Top Five Tips for Living in an RV…

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Living in an RV is a lifestyle that brings freedom and discovery and travel and excitement.

In addition, it builds great character as you experience challenges and learn how to adapt or fix the problems that come along. We’ve been living full time in our RV for almost two years and in that time, we have realized the value of the following character traits that our experiences have developed.

Living in an RV Tip #1.  Flexibility
There will be times when your best laid plans fall apart, when something breaks, when everything in your little world isn’t perfect.  If you learn to let go, if you learn to allow, accept and adapt . . . you’ll spend a lot less time stressing over the situation and you’ll spend more time enjoying the reason you are where you are.

Oh boy, has this been a challenge for me. I admit (reluctantly) that I am a control freak. If something needs to be fixed, I usually become unsettled and agitated until it gets done. Living in an RV has helped me release that control grip because sometimes, the problem can’t be fixed in a few minutes or even a few days. I’ve learned to allow myself to be content – to accept the situation – and to adapt a mindset that focuses on all that is right – right now – instead of all that is not working. This has greatly reduced the stress in my life.

Living in an RV Tip #2.  Sense of Humor
Anyone who has spent time living in an RV has experienced the sewer splash as I like to call it.  It seems no matter how many precautions you take, there are times you unhook the sewer hose or go to dump your tank – and the inevitable happens – you get splashed or sprayed with the mess.  Big time YUCK!  You can cuss . . . you can blame your spouse  . . . but in the end, you might as well laugh – and then clean up!

It’s the same in life.  There are times when you get dumped on.  Time when the S#%T hits the fan. Times when you must deal with the S#%T.  It doesn’t make it any less of a mess if you curse and blame and stomp your feet. Learn to laugh in spite of the yuck.

Living in an RV Tip #3.  Ingenuity
My Dad could fix anything and I spent hours by his side watching him work. Sometimes he created beautiful oak furniture from carefully designed plans. But, other times, he figured out a way to hook this to that, or add this thing to another to make it work. I love the spirit of ingenuity he taught me. It has been fun to remember Dad’s example as I figure out another way – to find a different solution – to make something work better for us living in an RV.

When our water pump froze up last winter, we were left without hot water.  Showering wasn’t a problem because we could use the campground showers.  But, washing dishes was something that definitely required hot water.  When we lived in a tent, I would boil water on the camp stove to wash our dishes, and I could easily do that again.  But, our Bunn coffeemaker stepped up to the plate and provided INSTANT hot water for washing dishes!  I just run water through the coffeemaker and have hot water in three minutes – again and again and again!  Wonderful!!

Look around . . . there are always solutions to every problem!

Living in an RV Tip #4.  Gratitude
Instead of saying, “I wish we were . . . I wish we could . . . if only we had . . .” we express gratitude for where we are right now – for all that we have right now.  It is incredible how expressing gratitude for one thing leads to gratefulness for another, then another.

Learn this, and you’ll change your life.  Your subconscious doesn’t separate your thoughts and words into separate categories of reality and desires. What you think about and what you say is exactly what determines the results.

Living in an RV Tip #5.  Community
No matter where you are, developing relationships with the community is vital and a valuable treasure. Living in an RV connects you with communities online as well as with those you meet on the road.  Need advice, encouragement, guides, how-tos?  The online RV forums (RV-Dreams and RV.net) provide all of that.  Those who are living in an RV are the most gracious, helpful people – eager to assist anyone who asks.  It’s the first place I go to get the answers for everything related to living in an RV.

The other community we cherish are the river rats who live in the little town where the campground is located.  They are the ones who stop by to check on us, see if we need anything, invite us to join their party at the boat ramp, bring us eggs, share their meals.  They watch out for us.  We delight in their stories, appreciate their insights and feel we’re really part of this little community.  We call ourselves the “river rat wannabes.”

There you have it – the top five tips for living in an RV.

If you thought this was going to be an article about all the technical stuff about the best RV to buy, the gadgets you need, etc., you’ll have to head over the RV forums for that information.  We share what we know best – and that is our rewarding experiences living in an RV.

Want to learn how we support ourselves while Living in an RV …