Meet Our Guest Contributor: Carol Antoinette
I’m a midwesterner living the digital nomad life, and a full-time RVer who came together in this lifestyle with my husband after years of long-distance. I share the experience of RV living and take you along on my travel adventures through my blog, The Nomad Junkie.
It’s no surprise that SO many people are switching over to the RV life for many different reasons: whether it’s traveling for work, saving money, or just wanting to experience a life of freedom!
Now, before we go off and put a pretty down payment on an RV camper, it’s really important to know WHAT you are getting into when it comes to the RV life. Because, unfortunately, there have been many people who take on this lifestyle and aren’t aware of what they are getting into.
I’d hate for people to enter a lifestyle when they aren’t aware of the reality of RV living. So, I’m here to keep it real with you.
You have to get REAL crafty with your space
The biggest complaint when it comes to RV living is managing your space and figuring out creative ways to store your stuff.
I get it. I mean, you don’t realize how much stuff you have until you try to pack it into an RV. It’s definitely not impossible, but this life does make you live more of a minimalistic lifestyle.
One of the ways we really utilize the space in our RV is with adjustable shelves, bins, and turning pretty much any area in our camper into storage, such as our bunk room.
At first, it was annoying when we first took on RV living; however, as time goes on, you realize just how much stuff you really don’t use or need.
Living in a camper can drive your relationships crazy
I mean, think about it…
Living in a smaller space with your loved ones can drive you absolutely BONKERS, especially if you are a family that lives in an RV.
My husband and I are starting a family in the RV life, so keeping the peace is really important for keeping up with a healthy marriage.
This is why I recommend going out, exploring, prioritizing dates, and spending your free time outside, instead of staying stuck inside the RV all day.
Trust me from experience, being a homebody too much in a camper isn’t the same feeling as being a homebody in a brick-and-mortar type of home.
Respecting each other’s spaces to the best of our abilities is really important for anyone in this lifestyle with children.
Now, I haven’t gotten to the point of raising any older children in a camper, but I would imagine you’ll want to talk to your children and come to a compromise on boundaries and rules.
RV living is doable in a camper with a family; however, the reality is that children do have needs and it’s really important to hear them out and learn to come to a middle ground that can suit both the child and the parents.
You’ll have to become a handyman (or handywoman) in this lifestyle
Let’s face the reality that most motorhomes break down a lot.
I mean, our camper was made in 2022. Most of the stuff that has broken in our camper has been cosmetic, so we kind of got lucky with just cosmetic damage.
However, the reality of RV living comes with its headaches, and you have to get really good at fixing them on the spot. Especially if you don’t have any RV mechanics near you.
Although RVs are becoming more built for full-time RV living nowadays, there are still times where things can break and you have to figure it out.
Each RV is different and it is hard to tell which RV has better quality than the others.
This is usually the main reason why many people become hesitant with RV living because they assume it’s expensive due to the repairs that an RV could come with.
For us, it really wasn’t that big of a deal.
My husband is the handyman of our home. I’d say he can fix just about anything and has been able to since we started full-time RV living in 2023.
If you grew up like us, who didn’t have much resources to just pay someone to fix things for you, you end up figuring it out!
So, this area of our life didn’t affect us as all.
You get the chance to experience more of the world
It has always been a dream of mine to travel the world, and it’s seriously one of the coolest experiences I get to live!
It’s been really fun to visit different states, experience different cultures, and converse with different types of people!
There’s something so freeing about packing up your motorhome and exploring different places in your own country.
It’s this reason alone that so many people want to take on the RV life, because who wants to wait until retirement to travel the world? Personally, I want to live freely now.
Seriously, life is too short to wait!
RV living has helped provide financial freedom
Take a look at the inflation nowadays: rent is CRAZY and hard to afford for many people around the world.
This is what really pushed us to get an RV in the first place. It honestly didn’t make sense to us to pay for an apartment that was almost a grand. It really wasn’t worth that price anyways.
My husband gets per diem with his traveling job, and most of that money was going towards hotels where he couldn’t really cook food. He was spending more on going out to eat, all while also helping to pay for an apartment he was barely at.
The only reason we even had our apartment was because I was working at a warehouse that I really didn’t want to work at long-term anyways.
So, we made it easier for the both of us by just going the RV route and coming together as a couple after several years of long-distance.
It just made sense for us.
I know, for some people, they take on this lifestyle to save money.
Some people don’t think that people living in a camper make much, but oh boy, is that further away from the truth!
I know many people on this lifestyle who make over six figures, have been able to buy land, build a home, and save up a crazy amount of money!
Looks are deceiving, so I wouldn’t judge RV living too quickly if you haven’t done it yourself!
RV living helps bring people together
Like I mentioned before, my husband and I were doing long-distance for several years of our relationship. After we got married, I was getting really fed up with the long-distance.
I hear many couples, especially when you have someone who has a blue-collar job like my husband, end up taking on the RV life to just be together again.
Honestly, if we had still been long-distance to this day, I don’t think I would have started a family. What difference would it make being a single mother versus a married woman whose husband is never around to watch the kids grow up?
I don’t know about you, but that honestly sounds heartbreaking, even though I know it happens to a lot of families.
It was a scary transition, but it just made so much sense for us and we don’t regret our decision one bit! We are incredibly grateful for this lifestyle!
