One big issue that we got Davidson RV to investigate was that our main TV lift wasn’t going down reliably; it would often stop partway, requiring pressing the down button several times. They investigated, and determined that the lift controller was bad:

Here’s the TV laying on our bed while they investigated:

They couldn’t get a replacement in time, so as a temporary workaround, they installed a switch to bypass the controller:

I contacted the manufacturer, Venset in Denmark, and they referred me to their US distributor, Wood Technology.

I emailed Wood Technology, and Mike Fisher replied. We exchanged several very helpful emails, photos, and documents, discussing the issue and solutions. He provided me with a replacement controller:

The new controller, installed:

It was super easy to sync our existing remote control to the new controller, then I was able to successfully raise and lower the TV:

Here’s a peek of the lift mechanism:

Another potential issue that Mike discussed was that the curly cord could get tangled, preventing the lift from raising. So he recommended either cutting it out, or detaching the lower portion and rerouting the wire:

I did the latter, bundling the curly cord with the other wires coming from the TV:

That should avoid that issue. And we’re very glad that the lift mechanism is working properly again. Much appreciation to Mike at Wood Technology!

In a basement compartment of our coach was a subwoofer, presumably synced with the outside TV. We hardly ever use that TV, and wouldn’t want to be booming loud bass sounds when we do, so I’ve had the subwoofer unplugged for ages, and recently removed it and put it into storage.

Here’s the subwoofer, nicely mounted on a shelf:

It is a wireless subwoofer, so the only attachment is a power cord:

The empty shelf:

That seemed like a good place to put a fire extinguisher and first aid kit, so they’re out of the way, but always reachable:

A much better use of that space!

While traveling around the US in our motorhome, we are continuing to work — we are still over a decade away from retirement age.

This has some challenges, but our jobs make it feasible, since we can both work remotely. I am a self-employed macOS and iOS app developer (Dejal), and Jenn is a technical writer for a big corporation that has a lot of remote employees — something that is more and more popular nowadays, especially since the pandemic.

I recently wrote about our workspaces. My lap desk:

And Jenn’s height-adjustable desk:

Another critical component in our ability to work as we travel is internet connectivity. We couldn’t do our work without reliable internet access; I need it to upload app builds, look up documentation, and communicate with my clients and customers; Jenn needs it to attend meetings and update her documents.

Since it is so important, we have as many options as possible. Including T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon cellular connections, two AT&T iPhones (that we can tether to if nothing else works), plus Jenn has an iPhone on Verizon from her job, and we have Starlink satellite internet for when there’s no cellular coverage. And if all else fails, we can connect to campground Wi-Fi, which can be a bit hit-or-miss in quality and availability.

The somewhat messy internet cupboard, with a modem for AT&T and Verizon, mi-fi unit for T-Mobile, and other devices:

The Starlink dish:

When choosing RV parks, we always look at reviews and information to ensure there is internet connectivity; the Starlink dish gives us more options, but if we ended up in a cellular dead spot with too many trees blocking the dish and no Wi-Fi, we’d have to move.

Other than our workstations and internet, we just need the time to work. So we plan our travel days around that; we typically move between RV parks on Sundays, so travel days don’t interfere with Jenn’s workdays, and stay at each location for a week or two, working during the week, and exploring on weekends, and sometimes locally in evenings.

This works well for us, enabling us to continue to work while slowly exploring the country.