Was It Worth It to Full Time RV?
Perspective of Fulltime Rving.
This is kind of a heavy ended question, “Was it worth is to full time RV?” I do not have a specific answer, like Yes, it was absolutely worth it! Or No, it kind of sucked, but I can answer with both a yes and a no. Bear with me for a moment! I have written MANY blogs about what life is REALLY like to fulltime RV, but now that we are not living and traveling in a RV, I like to reflect if it was worth the sacrifice we did, the adventures and misadventures we had and the ultimate health scare which put things into perspective and changed our minds about that type of lifestyle. What I am going to do is list down the good things about that lifestyle and the not so good things that many YouTubers do not talk about and I wish they did.
THE GOOD:
Traveling to new destinations. This was so amazing! I loved visiting new places and shared it with my lifetime partner. Our country is truly beautiful and there is so much to see.
Living frugally. Yes, you can live as cheap as you can. Both the RV and our pull vehicle were paid off and we had no debt to our names. Yeah!!! It is helpful to live this lifestyle debt free, but I do understand it can be hard when the cost of an RV or the truck to pull it has payments. We also had solar put on our trailer so we could boondock and save money from going to campgrounds. Campgrounds can be expensive! Plus I cooked a lot of our meals rather than eating out at restaurants or fast food places. I love to cook and make healthy meals, plus save money from going out. Rather take a walk in nature, it is FREE!
Boondocking or dry camping. I mentioned above that we saved money by boondocking, meaning, we camped in places that did not have any hookups, like electricity, water or sewer. Best part of this experience was NO nearby neighbors! You boondock in areas that are allowed, like BLM (Bureau of Management), or the forestry service as examples. A lot of these places are scenic and allow you to explore areas that you may have not heard of. Most of the time you can stay at a campsite for up to 14 days. Did I mention it was FREE???
My lifetime partner: It was amazing to share this experience with my husband. Life is good when you can share it with someone special. He was very helpful and kind as we got acclimated to this lifestyle. It was not easy!!!
Gorgeous Glacier National Park.
THE NOT SO GOOD:
The expense! Yes, it was expensive, more than we thought. Even though we were frugal, we still had unexpected costs like breakdowns of our tow vehicle $$$, or something on our RV. Gas, gas, gas!!! This was a big one for us as we used a semi to pull the rig and our daily driver. Gas went up, WAY UP, shortly after we started this lifestyle. Our budget was not ready for it.
Missing family: This was hard for me as we went into this lifestyle quicker than I wanted to. We had been planning for this type of adventure for a few years, but all of a sudden it was here. We had to say goodbye to the kids, which was VERY hard for me, maybe not so much for John, and I was experiencing empty nest. Plus we sold our house to afford this lifestyle and left. I loved my house! Too much too quickly!
Familiarity: Even though I stated above I loved traveling (and still do), I should restate that, “I loved it sometimes, but sometimes it was hard.” Hard, meaning, I felt weird visiting new places, like I was out of place. I did not feel comfortable some of the time. I missed the familiar, like I knew what places to visit in my home state and when to go. Not out there! Even though I enjoyed new places, it was different sometimes because of the weather or it was not what I expected.
The weather: This was truly eye opening! When it is spring in my home state, it can be very warm, but in other states they might be experiencing snow or rain. COLD WEATHER! I invested in pants and wore pants until the summer season started. Not used to this! I am usually in shorts and tank tops in the summer!
Health: My husband experienced a heart attack a few years into this lifestyle. It really threw me for a loop! Never expected him to go through it. It put our lives into perspective and is part of the reason why we stopped living and traveling in a RV. I was scared to death if he drove and had another heart attack! Would he survive? What about others driving on the road if he had this incident? I wanted a home again in case something like this could happen again. I know many people still travel with health problems, but I do not want to be like them.
Stormy weather on Beartooth Highway, Montana.
I still like traveling in a RV, but not fulltime. We sold our large setup and I was a little sad as we had so many memories. It was our home for a time! But I do not regret selling it. We now have a MUCH smaller travel trailer and a pickup truck to pull it. John is in good health so far. Not ready to become a widow yet or EVER!!!!!
It was worth traveling in a RV, but sometimes I wished we kept our house that we had before we sold it as it was CHEAP compared to today’s houses. But what is done is done. So I look forward to finding the right house for us in the near future, spending time with my kids, exploring hobbies and working outside of a campground. We will continue to travel in the small RV around our home state, but also venture outside of the state when we can.
To those of you that travel in a RV fulltime, I hope this has been eye opening and inspiring to you. I do not mean to be negative but to be truthful about the reality of the RV fulltime lifestyle. It is different than living in a house and has its perks and challenges, but if you like it then awesome for you! But if you are like me and ready to settle back into a house type of life, and many have including YouTubers we used to watch, I understand and wish you happiness and joy on your new journey!
Yellowstone Lake after flooding in 2022.