RV Living
Welcome to Best RV Living. My wife and I decided to create this site to tell you our story about moving to a lifestyle of full-time rving. Right now, we are in the early stages of planning and migrating to rv living, so we felt that if we documented our journey, it would greatly help you in pursuing your dreams to rv freedom!
So, feel free to venture into our site to see all our trials and tribulations, (and there are just a few), and save yourself a bit of grief! So, let us tell you about the big why?
Why would you start Full-Time RV Living?
Great question. My wife and I are in our late 30’s, and mid 40’s, so we are by no means retired and have a gold mine in the bank. But we do have a big dream to travel the world and see as much as we can before we can no longer do so.
Last year, I left my full-time job. It was a radical life decision. I was on the top of my game, so to speak, and doing quite well. I walked away from a very lucrative salary to start building an income that pays us long term instead of right now.
I’ve currently been actively ‘retired’ for little over a year, and it’s been quite the ride. Not an easy ride, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. My wife and I finally came to the realization that we needed to take the next step and become globe trotters.
As a way to step into this lifestyle and finally see the rest of North America before we take off to other countries was to consider full-time rv living. Now, I can tell you, that this decision was not lightly made. We have three children, two in the teens and one at the age of seven.
Our seven year old is thrilled. But our teenagers, well, let’s just say, not so thrilled. One is not sure but the elder is not super happy about it. I can understand. He has friends and relationships that he doesn’t want to leave.
So, just to tell you, we have seriously considered our leap to rv living.
Up and Coming
Up and coming is our trials and tribulations. We will keep you posted to information that we found very helpful, plus our personal insights. We haven’t yet purchased an rv, as we are considering several models and makes.
Bookmark our site and I’ll promise you an interesting journey to full-time rv living!
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
what is the best way to start full timing and what should we pack with
Hi Tammy,
Lot’s of research. I’m discovering that there is a lot to learn. It’s almost like moving to a new country! But exciting. You’ll definitely learn what you need and what you’ll discard. One thing our family is discovering is when we are full time rv living, you only take what you need. And life is actually pretty good with less clutter!
Sounds like you have it cut out for you with 3 kids! It is a continuous learning experience, trust me
We just moved from Alaska to Arizona with a 5th wheel, 12-year granddaughter and 3 dogs. We still have a house in MN and AK, so decided for the time being at least we will stay in the RV. We lucked out and found 1-1/2 acres to rent, fully fenced with a garage with washer/dryer. Hubby is gone for work a lot of the time, I work at home so as long as I have internet I am happy, and granddaughter is home-schooled, so we are pretty content and the the weather is great…I was impressed when we could shut the AC off after 24/7 use in August and September. Are you out and about yet?
Deb, sounds like you have your hands full too! We are working towards the full time RVing lifestyle, but it always seems to take forever to get things together!
Well, hopefully one day we’ll meet face to face in some warm place like Arizona!
Thanks for your comments on the post RV living!
Frank
If you have any questions I can help with… YELL…and if you get this way let me know for sure, it is always nice to meet someone brave or adventurous enough to undertake this lifestyle…you pick which one…LOL..it is not that bad at all, just an adjustment from the way most live. I know we have saved quite a bit in the past few months, and it is less costly if you don’t move constantly…you can usually get a deal on rent if you stay longer, less in gas, etc., but we are stationary and coming into the best time of the year in AZ
Just a thought, and not sure what you did before for work, but is there anyway you can branch out in your field to work via internet, telecommute? I do medical transcription so I can take mine wherever there is a connection….and did bookkeeping for 30+ years, so that is always another option for me…
Don’t even get me going on ’stuff!’ We finally got everything in 1 place in AK for the first time in ‘many’ years, then we came down here and all the stuff is in AK. We are now thinking of selling that house and need to get the stuff somewhere. We cleaned out before that move, but no where near enough…
Hey there! Are you able to transcribe from your RV? I’m a FT MT and work from home. Been researching for a year on and off about buying an RV and possibly working from my RV if I couldn’t find a FT MT position at a nearby hospital. This economic crisis has totally changed my way of thinking and living. I’m single. No kids. I’m quite the free-spirit and a minimalist. I never want to own a traditional home, waaay too much maintenance, not that an RV is maintenance free > it takes a lot to maintain I’m sure. As you know, businesses come and go. companies pack up and move across country or file bankruptcy and you’re stuck wondering what next. Towns and cities also come and go along with the jobs, so there’s another good reason to have an RV. I live in a dead steel town so I’ve seen my town go from boom to bust. My town is surving on “pork projects” government money/contracts and no guarantees. I’ll be following you on your journey. Many blessings, Toni
Toni,
I sure do transcribe from here. A lot of places now have free WIFI. I am not sure if an internet card would have limits? We are parked on the land we’re renting, so I have wireless through a company down here for $30/month, just a receiver clamped on the ladder in the back and wire run into the RV. When I first started transcription 7 or so years, it was for a reason like this down the road, to be able to move around and I could still work once hubby retires in about 5 years…I wonder if they have a traveling MT company like they do nurses? There is no reason it won’t work!
Hi. I am enjoying reading these comments so far….we are planning to sell our home and move into our fifth wheel this summer – with 2 teenage girls no less- they aren’t as thrilled about the idea as we are! We will be parking our RV on some land we own in Alberta and hope that we will save a bit of money “camping”. I am not sure how the winter will go but we do have a shop that we can park inside so that should help! I look forward to reading more about RV living in the next few months so that I am prepared!
Hello all. I too have enjoyed coming across this blog/comments as I was searching for information on an RV life-style. I am an artist, in my late 30’s and a single mom of two children. 15 yr. old son and 5 yr. old daughter. I have struggled for a very long time for obvious reasons
(Being an artist and a single mom). Last year I went down to the beach to airbrush through the summer and found that, that did bring in a generous income for the season, but living expenses at the beach soon left us back where we started, and in Nov. we moved back to AL and in with my mother and step-father. Now, as spring break is about to kick back in at the beach, I’m trying to generate a plan that’s going to work for us longer then for the summer. I have considered working/saving through summer at beach, and then RV it down south around Naples, FL throughout fall/winter. My sons’ father is in Ft. Myers and that will bring him closer to him and they seem to have a good school system, which my daughter will be starting school this year. I hope to take some on-line courses myself and can do my art anywhere. Southern Florida seems to be kind to their artist, and I always have airbrushing to fall back on. Anyway, thanks for sharing your experiences, and I will def. be checking in.
Hi Lisa,
Thanks very much for your comment! Good to hear from others like yourself who are seeking an RV lifestyle as well. Lot’s of trials and tribulations before you can get into that RV for sure!
I wish you luck and I’d love to hear more about your exploits as well.
Cheers and thanks for commenting on RV Living.
Frank
I was happy to find this site. My husband and I are thinking of selling our home and moving into our RV full time. I was thinking of buying a lot somewhere, building a pole barn big enough to house the RV, two cars, give us some storage room, and a laundry room. We live in Michigan and would travel some of the time, but we miss our grandchildren, so we still want to live close to them for the most part. Michigan being cold, we thought putting the RV inside the pole barn might help keep us warmer. My husband is retired, and I want to retire in two years. The Economy has left us with not much of a retirement so we need to live cheap & simple. I heard that property taxes would be far less when there is just a pole barn on the property and no “house”. Does anyone have any suggestions, tips, or advise pro or con on this subject?
Thanks…Gloria
Hi Gloria,
Thanks a bunch for your comments. I’m not sure how to answer your comments, but I will say that you’ve motivated me to create an open forum dedicated to comments on RVing such as yours. Please keep your eyes open and I will soon set this up for your use and the use of others.
If anyone has a good reply for Gloria, please feel free to comment. Thanks for your comments on the article titled RV Living.
Frank
i just found this site as I was browsing for information on full time RV living. My wife and I have been looking into RV living after our crash in 2008 took all we own. Great lesson and we are so glad to know the Lord. My big issue now is trying to figure out what to buy. Looking at diesel A pushers now. It is hard to decide how to do this as we also have grown kids that want to see us. We are thinking they will all take a trip or two with us from time to time
Hi Stephen,
What I’ve heard about the market crash has affected many. You never know the future for sure though. My wife and I are not full timer’s yet, but we have gone for month’s at a time. And we have thoughly enjoyed it! Hence why we are wanting to move to the RV living lifestyle, full time. I would personally recommend that you look at the used market in regards to diesel pushers.
They last a very long time and as long as the mechanics are taken care of in the first few years of usage, you’ll be sure to enjoy many more years of trouble free service. Plus you can normally save up to 50% off the full retail price on a unit that is only 3 to 5 years old.
I wish you luck Stephen, and as I mentioned in another comment, I’ll soon have a full forum for all to communicate back and forth so please visit back soon!
Thanks,
Frank
I have been toying with the idea of an RVing lifestyle we own a home and have 2 kids one is almost 20 and she would probably stay behind but the other child is 9 and I know she and I would love it. and My mother lives with us, she would have to find a place if we did this.
What do you do for a living? do you work odd jobs at the different places you go?
Just trying to figure out how we could do this, any feedback is welcomed.
Hey Joy,
Thanks for you question. Finances. Always seems to be an issue. I too have chatted with many and have heard many good things. I’ll be doing an article or two on this shortly, but personally I take care of making money with online businesses. It’s a lot of work, but once something is complete, it will continue to make money for some time. One fellow that I talked too gave free seminars at the sites he stayed at. He would simply mention that he took donations towards his rving. Don’t know how well he did, but he seemed content.
Cheers!
FRank
We have just acquired a healthy coffee company to produce income while we are on the road. ( http://www.sunrisecoffee.com) I was thinking of making it to an on line store for others to sell and make a profit. Right now we are working on cost and setting up new pricing. Anyone have an interest or idea let me know. Hotels buy a lot of coffee.
I am so glad to find this site and will be following your journey! My husband and I are in our 30’s with 3 boys, a teenager and 8 & 9. We are buying an RV within the next 6 to 8 weeks with our savings so we can see the world! We plan on working locally to save enough money to start our journey. We have talked about this for a long time. When my grandma passed away, our last conversation was “you can spend your whole life cleaning, cutting grass and having the same view daily or you can see the world. She died without ever seeing the grand canyon or the Rocky Mountains and many other wonders. We want to live life to the fullest!
I do have one request, could you also put up a section where people could leave addresses/locations of great parks and or locations to visit that their families enjoyed?
Thanks so much and look forward to seeing your journey unfold!
Hi Angie! Thanks so much for your comment! We do appreciate it. We are pretty close to the same. We have 3 kids too and we totally agree with your grandma!
We’ve been delayed a bit, since we have to completely suppliment our income online while in the USA, being Canada, but we are working at it! Looking forward to hitting the road too to be honest.
Keep us posted on your ventures and if you’d like, I’d welcome another writer here on best RV living!
As to your request, I’ve been working on that, as I’m thinking of setting up a forum section on this site just for that!
Frank
Hi fthomas
I’m so tired of living paycheck to paycheck. It all goes into this house and finding a decent roommate is next to hilarious. Used to own a camper and loved it. Little freedom never hurts. I’ve decided to sell this house and live simply. I’m single with my boy Chopper. Mastv/rotti. I’ve been researching and found things I didn’t know like mail forwarding companys and laws about rv living on the road without having a permanent adress. I’m still looking forward to it.
Hey Chris, I hear you clearly mate. Living simply is definitely part of the equation, but you’ll still need to generate a bit of income to keep the wheels on the wagon, so to speak.
What I’ve been doing is offering some of what I know in videos which I give away to generate interest and then sell more videos on the same topic. Seems to work pretty good! My first attempt in the fall has generated, to date, about $2500 in revenue for two days work. Not too shabby.
So, try to find some way to take what you know and turn it into a continuous revenue stream. That with simplier living and you will be very happy my friend!
Best of luck and thanks for your comment on best rv living!
Frank – oh, love to hear how things pan out for you.
Chris,
Can you elaborate on what you mean by “Laws” regarding RV living? Is there a site I can go to and read up on it?
My children have permanent homes, so if we sell our home I was thinking we could use their address to get mail, ect. How do the mail forwarding companies work & what is the cost?
Hi Gloria
Go to this site first http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33618582 schroll to bottom of the page and you’ll see the section “So you’ve decided to do it. Now what”. Interesting reading. Then go to this site http://www.rv-life-and-travel.com/ and look on the left. You’ll see “mail service”. I haven’t investigated it yet so let me know?
chris
Thanks for the information Chris.
Very interesting….
Gloria
Well…taking my first step. Trading my beloved Harley for a Istkas 26ft. I’ll know on Friday if it’ll go through. The bike sits most of the time and I’ll get alot more use out of the motorhome. Hope you all are doing well?
Wow Chris! You’re taking a leap of faith!
Enjoy!
Hi Gloria
Frank & Becky here, we are doing exactly what you are thinking of. We bought 5 ac. in TN & built a polebarn. You will need 16’ ceiling with a 14’ high overhead door in the polebarn to clear a motorhome or a 5th wheel RV. We added a carport to the barn with a
14’ ceiling, all metal building. It is nice in warm weather or summer to park on the carport with the RV, under the shade of a roof. The taxes are very reasonable here. No house on property just a well & septic & electric. Our building is 26’x40’& I would consider a 50’ or 60’ building if you are going to park inside during winter. The heat source might damage the RV if it is to close to the RV. I’m a retired carpenter. We have been very happy being full timers. We like traveling a little. Hope you both the best & good luck. It is an adventure to be sure. I love to play in the barn, servicing the lawn mower & truck, gets me out of the RV so my wife can clean & so on. All you need is a cell ph. & a laptop & you are in business. Remember to down size or you’ll need a larger barn. We have a 42’ Motorhome so check out the cost of insurance on what type of RV you decide on. I would recommend a 5th wheel RV with a large refrig. They also have more inside storage without going outside for supplies, just a thought. Please contact us via e-mail Frankandbecky02@hotmail.com
Frank & Becky
Frank & Becky:
Thanks for the tips! I did send you an email. Hope you get it.
I’m at thebugsear@yahoo.com.
I am open to any and all ideas! We’re all for “Cheap retirement living”.
Gloria
I am so glad to see/read that there are so many others like us out there. My husband and I are looking forward to a full rving lifestyle. We love to travel but having a home and all the expenses of it left a lot to be desired. My husband was layed off right after the birth of our second son in 2008. Since then he has only been able to find part time work. We have moved our family from state to state trying to make ends meet.
After talking to my grandparents (who did full time rving for nearly 15 years) we decided that this was going to be the way to go. We know that we could make it work on a small income since that is what we have been living with for the past year and a half. We have lots of ideas as to how to supplement our income but haven’t completely decided yet.
We have two boys, an almost 4 year old and an 18 month old. Most people consider us to be out of our minds taking two small children on the road, but we feel what better way to educate our children. We planned on homeschooling anyways so why not visit most of these places in the books, getting to see and touch things you would normally just read about.
I look forward to following you on your journey as we begin ours. What an amazing experience we are about to partake of! See you on the road!!
Natashia
Natashia, don’t ever base your life on the opinions of others. Recently my wife and I were talking to a couple who have been travelling Canada and the USA for over 30 years. There is nothing that they regret in this and they have no intention to stop. They raised their kids on the road and they turned out to be highly educated and well mattered individuals.
What a great website to stumble across. My hubby and I have just purchased an ‘84 pace arrow that we plan to renovate and bring into the now. Do you have any websites to recommend to help us make the best use of our space?
Thanks for putting this website together!
Hey Kristi, congrats on your purchase of a pace arrow. I’ve looked at one and it was in really rough shape, otherwise, I would have picked it up in a heartbeat.
To answer your question, sorry, I don’t know of any web sites that will aid you in your quest, but I’d recommend looking close at what your needs are and how the arrow could be outfitted to best fit your objectives.
Also, really try to use space to its maximum. For example, if you have a seat, make sure that you have access to under the seat to store stuff or have equipment that is functional for you.
Anyhow, best of luck with your arrow, and please do feel free to tell us more about your rv living plans with your new motorhome.
Frank
I must say I am absolutely AMAZED how many people have gone or at least on their way to the lifestyle of full-time RV living. Frank, I was specifically searching for a website, blog, forum or something where other people were living the life my husband and I are launching into. I want to thank you for taking the time to start this website, and for all others who have taken the time to post their own personal experiences.
My husband and I have had a stirring going on inside us for quiet a long time for a big change, but wasn’t quiet sure what it was. All I can say is we were so ready for anything besides paying half of our income in rent (as we no longer owned our own home) and utilities, and spending spare time trying to do yard work or feeling the need to clean the garage, house, etc. I have found the way God works in our life is we have a stirring going on, that knowing something is changing but we don’t know what or how. Then we have what I call a “SUDDENLY”. Suddenly, we have the answer, which of course appears to others as if we were going about our merry way and suddenly came up with some wild crazy idea, such as selling MOST everything we have, moving out of our house, buying a good used RV and living in it FULL-TIME!!
We had the light-bulb come on in both of us SUDDENLY on June 18th. We begin to actively pursue the idea, shopped, purchsed our 28 ft. 5th wheel, gave notice in our house on July 1st, had our first big garage sale last weekend along with our two grown kids and grandkids taking the things they wanted (which was a lot-lol). We’ve been selling things on craigs list all week, having another garage sale this weekend. Right now my house is a mess and still have a lot of stuff to sort. There’s the garage sale pile, goodwill pile, dump pile, storage pile then the very small pile that goes into the RV.
The BEST feeling I’ve had in a long time and the best way to declutter and downsize. No more saying ” We have plenty of room so might as well hang on to it for JUST IN CASE.”
NEXT WEEK, Our RV will be delivered and set up initially in a local RV Resort/Park as my husband is currently working locally. That’s another area we expect a change in the future. We will be completely out of our house by the end of this month and will begin a new life-style that at this time is completely foreign to us. Am I fearful? Not at all. I’m feeling like a burden has been lifted and am very excited.
Thanks again for this site and hope my story encourages a few others as well.
God Bless,
Donna
Congrats Donna! You need to do this for sure. One thing that I had learnt from my wife’s parents before they passed away was that they waited too long to live their dreams, so they never did. RV Living is an exciting and stimulating way to live and I really hope that you come back very often to tell us more about your travels.
Oh, before I forget – it really does feel good getting rid of all that ‘STUFF’! I totally agree. Seems that every thing that we collect in our lives takes up space in our homes and in our minds. Once it’s gone, it seem to free up the space in both places, lol!
Once again, congratulations on our migration to RV living and I wish you both an excellent adventure.
Frank