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Beginning RV, Full-time Rving, Fulltime rving with kids, Making RV Friends, New To RVing, RV Friends, RV Newbie
Most people who own RVs only want a way to get away on the weekends, or maybe a little home to take on summer vacation adventures. That said, a growing number of RV owners are hitting the road full-time.
Full-time RV living certainly has a lot of benefits. After all, who wouldn’t want the freedom to go wherever they like, whenever they like?
The opportunity to simplify, connect with your family and nature, and see the most beautiful parts of our country are all excellent pros that make full-timing sound like a dream. However, it is important to note that living in an RV full-time also has its downsides. Therefore, RV living isn’t for everyone.
If you’re considering the full-time life, we highly recommend taking the time to think about your personality and where you are in life. Full-timing may be an excellent choice for you, or it could not be the best fit at this point in your life.
Ask yourself the questions below, making sure to answer honestly in order to get a better understanding of whether or not you’ll take to full-time RVing well.
Can I Be Flexible?
The first question to ask is whether or not you can be flexible and adaptable. Why? Because things will go wrong.
You can have the best-laid travel plans in the world, and something still might happen to mess them up. Things break in the RV, vehicles break down, and weather can be uncooperative.
The ability to be flexible and change plans accordingly is a valuable skill when living the full-time lifestyle.
How Do I Handle Stress in the Moment?
Of course, even the most flexible person can and will get frustrated when plans have to change. This is especially true when those changes come about due to problems with the rig, something that can cause a lot of stress for a lot of different reasons.
How you handle this kind of stress is key, as it will determine the mood of your travels. If you get extremely upset and can’t handle the stress with grace, you will have a hard time solving the problems that cause the stress. This can make happy travel difficult, to say the least.
Am I Willing to Learn New Skills and Get My Hands Dirty?
When the aforementioned problems do arise, having the ability to fix them yourself will help reduce stress and keep you on the road for as long as possible. Fortunately, most RV problems are pretty easy to fix on your own as long as you’re willing to watch some YouTube videos and get your hands a little bit dirty.
Breaking out the tools and doing a bit of research is often enough to get another vehicle (if you have one) up and running as well, and doing this repair work yourself can save you tons of time and money.
Do I Have a Financial Plan?
Speaking of money, you will need some sort of money coming in if you want your life on the road to last very long at all. Thankfully, the internet makes it pretty easy to hold down a job while traveling. Other options include traveling for seasonal work or living off of retirement income.
If you’re not sure where to begin in the search for a job that travels well, check out this article for some tips and ideas.
Can I Thrive with a “Feast or Famine” Style of Socialization?
Those who live on the road full-time must be pretty intentional about finding ways to socialize. This isn’t to say socializing is impossible, but it might mean working your travel schedule around events and meetups.
This can lead to a “feast or famine” situation, meaning that you will sometimes have a couple of weeks that are chock-full of friends and can be overwhelming. Other times, you may go several weeks with no real social interaction at all. Being the type of person who is okay with this is definitely helpful when traveling full-time.
Looking for ways to find friends while traveling? This article explains some of the best ways to do that. You might also check out RV clubs such as Fulltime Families and Escapees.
Is My Family On Board?
Lastly, but probably most importantly, you will need to find out whether or not your significant other and any other immediate family members are on board. Traveling with people who didn’t want to travel in the first place is never fun. This is true for short-term trips as well as long-term trips, making it extremely important that everyone in your family is excited to live the traveling lifestyle.
About the author: Chelsea Gonzales
Chelsea has the amazing opportunity to take part in full-time RV living and traveling with her tiny tribe. She homeschools her five-year-old son as they travel, and takes full advantage of their unique situation by using the entire world as her son’s classroom. A group of total Disney fanatics, Chelsea and her family often find themselves in the Orlando area in order to visit the Disney parks, but they have also visited over 25 of the 50 states with plans to see many more along the way. No matter where her travels take her, Chelsea enjoys riding bikes, gazing at beautiful sunsets, finding new coffee shops, Irish dancing, and sitting around a campfire with her family.
You can join her adventures through her blog, Wonder Wherever We Wander.
Ronald C. ~ “This was by far a very pleasurable experience even on a brutally cold day here in Northeast Ohio. It was truly easy and the folks at Coach-Net were so helpful.”
Camping has always been something families do together. However, until recently, living and traveling in an RV fulltime was something that was primarily done by retirees. Now thanks to the internet, more and more young people are able to find mobile work and take their families on the road.
Obviously, if you’re going to be traveling fulltime, you will have to do some sort of homeschooling or 
When you move into your RV, be sure to set very clear boundaries for the kids from the beginning. For instance, our son is not allowed to leave our campsite without permission. He also isn’t allowed in anyone else’s RV without us. Setting these clear and unchanging boundaries will help keep your kids safe while you see the world.
RV homes are quite small. For this reason, it’s important to get out of the RV and stretch while all giving each other some space.
