To live in an RV fulltime with children, you need to spend at least $40,000 on a bunkroom model
that's at least 35 feet long. Right?
that's at least 35 feet long. Right?
WRONG!
Hey, if you can find it and honestly afford it, great! BUT those are not prerequisites to fulltiming! We started out with those beliefs and even bought that RV. It was definitely nice and comfortable with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, full kitchen inside plus an outdoor kitchen, and three slide outs to make it even larger. It was like a condo on wheels. But it was more than we needed and there were disadvantages to our size.
Our 37ft fifth wheel was difficult to manuever, parks often didn't have large enough campsites, and it always required us to plan ahead when driving so we didn't end up stuck in a place we couldn't get out of. Have you ever seen a fifth wheel do a u-turn? There's a reason.
We didn't plan on living in a 16ft RV for a year, it just kind of happened.
After living in our spacious 37ft fifth wheel for 3 years, we decided to begin traveling internationally the following winter. Not sure if you realize it, but not many people are shopping for RVs during the winter. We wanted to sell while the market was good and we needed a smaller RV to easily explore the narrow roads and low bridges in the northeast. We intended to only be in it for six months, just until we flew to Spain, so our biggest concerned was resale value instead of the long list of requirements we thought we needed for our last home on wheels.
We purchased this cute little toyhauler for $6000 and I immediately began remodeling. I painted EVERYTHING- the walls, the ceiling, the cabinets. My mom came for a visit and helped me wallpaper the outside of the bathroom. I recovered the couch, made fancy curtains (thanks Pinterest!) and finished it off with touches from our favorite store Hobby Lobby. Then with both RVs parked next to each other, we moved in. Easiest move ever!
[Photos to be added later]
Life in our little RV began in Florida and took us up the east coast into Canada's New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island before heading back to Florida.
After a bit we found the downsides to going smaller- the biggest being a wet bath, basically a toilet inside a shower. It's so small we never used it as a shower. The bunk bed was a nice feature, however the bottom bunk was just a tad smaller than a standard full size bed, so my husband and I cannot comfortably share it. The kids and I ended up sharing the bunk beds while daddy slept on the couch that opens into a bed. It wasn't perfect, but it served our purpose. This was also a great way to decide what we can and can't live without in our next RV.
As I said we intended this to be a 6 month transition, but upon arrival in Florida we realized we needed to be closer to family for awhile. Another benefit of living in a small RV is that when visiting family, you can fit in their driveway or in front of their house without attracting a ton of attention like you would in a big RV.
After spending some time with family, the road was calling to us again. This time we headed west to visit friends in Las Vegas, stopping at national parks and favorite places along the way.
Back in Florida, just before moving to Ecuador for six months, we sold the RV thru Facebook marketplace in ONE DAY for nearly the same price we paid!
During the year we spent in our tiny RV, we attended church with Jimmy Carter, stood in the bedroom of George Washington during his stay at Valley Forge, and learned all about Minutemen in Massachusetts. We witnessed the largest tide change in the world at Hopewell Rocks, went clamming in the Bay of Fundy, counted falcons and helped release tagged butterflies in Cape May, New Jersey. We hiked Clingmans Dome in the Smokies, Cadillac Mountain in Acadia, and White Point in Nova Scotia. We encountered a bear with cubs along a trail in Shenandoah. Asher rode a motorcycle. We visited two zoos, multiple nature centers and museums, LEGOland and Dutch Wonderland. Took factory tours of Cow's Creamery and Hershey. We tried raw oysters, discovered we love clams and mussels and fell in love with hot, butter-dipped lobster.
We explored 37 National Park sites, 7 State Parks, and 5 National Wildlife Refuges!
We visited so many states: Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, plus Washington D.C. and three Canadian provinces- New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.
So, don't let the cost of an RV hold you back. Be responsible. Buy something within your budget for cash (and have money set aside for repairs. If you're having trouble with this, I HIGHLY recommend implementing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace methods.) You don't have to spend a lot, and if you find a used RV for a good price, you may just be able to use it for a while and recoup your costs. But the memories you will make are priceless!
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