9 Lessons Learned from My First 6 Months of Full-Time RV Living

Nearly four years ago, my husband JT and I decided to leave our apartment behind, selling or donating almost all our possessions. We then embarked on a journey as global digital nomads. For about three years, we lived without a home base while traveling the world. However, when we returned to the U.S. during the global lockdowns last March, we found ourselves without a permanent place to stay.

Initially, we self-isolated in a relative's vacant lake condo, followed by a few months of living with family. As the pandemic dragged on, it became clear that our global travels would not resume anytime soon. We realized we needed to establish a home of our own.

In a similar situation, most people would have opted for an apartment rental or month-long hotel accommodations. However, after relocating an RV from Los Angeles to Dallas last July, we decided to purchase the same RV model in August and officially moved into it full-time on September 1, 2020.

Prior to our summer rental, we had only completed one previous RV relocation for just $1 a day, leaving us with plenty to learn about RV living. Today, I’m excited to share nine key insights from my first six months of full-time RVing.

Exploring the Many Styles of RVing

Before embracing full-time RV life, I had certain ideas about what RVing entailed. However, I soon discovered there are countless ways to enjoy RV travel, and what suits one person might not work for someone else.

For instance, there’s no universal price for campsite fees. You can find options that are very affordable; many national lands allow you to camp for free or at a low cost, and some businesses like Cracker Barrel and Walmart might permit overnight parking at no charge. Conversely, some RV parks charge over $100 a night, complete with hotel-like amenities. There’s also a range of campsites priced between $20 and $40 per night.

Similarly, the variety of RV types is vast. While strolling through campgrounds, you’ll often encounter luxury campers, pop-ups, converted school buses, fifth wheels, trailers, camper vans, and vehicles with rooftop tents. Some of these RVs can be purchased for under $10,000, while others may exceed $200,000. Each type caters to a specific kind of traveler.

Lastly, there are various styles of RV travel. Some adventurers change locations daily, while others might settle into a single campground for an entire season. Many RVers set up outdoor furniture, whereas some trailers appear ready to leave at a moment's notice. Additionally, some plan their travels a year ahead to secure popular spots, while others prefer to book campsites spontaneously.

Embracing Flexibility is Essential

For us, adapting to flexibility has been vital during our initial six months of RVing. While we are naturally inclined to plan—having spreadsheets of hotel bookings dating back years and extending into 2022—we’ve realized that we enjoy reserving campsites as we travel. As we start taking occasional international trips by plane this summer while still living part-time in the RV, I anticipate that this adaptability will become even more crucial.

Flexibility is equally important when sharing a small space and working remotely with someone else. I often find myself working outdoors at our picnic table or a campground pavilion. However, RVing means spending significant time with your travel companions. This close proximity has been manageable for us since we’re accustomed to living and working together as global digital nomads. Yet, from conversations with fellow campers, I’ve learned that constant togetherness can be challenging for some.

High-speed internet is not an issue

When we made the choice to live and work from an RV, I expected that finding high-speed internet would be challenging. We don’t use a lot of data, averaging about one GB per day on our laptops. However, dependable and reasonably fast internet is essential for effective work.

Some campgrounds provide Wi-Fi, but it’s generally slow and often unreliable. Therefore, we mainly use our phones as hotspots for our laptops. Each of us has a Verizon Get More Unlimited plan, granting us 30 GB of 4G LTE hotspot data monthly along with unlimited data on our phones. This setup allows me to conduct most of my work video calls through my phone. We also have a T-Mobile backup hotspot, but we haven’t needed it so far.

We invested in a cell booster to assist in areas with weak reception. However, we've largely managed to avoid using it by researching campgrounds beforehand to ensure they have adequate Verizon coverage. For instance, Recreation.gov features cell coverage ratings for Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T as part of its review system. Additionally, I utilize Campendium for other campgrounds. Thanks to these resources, we’ve faced no major connectivity challenges.

Understand your needs before making a purchase

There’s a wide variety of RV types available, and my TPG colleagues have explored several styles. For instance, Richard Kerr from TPG purchased a trailer to tow with his truck, while Summer Hull rented a luxurious Class A motorhome. Chris Dong also gave van life a shot by renting a van.

We chose a Class C RV, which essentially combines a truck cab with a large box where the truck bed would normally be. This choice was ideal since we didn’t have a vehicle prior to buying our RV. We were assured of our purchase since we had previously relocated the same model from Los Angeles to Dallas. Plus, we appreciate that one of us can work at the back table while the other drives.

If you’re not purchasing the exact model you relocated like we did, you can still try out what you’re interested in buying. I highly suggest renting your desired model or a similar one before making a purchase. Fortunately, platforms like RVshare enable you to rent RVs directly from owners, so you can likely find and test the model you plan to buy beforehand.

You can park your RV at the airport

Last October, we embarked on a mid-pandemic trip to Istanbul, Turkey, and we plan to resume international travel once we’re fully vaccinated, taking a few short trips while still living in our RV. However, we faced the question of what to do with our RV during these travels. Most RV storage options cater to owners looking to store their vehicles monthly or annually near home.

While searching for a solution for our trip to Istanbul, I discovered various websites offering monthly RV parking options. As I browsed one site, I came across several listings for an Atlanta airport Parking Spot. JT reached out to them, and we found out they were willing to let us park our RV in their lot during our trip for a reasonable fee.

I’m not certain if other Parking Spot locations permit RV parking, but this experience showed that it’s likely we can find airport parking near many airports willing to let us pay a small fee to park our RV. After all, our RV can fit into two back-to-back parking spaces.

Little things can be challenging

Some everyday tasks that are simple for most homeowners become significantly harder for us while RVing. Here are a few of the unexpected challenges we've encountered:

• Getting food is tricky because our RV is too tall for most drive-thrus and too long for most curbside pickup spots.
• Many campgrounds won’t accept packages, which means planning is essential for Amazon deliveries or utilizing Amex Offers (like Wine Insiders).
• Our gray and black tank sensors rarely provide accurate readings, making it tough to know when they’re full.
• Using a drive-through COVID-19 testing center was awkward since our RV couldn’t navigate the designated path.
• Finding parking for the RV at certain businesses, like the vet when our cat needed care or hotels for unlimited internet access, has been a bit of a challenge (we’ve learned to call ahead or check out businesses via Google Maps satellite view).

Of course, many of these issues could be alleviated with a second vehicle. Most RVers either tow a car behind their RV or use a vehicle to tow their RV. However, we only have our RV. This means we have to go everywhere in it. We could resolve this by purchasing a car or motorcycle, but we're not ready to invest in another vehicle at this time.

Some aspects are simpler than I anticipated

While I highlighted some challenges in the previous section, it's also worth mentioning that several aspects of RVing have turned out to be easier than I originally thought:

• Finding last-minute campsites for a few nights has been surprisingly straightforward.
• Our 15-year-old cat Grace has adapted wonderfully to life on the road.
• Cooking in our compact kitchen has gone smoothly.
• Dumping black and gray tanks can be daunting for some RVers, but it hasn’t been too difficult for us.
• Online resources, particularly YouTube, have made troubleshooting issues quite manageable.

One feature of our RV that we didn't fully appreciate before purchasing, but now find invaluable, is the back-up camera. If you're not experienced with large vehicles, I highly suggest ensuring your RV comes equipped with one.

Being handy is crucial

JT and I aren't particularly skilled with repairs, but we've had to pick up some basic maintenance know-how since our RV requires ongoing care. Over the past six months, we've learned a lot about our RV, from identifying and fixing water leaks to silencing annoying squeaks and tightening loose screws.

YouTube and various RV forums have been great resources, but we've also made some comical beginner blunders along the way. For instance, shortly after we bought our RV, we discovered that our city water connection (which lets you attach a freshwater hose to the RV’s plumbing) was leaking from the side. We initially thought something was broken. However, after grappling with this for about a month, we figured out we just needed to insert a rubber washer between the hose and the connector.

Although we've had our share of silly errors, we've definitely become more handy during our first six months of RV living. That said, if you're already handy, RVing will likely be a smoother experience from the start.

Create a practical travel plan

One key lesson we've learned is the importance of a realistic itinerary. While you might manage an eight-hour drive in a car with just one stop, driving an RV tends to be more exhausting. Additionally, RVs typically require slower speeds compared to cars. We’ve found that our RV performs best when we keep our speed under 65 miles per hour on the interstate.

Moreover, navigating and setting up an RV after dark can be both unsafe and unenjoyable. Consequently, we’ve adapted by limiting our travel to about 300 miles per day and aiming to stay at each location for at least six or seven nights. This way, we can truly savor the area while balancing our full-time work commitments.

In summary

This time last year, we never envisioned purchasing an RV and living in it full-time. However, this choice has allowed us to embrace a nomadic lifestyle and travel within the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic, turning it into a delightful adventure. It's uncertain if we'll still have the RV in another six months, as I hope to return to our globetrotting lifestyle. For now, we're thoroughly enjoying RVing while it suits us, and we've gained a wealth of knowledge over the past six months.