Best RV Living

Are you interested in full-time rv living? Are you just interested in answering your burning questions about getting an RV for vacationing? I can tell you that there is a lot to consider when contemplating anything to do with purchasing an recreational vehicle.

If you are thinking on living in an rv part-time or full-time, it only complicates the decisions. Let me offer a bit of history with our family, so you will have a frame of reference. My wife, Brenda, and I have been travelers pretty much all of our lives. We actually met in Germany. Brenda is originally from South Africa, and I’m from Canada.

After we got married, we decided to move to Canada. For both of us, the traveling pretty much came to an abrupt halt. With having a family and the day to day, basically life got in the way of our dreams. But it didn’t take long for us to pick up a very simple camper trailer that was basically a tent on wheels. We loved it though.

Children did make things more difficult in terms of finances as well as choices, but time has marched on and 20 years have past. About two years ago, I started this web site, best RV living, with the hope that we would plan to move to an RV full time within the next six months.

RV Living and Life

Well, life again has gotten in the way, but we had to get aggressive and make a decision that was best for us. I loved the idea of getting a nice 5th wheel RV and so did Brenda, but what I didn’t like was the price tag to enter this passion. Between finding a truck and trailer to get us going, we were easily looking at $30,000 or more dollars.

Plus, in my opinion and what I want for our family, I didn’t like the fact that whenever we are traveling, the trailer unit is out of bounds. I wanted the option to let Brenda drive and let me work while we travel. Plus the kids would be able to do their thing too while we were on the road.

Also, stepping out for lunch, while on the road, required us to stop, and fire stuff up in the 5th wheel. As you can guess the closest fast food joint would get our vote very quickly. Again, if we are looking to full time rv living, this could lead to prohibitive costs in the long run.

Plus, I did have quite the sway towards the big buses, the A-class motorhomes! I really love them for all of the reasons I didn’t care for a 5th wheel. The two big downfalls to an a class motorhome for rv living is the initial cost to purchase and the ongoing costs of fuel. When you consider a bus will only give you 5 to 10 mpg, that can be considerable.

With this in mind, Brenda and I have struggled finding the right balance. If we are looking into full time rv living and an a class bus, the overall costs to make it prohibitive. But on the plus side, it offers the best of traveling with the greatest conveniences.

One thing that I should note is the fact that our kids are starting to get older. The oldest is now 19 and he’s is still living with us but having him stay behind isn’t such a big issue anymore. As a matter of fact, he kind of likes it!

This makes getting an a class motorhome much more feasible as we don’t have to bunk three almost adult children. Two is much more manageable.

Needless to say, Brenda and I have never lost our love of traveling and we’ve looked at about every make and model of RV that has been on the market in the past ten years.

We started to look into the used market. There is a ton of issues there too and I’ll address these thoughts in the used market in a separate article. The used market was for us. The biggest reason is the fact that people who purchase a new RV will literally lose 25% of their value as you drive it off of the dealer’s lot!

When considering an a class motorhome, that could mean that your first kilometer will cost you an easy $40,000! Eeeek! Used here we come.

Making Choices Towards Full Time RV Living

At this time, I had to have my main objectives in mind. What will Brenda and I enjoy for the next five years? Purchasing an RV for less then five years is crazy, in my opinion. Let me list our objectives:

• In the next two or three years, it may just be Brenda, my youngest daughter and myself.
• We want to no longer see snow! If I had it my way, I’d stay in the USA or central America, full time.
• We want to have the ability to tour around. See what we can see.
• I need to be able to still work in a fashion that is convenient.

With this criteria in mind, considering a good c class unit or a class unit would be good. The c class may be a little cramped, but the price is cheaper then the a class. To be honest, I was still in love with the a class motorhomes.

Brenda and I started hunting in earnest. We also fixed a budget for ourselves too. I had a maximum amount that I didn’t want to exceed. In the long run, with all of these options and objectives before us, we found the perfect a class bus for us!

This week, we picked up a 2001 Coachmen 30 foot bus. My wife and I are totally thrilled. There was a list of things that the unit we purchased had to pass and this bus passed with flying colors! Again, I will definitely tell you more about our bus, but not for now.

So what’s next? Right now, we are starting to migrate into full time rv living. Right now, we are learning what it’s all about and get the feel of living in smaller quarters. This summer, we will take some time and attempt several trips local and long distance. What a better way to get your feet wet.

We will keep a diary of what happens in our trials and tribulations as we migrate to full time rving. So be sure to join us! I’m going to try and write articles that will help to answer your questions if you are considering full time rv living.