Living Life In An RV

For a little over a year now my husband, 2 dogs, 1 cat, and myself made the decision to move out of our 4 bedroom home and into a 36 foot RV.

Why?

For a couple reasons, first living nomadic would really support getting my new business lifted off the ground and give me the flexibility to travel to where ever I could land my first couple jobs. Second, we had done the RV life once before for 6 months and were familiar with this lifestyle so we had aspects that we missed about it so seemed fun to get back into it. The last reason is that we had been ready to make a move out of our home state of Ohio for a few years now but we didn't want to quite plant roots somewhere new yet until we knew for sure where we wanted that to be, and traveling around gave us a great opportunity to take our time doing exactly that.

So now that I have a full year doing this, I want to share what I love about it and what I don't love about it.

What I love about living in an RV:

1. Less things- My husband and I lived in a 4 bedroom home and when we moved out, there's an overwhelming feeling that can happen when you realize how easily it is to collect things that you really don't need. So living with what we actually need day to day can feel pretty refreshing, you live without the weight of stuff. This may not really be for everyone but for me, it's a feeling I enjoy.

2. Ability to pick up and go- One of the more obvious things I love is the freedom it brings to live on the road and discover so many new places. Having an RV allows you to make a home anywhere which can be such a fun experience like when we were in Arizona, we lived out in the desert which provided a peaceful atmosphere and beautiful scenery to call your "back yard".

3. Pretty cool community- There is a very niche community or RV'ers and Van lifers that is pretty cool to be a part of. There have been many times that we have received help from the community and have met some pretty great people on the road. There are even events and get togethers for any and all nomad people to come however, we haven't actually gone to one yet but they do look like a lot of fun.

What I don't love about living in an RV

1. Not as cheap as you might think- It wasn't always like this but our monthly cost of living going from a home to an RV actually really didn't change that much at all. I think a lot of people would be surprised to hear this but campgrounds can be costly to stay at and necessary things you might need like electric, propane, gas, etc. are costly as well. There are definitely ways that you can make your set up to be way more sustainable to save you money in the long run but the upfront costs to do some of these things like solar can be as much as $8,000+ so it's just something you have to weigh out for yourself.

2. Things break a lot- RV's aren't made to hold up to a lot of wear and tear daily, hence the work "recreational vehicle", so things break very easily when your on the road and your RV is your everyday home. Again, you can do a lot of upgrading to your set up to make it more long lasting and efficient but this takes knowing certain skills and having more upfront funds to do so. Fixing repairs can be costly and it's really hard sometimes to find people who will work on your RV's as well.

3. Daily planning is a must- Living in an RV comes with so much pleasures but it also can take a lot of work as well. You have to stay very mindful about water levels, tanks being full, propane levels, sunlight for solar, power usage, leveling, where to stay when traveling, and more. It takes daily planning to keep things running because when your not mindful about it and you run out of water, this can be tough. These aren't hard things to do, it just takes a lot of checking in with your systems and planning ahead to keep everything flowing and sometimes I just like to be day to day.😂

I would love to know if you have every thought about living the RV life or what questions you might have that I could have insight to share on!