Top 10 Reasons to RV Full-Time

 I have been asked many times why Pam and I made the decision to buy a 5th wheel and travel full-time. The answer is different for everyone. Some range from "I have always wanted to do it" to "It was either this or homelessness." Our story is closer to the former, and nothing like the latter. We have talked about doing this for many years but never pulled the trigger. Pam was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. The doctors told us it was a late stage three cancer and they treated it very aggressively. After roughly two years of treatment and several surgeries, she has recovered fully. After that experience we both agreed that nobody is promised tomorrow and why not live our dream of traveling the country in an RV? What are we waiting for? 

We figured we should go ahead and do it while we still could, afterall we are in our fifties and not getting any younger! So, after about a year of searching, we bought a truck and a trailer and hit the road. I left behind a career that I loved with people whom I loved working with, but life is more important than work. They will get along just fine without me, and I will continue my search for the next chapter of work. I enjoy writing, and so I am researching how to make a go of it as a career. In any case, I digress. The following are based solely on our travels/experiences and are reasons why we have thoroughly enjoyed full-time RVing.

#10: The Serenity

For us, there is nothing like sitting by a campfire with no other sound than nature and the crackling fire. We sat outside last night and had a fire and found that we both love to watch the glowing embers as they perform their dance for us. It can be mesmerizing and thought-provoking. In addition to the fires, serenity comes in the form of solitude and quietly listening to the voice of God. Nowhere will you be more prepared for a conversation with God than when you're alone in the wilderness without distractions.

#9: Learning Lessons

There is no such thing as failure if you learn from your mistakes. There is no better teacher on the planet than necessity when it comes to RVing. Along our travels we have learned many lessons and made many mistakes, but each one is a lesson and we do it better the next time because of the error. Most of the lessons we have learned were in the form of how to RV. We came into this life as complete novices, and we are still learning. Thankfully we have a good friend who has been a weekend RVer for many years who we can bounce things off of in order for us to better understand our plight at times. If you're new to RVing and don't have that person in your life, then talk with some of your fellow RVers in your travels. They are wonderful people and, most of the time, are willing to help in any way they can because they have been in your shoes and want to pay-it-forward.

#8: A New Life

One of my previous blogs I titled "New Location New Life." Each time we move we meet new people and we are in new surroundings. Not only did we uproot our life back in Minnesota to realize our dream, but there is always a new adventure, and new people, waiting for us when we change locations. This can become bitter-sweet if you've found someone you enjoy spending time with who you have to leave in order to get to the next destination. Exchange information with them, become friends on social media, and figure out a time when you can be at the same place at the same time again in the future. Building friendships is part of creating a new life for yourself.

#7: Family

Although we left Minnesota, and with it family and friends, we are venturing out to destinations that allow us to see family. Pam has family across the country and we are making as many visits/stops with them as possible. In fact, we are solely visiting her family members. I have some family who live throughout the country, but, sadly, I have lost touch with them and don't really know them anymore. It would be awkward to touch base after so many years and tell them we're in town. I have a cousin in Michigan who I haven't spoken to in about ten years and cousins in Oklahoma who I only know through social media and haven't seen in forty years. 

Pam, however, continues to have contact with her relatives across the country, so we are making destination-trips to see her family and site-seeing along the route. It is a great excuse to see the people you love on a more regular basis. Our first family destination was Virginia. The next is Florida followed by California and back to Minnesota. In-between we are seeing things that we wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to see (Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Gettysburg, Black Hills, etc.) if we weren't doing this. To visit those places while remaining in sticks and bricks, we would have to schedule vacation time around it and book flights and hotels. The way we're doing it is simply fitting it in to our work schedules or on the weekend. There are many benefits to seeing parts of the country while making family your destination.

#6 Less Stuff 'N Things

The last house we owned was a roughly 2600 sf, and it was full from top to bottom and side to side with stuff. I am talking a lot of stuff! Prior to moving we had a garage sale and sold over $2000 worth of stuff. At-a-garage-sale! Not only that, but we donated several car-loads of more stuff. We moved into a townhome and, upon preparing for even smaller living, we got rid of more stuff. We moved into a cabin from the townhome and we quickly realized we needed to purge some more. We rented a 10x10 storage unit and filled it to the top. What was left is what is in the trailer now. Less stuff. However, there is also another side to this.

We no longer have a house to take care of, or a lawn. Yes, we do have a trailer to take care of but it's smaller, requires less money to fix, and it has less things to worry about. For instance, if we need a new floor in the kitchen it is about100 sf instead of a sticks-and-bricks house which has a much larger floor area. No, we don't have a lot of space in the trailer, but it's simple living. It's still early in the game, but we're considering never going back to a 2600 sf house, if we ever buy another house that is.

#5 Seeing New Places

I have mentioned in a previous blog about the places we've seen and things we've done in just a month, you can read it here. When I was driving a truck over the road the most exciting thing about it for me was becoming giddy about the next place I would get to go and the things I would see along the way. RVing is no different. We don't have it planned out a year ahead of time where we will go. Instead, we literally pick a destination that we both might find interesting and book a stay nearby. Sometimes it's for a week and sometimes it's for a month. In either case, we get to explore new territory and experience new things. 

As I writer this, we are on a beach in Florida. The water is about thirty yards away. How did we end up here? Several years ago when we lived in Florida we decided to visit St. Augustine. On our way back home we headed down A1A (the coastal road that runs along the shoreline). While we were driving we saw an RV park with trailers parked right on the shoreline at the seawall. We looked at each other and said, "wouldn't that be cool to do!" Well, some eight or nine years later we made it happen. We are fortunate enough to spend a month right on the water! Pam captured the sunrise today, and I caught the moonrise last night, and they were beautiful!

#4 Flexibility

As mentioned in number five, we try to go to places we have never seen before, and we don't plan that far ahead (typically we plan 3-4 months ahead). The places we have chosen so far have been great, including our Harvest Host stays (mentioned here under "Traveling"). However, if we get to a place and we decide we don't like it we can move on from there. There is flexibility with this lifestyle that cannot be matched with owning a home. Owning a home means being stuck with whatever neighbor you end up with. Our last home included a neighbor whose dog barked non-stop and there was nothing we could do about it. Well . . . now we can, The turnover in an RV park is high, so either the annoying neighbor  will be gone soon or we will.

#3 Driving

As I mentioned previously, I used to be a truck driver. I love driving! You can take the man out of the truck but you can't take trucking out of the man. Doing this affords lots of windshield time. You have to like to drive if you're going to do this FT. It does, however, require your constant attention and it can be mentally draining depending on how long the day is. I am no longer in my twenties, so it takes more of a toll on me than it used to, but I still love it. We typically fuel-up at truck stops because we have a fleet card that gives us discounts but they're only available at truck stops. So . . . it harkens me back to the days of driving and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

#2 Spending Time Together

Living in a 5th wheel trailer means living in close quarters with one another. Pam and I have been together for thirty years, but that doesn't mean we always like each other. However, we love each other so much that living this way hasn't bothered either of us. In fact, we have enjoyed spending almost twenty-four hours a day together. Sure, we get annoyed with each other from time to time, but we get over it. It's just something you learn when you've been with someone for so long. We have loved our time together being on the road. Of course, it's still early and there's still time for her to kill me!

#1 Making Memories

One of the regrets I had while driving a truck was doing it alone and not having anyone to share the experiences with. It has been so much fun to have someone to travel with this time! I asked Pam the other day what stands out the most in our short time of touring the country. She mentioned the road we went on that we shouldn't have been on because it was too curvy for our vehicle size. Just last night we watched a rocket launch from the beach, heard the sonic boom, and watched as the rocket disappeared into space. Driving through Pittsburgh was no joke either, but I will always remember doing it. There are plenty of more memories we will experience together, and I am looking forward to every one of them! This is going to be the best year of our marriage as far as making memories goes, and I cannot wait!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and supporting the blog. Although we have loved living this life, there are drawbacks to it as well. I plan to come up with a top-ten list of reasons why not go RVing. However, given how much we have enjoyed this journey I don't think it will be an easy list to compile. Happy trails!