Best, Worst of Full-time RVing
(According to industry estimates, hundreds of thousands of people are
now traveling the country as full-time RVers. This is the final article in
a three-part series on this lifestyle.)
By Donna Ikenberry
During the past few years, I’ve become more and more aware
that there are the best and the worst, the positive and the
negative, in everything. For instance, I love hiking. Is there
a better sound than boots pounding the trail? I think not. But on
those days when bugs are a nuisance, and it’s raining or it’s cold
and windy, I have to bear down and think of the things I like about
hiking instead of the things I don’t.
I was a full-time RVer for 16 years and during that time I was
asked why I liked full-time RVing, and what I didn’t like about it. I
loved the lifestyle. In fact, if I hadn’t married Mike, my dear husband and soul mate who has way too much stuff to live in an RV,
I’d still be a full-timer today. We travel about half the year, and
although I love having a home base with Mike, I am still a full-timer at heart.
I had no trouble compiling a list of the Best Things About Full-Time RVing, but it was difficult to come up with a list of negative
things. There just aren’t that many bad things about full-timing.
Still, I managed to find—with the help of others who have complained a bit along the way—nine of the worst things about full-timing. But first here are the best things:
Nine Best Things About Full-timing
• Full-timing was always grand because I knew that my home
was wherever I happened to park it. One day I was in Oregon;
weeks later I’d be in another state. I could park wherever I wanted,
and I never had to miss being home because I was always there.
• Visiting family, meeting new friends, and catching up with
old ones was another plus. On the road year-round, I met and made
friends that I still keep in touch with today.
• A big plus was having a small “house” to clean. There’s nothing finer than spending an hour or two cleaning and then having
time to be outdoors and have fun.
• Although I spent about half of my full-timing winters in the
snow and cold, during my last years of full-timing, I started heading south. I was a snowbird at times. And like most, I reveled in
the fact that I could escape to the south, if only for a little while.
• Full-timing was a real learning experience for me. More than
just an avenue for seeing the country, it taught me, sometimes
forced me, to become a very independent person.
• Full-timing allowed me to pursue all of my favorite activities.
Using my trailer as a base, I enjoyed downhill and cross-country
skiing, hiking, bicycling, sea kayaking, whale-watching, bird-watching and photography. On the road, I spent 16 years working
full time as a freelance writer, photographer and book author.
• I have always enjoyed accomplishing things on my own. If I
started a project, I wanted to finish it, and do so without anyone’s
help. But full-timing allowed me to accept help. Once, my trailer
battery melted because I left my emergency break-away cable on
top of it. The wind blew the cable onto the terminals and melted
my battery, just like a candle. Fortunately, a neighbor came by and
installed a new battery for me. Most importantly, I let him.
• I’ve never been a materialistic person, but living in a fifth
wheel grounded me even further. I know things do not make people happy. I know there are happy people in the finest of mansions,
but they could not be any happier than I was living in my old (but
remodeled) fifth wheel. My joy doesn’t come in things; it comes in
loving my family and friends, in a pastel pink sunrise, a fire-red
sunset, in the sight of a deer feeding in a meadow, a moose tromping through a soggy meadow, a bald eagle soaring on high.
• There’s no doubt that RV travel is a fun way to learn about the
history, the geography, and the animal life of a certain place. Some
folks even use the RVing lifestyle as an avenue for tracing their
genealogy. While traveling the countryside, I’ve learned so very
much. Most of all I’ve learned that the best thing about full-timing
or RVing in general is to just do it.
Nine Worst Things About Full-timing
• Driving an RV is not as simple as driving a car. When I first
started full-timing as a single adult, I dreamed of buying a
RV Life® Jackets
They’re Going Fast
...Get One Today
New lifts and expanded bays
More accessories than ever
Huge inventory of pull products
To the mountains or the valleys, the lakes
or the ocean, we'll help you get there!
Makes a Great Gift!
Navy Blue Windbreaker Jacket
with gold collar and embroidered
RV Life® logo on left chest.
Sizes: S-XXL
Cost: $36.00
(Includes shipping & handling)
To Order:
Call (800) 511-6918 ext. 28
www.rvlife.com
