I get asked a lot How do you live in an RV full time?
If you can get your thoughts right about living a scaled down lifestyle and divorce your need for “things”, you will do just fine.
We sold our house and loaded the RV with just the essentials, donated and sold the rest. We kept a storage unit for a while thinking we would come back to a stick built home but that lasted all of a year. Cleaned that out and we have been on the road for 4 years now and feel free!
Its just me and my elderly husband who cannot help like he used to and our 2 mini Schnauzers. But I dont mind to “chores” and driving. You might have to have certain tasks for each camper.
We started out going to RV parks and campgrounds but I wanted more. See some of my early posts for a glimpse. I love to fish from a kayak and some of the more remote places have no hookups.
We had 620 watts of solar and enough battery storage installed to power our inverter. We cook with induction saving propane for the fridge and heaters when needed. We also have generator power for the cloudy days or when the AC has to run.
We enjoy watching TV and keep a freezer stocked with the power it provides free.
I also had a washer and dryer stacking set installed. Its a trade off on cost because I was going once a month to the laundromat, wearing clothes for 2–3 days (or longer) in a row to keep the bulk manageable. Whereas now I just throw a load in when there is enough. Plus, I dont need to worry about what was in the machine before.
We can live anywhere its allowed with no worries.
We recently completed a 90 day boon-docking off-grid adventure on a friends’ ranch, and the only drawback was water supply and waste disposal. Since our friends had access to a well, we were able to stay watered up.
We have portable waste tote we use when parked for any length of time at these places without hook ups.
We also have water totes to get water from other sources, but its nice to be able to just fill’er up!
Campground fees, when they occur has been the most expensive part of this life followed by buying food. There is the insurance and cell phone charges as well as our satellite TV bill. Average around $500 per month.
When we are on the move, there is the fuel costs for the truck as well.
While this may not work for everyone, it has taught me some survival skills that cant be found in books. I feel confident in my abilities to live a life I am happy with and share with anyone who asks.
So good to hear from you and get an update! Where did you hear after Wyoming? I’m still recovering from my ankle break…very slow process. I can walk slowly without limp, but not fast. But I walk around the neighborhood for at least a mile every day. I hope to get underway buy the end of September. Hope to see you somewhere down the road this year! Rhonda
Hey Rhonda! Glad you are doing well.
On the right sidebar shows a RVillage map. That traces our travels.
In Livingston Texas at this point in time.
Hey Kim! It’s been quite a while and I was hearing about you via Aileen, so I thought I’d say “Hi.”
So tell me about your new rig! What prompted the decision? Were you able to use your same solar panels? Washer/dryer?
I’m FINALLY seeing a light at the end of the tunnel with my dumb ankle. You may have heard from Aileen that I had a nasty infection and had to have the hardware removed, followed by 6 weeks of intravenous antibiotic infusions every day. Once again the incision opened back up so I’ve been going to wound care. It’s almost closed back up, and although I still hobble from lack of range of motion, I’m hopeful to hit the road sometime this month. My balance is still pretty bad, so I won’t be climbing up on the roof of the motor home anytime soon!
Other than that, I’m still as onrey as usual!
I’d live to hear from you when you have time! I don’t have an email address for you, and had to run around the barn to remember how to get here to leave a comment.
Take care!
Rhonda
I plan on a blog post soon on our new rig, so stay tuned.
Hope your ankle gets better soon! Not easy being slowed down like that.s
I also removed your email address from the comment. This is a public blog and you dont want to get spammed I’m sure.