{"id":10598,"date":"2022-09-13T19:00:18","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T17:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/no-progress-without-practice\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T11:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T09:20:19","slug":"no-progress-without-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/en\/no-progress-without-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"No progress without practice!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wow, it’s long!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Exactly. An RV can be quite long. With a trailer, even longer, much, much longer. A rather blunt introduction, but it holds true.
\nIn this example, including the trailer, it’s approximately 15 meters. Yes, you read that correctly.
\nI figured some practice was definitely in order, so I went looking for a driving school where I could do live practice drives with an RV, both with and without a trailer. <\/p>\n

Then came the first setback, as apparently there aren’t many driving schools in Germany that offer this. Not even in Munich.
\nBased on a recommendation from my friendly RV salesperson, I got in my car and drove a good 100 km just to get to my “practice vehicles.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

<\/div>

I’ll be honest. Today was the first time in my life I’ve driven an RV.
\n“How can you just buy an RV without ever having driven one?” Good question. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. But the fact that it could be very dangerous for me, others, and my wallet if I didn’t gain some experience with an expert beforehand quickly became clear to me. <\/p>\n

I’m happy to appeal to common sense, even if it initially hurts the wallet a bit.
\nIt cost me about \u20ac350, after all. But that, it should be worth it.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

<\/div>
\"\"<\/div><\/div>

Left: Hubert (he can do it) Right: Chris (he can’t do anything)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

<\/div>

For someone who drives a Fiat 500C, like me \u2013 yes, it’s really small \u2013 an RV is a completely different world.<\/p>\n

Even getting in, it felt really comfortable and genuinely “seductive.” Meaning, you immediately feel quite comfortable and secure in the “pilot’s seat.”
\nAn automatic transmission and plenty of other gadgets can also contribute to perhaps feeling a bit too confident.
\nBesides, I’ve been driving for almost 40 years (almost accident-free). That counts as experience, doesn’t it? Far from it. Not in this world. <\/p>\n

Because of this, I was a bit nervous during my maiden voyage. No wonder, as you’re not just driving around a few euros in the form of the vehicle, but also passing many cars, people, and other facilities.
\nThe right curb, in particular, can be an issue. The “right”… Oops, hopefully that wasn’t too political. But jokes aside. <\/p>\n

Never in my life have I looked in the mirrors so often while driving. First right, then always left, to see if I was still in the lane. “A lane keeping assist system is completely useless here,”<\/em> Hubert remarked when I asked, “because it only works above 60 km\/h.”<\/em>
\nDarn, another illusion shattered. I was already dreaming of autonomous driving amidst all the fuss I had to pay attention to. But in my price range, that won’t happen for a long time anyway. <\/p>\n

“My goodness, how are you steering?”<\/em> was a remark I kept getting. Further confirmation that perhaps I wasn’t as good as I thought. <\/p>\n

Turning without hitting anything with the “rear” is also an issue, and then there’s the roundabout, where you first drive straight towards it and then have to keep far right. So, always make wide turns. You might forget to signal when turning and promptly receive the appropriate comment. <\/p>\n

Hubert also mentioned that I would have failed a driving test quite quickly. Am I even allowed to say that here? Oh well, ultimately, we all arrived safely and without a scratch. <\/p>\n

I definitely wouldn’t want to miss this experience! And neither should you.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

<\/div>

What I Learned and My Tips<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Nothing works without practice. The risk of overestimating oneself is simply too high. <\/li>\n
  2. Conclusion: take the time and money and do 2 or 3 practice lessons with a professional. It is definitely worth the investment. <\/li>\n
  3. Afterward, continue practicing diligently with your own vehicle. The practice vehicle was good, but every vehicle is different, and you need to be confident on the road with yours. <\/li>\n
  4. My level of attention was higher than ever before during a drive, which is why Hubert’s advice was “It’s better to drive a maximum of 300-400 km and then stay overnight.” I can only agree with that. How I’m supposed to maintain that for so long is a mystery to me. Perhaps it’s good to have a co-driver to take turns with. <\/li>\n
  5. All the technology in the vehicle does not replace the necessary, personal attention. So, don’t rely on nothing happening just because you have every gadget installed to assist you while driving. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Since I’m no master either, I will gladly stick to point 3 as soon as my vehicle arrives. I can hardly wait.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wow, it’s long! Exactly. An RV can be quite long. With a trailer, even longer, much, much longer. A rather blunt introduction, but it holds true. In this example, including the trailer, it’s approximately 15 meters. Yes, you read that correctly. I figured some practice was definitely in order, so I went looking for a...","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10603,"href":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10598\/revisions\/10603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.der-digitalisierungsberater.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}