As we come to the end of our nearly 1 year trip on the road, I have some insights I would love to share about RV life because living in an RV is not for everyone. In fact, I am not sure it is for me either, but I will say that I have learned quite a bit about this lifestyle. Here she goes:
One. You quickly learn how to negotiate a small space. In our case, it was my husband and me, my daughter, the dog and the cat negotiating 300sq. ft. of liveable flooring on wheels. Some days I wanted to cry and others it wasn’t so bad. What I did learn, is that we humans really don’t need a lot of room to live comfortably. We just think we do– maybe it has to do with that perceived “American dream” story some of us have been raised to believe? ya know, bigger is better.
Two. Every time you drive somewhere, something breaks. Whether a handle falls off, a pipe comes loose, the windshield starts to peel away from the frame(yup, that happened) or the toilet cracks. Something is always in need of repair regardless of how brand-spankin’ new your rig is.
Three. If there is a smell, you can’t escape it. I accidentally drained the water from a can of salmon down the kitchen sink drain and our RV smelled like an old, unwashed vagina until we were able to flush the pipes and tank. Good times.
Four. When driving in Mexico, you better pack up your belongings really well. On some roads, it’s like experiencing a level 4 earthquake. Shit can go everywhere.
Five. Speaking of shit, you deal with a lot of it. Between the litter box, the family fecal waste, taking the dog out to poo–one is always dealing with shit. You don’t have the luxury of sending your dog out to the backyard and then forgetting about it and nor do you get the luxury of flushing your poop into the poo abyss. Instead, you travel with it underneath you until you find a round hole to dump it in.
Six. You meet a lot of wonderful people and you see a lot of amazing things. You do need to be strategic about travel, especially if you are driving a monster like us, but all in all, it’s pretty great! We spent most of our time in Mexico and we had a blast—happy hours with other fellow travelers, great food and kind people.
Ok, folks. There you have it.