Our Top 5 Tips for Full-Time RVing
Are you thinking about full-time RVing? Have you been for a short while and need a few more ideas to make your experiences smoother? Or are you a full-time RVer who has been doing this for decades? It doesn’t matter where you are in your RV lifestyle. There are always things to be learned from the experienced RVer as well as the newbie who found a creative solution. To narrow full-time RVing down into five tips is nearly impossible but here goes from our years of traveling.
1. Always be Learning
Whether you are thinking about full-time or you have been doing it for decades, you should never stop learning. RV models change, advancements are made in the industry, and the landscape changes. My spouse and followed tons of YouTube influencers, read thousands of blogs, and joined a lot of Facebook groups before we even bought an RV. The learning doesn’t and shouldn’t stop there.
Learning can save you a lot of money on the road too. We once had a microwave go out. The cost of replacing it with an RV was nearly $500! After a little research online, we found that a simple part replacement costs $5. We received help from someone else’s experience without hardly any out-of-pocket.
Our refrigerator was not cooling. We were tossing bad food quickly. We read through so many postings online but found nothing. Then we changed a few search words and voila! Sometimes we must learn how to search but do not give up. Someone somewhere has had the experience you have and has posted the solution. What did we find out? A little flap on our fridge door was not sealing right. We fixed it (after tracking down a similar experience post) and everything was cooling right again. No $5000 RV fridge purchase needed here!
Don’t get caught in the trap that you ‘don’t know enough yet’. You can easily keep putting off getting into full-time RVing for one excuse, reason, or another. At some point, you need to do it. Like starting a family or a relationship. There is no way you will know all the ins and outs without hands-on experience. Plan to integrate some type of ongoing learning as you RV. Even if it is just watching a daily ‘how-to’ video on your rig, or boondocking or national parks.
2. Be prepared
Being prepared is not going to save you from all the repairs and delays that you will meet on the road. But a little preparation can save you from experiencing added problems on top of the existing ones you encounter. Here are a few ideas that will help you be prepared.
Spare parts – there will be parts that traditionally quit working or go bad on your RV. You will either read about this in advance or find out on your own. Once you know what these parts are, it is wise to order them and carry them with you in advance. Not all parts are necessary to keep available. The ones you want to stock up on are the ones that will significantly delay your travel plans, prevent everyday living as you enjoy it, or most importantly, the parts that will take weeks or months to secure.
Safety – is a big part of your life, even if you are not in a rig. You need to have fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, and carbon monoxide detectors just like you would in a brick-and-mortar home. But you will also need to be aware of safety issues specific to RVs – like slip-resistant stairs (because one of the top accidents in RVs is on the stairs) and making sure you have an escape window(s) and they/it works.
Weather – becomes a new feature you need to keep up with when you travel. You may always be in a new location so you need to know where to find weather reports, and where to go in case of emergencies, and you should also know what type of weather to expect and how to react. You don’t want a surprise flash flood or tornado to head your way without knowing it is coming and what to do.
3. Join RV Groups
Joining groups of like-minded travelers can make a big difference in your full-time RV life longevity. Scientific studies show us over and over that we are social creatures and need companionship. When you are on the road, this can be challenging. Being a part of a group of RVers can change that for you. And there are groups for every style of full-timing. There are groups for solo travelers, families, seniors, working RVers, rig types, and more.
Be sure to plan meet-ups and networking as part of your travels. If you are not a big planner, this is where these groups can come to your rescue. Most of these groups meet at least once a year if not multiple times for chances to interact and learn about the RV lifestyle. We have even planned to meet other RVers we crossed paths with at other events, and camped out at the same campground so we could spend time together. It is a great way to make friends with people who understand your RV lifestyle.
Even if you are a loner, RV groups can supply online learning opportunities, be a resource for your lifestyle as well as provide full-time services like RV insurance, mail services, and job fairs. Groups can help you with the practical everyday needs of full-timing even if you don’t access the fanfare, events, or parties.
4. Maintain your RV
RVs are not built as securely as brick-and-mortar homes. They do not have the same inspection requirements as stationary homes either. And unlike those homes, our rig experiences major shaking and shifting as we travel down the not-so-great roads to our next destination. All those issues combined leave us with, sometimes, a repair nightmare. One way to avoid some of those issues is to maintain your RV. Don’t wait until something falls apart. There are checklists all over the Internet on how and what to maintain and how often you should do it. It is wise to start with one of these lists but change and adapt it as you full-time, so it fits your rig and lifestyle. Here are a few things we have added to our list after years of full-timing:
- Retightening all the screws
- Reseating screen door splines
- Touching up nicks in the interior and exterior paint jobs (to avoid rust or deterioration)
- Replacing any screws and bolts, or trim that show wear or rust
In other words – think of anything that can eventually shake loose or something you don’t use very often and that is something you need to check at least once a year. You don’t want to wait until screws are missing and something falls off unexpectedly!
5. Slow Down
One of the important tips we learned before we ever started full time RVing, was, ‘You are not on vacation’. Even if you are retired, you are creating a new lifestyle moving from a house to an RV home. This is different from going on vacation. On vacation, you try to see and do everything within a limited, set amount of time and you spend more while you are on vacation than you do at home. So don’t start out like you are on vacation or you will exhaust yourself and/or run out of money very quickly.
Like living at home, you should stick to a budget but also try to slow down and enjoy where you are as if it were your home. Get to know the locals, visit the free things to do in the area, and find out what they do for fun. You can still explore without going in full vacation mode.
Try staying in a location for one month. You get the benefit of a monthly discount at an RV campground, but you also have more time to explore. You will also spend less time every year planning out multiple destination routes. This alone can create a lot of stress and be very time-consuming. Make sure your RV relocation efforts at least match the rewards you will receive once you arrive. This is all especially helpful if you are not fully retired or still working full-time. Slowing down also leaves you time to pursue new hobbies and keep up with old ones without the rush to pass over them or leave them to the side. Keeping up with hobbies is also a great stress reliever!
It doesn’t take much to implement most of these tips. If you do the last tip – you are doing less work! I hope in your full-time adventures you satisfy your travel desires. Just know that any bumps in the road are only because you are out there trying and succeeding at a new lifestyle. Look at the days of inconvenience as a learning experience and focus on the RV stays that make you say – “This is why we full-time”.
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