User:VistaXL

I am a Sydney-based recreational vehicle (RV) enthusiast with a particular interest in researching and writing about the history of RVs. I am retired and have no commercial links, sponsorships or incentives. I write as a hobby and travel Australia in my own RV. I have never worked for any company that makes, sells or promotes RVs. I self-published the Caravan Buyers Guide in Australia in 2014, the first and only independent guide to buying a caravan in Australia. In January 2022 after five years of research, my book on the early international history of RVs (Recreational Vehicles: A World History 1872-1939) will be published by the recognised transport history publisher Pen & Sword. On January 1st 2022 I launched a blog at rvhistory.com featuring articles that expand on themes covered in my book or deal with RV history-related topics not covered in the book. The blog has no advertising or sponsorships and I have no social media channels. I take pride in the independence and integrity of my work. RV historians around the world have kindly supported me in these endeavors.

Wikipedia has been an important source of information both during my career and in retirement and I would now like to repay the favour. I would like to see Wikipedia's articles on RVs more closely reflect current thinking and knowledge. Most are outdated, unbalanced, disjointed and in some cases simply wrong. Important sources of information on current and past RVs have been ignored. This is a rapidly growing sector of the leisure and transport economy in a number of countries and there is very little unbiased information available to current and potential RV users. In terms of RV history the recent digitization of early newspapers and photos by institutions such as the Library of Congress, the British Library and the Bibliothèk National de France (Gallica) among others has uncovered a number of previously unknown early RVs which shed light on the early development of the hobby. These deserve to be shown to contemporary RV enthusiasts.