Pros & Cons To Full Time RV Living (Our Experience)

Last Updated on 08/06/2024 by Glynn Willard

Pros And Cons Of RV Living

 
You’ve pondered almost daily if living in an RV is right for you and your family, correct?

That’s why you landed on this article.

We did the same thing for over a year!

I even had a giant spreadsheet weighing the pros and cons of taking such a leap. Yeah, I’m that guy!

After we sold our business at the end of 2020, we sold everything and hit the open road in a travel trailer.

Was it easy?

Absolutely not! But anything in life that’s truly worthwhile usually involves stepping out of your comfort zone.

And this was way out of our comfort zone!

The adventures and memories we gathered made all the careful planning worth it!

Let’s explore if it’s right for you.

 

Our Experience As Full-Time RVers

 

 
After spending two years in our RV year-round, we’re now part-time in our campervan.
We made it a point to participate in this adventurous lifestyle for several reasons:
 

1. We wanted to show our kids how beautiful North America was before they became young adults.

 

2. This was an opportunity to explore the different states to decide the best place for a home base.

 

3. It was an opportunity to see if RV travel was something we wanted to incorporate long-term into our lifestyle.

 

4. We grew stale running our business and wanted a new challenge and to learn the skill sets required to RV full-time, i.e., shake things up.

 

5. After years of expanding our traditional home, we accumulated too much stuff that no longer brought us joy.

 

6. It was time to shed our unused possessions and give the minimalist lifestyle a try.

 
The bottom line, we were ready to trade our stuff for experiences and memories.

And it was the best decision we ever made!

We even took it one step further and decided to avoid RV parks and learn to boondock in remote locations.

Both to save money and to learn another skill set.

It too expanded our unique experiences and opened our eyes to a completely different kind of RV living.

I always take the more difficult path in life since it’s almost always more rewarding.
 

Cons Of Full-Time RV Living

 

 
Let’s get the minor negative aspects of this lifestyle choice out of the way first.

Many of which you’ve likely already thought about.
 

• Dealing with a smaller living space as well as the limited space to store your “things.”
   
  Believe it or not, you get used to the small space quickly and learn to turn the outdoors into the indoors, i.e., you spend more time outside.

 

• If you don’t have remote work or passive income, you can burn through savings quickly.
   
  We used some of the proceeds from the sale of our business to fund our full-time lifestyle, but it won’t last forever.

 

• It won’t take long before you miss friends and family members.
   
  It’s easy to make up for this by spending more time with friends who live far away from your old permanent address.
   
  This is where moochdocking becomes awesome.

 

• Ongoing RV maintenance.
   
  There’s no escaping regular maintenance, especially if you move to a new location frequently.
   
  I personally believe RV maintenance is easier than home maintenance.

 

• Extreme weather conditions can be scary in any type of RV.
   
  We had our fair share of dodging tornadoes and high winds, but there are intelligent ways to approach such situations.

 

• Not the best internet connection.
   
  Yes, Starlink and the advancements in pep link routers and commercially available equipment have improved the remote internet playing field.
   
  But it’s still not a Gigabit connection you’re used to that’s always up and running.

 

• It can get lonely when you’re spending a lot of time boondocking in different locations.
   
  Yes, but it can also get lonely binge-watching Netflix in your house too if you don’t participate in social events.
   
  After a while, you’ll learn to join online communities that like to meet up on the road.
   
  This is a great way to get involved with the RV community and meet new people.

 

• Managing your mail while on the road can be complicated.
   
  Several good mail services will establish a domicile, and a mailing address, and scan your mail for you while you’re living on the road.
   
  So it’s not impossible.

 
There are certainly other aspects to the full time RV lifestyle that are annoying such as emptying the gray and black tank frequently, long travel days, etc., but ultimately, they’re no big deal.

Let’s flip this around and focus on the positives.
 

Pros Of Full-Time RVing

 

 
Let’s get to the best part of this article! All the pros of trying the full-time RV life for the short term or long term.
 

• The great outdoors becomes your living room and playground!
   
  Waking up to a new beautiful boondocking location all the time never got old.
   
  If you don’t like your current “backyard,” it’s easy to move to a better location (especially when you’re boondocking on public lands).

 

• The new places you visit offer you new experiences and potential new friends that brighten your life far more than stuff.
   
  We value the friends we made and the memories we made more than any possession we ever owned.
   
  Isn’t that what life’s about?

 

• If you no longer own a home, there’s no more yard work, utility bills, or property taxes to worry about.
   
  Enough said!

 

• If you’re comfortable boondocking, you never have to look for a hotel or RV park while traveling to a new location.
   
  It’s as easy as pulling into Walmart parking lots and going to bed.

 

• You’ll have the opportunity to explore so many different places that you would typically not visit during a vacation.
   
  We found that some of the best experiences were so far off the beaten path, that they wouldn’t even show up on the radar for most vacationers.

 

• Shopping at different grocery stores allows one to sample different local cuisines expanding your palette.
   
  This also applies to different local restaurants.

 

• The camaraderie that’s developed between you and fellow travelers is super cool!
   
  The RV community is made up of great, outgoing, and helpful people similar to yourself.
   
  They’re an amazing group to be around!

 

• You have full control of how large an impact your travel expenses have on your overall budget.
   
  We boondocked for free, prepared our meals in our RV, moved less frequently, and ended up spending very little for a family of four.

 

• Our video and photo collection is epic!
   
  Sharing those memories with our kids as we age is priceless and far more valuable than any object.

 

 

Tips And Considerations For Living In A Recreational Vehicle

 

 
There are several things we had to learn the hard way when we got started in our travel trailer.

Hopefully, even if you just skim this section, it will help save you some heartache when you begin your adventure.
 

• Perhaps the most important aspect is to make sure every family member is on board and as excited as you are to dive into the full-time lifestyle.

 

• That’s closely followed by not overpacking your rig with many things you don’t need.
   
  I get it, it’s fun to equip and prepare your RV. But if you’re not careful, you’ll take too much stuff and exceed your CCC and your sanity.

 

• When you’re shopping for an RV, make sure each person has their own personal space.
   
  It’s important that each person can escape the group when they feel it necessary. This is not flippant advice, but comes from a lot of experience with kids living on the road.

 

• Additionally, when you’re RV shopping, look for one that’s well-insulated.
   
  Poorly insulated RVs don’t stand a chance in a heat wave or cold weather.

 

• Get your financial ducks in order before you purchase your RV.
   
  Diving in with the expectation that you’ll generate revenue from a blog or YouTube channel is not a wise choice.

 

• Since you’re considering full-time, slow your travel days down. There’s really no hurry.
   
  We found that 250-300 miles on a moving day was comfortable. It allowed time to find a great boondocking spot, make dinner, and relax before bed.

 

• Going to National Parks is awesome, but spend some time off the beaten path.
   
  Many National Monuments are just as cool and usually less populated. Again, you’re full-time and you can take in more sights than someone on vacation.

 

 

Wrapping Up The Good And The Bad For Full Time RVers

 

 
Regardless of whether you full-time in a tiny travel trailer or bring all the comforts of home in a giant fifth wheel, the full-time lifestyle makes for a remarkable experience!

If you’re on the fence, take a moment and ask your future self that’s lying on your deathbed this question:

“What would it have been like if I had decided to sell it all and take an epic adventure with my family instead of repeating Groundhog Day every day?”

Read that again!

​It might be cliche, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.

It was the right choice for us even though it’s more difficult and we have less money.

When I go through all the videos and photos we have of our adventure (which is still growing), I smile and know I did the right thing.

The bottom line for you my friend: “The pros outweigh the cons!”

I hope I’ve helped you make the right decision toward resetting your journey.
 
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