Our RV Living Experience
We've been living in a stationary RV for a few months. We're just not sold on it yet.
When we decided to take the leap and purchase a fifth wheel for our home-based operations, we had no idea how it would pan out. Maybe it would be like an incredible RV experience featured in RV Living magazines, or it might become our worst nightmare. I guess that’s the beauty of stepping into the unknown.
After two months of hunkering down in the travel trailer, I still can’t say for sure what the true RV lifestyle is like, but I can share what we’ve learned and what we’ve decided for our future travel plans.
What it’s like living in an RV.
So far, it’s been a really good experience. We’ve been living a mostly peaceful life by Lake Texoma, while watching the gorgeous sunset every evening, and the two trees I could be buried between have been the highlight.
The trailer itself has been very comfortable and not much different from living in hotels … with the exception of having to use a kickstand to flush the toilet and dumping our beloved waste into the septic tank. It’s a shitty job, but someone has to do it. LOL! We’ve also had plenty of space for our truck full of belongings and enough room for the occasional adult dance party.
Cooking meals can be a challenge with limited counter space, but using the Blackstone XL Rangetop outdoors has been manna from heaven. The propane stove has worked well, though not all burners cooperate when we need them to. The fridge stores enough food for a couple of weeks’ meals and a six-pack of cold, delicious beer. The cabinets hold everything we need and use from the road.
Our shower has been ample for washing off the beach sand and sweat endured during the hellish summer. It has a small tub, and I’ll be honest, I tried to sit in it one night to take a bath. Unfortunately, being scrunched up in the fetal position wasn’t a zen-like moment, so my glass of wine and Michael Bolton playlist had to wait.
The bedroom was great for sleeping and romantic preludes, though slapping one’s head on the over-the-bed cabinet space easily changes the mood. I wanted to place “mind your head” signs on the walls to avoid further injuries. The good news is we had no problem with clothing storage or space for the endless charging of electronic devices essential to our survival as humans.
Our bathroom area had enough shelving for my beauty products, Manscaped Lawnmower, and Donetta’s lovely assortment of makeup and other tools women use to make themselves pretty. Even though the area was about four feet by three feet, there were no fights when getting ready for the day, and it makes me wonder why in the hell couples must have two sinks on HGTV. 🙄
If the house is rocking …
The hardest part for me, the entire two months we resided in the RV, was the rocking -and no, I’m not talking about that kinda rockin’. 😉
When we first started living in the trailer, it was during Oklahoma storm season, and being inside a 33-foot cargo container in 70 mph winds, off the ground, is enough to make your butthole pucker. Sorry for the rough analogy, but it truly gave me fits and anxiety.
Perhaps anchoring the RV differently would help, but the sometimes constant sway from the wind or from us jumping around is unsettling. This is the biggest reason why I don’t know if trailer life is for me. Sounds crazy, but then I’m weird.
The only other things that make me hesitant to commit to RV living, even with it never moving places, are stories of near-death experiences due to RV fires and the fact that I’d have to do ongoing maintenance. After all, being free of those responsibilities is one reason we sold our house.
What’s the takeaway from all of this?
There are plenty of pros and cons to the RV experience, just like there are for living in hotels. Besides, no matter where you choose to call “home,” there are going to be things to love or hate about it. So you gotta figure out what works best for you.
In the short time we’ve spent in the RV, it has been a tremendous blessing and an enjoyable experience. It hasn’t been any more complicated than living in a traditional home or staying in hotels, even though our trailer is a smaller and older model. We know we could always upgrade to something newer, larger, and maybe even safer.
However, we know what we like and what we want to do from here on.
It’s become clear that Donetta and I are happiest when we’re living life from the road. Oklahoma will always be home, and it’s nice to come back for extended periods, but we are meant to live our adventure by traveling wherever we’re led.
Living in an RV for stayovers is going to be a great solution, but not one we desire long-term, at least for the next few years.
We’ve really started embracing the idea of buying a camper van and converting it for our travels, which seems even crazier given the smaller space and higher cost. Yet we’ve met so many people who live this way and love it. It opens up opportunities to stay in places not easily accessible any other way, and to experience travel in a whole new way.
So that’s it!
I hope you learned something from our RV experience, should you be considering the same, but at a minimum, I hope that you were entertained for a little while.
We’d also love to know your thoughts and advice, too. Feel free to drop some comment bombs below. Provide your own experiences, hopes, or dreams. Conversation is always welcome.
Ciao!