Our Thoughts on RV Life

I have to start by telling you this...hope it makes you laugh. Earlier this week, we were over at the Gateway Campus for an event, and one of the house parents found out we had an RV. Her husband wandered into our conversation and she said, "Hey! They have an RV!" Then she turned to me and said, "Abby, right?"

Her husband said, "You named your RV?" I said, "Well, we don't have kids, so we name everything. You know...RV, TV, mixer...." He did not know what to do with that! I'm pretty sure he'll think I'm weird forever. He also asked if I carried pictures of the mixer. Well played!! ;) 

But one of the questions we've had multiple times since coming home from our trip is about what we liked about RV travel...or if we liked it. Have we found Abby to meet our needs? Do we wish for something different? Would we choose something different in a future RV?

So I thought I'd share some of our thoughts on that today!

I'll start by asking Ryan his opinions.

What did you like most about traveling so long in an RV? I liked having all our stuff with us all the time and not moving in and out of places every day. 

Were you surprised by how much you liked a two week trip in an RV? I was surprised at how well I liked the amount and layout of the space. I ended up getting used to showering in a wet-bath. I felt like the on-the-road travel part was a lot more comfortable than I expected. I liked being able to warm up food on the road (at rest stops or wherever). The convenience of our own bathroom was HUGE!

Were there any parts of RV travel you did not like? Managing the refrigerator temperature was the hardest part. We never lost any food, but keeping it running enough between parked times was difficult. 

(For those of you who may not have a clue what that means...the refrigerator can run off propane or electricity. Obviously whenever we're on the road, we can't run the electricity. Not enough extension cords in the world for that! You can run your propane while you drive, but we read a lot of articles from full time RV travelers who cautioned against it, because it could create a fire hazard. We ultimately elected not to run ours while driving, just to be cautious. Because of that, the refrigerator was turned off for all our driving hours. We tried to be careful about how long we left it disconnected and also tried not to open it often during those times. We carried ice packs to help, but it was still a challenge to regulate.)

When it's time to choose Abby 2.0, is there something you would choose differently? I would love having a permanent table, rather than taking one down and putting one up every day. If we were full-timing, I would want a bigger bathroom - and one that isn't a wet bath. 

And now...my thoughts! 

What did I like most about traveling so long in an RV? Ryan's right...it really was a game-changer to just pack one time and not have to pack and unpack suitcases the entire time. But for me, it went a step further, and having a home on the road was amazing in ways I did not expect. This is the first time ever in my life I have genuinely not wanted to come home from vacation. Not even a little bit. And I think the reason I felt like staying out was because I was home. Home in our RV! Abby is SO comfortable and SO homey. 

And I've said it before...I'll say it again. Bathrooms. On. The. Road. Are. Everything.

Was I surprised by how much I liked a two week trip in an RV? I was! I expected to get homesick, and I didn't. I expected to get tired of being in a small space, and I didn't. I was so excited for every new adventure, because we just took our home from place to place. (I will add that it was nice to have our stop at my sister's in the middle, because I was able to do laundry there and reset the clothing part of our trip. AND I got to use her shower - and that was amazing!) 

I was also surprised to see how much I loved being able to IMMEDIATELY be back home after every adventure. Like after we went to the state park, we were super hot (no shade out there!) and thirsty - and tired of walking. But we just unlocked the door, got a drink, sat on the couch, kicked up the air, and sat until we felt refreshed. It was pretty great to not have to drive back to a home base for that part.

Were there any parts of RV travel I did not like? Ryan figured out a system with the wet bath. I did better this time, but it's different for me because: HAIR!!!! Trying to wash and condition all my hair properly (aka giving time for it to sit in between rounds) and conserving hot water is definitely an art form. I haven't totally perfected it yet. But it was a small sacrifice for all the great things we enjoyed in exchange. 

And this has nothing to do with RV travel itself, but I think the part I liked the least about this trip was how quickly we moved around. We didn't get to enjoy the campground aspect nearly as much as I would have liked because we were always on the go. 

When it's time to choose Abby 2.0, is there something I would choose differently? It honestly would depend on if we were going to continue using it as a getaway or doing a full-time RV life.

Ryan's right - putting the table up and down is kind of a pain. (And when it's up, it take up all our walking space.) So it's true that it would be easier to have a permanent table. And if we were going to live in it more than just fun travel, I would really want a standard bathroom. But otherwise, I really love everything about Abby's size and layout.

She's easy to navigate, she has everything we need, and we fell hard and fast for RV life during that trip! If we were ever going to try out a full time travel life, we would probably choose an RV just a tiny bit longer. (Truly, not much longer. We find much value in shorter RVs.) A little extra length would allow us to have a traditional bathroom and possibly a little more outdoor storage. Abby ROCKS the indoor storage, but there is very little on the outside. We made it work with a cargo rack to handle the extra pieces, but of course it would be fun to have all that actually contained. 

So there you have it! Our thoughts on RV travel. We loved it completely, and that is good news, since we spent all those months fixing her up!