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RV and Motorhome Vacations Offer Discount Travel OptionsMore and more Americans are enjoying the versatility, security, convenience and the grandeur of visiting and touring the country with motorhomes, more popularly known as RV's. According to a study conducted by the University of Michigan, 1 out of 12 American families own motorhomes, thus the increase of 7.8 percent of the numbers of such vehicles in the past four years. To stretch the statistics further, this means that seven million families or households have RV's. So why is there an increase on the use of motorhomes? Post September 11 analysis reveals that people want to have more control of their trips and are opting to travel more by land than by air. Aside from this, they want to avoid airport hassles and traffic. But more than these reasons, Americans want to enjoy more times with their families and to be in control of their travel schedules. And in these stressful times, going outdoors and communing with nature seem to be one of the solutions which can be greatly accomplished by motorhome traveling. Motorhomes have become more comfortable and more luxurious since the release of the first RV. Some motorhomes nowadays, have complete upholstered furniture, state of the line appliances like microwaves, televisions and refrigerators. Other deluxe motorhomes provide features such as dining and living areas, queen beds, cabinets and storage plus a shower in the full-size bathroom. Other motorhomes also became flashier with stereos and CD players installed in the vehicle and other enhanced comforts such as double door refrigerators and wooden tabletops. Moreover, they have also become efficient in terms of the space and materials they use for their construction. Aside from these conveniences inside the motorhome, motorhome vacationing also became popular because of the improved campgrounds and fancy motorhome resorts. Some motorhome resorts offer luxurious amenities such as swimming pools and golf- courses. Fitness enters for the health conscious can also be found in such motorhome parks aside from computer centers. Aside from these, others also provide schedules for sports meets and dance activities. Beyond, these perks and joys, however, traveling in a motorhome needs some planning especially on the activities you and your family want to accomplish on the trip. Aside from these, your motorhome should be equipped with the following essentials before you hit the road:
Aside from these, families and individuals also have responsibilities in conserving energy and making a conscious effort of taking care of the environment while traveling on the road and while settling in camps. Here are some few tips you need to know also while traveling in your motorhome: 1. To decrease emissions and to conserve energy, keep the motorhome well tuned. 2. Make sure that the campsites where you camp are marked as "RV campsites". 3. While driving, make sure that you stick to the roads that the motorhome can travel into. 4. Try to avoid using disposable things such as cups, plates and spoons. 5. Make sure that the campfires you make are small and avoid putting stuff into the fire that will not burn such as rubber, foil, plastic etc. It is also important to note fire rules in motorhome campgrounds. 6. Avoid using supplies for cleaning that can be toxic. Look for ecologically friendly cleaning stuff. 7. If you are bringing your pets in your motorhome travel, and they are permitted in campgrounds, make sure that they are kept inside the motorhome or use stakes to tie them there. Barks can be damaged when they are tied in a tree. 8. Be considerate wit your neighbors when playing music or when playing computer games. Other campers may consider this as noise. 9. Always make sure that you recycle while traveling. 10. Make sure to leave all areas in the motorhome park clean and dispose your trash in properly designated areas in the park. Other articles by this author »
About David Arnold Livingston
David Arnold Livingston is a family man and enjoys camping on his vacations. For great resources, visit: http://www.amotorhomesz.com/ Related
And here is another random article you might be interested in... Do You Need a Personal Assistant?It's great to be multi-skilled...be able to type your own correspondence, do your bookkeeping, answer all phone calls, prepare your PowerPoint presentations, organise your own travel, seminars, pick up and send your mail, pack orders, do your own marketing, do all the photocopying, ring your clients and prospects. However it may not leave you with enough time to focus on what really matters. When you first start out in business, you will no doubt do most things yourself, yet to continue trying to keep control of every task that needs doing by handling everything yourself, you'll never be able to grow your business successfully. You'll run out of time and also be limited by your own skillset. The same applies when you commence a new management role, you want to make a good impression and show that you are capable of handling all your responsibilities without asking for any assistance. That's fine if you can manage doing that effectively and maintain your sanity. However, if you are having difficulty and suffer in silence, other people...your team, colleagues and clients will eventually notice anyhow. If you are a business owner or manager with a team of people, you'll go crazy trying to do everything yourself without some form of assistance...and being a good manager, your role is to manage and develop your people. Together you will achieve more... more productivity and profit or whatever your purpose is. When you have people working for you, you'll find that managing your people will take up a lot of your time. When you're at this level you do need some form of assistance whether it be a Virtual Assistant (personal assistants who work off-site in their own business and whom you can hire on as 'as needs' basis (see www.asecretary.com.au) or hire a person to assist you on-site whether it's part-time or full-time. You may also have a suitable candidate in your office right now who is ready to step in...just make sure they have the skills you require. It's no good recruiting within your organisation unless the person has the attributes needed unless you are prepared to invest additional time and money to get them up to speed... and even after all that effort, they may still be unsuitable. One of my clients decided to utilise their company's receptionist to help him with his workload as she had spare time at certain parts of the day. This lady was a typical sanguine personality which meant she was bubbly, full of life and excellent 'people person'... perfect for her role. This type of person is generally allergic to details and can be disorganised...the opposite of what my client required. I knew it wasn't going to work but he was adamant to give it a go as he didn't want to invest in additional staff. It didn't take long for him to realise he had made a big mistake and that no amount of further training would bring her skill level to where he needed it to be. Within 4 weeks he hired a trained personal assistant who was highly organised and could easily undertake the tasks required. Gary's Story Gary is the Sales Manager of a building company. He manages a team of 15 people. Gary began coaching with me last year. One of his key goals was to finish work by 5.30 p.m. each day. At that stage he was commencing work at 7.00 a.m. and going home at 7.30 p.m. at night. Not much fun right? He had no time for his life. Working these hours he was overstressed, overweight, unwell and the long hours took their toll on his family life. There were a range of other issues affecting Gary's productivity...the key ones were his poor time management skills, his inability to say 'no' and not having competent staff to delegate to. The staff issue was directly related to Gary's time management skills. When new people joined his department they were left to their own devices with no on-going training. The staff turnover was a direct reflection of his management skills. His regular team's performance wasn't monitored and they never experienced any further development. In other words, Gary wasn't an effective leader. He had no dedicated personal assistant to delegate basic administrative tasks to and to assist him directly with his role. Gary had to look after clients and suppliers as well as his own team. The 'people' issues took up much of Gary's time, therefore he extended his working hours to catch up on his own tasks... many of which could have been delegated to a competent personal assistant. Through using our Weekly Planner to record where he was spending his time, Gary discovered he was wasting a minimum of 15 hours a week on administrative tasks which could easily be handled by an assistant. Gary's time was worth $200 an hour and here he was wasting $3000 worth of his time minimum per week which could easily be delegated to a personal assistant who would cost his company $800 - $1000 per week. The crazy thing about this was he procrastinated for weeks about hiring a support person. Once he saw the real truth, he quickly got off his butt and took action. The Final Word If you want to have more time to focus on what really counts in your business/organisation, then consider letting go and find an assistant who has the skills you need to help you be the best you can be. For more information about the value of a Personal Assistant/Administrative support read these two editions of The Organised Time: The Power of the Personal Assistant Your Administrative Team â€" Look After Them If you require support on an 'as needs' basis contact A Clayton's Secretary. They have a network of virtual assistants nationally and overseas. If you're in the market for a personal assistant you have the option of going through the tedious process of doing it yourself, using recruitment companies or contact the Australian Institute of Office Professionals. Remember if you want to free up your time to do what you do best you'll need to delegate or outsource the rest! Have a great week Lorraine Pirihi Other articles by this author »
About Lorraine Pirihi
Lorraine Pirihi is Australia's Personal Productivity Specialist and Leading Life Coach. Her business The Office Organiser specialises in showing small business owners and managers, how to get organised at work so they can have a life! Lorraine is also a dynamic speaker and has produced many products including "How to Survive and Thrive at Work!" To subscribe to her free ezine visit www.office-organiser.com.au Related
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