RV Road Notes is written by one person — me, Dana — from an actual 1998 Class C I've been rebuilding since 2019, with a shepherd mix named Rooster in the passenger seat. There's n…
RV Road Notes is written by one person — me, Dana — from an actual 1998 Class C I've been rebuilding since 2019, with a shepherd mix named Rooster in the passenger seat. There's no editorial board, no content farm, no freelancers writing about rigs they've never sat in. That's on purpose. This page explains how I decide what to publish, how I check it, and where the money comes in, because I think you're owed that before you take road advice or a Dutch oven recipe from a stranger on the internet.
I started keeping a maintenance log and a spending spreadsheet the week I bought this rig, mostly to keep myself honest. The site grew out of that habit. The goal is simple: publish what actually happens on the road — real costs, real repairs, real campground experiences, real recipes cooked on a two-burner propane stove — instead of polished fantasy. If a build takes three weekends longer than expected or a recipe fails on the first attempt, you'll read that too.
Every post starts from something I've done, not something I've read about. The van conversion articles come from tools I've actually used and mistakes I've actually made — including the dinette I built badly the first time and rebuilt properly the second. The recipes get cooked in my own propane oven or Dutch oven before they're written up, usually more than once, because camp cooking rarely goes right the first try. When a topic is outside my direct experience — say, a 4x4 conversion detail on a friend's van rather than my own Ford chassis — I say so in the piece and describe exactly what I observed or helped with, rather than presenting it as my personal history.
Everything published here fits two categories on purpose: Camping Recipes and Camper Van Conversions. I choose topics based on what's actually useful to someone living in or traveling with a rig — boondocking meal prep that survives a bumpy dirt road, propane oven recipes that don't waste water, conversion steps that matter for a specific chassis, awning and storage upgrades that solve a real problem I or someone I trust has hit. I'm not chasing every trending gadget or seasonal listicle. If it wouldn't help me or a fellow full-timer solve something this month, I don't publish it just to fill a calendar.
Most of what's here is primary — my own logs, receipts, mileage, and taste tests. Where I reference outside information, like a manufacturer's spec sheet or a park's official rules, I try to link or name the source directly rather than paraphrase vaguely. I pay attention to what other full-timers and van builders are talking about, but I don't rewrite trending posts just to ride a keyword. If a trend doesn't hold up to actual testing on my own rig, it doesn't make it onto the site.
I recommend gear and products I've used long enough to trust, not items I unboxed once for a review. If I haven't personally run a part, tool, or ingredient through real conditions — heat, dust, a winter in the desert — I either say that clearly or leave it out. Some posts include affiliate links to things I actually buy again; how that works, and how it never changes what I recommend, is explained fully in the Affiliate Disclaimer and the site's broader Disclosure page. I'd rather lose a commission than tell you a $40 part is worth $150.
This site runs ads and occasional partnerships, and I'm upfront that they help fund the fuel, propane, and camera batteries this work runs on. Any sponsored content is labeled as such, and I don't accept partnerships for products I haven't tested or wouldn't use myself. If a brand reaches out about working together, the process and standards for that are outlined on the Collaboration page. You can read more about how the site is funded overall on the Disclosure page, and how data and cookies factor into ads on the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy pages.
Six years and 65,000 miles have taught me that specs change, parts get discontinued, and sometimes I just get a torque value or an ingredient ratio wrong. When an error is caught — by me, a reader, or a manufacturer update — I correct the post directly and note what changed, rather than quietly editing it away. If you spot something off, especially anything safety-related like propane setup or electrical work, please tell me. Email [email protected] with the post title and what needs fixing, and I'll look at it personally, usually within a few days.
Readers leave comments with their own boondocking numbers, conversion tips, and recipe tweaks, and that's genuinely part of what makes this useful. Comments are moderated for respect and relevance, not for disagreement — you can absolutely tell me my chili recipe needs more cumin. Full rules for what's welcome are on the Community Guidelines page, and general site terms are covered under the Terms of Use.
If you want the longer version of who I am and why this site exists, that's all on the About Us page. Short version: former hospital scheduler, current full-timer, and someone who'd rather publish an honest bad month than a fake good one. Questions about anything on this page are always welcome at [email protected].