5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good but very broad book with less detail than you would expect., August 20, 2005
This review is from: The Everything Family Guide To Rv Travel And Campgrounds: From Choosing The Right Vehicle To Planning Your Trip--All You Need For Your Adventure On Wheels (Everything (History & Travel)) (Paperback)
I purchased this book in the hopes my wife would like it, since it did not get into the heavy depth and geek details that the RV Bible does, which my wife would not care for. Both my wife and I were instead dissappointed with the book because it did not give ENOUGH detail. It tries to cover everything but instead seems to gloss over details that I think needed more explantation. In an attempt to be an EVERYTHING family guide, it's attempt in my opinion falls somewhat flat.
The back THIRD of the book lists campgrounds I would assume the author likes, with adaquate detail given to give you an idea about them.
WHY?
Why toss away 145 pages to be a not very good imatation of what Woodalls, Fodar, Frommers, Foghorn Press, Trailer Life AAA and a host of others have ALREADY done, in far better detail?
IMHO those pages would have been better used explaining in more detail the subjects you bought the book for. It is like the author got tired of the project, the publisher wanted to increase the page count, so they threw this on the back.
OK, want an example? Lets choose trailer brakes. A very serious and important issue RV'ers should know about, the author spends a quick three paragraphs (yes they were thick paragraphs) on a subject that could have easily had more detail, and in such a safety related area I feel should have.
The little breakouts, E-Facts and E-Alert, E-Essential Etc, were nice little snippets, But many lacked any meat or purpose. For instance, to break out the fact that people have different opinions on how to tow a dinghy vehicle like it was an essential piece of info that would ruin your trip if you did not know is a bit much. You could have included something in the paragraphs stating "opinions vary widely" or some such thing but to drag it out as a break out seems a waste.
After all this, I am not saying the book does not have it's merits. It is written in a nice plain english, friendly way, with good info provided to a new or nearly new RV'er. It does attempt to touch on everything, and at least get you thinking about issues a person new to RV'ing needs to think about.
It is a family guide, one that is written well enough that even the kids might read some of, and that is a plus to this book over others I have seen including RV Bible. I like RVB because I am a Geek, I want detail and the more the better, but I am not everybody, and not everybody wants to know how to calculate Combined Gross Vehicle Weights, (though they should know how, like medicine it is good for you and keeps you safe).
For a general introduction to RV'ing this book is pretty good, but if the author & publisher read this, I would much rather loose the campground directory, and instead run a small apendix referencing the authors FAVORITE campgrounds in an established book such as Wodalls or one of the others. Use a small paragraph to tell me why you the author like that campground, ( very friendly host, wonderful scenic location, etc). The author is billed as an experienced RV'er, so if you want to talk about campgrounds, lets get some of your road experience on the actual campgrounds you have stayed at.
Overall, a 3.5 but Amazon does not give half points. I will give you the extra half point, because I think the book does fill a nich, for the new RV'er, and is not as insulting as the RV'ng for dummy or complete idiot titles are.
Marian, good luck on your second edition.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
