As we’ve been living on the road as full time RVer’s (since Nov 2018) we tend to get the same questions no matter where we go… I thought I’d share these with you today. A well known blogger I follow says, “If you get the same question three times you should write about it….” Here I go… because I like to write….
- You live in that thing all the time? Well, yes we do live in this all the time, but we’ve only been full-time for 10 months.
- You guys are from Texas? What part? Depending on the mood, we’ll say, “Yes, Livingston” or we’ll say “by paperwork only.” If we say by paperwork only they realize we’re full-timers and TX is our Domicile. One person said, “Oh you’re one of those people!” It was kinda funny and we enjoyed our four days together parked next to each other.
- How do you not get on each others nerves…? We don’t, we just deal with it. LOL Or I’ll just go to Wal-Mart for a couple of hours or Trapper will take the dog for a walk or I’ll go do laundry.
- Where is home? We both agree the Carolina’s are “home” but we have no home base (for now). Shock comes across most people’s faces when we say that because there is a real struggle of “not having somewhere to go back to.”. For me anyway. I do struggle with this point of full-timing. The struggle is real.
- What kinda fuel mileage does that thing get? About 9-10 mpg.
- Oh, I see you have solar!? Yes, 1050 watts on the roof.
- Have you ever tried boondocking? Actually we PREFER it but it’s much easier out West vs. being in the East. As of this writing we’re currently in the East using our Thousand Trails membership.
- So, you really prefer boondocking vs. camgrounds? Absolutely we do!! Especially now we have bigger tanks than we had on our 5th Wheel. We could easily boondock for 10 – 14 days with these larger tanks and not be as impacted as we were with our smaller 5th Wheel tanks.
- Why do you prefer boondocking? It’s quite. It’s peaceful. Simple Solitude!
- If you prefer boondocking how big are your tanks? Our fresh water is 100 gallons, grey water 60 gallons, and black 40 gallons. Our fuel tank is 100 gallons diesel, our propane is gigantic, and our generator runs off our diesel tank(s).
- I see a vent, do you have a washer/dryer? Yes, we do, but I prefer laundry mats. I (Lynette) just get it all done in a couple hours. (Side note: the washer/dryer combo will probably come out soon to add to our storage in the bedroom for heavier/bulkier clothing, blankets, etc.) And if something were to go wonky with the onboard washer – the last thing I want is water all in my home ruining the flooring, etc! I don’t want to deal with that…. So… $8-11/wk…. I’ll just go do laundry. I personally don’t mind laundry mats. But it’s a personal choice.
- Can you get up and move around while going down the road? Well, Trapper has to stay seated as he’s driving, but I can move around, but don’t unless I have no choice. And even then I wait until we’re on the Interstate with no traffic around us and I make a short jaunt of it. Truthfully, the only times I’ve gotten up and moved around were when I heard a strange sound, the door between the kitchen and bathroom came open, the canned goods cabinet came open, or to get Tylenol out of my purse – which rides in the back. I don’t like walking while riding down the road. I really don’t like moving around inside while going down the road. I just don’t like it!
- What do your families think about this lifestyle? Some think we’re tourists, although we’re not – some think we’re crazy, and some think it’s pretty cool. At this point, most of them just ask, “Where are you?”
- What pushed you to living like this? This question is always phrased differently, but the basic question is just that. I’m always quick to say, “Our home, that we loved, was too big going forward. Nothing but common sense pushed us. The amount of land we had was too much (at that point and forward) in life. We knew we needed to remodel/sell the house and move to something smaller. Not knowing where we wanted to “park ourselves for good” was the issue – so we decided to explore alternatives for a little bit.” And that’s simply what we’re doing.
- Do you find your size being restrictive in State and National Parks? Great question. We probably will, no doubt. But, so far we haven’t done many of those types of camping since we bought this RV at the end of May 2019. Time will tell. I am finding some restrictive sizes on the East Coast and hopefully it won’t be as bad in the West.
- What’s your Exit Strategy…. when Trapper gets uncomfortable driving us down the road, we’ll buy a plot of land somewhere and park this for good or we’ll buy a Park Model that is already parked somewhere (set-up, etc) and sell the Motorcoach.
Life is a little strange out here, I’ll admit. We run in to so many people from so many walks of life. They ask a ton of repeat questions for us because everyone is interested (which we’re always happy to respond) and everyone is basically trying to figure it out for themselves.
Whether they are in their 20’s having fun tent camping, in their 30’s with kids, or retired folks in their gigantic 5th wheels or Class A’s. Or even some 30 year old’s in their gigantic 5th wheel or Class A. It’s an even playing board. We’ve seen so many set-up’s over these past 10 months. It’s interesting.
Some folks are simply camping for the weekend and others are living out here and more and more are taking gap years to see if they’d like the lifestyle – while keeping their “sticks and bricks” in their back pocket. There’s a bond and truly interesting stories.
Everyone we’ve met these past 10 months have a story. And I’ve loved everyone of them!!