In June of 2021 Lori and I sold our Sticks-and-Bricks home leaving us only our Travel Trailer to live in full-time. In the few months that we have become fully nomadic, roving from place to place, we have encountered a stiff learning curve.
Before you, dear reader, decide to give up the American dream of owning your own home or leave the stability of apartment life, and set out for parts unknown consider the following.
One: Your Stuff Needs You
Before even considering living full-time in a Travel Trailer, consider what will happen to your stuff. Even the biggest motor-homes have very limited space. Instead of a walk-in closet and your own dresser or two, can you pare all of your clothes what you really need and will fit in 30 inches of hanger space and a drawer?
That guitar sitting in a corner begs you to strum its strings. That classic camera on the closet begs to see the light of day. If you don’t love your stuff, who will? Your children probably do not want it. If you hold a garage sale, your neighbors might give you a few pennies for the dollars you spent acquiring your stuff. Much of the stuff we had treasured was donated or tossed for the garbage collector. Giving away and selling your stuff is a poor investment on any remaining functional or emotional value it might have.
On the other hand, much of the stuff we had was fully depreciated. That classic Single Lens Reflex camera and all its lenses was nearly fifty years old. No they had not taken my Nikon camera away, merely the Kodachrome that I had once loved. Plus those high quality lenses could not be used with any modern camera body. Our family heirlooms now have a climate controlled storage unit. In addition to a drawer and few hangers, we carry a suitcase for each of us in our truck.
In the end, we decided not to let our stuff own us.
Two: RVers Have Unpredictable Neighbors
Over the years we have lived in eight different Sticks-and-Bricks homes. Except for military housing, we visited our future neighborhoods prior to moving to those houses. We knew our neighbors and they knew us and we got along well, at least most of the time.
Now we make campsite reservations over the phone or through a reservation website. Now we merely want to know will a site have water, electric, and sewer hookups? Will it be flat? Will it be near a busy road or down wind from the dump station? Now neighbors come and go in the middle of the night and not merely human neighbors. Now deer, raptors, and huge insects have visited our campsites. We have been warned about bears, bobcats, and alligators that may prowl at night. It is very difficult to get to know a neighborhood when we stay merely a few days.
On the other hand, with a home on wheels, if the neighbors are difficult to live with, we can hitch up and leave in an hour or two. Fortunately the human neighbors we have met have been warm, helpful, and courteous. And as long as we are respectful of the non-human neighbors they have left us alone.
In the end, we decided that we like having new neighbors from time to time.
Three: RVers Live in Close Quarters
When our children went off to college we moved to a smaller home. Our Travel Trailer is one fifth the size of our last home. We may have had a bedroom with more floor space than we have now for a bedroom, living room, an eat in kitchen, and a bathroom.
How small a place can you live in? Can you tolerate converting your dining table into a guest bed? How will you feel when your neighbor’s patio is under your bedroom and dining room windows?
On the other hand, in our last home we spent most of our time in one room and then only part of that room. In an RV, space has multiple purposes. Plus we have a big patio with an awing and a gas grill.
In the end, we decided we get along reasonably well and the built in recliners meet most of our space needs.
Four: Staying Connected Requires Effort
Even if a campground will provide hookups for electric, water, and sewer, RVers live on the edge of the grid at best. How will you get your mail when your home moves every few days?
Campgrounds often have poor WiFi or none at all. A few campgrounds do not even have cell service, or at least may not be within the coverage area for your cell phone plan. In this information age being able to get email and surf the Internet is important; it is how we find our next campsite and make reservations.
Yes, some campgrounds offer cable TV hookups, but hotel cable is often better. We can typically get at least a couple of over the air stations with the antenna atop our trailer. At least we can a few radio stations. If you are waiting for a particular episode to broadcast, you may need to wait until you reach a well connected campground.
On the other hand, nearly all of our communications come via email. For the few remaining businesses and friends who insist on sending paper letters we selected a mail forwarding service in the state where we are domiciled. Our mail service also offers to scan letters that we might need to see quickly. The remaining letters they collect and hold until we ask them to bundle them up and ship them to our next campground. If our campsite has neither WiFi nor cell phone coverage, we can go into town and use our phones’ unlimited data plan. There is little on TV that is better than watching the stars above, playing a board game together, or reading a good book, well at least a book on our e-readers.
In the end we decided that it is no more expensive to stay connected living on the edge of the grid than in a Sticks-and-Bricks home, although we spend more on cell service and nothing on Internet and television.
Five: “Have You Lost Your Mind?”
While none of our friends and family have openly asked if we were crazy, several have dropped hints that they questioned our sanity.
Living full-time in a Recreational Vehicle is foreign to most people. The government classifies us as homeless (we prefer house-less). Fewer than 1 in 300 people live this lifestyle. Many revert to the norm of owning or renting a permanent residence within a few years perhaps months.
In a typical week, I have to remind myself that my home is where I park it. In larger RV parks I drop a pin on Google Maps to get back home after a shopping trip. We rarely shop at the same grocery store twice.
On the other hand this is a grand country to explore and visit. Traveling in an RV has many similarities to traveling and staying in hotels and motels plus we get to sleep in our own bed each night and cook on our own stove.
In the end we decided this is our adventure, journey, exploration of places and people. Thus far full-time RV living feels much like an extended vacation. We spend a few days near a town and see the tourist places and walk in the woods.
No we are not crazy, merely daring to live fully. Will we see you on the road?
If you RV full time, what is your reason NOT to do this and your exception? Please comment below.