I have been a full-time RVer with my husband Barrett and our two cats, Squirt and Vodka, for a little over a year now. Before taking off on this journey, I lived in many big cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Austin, and more! But eventually, my husband and I noticed we were getting most excited about our trips out of town, to smaller, more scenic places. We began to ponder why we couldn’t live in an RV and explore these places that were calling to us more often. After all, these days you can work and go to school from anywhere.
We decided to take off in search of a spot that felt more fitting for us to live. And we decided that along the way, we’re going to have as much fun as possible exploring every lake, trail, and town. I can say that after one year on the road, these are the five best parts that keep us chugging along to the next spot, searching and adventuring along the way.
The freedom to live where you choose
Pro
We have parked in some of the most beautiful spots in the United States at a fraction of what it would cost us to actually put down roots there. It’s wonderful to wake up surrounded by peaceful and stunning scenery, sometimes even with waterfront views, for a daily rate much cheaper than that of any of the small apartments I had in Austin, New York, or Los Angeles. And the icing on the cake is, once we reach the point where we’re ready for some new scenery, we can merely pick up and leave.
Another bonus that comes with this flexibility is getting to follow the good weather. Too cold, you say? Time to move south. Too hot? Head north!
Con
Every once in a while, though, location flexibility can be a double-edged sword. Since our RV is mechanically more of a car than a house, it can break down. And these breakdowns can occasionally cause us to end up stuck somewhere for longer than we anticipated.
Less time traveling, more time experiencing
Pro
Big city living used to mean long car trips or plane rides to get to the best outdoor attractions. Now, new grand adventures are generally right outside our front door. For example, we’ve been parked at Lake Mead, and wanted to go for a bike ride. There was a path circling the lake, right in our campground. Off we went! No time spent driving to the bike path.
Another way we save time is by doing things when they’re not as crowded. We went to a restaurant on a Saturday night a few weeks ago. There was a 2-hour wait, so we left, went back on a Wednesday afternoon, and were seated immediately. We also went to Death Valley National Park over President’s Day weekend. On President’s Day, the park was packed. The day after, not so much.
Cons
There’s always a trade-off, though. We may be able to skip lines and travel to destinations, but some activities that took no thought or time in a sticks-and-bricks home are more complicated now.
- Getting mail is trickier, more expensive, and more time-consuming. And since we move so often, it is not unusual to end up having to re-route and forward packages.
- Our RV also has no dishwasher. We have to handwash every dish we use.
- In our RV, we handed our shower area over to our cats. So getting to campground showers can be a bit more time-consuming. Sometimes the shower area can be a bit of a walk or car ride away.
- While traditional homeowners and apartment dwellers are used to the toilet and sink wastewater taking care of itself, we have to monitor and dump both regularly, and then add in new water.
- The process involved with staying connected is also more time-consuming. Often, once we’ve relocated to a new area, settings on our electronics (such as WiFi, Netflix, and TV) must be reset. Or, your antenna might just fly off your roof one day (as ours did), leading to trouble getting local channels until it can be fixed.
I consider all of those cons insignificant, though. Those minor life adjustments are well worth the trade-off of being close to new and exciting life adventures all of the time.
Work Flexibility
Pro
Another great perk of full-time RV living is getting to choose my work schedule. In the winter, I often work during the dark hours so I can be sure to get out when the sun’s up. And in the summer, when the days are long, instead of working and then going out for dinner or a short outing, I frequently choose to work one full day and then have a full day of experiences.
As an added bonus, when we’re working, we get to do it in beautiful surroundings. I also get to work with my spoiled little cat bums on the daily, which brings me great joy. One more work-life bonus that‘s also a time-saver is not having to endure rush hour traffic. Every so often, we forget about rush hour and find ourselves traveling through a big city right around the time everyone is clocking out. Less time in those rush-hour drives means more time finishing up work and then adventuring on.
Con
Being in control of your entire schedule is tiring. I am always planning. When’s the best time to work? When’s the best time to play? Where do we want to explore next? Where are we going to park ourselves next? No one else is going to answer these questions. Luckily, I’m an avid planner, but even I can get worn out from time to time from arranging all of these logistics over and over again.
Live More Simply
We buy fewer things. I actually can’t even come up with a con for this one. When we spend, it’s almost entirely on food, fixing the things that have broken, or on experiences, not stuff. This is partially because we don’t have room for anything new, but we’ve also realized we simply don’t need many more things beyond what we already have.
Self-Growth and Exploration
Pro
The complete lack of regularity and pattern in RV life continues to stretch the boundaries of what we consider comfortable. We are continuously put in new predicaments, with new people, in new towns. Which is fun and enlightening, but also challenging. The more new people and things we encounter, the stronger it’s making us as entrepreneurs, citizens, and just plain old humans.
We are also growing as partners. When relationship problems arise, we have to get through arguments faster than people in a more traditional lifestyle. There are no separate offices to drive off to. We are less than 300 feet away from each other 95% of the time. Staying mad for an extended period is not a feasible option. Working through our problems ultimately keeps us close and happy with each other.
Con
It really is tiring to be stretching the boundary of what is comfortable all of the time. Self-care and patience are crucial for surviving RV life.
I hope these inspired you to consider RV life! To see more about our RV journey, head to cinderstravels.com.
