Is the RV Life the Life for Me?

That is an interesting, thought-provoking question and the answer may vary from month-to-month, or maybe week-to-week! 

It’s been about six weeks that we have been on the road living in our RV, taking showers in an RV shower (and yes, they are confining and the water pressure ain’t what you’re used to!), moving between basically two small, confined rooms (living and sleeping), dodging dogs who often want to sprawl all over the floor (mind you, in a pretty small area), buying smaller sizes of everything (not much Costco shopping going on anymore), and doing laundry at a Laundromat (gasp!!!).  Let me tell you it has been a very long time since I’ve gone to a Laundromat, and I had no idea how expensive they are and how long (and how many quarters) it takes to dry your clothes!

Having said all that, I would say that so far, I am really enjoying the RV life.  Actually, when I think about living in our house I almost break out in hives.  All the repairs and upkeep that were getting the better of us now seem overwhelming.  I love the freedom we have from all those worries.  I never have to think about plumbing, electrical, roofing, flooring, and yard work again!  It will always be someone else’s headache. 

A number of times I’ve said to Gary, “I don’t care if we ever take our “stuff” out of inventory again!”  I really don’t miss anything … well, that’s not the whole truth!  I do miss my card making stuff (I had a whole room dedicated to providing me a way to satisfy my creative streak with card making). 

I can’t say how long I’ll feel this way and how long I want to be on the road.  I just don’t know.  At some point we will stay at RV parks for longer than a week – maybe a month or so and we can put down some roots.

One thing that is something I have to be concerned about (because I’m working remotely for my sister, Jeanne, who’s a real estate agent in Nevada) is the cellphone and Internet connectability.  And, we had that recently at the Bandon/Port Orford KOA RV Park.  I had only one bar on my cell phone and if I wanted to download or upload photos on my laptop … well, it would take me a very looooooong time to get even one and if (God forbid) I tried to upload more than one at a time, tick-tock, the computer is locked!  So, we need to be more discriminating about our RV park selection process and possibly call and question the locations about their telephone and Internet reception.

Gary did get this excellent book which we both read, “Living Aboard Your RV” by Gordon and Janet Groene.  If you are thinking about full-time RVing, get ahold of this book.  It is a wealth of information.  There’s a whole chapter called “Portable Professions” that covers something I had never heard of before—Workamping.  The average workamper job lasts three to four months and your RV is your home while you work at a location. Some jobs even pay for all your “living” expenses such as site space, water, electricity and propane.  You do pay for a subscription, but you have the opportunity to work and make some money while you’re on the road!  Being retired and living on a fixed income means any additional money you can bring in (or save) is of great financial benefit and may even allow you to have some extra fun times … something I’m always thinking about!  The website for workamping is workamper.com in case this is of interest to you.