{"id":7250,"date":"2026-08-01T00:18:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T03:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/?p=7250"},"modified":"2026-08-07T15:43:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T18:43:53","slug":"comprando-un-motorhome-en-eeuu-%f0%9f%9a%90%f0%9f%87%ba%f0%9f%87%b8-parte-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/en\/comprando-un-motorhome-en-eeuu-%f0%9f%9a%90%f0%9f%87%ba%f0%9f%87%b8-parte-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Buying a Motorhome in the USA \ud83d\ude90\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (Part 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

December 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first few kilometers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the previous post<\/a> we\u2019ll tell you all about the process of buying our little house on wheels. After months of searching, comparing, dealing with paperwork, and a lot of anxiety, the day finally arrived: the motorhome was ours. And then a new question arose: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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HOW TO START DRIVING A MOTORHOME?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udccd Our first destination was still a long way from Argentina. We had to travel back from Florida to Washington, D.C., where a few more months of work awaited us before we could begin our big trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udee3\ufe0f That trip would be our trial period. The first few kilometers to get to know the motorhome, get used to its size, learn how to maneuver it, and really start to experience what it\u2019s like to have a home on wheels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\ude90 We put the gearshift in DRIVE, took a deep breath\u2026 and set off on an adventure we\u2019ll never forget.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Heading home with two vehicles, a restless cat, and mechanical and weather-related problems<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 26, 2025, we set out from Florida and headed north, on our way back home. We were happy to have our motorhome, as we mentioned in the previous post. The funny thing was that Emi was riding with Batman in the rental car we had to return in Washington, D.C., and Fer was in Etalis<\/em> (our motorhome). Yes, we kept the rental car all the way to Washington, D.C., since, if we hadn\u2019t bought our own vehicle, the three of us getting back home from Florida would have been sooo expensive! (whether by renting another car or flying). Plus, Emi still couldn\u2019t drive our new purchase until she was officially listed on the registration papers\u2014\\, a formality we had to take care of once we arrived in D.C. We were dying to all three of us go together in our new little house on wheels, but that\u2019s just how things are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That separation seemed to affect Batman, our traveling cat, right away as well. When we set out on our trip, he didn\u2019t seem very happy in the rental car with Emi: he was meowing, getting restless, and it was clear he wasn\u2019t having a good time. So, at our first rest stop, we decided he should ride with Fer, and sure enough, he calmed down again. Apparently, he also wanted to enjoy Etalis<\/em> using their seats, their favorite spots when the sun is out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took us three days to cover 1,300 km to get home, and as usual, a few things happened along the way. The trip was intense, but we stayed motivated the whole time, despite a few mishaps. We knew we had our motorhome, with all the paperwork in order, and that filled us with peace of mind and happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc47 If you want to know more about this, click \ud83d\udc47 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Purchase phase<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The three-day trip<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spent our first night in the motorhome at a small RV park without electricity, so we had to improvise a mobile office and charge our computers from the car to send some important work emails. Meanwhile, Fer was checking to make sure the motorhome was working properly, and Batman was exploring every nook and cranny of what would become his new home, even though he didn\u2019t know it yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second day was the hardest. Halfway there, right after filling up at an old and somewhat run-down gas station, a light came on on the motorhome\u2019s dashboard: CHECK ENGINE. That kind of thing always makes your heart race. As usual, we called Kiko, who recommended adding an injector cleaner and seeing how the engine responded. Although the light never went off, everything seemed to be fine, so we continued our trip, never driving faster than 55 mph just to be safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\u2026 shortly afterward, the sky darkened and a terrible storm broke out. Heavy rain, very heavy rain, strong winds, and even a tornado warning for the area; alerts warning of the danger in the area were coming in on both our cell phones and the radio. We pulled over as soon as we could at a rest area, waited for the worst to pass, and continued on with great caution. That way, we were able to continue the trip without any major scares, though our bodies were tense and our minds were filled with thoughts like, \u201cWhat if buying this was a mistake?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The second night was just like what most travelers experience: spending it at a hypermarket, the one that starts with W. It\u2019s not the most glamorous option, but it\u2019s practical, safe, and comfortable for a one-night stopover. That allowed us to rest and complete the final leg of our journey without any major setbacks. The light on the dashboard was still on, but we\u2019ll tell you more about that in the next post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a delicious family breakfast at our new home, we hit the road again. We covered a lot of kilometers, but the drive was smoother than it had been recently. American roads are really well-suited for large vehicles, and despite the dim lights, Etalis handled the trip very well, driven by Fer and accompanied by Batman. Emi continued in the rental car, despite our growing desire to all three of us be traveling together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We finally arrived in Washington, D.C. It was really crazy to drive into the city in our new motorhome, passing by the Capitol and the Washington Monument, that iconic obelisk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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So where do we put it now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parking a vehicle with these dimensions is no easy task in a city like the U.S. capital. Street parking is prohibited, and our building didn\u2019t allow vehicles of this size (21 feet long \/ 7 meters, 8 feet wide \/ 2.5 meters). We had to turn to so-called \u201cstorage facilities\u201d, places where people usually rent space to store their belongings, and where many also allow vehicles of various sizes to be stored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, we went to \u201cExtra Space Storage,\u201d but since the vehicle wasn\u2019t registered in the city yet, they wouldn\u2019t let us store it there. Then we went to another place called \u201cSelf Storage,\u201d and they did allow us to store it there; the only requirements were that the vehicle be registered in the name of the person who would be the point of contact with the storage facility and that it be insured. That way, Etalis<\/em> found a new home for the next 8 months, and we had the peace of mind that it would be stored in a safe place. The cost of this storage service was approximately 110 USD per month. Oh, and one thing this company allowed, which was essential for us, was that we could work on improving and maintaining the vehicle, as long as we didn\u2019t make a mess or leave any trash behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But don't think that just by finding a place for Etalis<\/em> to sleep everything was already taken care of. There was still one crucial step left: officially registering her in Washington, D.C. And, as we\u2019d come to expect from this adventure, that process wasn\u2019t going to be so simple either. Between requirements, back-and-forth paperwork, an expensive repair shop, and a few unexpected setbacks, the process ended up being quite a story in itself. But we\u2019ll tell you all about that in the next post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you want to know everything aboutSi quer\u00e9s saber todo sobre la inscripci\u00f3n (registration en ingl\u00e9s) de Etalis<\/em> registration in Washington, D.C., we'll cover it in the following post. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thinking about buying a vehicle in the US\u2753<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions about the process\u2753<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\ude4c Write to us, we love sharing what we've learned! \ud83d\udc47<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diciembre 2024 Los primeros kil\u00f3metros En el post anterior les contamos c\u00f3mo fue el proceso de compra de nuestra casita con ruedas. Despu\u00e9s de meses de b\u00fasqueda, comparaciones, tr\u00e1mites y mucha ansiedad, finalmente lleg\u00f3 el d\u00eda: el motorhome ya era nuestro. Y entonces apareci\u00f3 una nueva pregunta:  \u00bfC\u00d3MO EMPEZAR A MANEJAR UN MOTORHOME? \ud83d\udccd Nuestro […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motorhome"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"trp-custom-language-flag":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Emi","author_link":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/en\/author\/emi\/"},"uagb_comment_info":1,"uagb_excerpt":"Diciembre 2024 Los primeros kil\u00f3metros En el post anterior les contamos c\u00f3mo fue el proceso de compra de nuestra casita con ruedas. Despu\u00e9s de meses de b\u00fasqueda, comparaciones, tr\u00e1mites y mucha ansiedad, finalmente lleg\u00f3 el d\u00eda: el motorhome ya era nuestro. Y entonces apareci\u00f3 una nueva pregunta:  \u00bfC\u00d3MO EMPEZAR A MANEJAR UN MOTORHOME? \ud83d\udccd Nuestro…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7250"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7348,"href":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7250\/revisions\/7348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}