RV 101® - This Month - RV Education 101® - with Mark Polk, Downloadable Newsletter Archives- and Podcast

RV DIY® - RV Orientation® - RV feature articles, videos, how-to information, RV tips and more - RV Education 101® Podcast with Mark Polk

DISCOVER-LEARN-ENJOY

RV Education 101 publishes a free monthly online RV Education 101® downloadable newsletter called “RV 101® This Month.” It is sent to your in-box the beginning of each month, and is loaded with useful RV information and knowledge on RV products, RV how-to topics, RV reviews, RV destinations, RV videos and other pertinent RV information. All you need to do to receive the newsletter is subscribe. It is free of charge and your e-mail address will never be sold or used for anything other than delivering our newsletter. Click HERE for the subscription page


Hi, I’m Mark Polk, with RV Education 101. Some of you are probably familiar with my work in the RV industry. If you aren’t, my wife Dawn and I officially started RV Education 101 in November of 1999. My goal at the time was to enhance RV consumer education for you, the RV owner. The way we did that was through video and written RV training designed to teach RV owners how to safely and properly use and maintain their RVs. Our video training began on VHS tapes, evolved into DVDs and now is available on an online platform at RV Online Training dot com. That is also where these podcasts will reside for your educational and entertainment listening.

I am several decades late when it comes to podcasts. I’ve been a guest on many podcasts, and to be honest never thought I would be doing my own. My podcast will be a little different than most, I’ll talk more about that in a minute, but first I want to offer a bit of history you may not be aware of about podcasts. When I searched for the origins of podcasts, I discovered it dates to the 1980s. So, I was still in the Army when podcasts first started. They were called audioblogs at the time. Podcasts really took hold in the early 2000’s with the onset of broadband internet and digital media. Today there are over 4 million podcasts globally.

Through our RV training content, we have helped educate millions of RV owners since 1999. Our two YouTube channels RV 101 and RV Education 101, have more than 27 million views alone. So why a podcast now in 2026? That’s a good question! In addition to our monthly RV newsletter, our YouTube channels, and several of my blogs I felt that another way to help educate RV owners at no cost is a podcast. Now I must admit that if I talk about a subject in the podcast that is covered in greater detail at our RV Online Training site, I will promote that RV training course to you as another option for learning.

What I want you to take away from this introduction is that for the past 26 years our brands, RV 101 and RV Education 101, have offered professionally vetted RV content and information that you can count on to be accurate and trustworthy. And you can rest assured we do not use AI to create any of our RV content.

I remember going to lots of major RV events around the country when there were only a few, and I mean like 10 individuals, who could be trusted to provide vetted, accurate technical RV information. There are still a few of us out there, but today in the age of so-called RV influencers and RV experts you need to be careful where you get your RV information from. I recently saw some posts from the Florida RV Super Show where hundreds of RV influencers and RV content creators were there. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with this, just cautioning you to research who you get your RV technical information from.

I mentioned a moment ago that this podcast will be a bit different than most. First, my podcasts will be short and to the point. I want to select one RV topic and do a podcast on it to help you learn about that topic. Right now, I plan to post each podcast to our YouTube channel. To access all the podcasts, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel or our RV online training site for free, get the links below. This way you can scroll down through the podcast titles to see which titles you are interested in and listen to them.

Right now, my plan is to post a new podcast every month and include it in our RV 101 this month e-newsletter. See the link below to sign up for our monthly newsletter. And please take a moment to subscribe to the RV Education 101 podcast with Mark Polk at RV online training dot com. Then join the leader in RV consumer education each month for a new and interesting RV topics with Mark Polk

Happy camping



Your Instructor


Mark J. Polk
Mark J. Polk
Who is Mark Polk and why is he qualified to teach RV technical content?
Mark is an RVer and has a very extensive background in the RV industry. He began at age 15, washing RVs at a dealership in North Central Pennsylvania. It wasn't long before he was working as an apprentice RV technician under the guidance of the RV service manager.
His maintenance plans were interrupted when he enlisted in the military. Mark completed airborne training in 1979 and served with some of the most elite U.S. Army Airborne units, including Service Company 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 82nd Signal battalion, 82nd Airborne Division and the 16th Military Police Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps. He spent the next 18 years with the U.S. Army eventually retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer 3 Automotive Maintenance Technician.
In the military, he managed large fleet maintenance operations, and had to teach young soldiers how to maintain and operate ‎expensive vehicles and equipment. These soldiers came to him from very different backgrounds, and their prior experience with heavy equipment and mechanical skills were similarly varied. Mark had to learn how to ‎communicate with all of them clearly, concisely, and effectively, and he found he had a ‎talent for teaching. The Army agreed, and eventually he was asked to produce written ‎instructional materials, including driver training manuals and operating procedures for motor ‎pools.‎
When he retired from the Army in 1996, he went to work for an RV dealership in ‎sales and service. He talked to customers about their needs and desires and helped them select ‎the right RV for them. He inspected used RVs for trade-in, he serviced customer RVs, and he ‎educated customers on how to operate and enjoy their vehicles. As an RV owner himself, throughout the years, he has owned and used all the classifications of RVs (travel trailer, motorhome, pop up, 5th wheel and truck camper). He even restored, from the ground up, a 1967 Yellowstone travel trailer. It was clear to him there ‎were limited resources available to RV owners who wanted to learn more about how to operate and maintain their RVs. Owners’ manuals provide limited information, and most consumers ‎find them confusing. Anecdotal information learned around campfires from other RV owners is ‎incomplete and can be unreliable.
Mark realized he had the knowledge and teaching ability ‎to fill that gap, and so in 1999 he began writing articles and books about how to choose, buy, ‎maintain, repair, and operate a variety of RVs. To date, he has produced more than 500 educational ‎videos, and authored 15 e-books, 3 paperback books, and more than 1,600 articles educating millions of RVers. His best-selling book, titled The RV Book, has sold over 53,000 copies to date.
‎Mark's first priority is the safety of his audience. To Mark, ‎this means anticipating the risks and challenges RVers will encounter when following his ‎instructions, ensuring that the information he provides is complete and accurate, and providing ‎enough information so his audience can make informed decisions about when to tackle ‎maintenance tasks themselves and when to take their vehicles to professionals.
His second ‎priority is his audience’ empowerment. He sends his students out on the road with confidence that they are equipped, prepared, ‎informed, and ready to enjoy themselves.‎Producing material that achieves those goals is a very difficult thing to do. RVs come in ‎a bewildering variety of different types, makes, models, and vintages, and when Mark writes ‎about tasks such as winterizing an RV plumbing system, (as we know there are many ways to winterize an RV), his instructions need to walk his readers through the process ‎regardless of what RV the reader happens to own.
Like his soldiers, his RV students come to him ‎with widely disparate levels of expertise, experience, talent, and motivation, and his instructions ‎must speak to all of them. Mark’s writing and video presentations are accurate and comprehensive. It is also clear, ‎concise, and easy to understand. He breaks complex, intimidating tasks down to easy steps.

Chief Warrant Officer Three Mark J. Polk was awarded a first place US Army maintenance award from General Shelton.

Mark started RV Education 101 in 1999

History past and present:

  • Writer/ Columnist/ Contributor for numerous RV consumer & RV trade newsletters and magazines (RVBusiness, FMCA, RV News, RV Companion, Pop-Up Times, RV Free Wheelin’, Trail Blazer, RV Executive Today and RV Magazine,)
  • RV Technical Writer for several newsletters and blogs, (Go RVing blog, Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA), RV Net Expert Blog, RV University This Week, Camping World e-newsletter, RV Travel, RV Trader, Rollin On TV website, HGTV and Geiko Insurance blog)
  • Script and host television segments for Rollin On TV
  • Scripted & hosted television segment titled RV Savvy for four seasons (52 episodes) with RVTV on The Outdoor Channel and three Canadian TV Channels.

Course Curriculum


  2026 Newsletters and Podcasts
Available in days
days after you enroll
  RV Education 30 amps vs 50 amps
Available in days
days after you enroll
  RV 101® - Mark Polks RV Articles and Tips
Available in days
days after you enroll
  RV 101® this Month - RV Education 101® - with Mark Polk, Downloadable Newsletter Archives
Available in days
days after you enroll

Frequently Asked Questions


When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.

Get started now!