We did it! We made it a whole year full-time RVing. This past week was our one year anniversary of this new nomadic RV lifestyle, and I can honestly say I am shocked we made it. Not only that, but we’ve discovered that we like this change so much that we’re going to continue it for at least a few more years (probably)!
When we were driving south from New England last January, booking it to avoid a coming snow storm, I was both nervous and excited, although definitely more nervous than anything else. Now, we’re officially full-timers and we can’t imagine going back to stick and bricks anytime soon.
This lifestyle change has been rewarding, but challenging, exciting, but frustrating, invigorating, and trying. We want to share some of our reflections, in the hopes that you get a better idea about what life on the road is like for us, and maybe also to be inspired to try it yourself sometime. Bottom line – we would recommend traveling to anyone, even if only for a little while. You’ll learn so much about yourself, gain perspective on what the world and life is like outside of your comfort zone, and make life-lasting connections and memories.
We’re breaking this out into the four most relevant categories we could think of: biggest challenges, surpries, highlights, and tips. Because we have so many thoughts to share, this will be the first of a four-piece series. We’ll start off by sharing our biggest surprises.
We’d love to hear from you if you have any other questions about full-time RVing. We obviously can’t share a whole year’s worth of information in these posts, and so will be covering more topics on their own, especially as it relates to how we afford to do this, and the tips and tools that have enabled us to keep on going.
For now, read on for the biggest surprises from the past year.
Kriste’s Top 3 RV Lifestyle Surprises
This year has been one big surprise. I still can’t believe that this is our life and not just some extended vacation. It’s been fun and interesting reflecting on the differences between our life in New England and our life on the road. Here are my three biggest surprises:
- I don’t hate camping! Well, I’ve also come to recognize that what we’re doing isn’t really camping. Before we left, I could count on two hands the number of times that I had been camping (i.e. sleeping in a tent). I was apprehensive to try this lifestyle because I’m not really a camper, and this was probably one of the biggest sources of my anxiety as we prepared to and set out on our adventure. I had a feeling Noah would adapt quickly (and he did), but that I wouldn’t be able to hack it. What I’ve learned is that I actually really enjoy this more simplified (in some ways) lifestyle, and that the RV really feels like home. Downsizing was challenging, but I haven’t missed the big house or all of the stuff that we left behind. It helps that our camper is very comfortable, with lots of storage space, heated lounger seats, a fireplace with an electric heater, and we’re often hooked up to water and electricity, making it feel like a tiny home and not an RV. It’s quite cozy, and I think about all of the unused space in our condo that we didn’t really need. I can’t believe I’m embracing smaller living and actually enjoying it!
- Everywhere is the same, but different. This has definitely been one of the biggest surprises for me as we venture to different states and regions of this country. I love noticing even the most minute details everywhere we go. For example, the traffic lights in many states hang horizontally rather than vertically. They also have lots of vegetation and narrow driving spaces and complex barriers in parking lots. This could never happen in the Northeast, where plows need to be able to easily remove snow. Speaking of snow, in the south, tree branches hang over the roads, which can create very romantic looking drives. This could also never happen in the northeast where they have to be trimmed to avoid falling onto the road or powerlines if overloaded with snow. We’ve also really appreciated that there are national chains that we can visit, when we want some consistency and need a break from trying something new. I’ve come to realize that while each place has its own identity, culture, and values, humans are humans no matter where you go. Everyone is just trying to be happy, find connection, and make a living to make ends meet. We all have a lot in common, and there is more to connect us than to divide us, and that feels like an important realization to come to now more than ever.
- You can’t see and do it all. That may sound contrite, but I’ve come to realize that it’s not possible to visit every single town that I wanted to, go to every attraction in a city, eat at every interesting restaurant where we are, and so on. When we set out, especially earlier in the trip, I put a lot of pressure to do and experience everything on the road. There is so much world to experience, and that is just as true traveling the U.S. I had (well, still to a certain extent, have) serious FOMO – fear of missing out – and I felt the pressure from seeing travel-related Instagram accounts to go to every highlight in each state we visited. It’s just not realistic, especially while working full-time. We try to do as much as we can in the evenings, but really we typically only have one full day to explore where we’re staying. I’m still coming to terms with the fact that we will miss out on things everywhere we go, but that doesn’t mean the experiences that we’ve had are any less. We’ve been so fortunate to do some pretty incredible things in some seriously beautiful places. You can’t do everything, but you can enjoy everything you do.
Noah’s Top 3 RV Lifestyle Surprises
Noah shared his thoughts with me while we drove from New Mexico to Arizona, and I’ve summarized his thoughts below as best I can.
- We really don’t need a lot of things! Before we left, our condo felt too big for us, and there was a lot of unused space. We also accumulated a lot of things over the 9 years we’ve been together. When we set up our attic as a storage space, I had no idea how easy it would be to fill it. It’s jammed with furniture and things that I don’t know why we held onto (including 3 tubs of Kriste’s Beanie Babies). I haven’t missed anything that we put up there. This simpler lifestyle makes you appreciate just how little the material things matter. It’s much more about experiences and connections than about the stuff. We’re now finding that we brought too much into the camper, and could probably get rid of a bunch of things that we haven’t even touched in the last year.
- This lifestyle can be exhausting, especially while working full-time. It’s so much more involved than having one place to call home. We learned quickly that moving every week is too intense, and now we’re trying to stay in places for two weeks. But it can be challenging to find places to stay for that long, especially in popular locations, and sometimes we’ll have to move both on the weekend and a weekday. While we’ve gotten the set-up and break-down to a routine, it still means that moving so much means we have less time to explore, and less time to take care of the everyday mundane tasks that you’d have to do even if you weren’t living full-time on the road (taxes, paying bills, errands, etc.).
- Full-time RVing can be a smart financial move! One of my favorite surprises and topics has been the financial implications of living in an RV. We’re still working full-time, Monday through Friday. With the steady income, and the decrease in expenses from moving into our RV, we’ve been able to pay down debt faster and save more than when we lived in the condo. This is in part because we took on a pretty big mortgage when we bought our house about three years ago, and all of the expenses that came with it, like the condo association fees and utilities. Without these expenses we’ve been able to focus on saving and paying down debt, and it’s exciting to think that we could be debt free after just a few more years. Our current goal is to work on our budget and to try to plan for early retirement.
Were you surprised by any of our surprises? Each week and place is a new adventure while living on the road, and there are sure to be many more surprises along the way. Next time we’ll share what our biggest challenges have been, followed by highlights and our biggest tips.
Excellent post. So very interesting to learn how much you have both grown since starting this adventure. Both of your insights are quite profound. I know you will not be surprised that I am not surprised by any of your surprises! What is wonderful is that many people could live a full life time and not have these insights. You put yourselves on the front line of experience and sped up the character development part of life. You also strengthened your relationship. Learning to live together with no place else to go is usually a retirement challenge 🙂 Good to learn young.