Your First Recreational Vehicle PICKING THE BEST OPTION FOR YOU
If you want to hit the open road in your very own camper or RV, you are not alone: Over 70 million Americans plan on making a trip this year in an RV. The freedom to pick up your life and go where you please is alluring, especially to those with families or looking to explore the nation in retirement. If you yearn to partake in the RV lifestyle but don’t know where to start, we have you covered. From the right fit for your budget to the amenities you need to consider most, here are a few things you need to know when choosing your first camper or RV. FIND THE RIGHT AMENITIES. You should choose an RV that fits your needs and lifestyle. Do you need a full bathroom with a shower and room to roam? A kitchen suite where you can cook your vacation meals? How many
bedrooms do you need to accommodate you and your road trip buddies? These amenities can eat into your budget, but some might be necessary to enjoy your purchase fully. If you plan on fishing, biking, or kayaking, you will also want adequate space to bring along your fishing rods, bikes, and kayaks. Adequate storage makes for happy campers. TAKE IT FOR A TEST DRIVE. Before committing to the RV lifestyle, you should ensure it is right for you. Before buying an RV, take it for a test drive. Also, consider renting an RV and going on vacation first to see if the realities of RV maintenance and ownership would work for you. You will want to be comfortable driving and parking your new mobile vacation headquarters, even if you mostly envision using it when it’s stationary.
THE TRUTH ABOUT TUCKING IN SLEEP’S SURPRISING PERKS AND PITFALLS
It’s common knowledge that sleep does a body good, but how much slumber affects our overall health may surprise you. Here are three of the most unexpected ways sleep impacts our everyday lives. LESS PILLOW TIME EQUALS MORE PAIN If you’re having trouble sleeping due to chronic pain, you may have unwittingly trapped yourself in a cycle that’s wreaking havoc on your body. A poll by the National Sleep Foundation revealed that two-thirds of respondents who noted experiencing persistent physical discomfort weren’t getting enough sleep at night. Additionally, a University of California, Berkeley study of 24 young adults determined that reduced sleep can disrupt the brain’s
mechanisms for recognizing pain signals and relieving affected area(s). While losing sleep due to pain may be a classic chicken-or-the-egg scenario, it’s no secret that getting a proper night’s sleep is essential for restoring our bodies to proper health. SLEEP DEPRIVATION IS A DIET DESTROYER Are you having trouble losing weight? Cutting calories likely won’t help you achieve your goal if you’re cutting your sleep hours at the same time. Sleep deprivation negatively affects two of our body’s most important hormones: leptin and ghrelin. Leptin informs our brain when we’re full, while ghrelin lets it know when we’re hungry. The less we sleep, the longer we’re awake — and the more time ghrelin has to
make us think about snacking. A lack of sleep may also make you feel too tired to hit the gym, causing you to lose out on another opportunity to keep your diet on course. THE SLUMBER-SUPPRESSING MUTATION Do you jump out of bed most mornings after sleeping six or fewer hours? You may be powered by a mutation in your family’s genetics. People who inherited a rare variation of the ADRB1 gene, which affects the coding of receptors that influence a person’s sleep-wake cycle, are likelier to start the day feeling fine despite having a shorter night’s rest than most people. That’s right — being a morning person may be built into your DNA!
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