Make sure you have the correct tow vehicle. You need to research not only towing capacity but cargo carrying capacity. That means all your "stuff" including YOU and your passengers and water in tanks, etc. It adds up fast and if you overload it will affect your abiility to stop and will be a strain on your vehicle.

It's a good idea to get your RV weighed. We did this at a truck stop and professionally at an RV rally. It doesn't cost too much at the truck stops and you will be surprised how much you weigh!

Good idea to make a to do list for when you are packing up and leaving a place. 

One thing on our to do list: Take shower head down and secure it in a towel on the floor of shower. Yep ours fell once and it broke. 

Some extra items that come in handy and are helpful and sometimes necessary: Surge protector, water filter, water pressure regulator (this one is necessary), chocks for wheels (necessary), voltmeter to check voltage at pole, water flow meter for filling fresh water tank (make sure it is set on gallons unless you know metric well). A level (necessary). Also good size board in case you have to drive on it at an unlevel site. If you are not level it will screw up your slides and your fridge won't work as well.

​Always have extra sewer hoses and water hoses and even 30 or 50 amp extension cords. We have been to campgrounds and state parks that the hook ups were far away.

​A honey wagon (tank to use for dumping when you don't want to drive to dump station) is a good idea. We don't take it with us a lot. Make sure you have the correct sewer hoses for it. We found that out the hard and messy way.

A Rhino sewer hose carrier we found holds the hoses nicely. Also you can get a "wrench" for opening and closing sewer cover and tightening and loosening the hose. It is made of plastic and is very handy.

Check tire pressure before every trip or invest in a TPMS (Tire pressure monitor system). It can be expensive though. Learn the correct tire pressure necessary for your RV. The correct way is to go by weight and not just what the side of the tire says.

If you have lithium batteries it is a good idea to take them out for the winter. I marked the the wires and took photos so I know how to hook back up in the spring.

For 5th wheel I needed to buy some step stools to reach higher cabinets.

Also for 5th wheel when stopped at a Walmart or Cracker Barrel you should carry an orange cone to warn people of your stairs that are left out.

We purchased an RV Garmin to help navigate for low bridges, The app RV Parky is good for low clearance as well.

If you drive a diesel truck, TSD Open Roads is a good thing to join. You get discount on fuel and you can see where locations are. We like it because we know there will be sufficient clearance because truck drivers use it. We try to be respectful to the truckers and not spend too much time at the pump. The pumps are fast too so we usually are in and out. Gas buddy is good too but not always reliable.

Army Corps campgrounds (COE) are the best! There is a book you can find on Amazon that tells you where they are in the U.S. If you are 62 you can pay $80 for a lifetime America the Beautiful pass. You pay half price at COE campgrounds and get into National Parks.

Solar panels are great! We have two and two 100 amp lithium batteries. We wish we had 200 amp.

Make sure you have a way to lock or reinforce the lock on your fridge--unless you like the smell of pickle juice!

Always pitch your awning so when it rains it will drain off. We almost lost ours once, the water collected and it was about to blow! Also, never leave your RV with awning out, especially in the Midwest and West.

Make sure when you hook up to water you run all the facets to get air out of lines. Important also for the hot water tank to fill up before you turn on hot water heater. Also replace or check anode rod in hot water tank regularly.

We have an ice maker we travel with always. Our residential fridge in our 5th wheel has one too. Make sure you change filter in residential fridge. We had smelly ice cubes and come to find out it was the filter causing it.

Learn the right way to winterize your RV, Or pay someone to do it.