RV Living

We have lived in an RV for one month now. It’s been in the same spot for that entire time, as our traveling doesn’t start for another couple of weeks. But, we’ve learned a few things about RV living over the past 28 days.

Things that are awesome about RV Living:

• It takes about an hour to clean our home from top to bottom. There are three rooms (and a closet of a bathroom): Our bedroom, their bedroom, and the living room/kitchen/dining area/office all-in-one room. I no longer have three floors of living space to scrub, dust, vacuum, organize. We went from a 13-room house to just three small rooms. And there is no excess. We have only the things that we absolutely need and use.

• Ray doesn’t have to maintain a yard. There isn’t one. There’s a playground, a pool, lots of woods. But, we don’t have to do anything to keep any of it up. Someone else is in charge of that. No more lawn mowers, weed eaters, leaf blowers or any other lawn care machines/tools/gadgets.
• No stairs. Yay! Our last house had three floors. This was great for when I remembered to wear my FitBit. Lots of steps in every day, going up and down those things constantly. Here, we have two steps that lead from the living room/kitchen/dining area/office all-in-one room to our bedroom. This is especially awesome for old Scout, who suffers from arthritis.
• Close proximity to the family: Kids, dogs, significant other – always right there. This is good. It can be rough if one is looking for some alone time. But, we’re alright with being all cozy.

Things that suck about RV Living:

• Laundry: it’s a problem. We have no washer/dryer set up in this fifth wheel. This means that we either have to go out in town to a large laundromat and sit around there while clothes are washing, or hope that one of the three washers and two dryers are available at the RV park laundromat.  If not, I have to keep going back to check for machines to open up. It also means that we are so much more aware of the amount of dirty laundry we produce. If those jean shorts meet the sight, smell, touch test, then they are going back in the closet for another wear. Kids can’t change clothes three times a day. If the towel was used once, we can hang it up and use it again. If the shirt can be washed by hand and hung up to dry, it’s going to happen. If we ever buy another RV, it will have a stackable washer/dryer combo. We could buy one now, but there would be nowhere to put it in this rig! So, we just have to deal.
• 30 Amps: That’s what we have. This means that if we have the TV, AC, and water heater on, and then attempt to run the microwave for more than 30 seconds, everything is going to shut off. We will have to walk outside, flick a switch one way and the other, and come back in and try again. Forget using a blow dryer while anything else is on. To blow dry hair, I have to turn the AC off. So, needless to say, the girls and I usually let our hair air dry.
• When there are dogs that love to get under feet, they are always, always, always under feet in this small space. The closet bathroom situation gets pretty tricky when a 45-pound dog feels the need to come keep me company while I’m peeing.

• Trash: It’s not a huge thing, but we don’t have our big trash bin that the county comes by and empties twice a week. Now, we have to collect our trash, throw it in the back of the truck, and take it up the road to the RV park dumpster. Not a big deal. Just less convenient.
• Baths: Well, there is no bath. Showers only. No soaking in a garden tub full of bubbles.

Things that are a Must:

• Organization – When there are three rooms with limited (a pretty decent amount for the space, but still limited) storage space, one has to get creative. Also, if it’s something that doesn’t get much use, it’s got to go! For instance, these appliances are a must for us: coffee maker, crockpot, blender. These things did not make the cut for this RV: waffle iron, quesadilla maker, juicer.

• Keeping the limited space available in mind when shopping – First of all, there are no longer Amazon boxes showing up at our doorstop on a regular basis. A) We don’t have a local mailing address, and B) We have nowhere to put more stuff. Secondly, we aren’t running up the road to Ross and TJ Maxx to “just look around” anymore. No point. Looking around = buying. No room for more clothes. Also, when we go grocery shopping, we have to remember that our fridge is less than half the size of the old one. This means we are shopping for the week, not for a month. We also don’t have the deep freezer to store frozen things, anymore. No Sam’s Club, bulk items for us. We have three small cabinets for nonperishables, a tiny freezer, and a refrigerator that is equivalent to two dorm room mini-fridges. This hasn’t really been a problem for me, because I hate grocery shopping and don’t do a great job of meal planning, so having just the items for the week (or less) works out fine. I’d rather grab a few things throughout the week, than do “big” grocery shopping. I also like the idea of hitting the farmers’ markets in different towns during our travels. We can grab fresh things frequently, rather than storing lots.

• Being aware of limited counter space when cooking – I really have to think things through when preparing a meal. There is such limited counter space that there is no spreading out. I have to really utilize space in creative ways. Otherwise, something can easily get knocked to the floor, dropped into the sink, or sent flying across the room. This happened one evening when I was proudly almost finished with the sides to go with some grilled pork chops Ray had done outside on the grill. I had some sweet potatoes all ready for butter and brown sugar, sitting on the stove. A pretty green salad was on the tiny counter with an opened bottle of raspberry vinaigrette next to it. I grabbed plates, bowls, and silverware, and when I went to put them down somewhere, I realized I had no room. I turned to look for a spot, and hit the dressing with some part of me (a hand, an elbow, who knows?), and vinaigrette landed on the sofa, but not before spraying the room and me. So, it takes some thought.

Of course, much of this is just figuring out how to handle these things. It’s all trial and error. I’m sure there will be various lessons to be learned along the way, as we are moving the fifth wheel down the road and to new spots, as we are learning the ins and outs of different RV parks, and once we try our hands at boon docking (setting up camp in places that are not RV parks and don’t have hookups – like Bureau of Land Management land, National Forests, a Cracker Barrel here and there – and having to run a generator). I’ll keep everyone posted!