Fulltime RV Living is As Easy As 1…2…3…NOT!

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I think a lot of people wonder about living in an rv fulltime. You see people talking about it, maybe you even know someone that does it. Does that mean that you can do it too?

While I believe that everyone can simplify their lives in one way or another, I don’t think that everyone is cut out to live in a camper. Here are some things to consider before you make that decision:

  1.  Are you able to be in a small area for a large amount of time? Yes, you will have the ability to have the outdoors for room to roam but if you can’t stand being in the same room as your kids all day, fulltiming in an rv might not be for you.
  2.  Are you an organized person? Sure, anyone can take a weekend or even a week-long trip in a camper, but are your organizational skills strong enough to get you through months or even years of living in cramped quarters?
  3.  What are your commitments? Are you physically able to live in a camper? Is your family? Would is cause more stress on your family to move into a camper?
  4.  Where will you stay? You have to know of either an affordable campground (because $20 a night or more adds up FAST!) or you have to have some kind of space where you can park it and have access to electricity, sewer, and water.
  5.  If you are moving into a camper to save money or pay off bills….will living in a camper actually accomplish that for you? Are you going to save money by living this way?

As you can see, so much to consider when you plan such a big lifestyle change. If you are considering and you have any doubts, I would encourage you to look at those doubts and face the problems that you are questioning head on before you make any commitments. You don’t want to get your house sold and then change your mind!

Catch up on our full series about Fulltime RV Living!

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33 Comments

  1. Been there done that! My husband (6’4″) and I did it for a few months in Arizona while working at a campground/resort. We loved it! We had 2 small dogs with us. Plenty of activities to keep you busy and made lots of new friends! I did get a bit tired of the bit of bouncing when you would walk around but that is all! I am also claustrophobic but did not have that feeling. You just have to buy one that you don’t feel that way in! We have now got a small farm but in the future when our grandkids are older I can see us buying another 5th wheel and doing this again! When you consider mortgage, insurance and upkeep on a home $20 a night is not too bad for a place to park with water and electric included!

  2. I could do it in a heartbeat and we belong to some camping assoc. which would be way cheaper to rent a space for weeks on end.

  3. I’ve thought about it, and I like the idea of the freedom it allows. At this point in my life thoug I wouldn’t be saving or losing money. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment for $550/month and everything but electric is included but, because we restrict ourselves to only as much electricity as needed our bill is under $25/month. Essentially it would only be $10 less per month for my fiancee and I to live in a camper. That and the investment in a camper or RV. I think the two of us could make it work but, I’m not sure how well it would work out when we have kids.

    1. Easy…don’t have kids. Just kidding.

      There are many young marrieds that full time with children. The secret is home schooling. Their are several home school sites on the web that you can take a very active part in deciding the values you want them to have. Being a nurturing parent home schooling your children can be extremely rewarding to you and your children. And travel is the greatest educational adventure you can give them.

  4. My husband works out of state and he recently rented an RV to live in half way between work and home (hour drive home, half hour drive to work). So we’ll get to see how it works for us. I own and run a business in our home town and can only visit him on the weekends, but it’ll be a great opportunity to see how geared we are to RV living. Thank you SO MUCH for all your tips! You’re awesome!!!

  5. My husband and my 2 kids and I are living in out Rv cause of my husband’s job. It is not easy by no means at all we have been here for 4 months now and I’m literally pulling my hair out I have a boy and girl of 2yrs and 7yrs . Finding a place to keep everything even toys and keeping everything clean an organized and uncluttered is very stressful!!!!

  6. Ok, so 4 out 5 I am good to go but being organized is something I really need to work on. I am not a slob by any means but I know that as my wife and I make the leap to living in an RV full-time and me trying to coordinate where I will work will take a lot of planning and organizing. It truly believe that all of the benefits will make it worth it and we will get into our groove and be able to keep things organized enough to stay sane.

  7. I want to do this so bad! Not sure how it would work with insurance and everything being legal? No address or anything?

    1. We have a permanent address, many companies offer them for fulltimers, we just had ours through the campground we stayed at for the largest amount of time.

  8. My husband and I were full time RVers for a little over two years. We bought a house, and we lived in it for a couple of years now. This summer we are going back to full time RVing, and, I can’t wait!

  9. I am actually about to get ready to do this as I am a college student. I am so exicted as I love anything that has to do with motorhomes, travel trailers or anything camping in general. Once I am done with my nursing degree I will be considering doing the whole travel nursing thing! I am so excited and I cant wait to do this!!!!!!

  10. I have been seriously entertaining the idea of moving my family into a RV from a 2 bedroom apartment @ 1035. Per month includes water…outrageous huh? I want to purchase RV outright so no monthly payment Unsure about how to receive our mail? We plan to move around the US for awhile until we see where we fit in hoping maybe the Carolinas..we are a family of 5. me 44, my mother 62,my son 23, my daughter 19, and my younger son 11. I didn’t know about the heating of the undercarriage. .Thank you love reading all your posts!!

    1. Check into places like America’s Mailbox or Escapees. They will get your mail and then mail it to you where ever you are in bulk. I hope that helps, good luck!

  11. My husband and I are planning on becoming full time RVer’s, but still need to work. Any suggestions on how to earn a living on the road?

    1. Have you considered work camping? What are some of your talents? Do you know any other languages or are you good at data entry? There are many opportunities out there depending on what you can do.

  12. My husband and I are thinking about doing this. He is a full-time PhD student and I work full-time while getting my Master’s degree. We live where we don’t want to stay. We’ve tried buying a house a couple of time but didn’t see the point since we don’t want to put down roots here. Our rent goes up $50 a year. We live in 923 sq ft with three cats at $975 a month. We have six more years to go before he graduates. Which means we’ll be up to $1275/month in rent by the time we leave. We are beginning to entertain the idea of RV living full time for the next 6 years. It feels like a crazy idea but with rent being outrageous and us being in a temporary location, it seems to be the best idea. We won’t get rid of my babies (the cats). Is there any advice out there for living with cats in an RV full time? How do you know a campground is a good one? The only place in town is $400/month and includes water, sewer, electricity, gas, trash, recycling, and basic cable. It is by the fairgrounds. We are a bit nervous about this. We were planning on getting a storage unit back in our home state for when we move home but it sounds like that it would be best to just sell everything and move on. We are looking into an RV that isn’t less than 37′. My family thinks we’re crazy.

    1. Youtuber Nomadic Fanatic lives in a van with a Maine Coon cat. I’m sure if he can do that in a van you can pull it off in an RV! 😀

      Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/nomadicfanatic
      Great guy, you will love his videos. He makes sure to talk about the pros as well as the cons of living in an RV full-time, and he has been living the RV life for years now.

      Best of luck in your travels! I am also thinking of taking the mobile life for a spin : )

  13. We are thinking about buying an RV or fifth wheel to live in with our 15,14 and 10 year old….the last couple of years have been rough and we have wound up in debt and need to have it paid off in the next five years. My job is very demanding and I will have to work graveyards shift every 6 months. Plus they move us around about every 1 to 2 years. We feel we just don’t have enough time to take care of our home the way it deserves…plus my kids are talking about moving back to South Dakota when they are grown to start college and their careers. So the house will not be needed much longer.

    how would we go about getting approved for an RV or fifth wheel we would need to buy a truck…and how much are the payments every month?

    With the kids wanting to go back to South Dakota to be near family I know my husband can get a job but there isn’t a lot of need for management skills in the area. So if we did decide to move back as a family it would be a cheaper route if are were able to get one and pay it off soon.

    Thanks

    Heather

    1. Hi Heather, I would start by sitting down and taking a look at your budget so you know exactly what you would be able to afford for monthly payments on an rv and/or truck. Then make an appointment with a personal loan officer at a local bank to talk to them about possibly getting a loan and the process involved. Many dealerships also offer financing but you might get a better interest rate by going with a local bank.

      I hope that helps!

  14. My husband is 66 and I am almost 65 have thought about living in an RV my question is would this be possible, Mike that’s my husband is not in the best of health I to have some health issues. How would you go about making sure that our meds are taken care of if we want to travel? I am looking into this because my husband has talked about wanting to live in a camp trailer feeling it would help us financially , I usually have taken care of having to dump out the gray and black water not something I love doing and having to go up and down stairs repeat, I have bad knees. Is this the thing for us any suggestions other than divorce and going our separate ways? We have been married for 46 years.

  15. I am finishing my MFA degree in creative writing at age 53 (online), and I have a parttime job and two grown children who live with me now in a 3 bedroom, 960. monthly duplex (with water at 100. mthly. and electricity between 250-350$ monthly). My kids (ages 19 and 22) have said they don’t want to live in an RV, but I cannot keep paying for this duplex–the stress is overwhelming! I believe in being frugal, but I can’t make up for the lack of insulation here, or the addition of the automatic sprinkler system. As a solo parent, how do I even begin? I need to stay in town where they go to college and I work. Plus, I lost a house in bancrupcy about 4 years ago. Great credit since, and good relationship with my local bank. Advice?

    1. I hope your grown children are contributing to your/their living expenses. Even if they are going to school, they can still get jobs and contribute their fair share. It would not be fair for you to shoulder the entire burden.

  16. Hi, I’m selling my house and buying a 37 foot RV for me and 10 pound dog to live in full time. I’ve already found the RV I want (Jayco Flight 34RSBS) and an RV Park to live in. I like living in small places and I hate owning a lot of stuff so I think this is a good fit for me. My question is, what’s it like living in an RV park? Can you here your neighbors in the RV’s next to you. Do you have to worry about being quite so people don’t hear you? Thank you. ~ Andi

    1. Sounds can be an issue depending on the park you are at and how close the lots are to each other. If you are social you will enjoy being at an rv park, we always enjoyed having people to chat with and meet.

  17. My husband and I and our 3 kids are thinking about doing this to get out of debt and move, but are unsure how to get financing on a camper if you are going to live in it? We have been denied by one lender already because we told them it would be our primary residence. Any advice?

  18. I have been living in an RV for 3 years now and the RV place I am at is packed almost every time I go outside I can smell cigarette smoke
    I can hear the neighbors the lawn mowers going off once a week peoples car alarms going off dogs barking. it is the most upscale place in the state just about every RV place is the same they stick you next to someone and very close you might as well have them move in if you don’t love being around people all day don’t do it. Its made me physically sick because its so hard to work out when you live in an RV you have to get ready to go take a walk or a jog than go back in the RV get back into pajamas than when you need to exercise get dressed again. It doesn’t matter how big your RV its too hard to get any workout whatsoever the sink will smell bad and you will always feel gritty and nasty all day from not being able to take long showers. the RV place you buy your RV from will say hot water last 15 min the hot water last always last 1 to 2 min and that’s it. so the army shower isn’t even possible. you will have to get a lot of bug spray before you put your RV in the grass. if you have the AC on when you go the bathroom you will not like the sewer smell. the freezer in RVS DONT WORK. we have had are RV for almost 4 years and its really nice. hard to live in kiss all your stuff goodbye because you cant fit anything in an RV kiss shopping out the window. plan on going to the grocery store 2 times a week.

    1. yeah the new thing is greedy RV parks ripping low income people off…the new ten year rule…oh if you can afford a 30k plus rig…but this supposed to be for low income people..no wonders there is more homeless on the street

  19. I am wanting to move in to a camper and live I already have one and owe very little on and the only other thing I owe on is a little on on credit cards I have van to pull the camper with and it is in pretty good shape we have been living in this 14 by 53 ft mobile home for over 7 years and my wife hates it she and I both hate this town we live in I am a retired truck I did that for over 43 years the only thing is right now we both draw a little check from s s any suggestions

  20. Hi yall! I’m wanting todo fulltime RV living because I’m a college student. Next fall I will have to change my campus to Lexington KY. It’s 1.5 hours commute from where I currently live. The problem I’m running into is finding a campground or somewhere to setup at that isn’t $35+ per night. And also not too far from the campus.

  21. well i have live in a 21ft with gf and a number cats for about ten years…no real power except when RV park…rough it
    .bring plastic jugs for water and cooking on a Coleman stove…lots of you people are weekenders…no real full time skills…even in 90s temp no Ac…and winters with no heater..can do it in mult sleeping bags.. it is tough….makes you appreciate what you have or don’t need…