Tiffanie Palaniuk’s Long Haul RV Fishing Travels

Because Pete and I don’t intend to get on the road in an RV for another five or six years, that gives us plenty of time to ask questions and anticipate what will be best for our future lifestyle. When Tiffanie McCall – now most definitely Tiffanie Palaniuk – there was no anticipation and little pre-travel research. The only decision she made was to GO FOR IT. 

In Part One and Part Two of my “On the Road” series, Tiffanie offered up a lot of valuable advice but she didn’t exhaust her vast reservoir of knowledge. The following is her story in her own words, with lots more information that will help all of us make wise decisions about our future travel adventures. 

Brandon and I did the long distance thing for two and a half years. Part of that time he was mainly on the east coast fishing and I was in Alaska working as a server which meant a four hour time difference. We saw each other for about two weeks every two and a half months and it was challenging but we were both doing things that we had always dreamt of.

After two and a half years Brandon and I decided it was time to give it go at the fishing/road life together. We knew that we could do distance but it was time to make sure that I was able to live on the road in this unique lifestyle. Clearly, fishing and road life is a huge part of who Brandon is and he was very up front and honest with the challenges of his career early on. 

I was ready to start traveling with Brandon. The timing was right. I’m sure many of you are very familiar with Brandon’s story, but in 2013 he was disqualified due to an honest mistake while “dominating” on the Mississippi River. The next event he turned around and won the St. Lawrence River tournament. It was at that tournament that he decided he was ready for me to be full-time on the road. I had two and a half weeks to give to my boss notice that I was moving on before I packed up and left for my new travel life.

As his career was still very young, we felt that it was important to “experiment” with me traveling to the last event of the year in 2013 and then travel full-time through some extra fishing events and pre-practice, like a trial run. I will never forget the feeling of losing what I was raised to know, independence. I knew that by walking away from my own income and not pursuing my teaching career I would potentially lose some independence. I don’t do well asking for things and to become dependent on someone made those first few months extremely difficult. I did come across different forms of income so that I could help contribute which made me more at peace. 

I grew up around heavy equipment and knew all about “take the turn extra wide” and when in reverse everything is backwards but I had never really towed a boat or anything for that matter. Brandon got sick of driving in Nashville, Tennessee traffic so he pulled over, got fuel and said, “okay it's your turn to drive”. 😂. I would have preferred to drive on a back road or a road with no traffic but I guess you could say that his way worked. There is a picture floating around out there of me death gripping the steering wheel knowing that I was towing a large part of his career…but no pressure. Now I tow the Skeeter bass boat around the country.  

I learned how to back down the ramp on Grand Lake, Oklahoma on a tiny ramp with a huge hole. Brandon alerted me to take my time but there was a HUGE hole on the left. Being new at this we had a miscommunication and I adjusted to his left thinking I was missing the hole just to learn that the hole was on my left so I hit it dead on. I'd like to think I had good aim but Brandon wasn’t really impressed with me hitting that hole. Due to miscommunications, we decided it was best to let me figure it out on my own, unless I was going to hit someone, something or jack knife. This worked great and I learned fast.  

Brandon and I decided that when we bought a camper that we needed to both know how to set up, load and drive all equipment in case something happened where one of us couldn’t be there to help.  

Brandon and I drove to Texas together the first year of camping and he let me drive on an empty freeway with 50 mph crosswinds to get a feel for the camper. Then he had me pull into a Walmart parking lot in Colorado as a test. SIDE NOTE: Walmart parking lots are not always camper friendly so plan ahead. This one was camper friendly but there was a lot of traffic and I was new at pulling this beast so I was a little nervous.  

Knowing how to load, move and unload definitely has paid off. One year our campground flooded when Brandon was fishing a tournament and I had to move the camper and back into another spot before the water hit the bottom of our camper and flooded. It was nerve wracking but I just double- and triple-checked everything before pulling it to the new site.  

I have also left when he has had other obligations so that I can get set up and dinner cooked before he arrives.  

We are now both comfortable with me pulling the camper which is a Grand Design Momentum 397TH with a Ford F350 dually. Our Grand Design Momentum 397TH is 43 feet long with three slides, two located in the kitchen and one in the bedroom. The unit is a toy-hauler so the ramp does double as a deck, which I love, and just having the deck down with the back door exposed brings in so much natural light and really opens up the unit. We have two full bathrooms. We were looking for a unit with at least one and a half bathrooms but preferably two bathrooms because our videographer travels with us and we wanted him to have his own privacy -- and let’s be honest, three adults in one small camper bathroom just isn’t ideal ;).   

Our first camper had a bathtub in the second shower but you couldn’t actually bathe in it. It was good size for a child but could be quite comical to have an adult try to fit in it. Our current camper has two full bathrooms but only showers. I love taking baths so I am always open to having a usable bathtub in the camper but it’s really not necessary. I just take a ton of them when I’m home or visiting friends' houses :). I do believe that each layout fits people differently. As mentioned before, we have a pretty unique situation with a third adult living with us and working with us so we have a front bedroom and bath, middle kitchen-living room with loft (or “videographer dwelling”) and the back room is our media room, with the queen sized bunk beds and back bathroom. Bottom bunks turn into benches for our workstation and with a table in the middle we lay our back deck down which opens up the unit a ton.

I cook in the kitchen and outside on the Traeger grill. We fill our freezer every year in January with as much meat that as possible that we harvest. We try to eat healthy and clean so our diet is made up of a lot of elk, deer, bear, antelope, salmon, steelhead and berries that we harvest in the off season. Freezers in the fifth wheel aren’t huge but we can get a good amount of meat in there for 9 months so I don’t usually freeze prep meals at home because having the meat is more important. It would be one thing if we went home every other month or so but once we hit the road, in January, we typically don’t get home until late September at the earliest with the exception of this year.

Living in the camper you learn to live fairly simply. Five camper item must-haves are: toilet cleaner, toilet paper, tool kit, broom or vacuum and Google (for looking up how to fix things).

It may be an unpopular opinion but we hardly ever use the outdoor TV mainly because we hardly use the indoor TV. When you walk through the units, you’re like, “Wow, this one has four TVs within 43 feet,” but we rarely even use one, so it’s definitely not necessary to have four of them.

Here are some more important items:

• A honey wagon: If you’ll be staying at sites without sewer for a week or more or want more flexibility in camping options. We have one but based on the reservations I make the year before we will reflect on if we bring it or not. 

• I feel like many people get caught up in buying things they think they need when really you just clutter your space with things that you may never use.

• We carry extra water filters for our onboard water filtration system because when it gets clogged you lose ALL WATER PRESSURE.

• Undercarriage items or storage area, I would suggest putting things in clear plastic totes. That way you can see inside to know what is in there and also it keeps things protected from water, mice and other mishaps.

• Wheel blocks are always good to have, you never know how level your site will be.

• White vinegar or bleach depending on what you choose to sanitize your rig with.

• A surge protector. It's a lot cheaper than replacing a refrigerator or other appliances during power surge. 

• An outdoor rug as this will cut down on the amount of outdoor debris coming in off shoes. I do strongly suggest making a no shoe rule.

We travel full time with Bella, our six year old black mouth cur. We adopted her at a fishing tournament in South Carolina so her first six months with us she only knew the hotel and back seat life but she loves camping life. Get a storage container for pet food that seals so you can avoid mice taking over your camper. Always have dog bags on all leashes, and enough heartworm, flea and tick medicine for the time you’ll be gone. Make sure all vaccines are up to date before traveling and have printed records as some campgrounds require them.  

When booking a campsite, I look for a site long enough for our equipment, preferably full hookups and boat parking on site. I always ask if we can park on grass because I don’t like surprises when we show up and learn that you cannot. If there are trees in the campground what is the canopy height?

We typically meet people everywhere we go but usually we are in work mode during fishing events which means we are gone early mornings and back late at night. Tournament weeks we are less social in the campground because we aren’t there as much.

We travel from January until the season is over and we try to find things along the way, often other fun fisheries or entertainment. 

First things first. When we arrive at our campsite we plug in our surge protector. I always park the boat and truck out of the way and then go guide Brandon into the site if he needs help. Then we place the blocks for our jacks, take the camper off the dually and start leveling. Brandon and I have different jobs: He does the leveling and electricity and I do the water and sewer. Then we go inside and start opening up slides and putting our home back together. So, it's safe to say we work from the outside to the inside.

Tips for first time buyers would be LESS IS MORE. We are not a fan of clutter so all the gadgets and utensils and things you can have in a house you should definitely reconsider in a camper. Keep it minimal. I love organization, so I like to have a place for everything. In the pantry I found the perfect size containers that fit so I could organize snacks, from baking, breakfast to pasta, to canned goods and not have it look like a total mess. Every camper is different so it's a lot of trial and error before figuring out what works best for you. This camper has a lot more storage than our previous one so we were able to add a toaster, mini popcorn maker and a blender. I prefer to make the most out of my cupboard so when we get a new camper, I always construct new shelves to make the most of the new space. I don’t like wasted space when you're struggling to find places for things. Get an outdoor rug for entrance to campers so that you can cut down on things tracked in. DO NOT ALLOW SHOES IN RV. I am still working on this rule but between the dog hair and the shoes tracking things in I sweep and mop often. I would highly suggest getting bins for the fridge. You can find them at RV stores, TJ Maxx, Walmart, etc. This will keep your refrigerator organized and keep things from falling out when opening the doors. We have never had a spill of any kind because I implemented this immediately. Pots and pans: I would suggest finding versatile pans that do more than one thing. The more they can do the more it’ll be worth having. For example, I have one pot, one deep pan and two pans and that’s plenty.

I don’t tend to miss our house until we get home and then you feel like you live in a mansion. I feel like I could live full-time in the camper because we really only live in a house a couple months out of the year. It has taught us that “things” don’t matter to us but memories do. I think it helps that we make our camper as homey as our house. Originally, we didn’t add anything really “extra” but little things that you can add once you get in the groove are photos, throw blankets, and candles. It helps create a familiar, comfortable space.  

Bring a positive attitude to the camper and be willing to learn how to fix and maintain things. Google and YouTube will become your best friends :). Transitioning from camper to house can be hard. You learn how to maintain such a small space and live minimally so when you go back to a house you have to learn to remember how to maintain a house and you look at the stuff and wonder why you even need it, if you didn’t need it the other nine months of the year. We typically get home and get rid of stuff each year. 

Tiffanie has gone over and above the call of duty to make the camping life sound so easy and even more fun than I already thought it could be. I just hope I can follow her keep it simple, less is more mantra. I think it’s time to start decluttering at home. Be sure to check out Facebook Marketplace -- we have great things but I think it’s time to start saying goodbye to many of them.