Nothing new to post so no Month 5
Only a few new things to add...
34,000 miles travelled
40 States/ State Capitols visited
28 mpg
We popped into Costco in Augusta Georgia for cheese and came out with cheese, Flu & Covid jabs.
Rounded Flu £18 & Covid £130, Cheese £5. Probably other walk-in options but the only other we looked at was Walmart.
Flu £85 & Covid £180 only rubber cheese.
Propane Refill:
Tractor Supplies
Love's
Just keep an eye out as it's random which local petrol station have propane
Van update:
Going to need a full set of tyres in the next couple of weeks. Tyres are rated differently in USA we need 10 ply or Load rating 115/116 for our van.
Cooper Discoverer HT3 installed on front will have done 30,000 ish by the time they're replaced.
Michelin Aglis Camper installed rear will have done the whole 46,000.
An item I did not consider when planning are the valve stems, they are metal on our van and not available in US.
The large screw cap on the waste/gray tank has split round the thread. From the amount of sealant on/in it may well have been break at construction.
Or the sealant is very spongy so may have expanded and cracked the cap. Same issue on other 2021 Kon-Tiki apparently
Wiper blades "failed" at the same time - we bought 2 spare sets and suspect RAM Promaster 2023 blades would fit. Image attached.
Finally been able to identify where/how water ingress into garage Image of water/dirt marks and the not/poorly installed seal.
The piece hanging down had been stuck to the underside of the van, by clearly visible. There seems to be no seal/gasket installed in most of the joint.
Bad construction, "missed" by Swift QC, "missed" in dealer pre-delivery check, not noticed by dealer when tow bracket installed.
At the suggestion of forum members I have written to Swift and received approval for DIY repair, remove redundant gasket and apply sealant.
Route:
With the weather being unseasonable warm in the southern States we change route to cover them off now rather and colder Jan/Feb 2024.
Means we'll have to drive all the way back west but Autumn in these States is worth seeing.
You can see route @ https://www.polarsteps.com/JezAng/7186963-gap-year
Food Update
Wegmans (Grocery Store): https://www.wegmans.com/
Stock:
Heinz Backed Beans - $4.25 a tin
Heinz Salad Cream - $11.00
Both UK production imported, pricey but worth it.
I know of Wegmans from my many trips to Rochester NY, and over years they have expanded down the East Coast as far as NC so you'll need to plan & stock-up
More Waitrose than Tesco.
In a few Walmart's we have found "International" section stocking jars of Patak's Butter Chicken, Korma, Tikka Masala
App: GasBuddy
Finally found an app that is generally reliable for finding Diesel price in the area, relies on app users/garage owner to update prices.
You may need to change your phones region to get download and use.
CyberGhost VPN: Subscription : Allows you to select host country, meaning you can access UK exclusive content while outside UK, or country of your choice.
Driving in general:
Other than the lack of courtesy, potholes I've noticed the varying designs of motorway junctions.
From vast multi lane, left & right on/off ramps to single lane on ramp that after as little as 200 yards is the off ramp.
@ 70 mph, the lack of courtesy forward plan by other drivers these can be very challenging. It is not uncommon to see both an entering & exiting vehicle braking
heavily to join/exit. There seems to be no protocol like exiting vehicle slows to go behind entering vehicle that accelerates.
Other things:
Clear H20 filters available in Walmart & RV sales shops.
We have had to buy a new dirt filter and have added a pressure gauge as at our last RV site stop the dirt filter burst due to very high water pressure.
Spoken with several Police officers, wondering what info they have on foreign vans and it's nothing. There is no database they can check.
General view was that provided you not doing something very dangerous you're unlikely to get stopped as none had any idea how to ticket a foreign van.
Future plans:
Working our way back west mid/top of southern states, then back along the gulf coast - we have 6 months to do it, last month will be getting van to docks Brunswick
and a holiday in Hawaii to complete the 50th State.
Christmas in Las Vegas - Hotel cheaper than RV park.
9th - 14th Feb booked in New Orleans RV park 15 minutes walk from French Quarter so in New Orleans for a few days/nights of Mardi Gras including
Fat Tuesday (Last day/night)
Answering Questions to Post
Shipping cost for the MH as opposed to buying and reselling in the US.
£4,000 (to ship out (Liverpool - Halifax NS) https://www.seabridge-tours.de/en/motorhome-shipping/ same cost to any of their East coast destinations. Website gives SQM cost but there will be a Diesel surcharge applied when booked. It was 32% of SQM when we shipped in May 23.
There is also https://ivssuk.com/ I spoken to other non UK who used them.
Current Est back is £3,500 but SQM reviewed annually Jan so will change and diesel surcharge reviewed/changed quarterly.
Plan to book 3 month in advance a soon as booking window opens, you can cancel up until you delivery van to port so 7 days before booking.
US RV's generally do less than 12 mpg's to UK gallon, we're getting 28 so another saving on fuel consumption.
Buying/Reselling: There are 1000's of RV's for sale in USA, https://www.rvtrader.com/ key issue for us was a 20/21 RV similar spec to our
Kon-Tiki 599 was approx the same converted £ price as we paid in UK and you have NOTHING inside.
You can ship fully equipped but "appearing empty" so everything in cupboards/garage.
How long will it take to resell?
How did you get vehicle insurance and cost ? Having opted to ship we did not look at the purchase process or insurance for a UK resident owning a USA RV.
www.progressive.com were the only company to quote noting US insurance is State dependant, so progressive in NY will not insure international drivers. You have to have a US "home" address. We got quotes for friends addresses in CA & PA, less than $1,000 but when reviewed by underwriters they were cancelled a week later, no reason given. We know a couple that used a friends address in OR on a Citroen Panel Van that was not rejected so seems potluck/
As you can only get a progressive quote 1 month before policy starts and you has
We used https://thuminsurance.com/ @ $4,000 as the only option to keep plan alive.
How did you get health insurance and cost ? We have a annual "backpacker" policy (https://www.truetraveller.com/) £2,200.
There a many, many companies and your personally circumstances will naturally influence price to research, research, research.
Getting a B2 visa is very important, on the waiver program you can only stay 3 months B2 allows 6 and as we did if you "ask nicely"
(sufficient fund, show you a genuine tourist and you will go home) a supervisor can give you a year. If you only get 6 months then you need
to take a day trip into Canada or Mexico and re-enter for another 6 months.
Bottom-line this is not a "cheap" trip but given we have only paid for 30 night in RV parks, mostly to visit cities for multiple days, I believe
we will save more in the year using free overnights (https://maps.overnightrvparking.com/) and diesel averaging £0.90 ltr than it has
cost in shipping and insurance.
That said everyone needs to do there own research, we chose the options that fitted our needs after very very extensive research/comparisons.
Only a few new things to add...
34,000 miles travelled
40 States/ State Capitols visited
28 mpg
We popped into Costco in Augusta Georgia for cheese and came out with cheese, Flu & Covid jabs.
Rounded Flu £18 & Covid £130, Cheese £5. Probably other walk-in options but the only other we looked at was Walmart.
Flu £85 & Covid £180 only rubber cheese.
Propane Refill:
Tractor Supplies
Love's
Just keep an eye out as it's random which local petrol station have propane
Van update:
Going to need a full set of tyres in the next couple of weeks. Tyres are rated differently in USA we need 10 ply or Load rating 115/116 for our van.
Cooper Discoverer HT3 installed on front will have done 30,000 ish by the time they're replaced.
Michelin Aglis Camper installed rear will have done the whole 46,000.
An item I did not consider when planning are the valve stems, they are metal on our van and not available in US.
The large screw cap on the waste/gray tank has split round the thread. From the amount of sealant on/in it may well have been break at construction.
Or the sealant is very spongy so may have expanded and cracked the cap. Same issue on other 2021 Kon-Tiki apparently
Wiper blades "failed" at the same time - we bought 2 spare sets and suspect RAM Promaster 2023 blades would fit. Image attached.
Finally been able to identify where/how water ingress into garage Image of water/dirt marks and the not/poorly installed seal.
The piece hanging down had been stuck to the underside of the van, by clearly visible. There seems to be no seal/gasket installed in most of the joint.
Bad construction, "missed" by Swift QC, "missed" in dealer pre-delivery check, not noticed by dealer when tow bracket installed.
At the suggestion of forum members I have written to Swift and received approval for DIY repair, remove redundant gasket and apply sealant.
Route:
With the weather being unseasonable warm in the southern States we change route to cover them off now rather and colder Jan/Feb 2024.
Means we'll have to drive all the way back west but Autumn in these States is worth seeing.
You can see route @ https://www.polarsteps.com/JezAng/7186963-gap-year
Food Update
Wegmans (Grocery Store): https://www.wegmans.com/
Stock:
Heinz Backed Beans - $4.25 a tin
Heinz Salad Cream - $11.00
Both UK production imported, pricey but worth it.
I know of Wegmans from my many trips to Rochester NY, and over years they have expanded down the East Coast as far as NC so you'll need to plan & stock-up
More Waitrose than Tesco.
In a few Walmart's we have found "International" section stocking jars of Patak's Butter Chicken, Korma, Tikka Masala
App: GasBuddy
Finally found an app that is generally reliable for finding Diesel price in the area, relies on app users/garage owner to update prices.
You may need to change your phones region to get download and use.
CyberGhost VPN: Subscription : Allows you to select host country, meaning you can access UK exclusive content while outside UK, or country of your choice.
Driving in general:
Other than the lack of courtesy, potholes I've noticed the varying designs of motorway junctions.
From vast multi lane, left & right on/off ramps to single lane on ramp that after as little as 200 yards is the off ramp.
@ 70 mph, the lack of courtesy forward plan by other drivers these can be very challenging. It is not uncommon to see both an entering & exiting vehicle braking
heavily to join/exit. There seems to be no protocol like exiting vehicle slows to go behind entering vehicle that accelerates.
Other things:
Clear H20 filters available in Walmart & RV sales shops.
We have had to buy a new dirt filter and have added a pressure gauge as at our last RV site stop the dirt filter burst due to very high water pressure.
Spoken with several Police officers, wondering what info they have on foreign vans and it's nothing. There is no database they can check.
General view was that provided you not doing something very dangerous you're unlikely to get stopped as none had any idea how to ticket a foreign van.
Future plans:
Working our way back west mid/top of southern states, then back along the gulf coast - we have 6 months to do it, last month will be getting van to docks Brunswick
and a holiday in Hawaii to complete the 50th State.
Christmas in Las Vegas - Hotel cheaper than RV park.
9th - 14th Feb booked in New Orleans RV park 15 minutes walk from French Quarter so in New Orleans for a few days/nights of Mardi Gras including
Fat Tuesday (Last day/night)
Answering Questions to Post
Shipping cost for the MH as opposed to buying and reselling in the US.
£4,000 (to ship out (Liverpool - Halifax NS) https://www.seabridge-tours.de/en/motorhome-shipping/ same cost to any of their East coast destinations. Website gives SQM cost but there will be a Diesel surcharge applied when booked. It was 32% of SQM when we shipped in May 23.
There is also https://ivssuk.com/ I spoken to other non UK who used them.
Current Est back is £3,500 but SQM reviewed annually Jan so will change and diesel surcharge reviewed/changed quarterly.
Plan to book 3 month in advance a soon as booking window opens, you can cancel up until you delivery van to port so 7 days before booking.
US RV's generally do less than 12 mpg's to UK gallon, we're getting 28 so another saving on fuel consumption.
Buying/Reselling: There are 1000's of RV's for sale in USA, https://www.rvtrader.com/ key issue for us was a 20/21 RV similar spec to our
Kon-Tiki 599 was approx the same converted £ price as we paid in UK and you have NOTHING inside.
You can ship fully equipped but "appearing empty" so everything in cupboards/garage.
How long will it take to resell?
How did you get vehicle insurance and cost ? Having opted to ship we did not look at the purchase process or insurance for a UK resident owning a USA RV.
www.progressive.com were the only company to quote noting US insurance is State dependant, so progressive in NY will not insure international drivers. You have to have a US "home" address. We got quotes for friends addresses in CA & PA, less than $1,000 but when reviewed by underwriters they were cancelled a week later, no reason given. We know a couple that used a friends address in OR on a Citroen Panel Van that was not rejected so seems potluck/
As you can only get a progressive quote 1 month before policy starts and you has
We used https://thuminsurance.com/ @ $4,000 as the only option to keep plan alive.
How did you get health insurance and cost ? We have a annual "backpacker" policy (https://www.truetraveller.com/) £2,200.
There a many, many companies and your personally circumstances will naturally influence price to research, research, research.
Getting a B2 visa is very important, on the waiver program you can only stay 3 months B2 allows 6 and as we did if you "ask nicely"
(sufficient fund, show you a genuine tourist and you will go home) a supervisor can give you a year. If you only get 6 months then you need
to take a day trip into Canada or Mexico and re-enter for another 6 months.
Bottom-line this is not a "cheap" trip but given we have only paid for 30 night in RV parks, mostly to visit cities for multiple days, I believe
we will save more in the year using free overnights (https://maps.overnightrvparking.com/) and diesel averaging £0.90 ltr than it has
cost in shipping and insurance.
That said everyone needs to do there own research, we chose the options that fitted our needs after very very extensive research/comparisons.