Living in an Rv thoughts after a month

My Experience living and Traveling in an RV for about a month and a half ..

The advantages-

~ OOOH so much less to clean. I really love this aspect. I used to spend at least two days a week mopping my white kitchen floor and doing other deep cleaning. Also, everyday I had to spend time doing dishes and cleaning up. 

Not anymore. Yes, there is a lot of dust from campgrounds, but we could get this place sparkling clean in about a half an hour.  (It probably helps a lot that the only toys the kids own now are their Legos, bikes and “books”.

~ Being in close quarters with my family, I know that this might sound weird, but I have enjoyed us all being “forced” to spend time together. No one really can go off and be their own island, which would often happen at home.  The older kids would spend hours in their room doing homework or reading. They still spend hours reading and doing school work, but now I can actually SEE them and interact with them more, because they are right there next to me.  

Shelby and Ally on the Russian River Healdsburg Ca

~ The world as our backyard- We may have a small living space, but we sure do have a large “backyard”. There is always something new to explore ,and I loving doing it as a family. No more “ What do you want to do today??” questions. There is always something to do or see. 

Paul Bunyon in Klamath Ca

Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield Ca

A the TOP of the light house in Battery point Ca
( Actual Light next to them , sooooo fun!!)

Collin being a Jedi in Jedediah Smith National Redwoods, where filmed Star Wars

~ Life simplified - No sport practices to rush to, music lessons to make, no play-dates to organize, overall less demands on my time. I am still tired and the days still fly by, but I feel like my fleeting time is spent on the most important things. Investing in my kids and our family. (none of those other things are inherently bad , but a brake from them is a bit freeing)

The stuff is simplified as well, like the kids only owning Legos to play with, we have way less clothes to wash, less cooking wear to store and clean.  (There simply is no room, so it makes it super simple to simplify) ;-)

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The disadvantages -

~ I will state the obvious  “a home on wheels” Just imagine everything you own, traveling down the interstate at 55 miles an hour.  Before we leave from each site its like we are preparing for a good-ol’ southern CA earthquake. Everything has to be locked down. You really don’t want heavy books from the cabinets above the couch falling on kids heads. (Not that I would know) :-/ 

~ Travel time- l am lumping a lot into this one, as each of these can be seen as a disadvantage.  The time it takes to hook up a car to a car dolly, the time that it takes to “dump”, yeah if you have ever lived in an RV you know what I am talking about. The time it takes to fill an RV with gas, the time it takes to put all your out side gear away (chairs, table, water hose, electrical plug) All this is totally doable and we work as a team, but we have yet get out of “doge” in the time we anticipated. It always takes longer. 

~ Making beds- It’s like a yoga class gone terrible wrong. All sorts of body contortions and stretches with the opposite of peace and serenity. 

~ Close Quarters with my family - yup, listed in both advantage and disadvantage. It is difficult not having space to go and talk to my husband without ten little ears listening to every word. And where on earth do you stick a kid for “time-out??” We all need a bit of “my personal space” and in our case it really is a “BIT of space” 

Yah, we are making it work, but it can pose a challenge. 

~ Sickness spreads like the plague- nough said! 

Note- no matter how much time and effort you spend on organizing your RV so that everything will be in just the right place, along the way you will have to move things around and get rid of even more, or replace things with more realistic items that take up less space. 

-The list is slightly longer for the disadvantages, but that shouldn’t fool you into to thinking that the advantages don’t out weigh the later.  It is worth it and it is a great, fun adventure.... thus far.