. Radio Shack will do this also. |
Step 8....RV Forum
This is definately not overkill...join the RV Forum several months before you are due to depart, and if any questions arise post them on the forum. There is a wealth of knowledge on this forum.......RV Forum
also have a look at these web sites.......
RV Net
Another RV Forum |
Step 9....Roadside Assistance
If you're in AA, NRMA, RACQ etc you qualify for AA Roadside assistance in the USA, but it is restrictive. Consider joining Good Sam's Roadside assistance. It is excellent.......Good Sam Roadside Assistance ... the only downside is they bombard you with junk mail. Sign up as early as you can as you need this from day 1 |
Step 10....Campground Membership
Consider 2 memberships, namely the Good Sam Club which gives you discounts in thousands of campgrounds throughout USA & Canada, and KOA. Good Sam is the largest and, with a club card you get 10% off the campsite price. There are many KOA Campgrounds around and they usually are of good quality and most of them now provide wireless internet connection. However they are quite pricey. ( If you're a Big4 member in Australia, then that card will give you the 10% discount in the KOA Campgrounds).
Good Sam Web Site.......Good Sam Membership
KOA Web Site.... KOA |
Step 11....Trailer Life Directory
You WILL need a Campground directory and it's the size of the Sydney phone book, but you will need this...and you can buy it in Camping World or at many RV Parks.......Trailer Life |
Step 12....Camping World
At Campingworld it's the best place to outfit your RV.......Camping World... Join their Presidents Club and get the discounted price...it is well worth it |
Step 13....Money Money Money
The only way to fund yourself for an extended stay in the USA & Canada is to take your Visa or Mastercard. We actually keep them in CREDIT, so if we need cash (US or Canadian Dollars ) we simply draw a cash advance at any ATM. There usually is a US$2-00 charge so we tend only to draw cash once a month. For diesel, food ,Camping Fees etc we ALWAYS pay using our Visa Card.
For those BIG purchases, such as your RV, Truck or 5th wheeler, we take AMEX Travellers Cheques ( Checks in US lingo ).
Dealers have no trouble accepting Travellers Cheques. If your lucky enough to have an ANZ Visa Gold card, then the ANZ will give you your Travellers Cheques FREE, else the charge is 1%. Most Bank Branches dont carry Travellers Cheques so get them to order them in for you. They will hold them for 30 days, which gives you a chance to PICK a favourable rate. In March 2004 we purchased ours @ $A1 = US$0.78 cents. Ask for denominations of one thousand per cheque, that is the largest they stock.
IF YOUR TAKING MORE THAN US$10,000 IN CASH & TRAVELLERS CHEQUES YOU MUST DECLARE THEM AT THE US CUSTOMS.
Banking : We do all our banking on the internet. We just take the rate on the day.......Daily Exchange Rates from the ANZ Bank
As a backstop and for emergencies such as a compromised or lost credit card, we opened a US Bank Account at Bank of America.
They will open an account for you despite you not having a Social Security Number. We used our Australian Address, and moved funds to this account when the exchange rate was optimal.
They dont extend credit too easily to non residents so we have a Bank of America Visa debit card, and that works fine up to the amount we have in credit in the Bank.
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Step 14....Shopping
The shopping are a little different in the US, in that the big chains have squeezed out the "little" independant operators. You wont see a Chemist shop, a Newsagent or a Butcher shop, and camera shops are few and not well stocked. You will see large chains such as Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Best Buy, CompUSA, Safewat, Albertsons and Walgreens...all big chains with very large carparks outside where you will have no trouble parking your RV whilst you shop. You will find yourself driving ( as opposed to walking ) from shop to shop...that is the American way........Safeway
..............Walgreens
..............Walmart
..............Home Depot
..............Best Buy
..............CompUSA
I am besotted with electrical gadgets etc.
Then there is the Sam's Club and Costco to mention a few. They are great big warehouses, very impersonal, and you have to buy membership to shop there.....we gave it a miss.
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Step 15....Living Expenses
Daily you will have 3 items of expenditure, namely Food, Fuel and Campground Fees. The price of food is almost the same as in OZ except its in US $ so its approx. a quarter more. Fuel is still cheaper than OZ and was around US$1.80 per gallon ( 3.8 liters ) for diesel ( ha ha that was in 2004 in August 2005 it was $3-00 a gallon....but I understand is back at $2.60 a gal in Nov 2005 ), which is cheaper than unleaded. Campground fees range from US$17.00 per night to US$50.00. Yes we paid $50 per night in Jacksons Hole and also Cody, Wyoming.
THE FURTHER YOU TRAVEL IN A DAY THE MORE YOU WILL SPEND FILLING UP YOUR FUEL TANK
Step 16....Liquor
How remiss of me, I forgot "grog". Now surely thats a daily expense ( essential item ). Grog is very cheap in the US and really expensive in Canada. You will see rows and rows of Australian Wine in the Liquor outlets. American beer leaves a lot to be desired, you can get Fosters anywhere, but I reckon its been brewed to American's tastes...YUK. Now I really took a liking to Wheat Beer especially "hefeweizen", which I found in the western states.
Its a mystery as to where one purchases liquor. In Oregon you see rows and rows of wine in the supermarkets and spirits are purchased in liquor shops ( they don't sell wine ).
In UTAH there are state run Liquor outlets which sell the lot, but not on Sundays. So it is different in every state so I always keep a stock in the stoage area of the RV just to be sure. |
Step 17....Cards & Discounts
The Americans are big on having lots of loyalty cards. We succumbed, as the discounts are well worth it, so now we carry a boxload of cards.
e.g. We have a Safeway card, it cost nothing and you can get it at the checkout instantly and it gives you varying discounts on your groceries. While your at it, get an Albertsons card, A Vons card etc etc etc.
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