I sat and visited with a small group of women after church today (which included Debbie, a fellow RV-er) and some expressed their wishfulness that they too could try the RV lifestyle. One was caring for an aged parent, plus her husband did not share her wanderlust. The other had circumstances that prevented leaving hearth and home. Debbie and her husband agreed to sell their home and do two years in their 5th wheel. They're one year into it and she is hoping to extend longer. She loves it.
Then later today I got a Facebook message from an old friend living on the other side of the country who asked about our feelings regarding our two-plus years in our motor home. I started to type out my response, then decided to write it in a blog post ..... since I can get rather long-winded on subjects on which I fancy myself somewhat in the realm of *expert*.
So here goes ....
Hi Etta! So good to hear from you.
We are still living in the "Beast" since we are in the final stages of finishing our home. So we haven't tried to sell it yet. If it sells easily (fingers crossed!) then ..... we'll have no regrets. If it doesn't, then ..... we may regret it big time. The RV market is still in gang-buster mode, so we're not worried. Husband watches the ads frequently, and comparable rigs are selling for a decent price. But it was 10 years old when we bought it, and these things do anything BUT go up in value.
The first year was very different than the second year. We traveled over a lot of the western US and saw much of Washington, including Mt. Rainier, Leavenworth, and discovered our favorite -- the Palouse in eastern WA. We did Coeur d'Alene (thank you Spell Check!), Glacier Nat'l Park, Mt. Rushmore and surrounding country. We saw amazing sights in SE Oregon I'd never before heard of, revisiting our beloved Utah canyons, St. George, Lake Powell, and finally visited Sedona, AZ (my brother has been nagging me for years to go there). We saw Death Valley, Yosemite, Sequoia Nat'l Forest, Joshua Tree, Palm Springs (aaaahhhhh!), some of the California coast and other parts of CA that go under the heading of, "Once is quite enough". We also experienced Quartzite, AZ, (google it) and Yuma, and a fair amount nearby. So all in all, it was a great year ..... and a BUSY year since we also married off our youngest and I had two surgeries. Phew!
The second year was very different. We bought property and decided to build The House. Thus we have been stuck in a well-traveled rut between New Home and Old Home town ....... back and forth ..... working on said house and managing affairs on the old home front.
The first year was fun and adventurous and totally non-productive. The second year was monotonous, exhausting, and VERY productive. And after a winter on wheels in central Oregon, I am RV-ed out. I cannot WAIT to move into a real house again with limitless water, a washer/dryer, a wood stove, space, etc.
Are we glad we did it? So far ..... YES. Would I do it again? No. I'm done. I learned that I enjoy the ease and simplicity of living in 300 square feet, but I don't like driving my entire house down the street. I don't like going to much-necessary dump stations. I'm tired of "navy" showers. (If you are camped in an RV park with all the hookups, none of that matters. But those usually cost anywhere from $25-$70 a night. We usually spent in the $30/night range.) I prefer traveling in something smaller and we plan to buy another more compact RV for future traveling. There's a lot to be said about bringing your own bed along wherever you go. But no more 100% full-timing for us.
My advice if you're seriously thinking about it --
Do not buy new. These rigs are notorious for their glitches. Let someone else work through them before you buy it used. Plus the initial depreciation is off the charts.
5th wheels make a lot of sense over motor homes and are probably more popular .... but they require a sizable pickup to pull them so you're spending big bucks regardless. Motorhomes have the engines of a semi-truck, so they can be built with more quality materials, like real wood cabinets, tile floors, etc. 5th wheels simply can't load on that much weight so you see more vinyl and plastic.
Our Beast is 40 feet long with three slides, and we wouldn't have wanted to be in anything smaller since it has been our only home. It is a Country Coach which is known for quality. We watched RVTrader online for months and found it in Vancouver, WA, sold by a private party, with less than 20K miles. We knew what we wanted well before we found it and I still think it has one of the best floor plans. But when it needs to go in for repairs .... we are homeless.
Tips: Make sure that at least one of you has a minimum amount of mechanical prowess. I have none, but being married to one who has, and can keep a cool head ..... is a great comfort and help.
Read RV blogs, and follow some RV podcasts. There are a lot out there and they love to give advice. Some of these people have been living the lifestyle for years.
A lot of RV-ers just do the snow-bird thing. The more miles you travel, the higher the cost .... obviously. (Consider 7 MPG.) So if you go somewhere and stay there for a while before moving on, it's less expensive. And if you can dry camp (AKA boondocking, via solar panels and generator) on public land, it gets cheaper yet. (There are helpful apps to tell you where to go for that.) And Walmart over-nights are definitely the way to go if you're just passing through.
Follow the weather. Do NOT winter in central Oregon.
My old posts in this blog give a lot more details. I'll link to a few below. This lifestyle is very alluring when life gets over-bearing. It is all about ESCAPE which we all long for now and then.
Let me know if you have any more questions and I'll blab some more. All the best to you and yours.
http://type-b-blog.blogspot.com/2017/05/things-i-have-missed-in-sticks-n-bricks.html
http://type-b-blog.blogspot.com/2016/12/we-suck-at-full-timing.html
http://type-b-blog.blogspot.com/2016/08/come-on-in.html
http://type-b-blog.blogspot.com/2016/07/walmart-camping.html
http://type-b-blog.blogspot.com/2016/06/boondocking-unhooked-unplugged.html
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PS -- If anyone cares about photos and/or house updates. More are coming SOON to a computer/phone/devise near you .........
