I started ready Andy’s Blog Travels With Andy long before I even began RV’ing.  At the time, I didn’t own an RV, had never driven an RV and never had even been in an RV except for my parents tent camper back in the early 60’s.  I don’t know how I got referred to Andy Baird’s blog, but it changed my life enormously.

When I first began reading about Andy he had purchased his first RV which he named Gerty.  I guess I was drawn to Andy for several reasons.  One reason was because he, like myself, was also new to the RV’ing world and he was single(also like myself).  I was already reading Tioga George’s Blog which convinced me that the RV lifestyle was for me.  But I also wanted to reassure myself that I had made the correct decision.   That is where Andy’s blog helped me.

I started out reading all his new posts, but then took the time to go back and read every post from the very beginning of his blog.  What a story!  In my reading I was not necessarily looking for how to do things but more about his thoughts about the RV lifestyle.  After all I was in new territory now and didn’t have the slightest idea about anything.  I was at least 6 years away from retirement, but had no idea what I was going to do once I did retire.  For that matter I was not even thinking of retirement.  I had a good job, made good money, had a small apartment down at the beach in San Clemente, CA (which I loved) and really wasn’t even thinking about retiring.

Then I started reading Travels With Andy.  The more I read the more interested I became and before long I was hooked.  After all, if Andy could do it so could I.  Andy’s blog is like going to school and majoring in the RV lifestyle.  He covers everything you need to know to successfully enjoy RV’ing.  He is especially helpful with ideas that make living in your RV more pleasant.  Everything from installing solar panels to organizing your wardrobe.

His blog is well organized showing upgrades to different parts of his rig.  Andy does not just tell you how to do various upgrades but shows you as well, with many before and after pictures, so you can see what he actually did.  It is worth it’s weight in gold.  If you are like me I have trouble visualizing what is required and how the finished product looks.

Andy also put his feelings into his blog.  That too is important to me as well as the technical end.  He reminisces about his father, friends (both in his pre-RV life and those he has met on the road) and his cats.  Being single it helped to make a decision on an RV lifestyle for me.

When I was in Rockhound State Park (just outside of Deming, NM) I had the privilege of meeting Andy.  He gave me the grand tour of Skylark (his newest RV) with all the upgrades.  I had looked up to this guy for years never thinking I would ever get the opportunity to meet him let alone see his rig.  Andy also came over to my rig with my friends Jim and Gayle of Life’s Little Adventure fame and showed us some of the neat things he can do with his IPad.

Be sure to click and then click again to enlarge all photos.

I have gotten a lot of very useful information out of Andy’s blog.  It is well written and very entertaining.  But if Andy doesn’t have enough to occupy his time he is also the moderator for the lifewithalazydaze Yahoo group.  Plus he also is the creator of Eureka, a CD-ROM showing all of his ideas and has authored several books.

I don’t have any connection to Andy other then that I am a friend he has met on the road.  I just like Andy’s style and the multitude of ideas he has suggested.  I think you too will enjoy reading Travels With Andy.