Rv Life.

Edited by: E.Gray Editing

Think about the last time you went camping or on vacation. How you go into a blissful state: no stress, relaxation, happiness, how your coffee tastes better in the morning all because you’re away from everyday life. That is the best way for me to describe RV life. Waking up everyday in a state of blissfulness, happiness, and gratitude.

Before I go any further, living full time in an RV is not for everyone. I know the description above makes it sound great but there are other factors to think about. You have to be very comfortable with your partner because the RV is a small shared space. You also have to be confident in your own abilities.If something breaks can you fix it? Or are you willing to learn how to fix it?.

You have to be willing to organise everything, making sure you are using your space wisely. A good example is our winter gear, which goes in a tote in the underneath storage of the RV in the summer. This allows easy access if we need it, but otherwise it's out of our way. Photo Credit: V.Gray

While you're organising you have to consider the weight of the items you are keeping and where you store them. I enjoy reading and I had a lot of books; I ended up donating my books and downloaded an app on our iPad. Now all my books are on our iPad which saves us space and weight in the RV, this is also ideal for travelling.

Living in an RV full time has forced us to purge our belongings, make sure we use everything we own, look at our monthly budget, and re-evaluate how we are doing things. Use everything you own, this is a difficult one because you may have items you use for holidays or special occasions. This does not mean tossing those items, it means be smart about what you keep. Keep your favourites or what's in the best condition, then get rid of the duplicates. Sell the extra winter jackets, multiple pairs of shoes, cool kitchen accessories that you have not used or the spare bedroom linens. Our RV has a ton of storage space in the living area and underneath. I can proudly say we use everything we currently have in our RV.

When we moved into the RV we cut our monthly cost of living in half (if not more). We no longer have property taxes, house insurance, hydro or water bills, internet or cable bills. We still have our mortgage (RV loan), phone bills (we use data as our internet), insurance (two cars and the RV), and costs of everyday living. We looked into our insurance and realised that our provider now classifies us as a fleet (over 2 vehicles), this comes with a discount. No internet, we both work remotely and require wifi. So we looked into phone plans with the best data (Bell Mobility had the best rates in our area), and combined our accounts for a better rate.

We have solar panels which can provide 5 days worth of energy (keeping the cabin batteries fully charged) if we are not plugged in. This will run the water pump, fridge, lights and TV. We do not keep everything running all the time, only the fridge runs constantly. If we are concerned about power or charge on the batteries, we run the generator for 2 hours and it will charge everything. A full water tank (95 gallons) can last us 5 to 7 days. We empty the grey water (sink and shower water) weekly, and black water (toilet) once every 5 to 6 weeks (dump fee at local water station is $10/dump). We have a separate 5 gal jug of drinking water we replace every 3 to 4 days ($5 at our local grocery store), just in case we are unsure of the safety of the water that fills the onboard tank.

We run off propane and electricity for heat. Our on board propane tank is 100 litre tank, weather dependent, and can last 5 to 8 days. We also purchased two 100 lb propane tanks, made our own hose attachment system (with a propane gauge) that connects into the onboard propane tank. We found from March to May we had to fill one of the 100 lb tanks every 8 days (leaving one still attached to the onboard tank) this costs roughly $75 a fill. If we find it a little brisk we will run the generator which runs the fireplace. We have taken the time to insulate the basement (under storage) of the RV and all the piping. We also have carpets on the floor for the Spring,Fall, and Winter. We found this all made a difference on how quickly we go through propane. The stove and water heater also run off propane.

Air conditioning requires a 30 amp to 50 amp plug to run. We do not use the a/c very often, last summer we turned it on 5 times max and only ran it for 2 hours. We lack access to a 30 amp/50 amp plug, so using our a/c requires turning on the generator. We found parking in a shaded area, leaving a few windows open, a sunshade in the front windshield, turning the venting fans on, and running two smaller fans while we slept was more than enough to keep the RV cool.

I mentioned several times that we use our generator (a/c, fireplace, charge batteries), we only run our generator when we really need it, which isn’t often. The generator is Diesel and runs off the same tanks as the engine (there are two), we normally fill these tanks every 2 to 3 months.

We really enjoy being full time RVers, we spend the majority of our time outside through the Spring, Summer and Fall. We want to travel as much as we can and our current lifestyle (jobs, relationship, and budgets) allows that. When we were doing the research (forums, blogs, Pinterest, Facebook groups) we found people were split 50/50 about living in a RV. A lot of people say how much they did not like it, how hard it was, things that happened they did not expect, and so on.

Then there was the positive, the people who love it! How much happier, healthier, less stressed they are, how they make it work (with and without kids). How to revamp your RV to make it brighter and more comfortable. Then we found Netflix's documentary "Expedition Happiness". Expedition Happiness is about a couple in Germany and their dog. They bought a school bus in the States and converted it into an RV. They travelled across the States, Canada, up into Alaska and ended in Mexico before returning home. It was interesting to see what they believed they needed to live in a small space, and the process of converting the bus. Watching what they felt they needed to see as travellers and what little mishaps could occur was entertaining.

I mentioned it at the beginning of this blog, however I am going to say it again. Full time RVing is not for everyone. If you are considering a purge (small or large) or even becoming minimalists, there are a lot of factors that need to be considered before making these changes. Do some research, watch a few documentaries, look at what your goals are (as a couple, family or individual) before making this leap. Maybe you will absolutely love these changes like we did, or maybe you will hate it. Everybody is different.

Hope this helps! Cheers!

**Please note that all opinions and views expressed in this post are my own, from my own experiences. If you would like to see more pictures follow me on Instagram vikki.gray

This post is edited and proofed by E.Gray Editing. (https://www.egrayediting.com )**