During our July ‘pause’ and now that we have a few months of RVing under our belts, I thought I’d summarize what we’ve learned, and “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” So this blog post is purely about RVing, and there are no pretty photos or fun camping stories…

Overall, we are really happy with our decision to buy a motorhome for our travels and we are enjoying this new adventure. Most of this summary will be a comparison of RVing to other traveling options and how we mostly did things in the past – primarily, flying to a destination, renting a car, and staying in hotels.

The good:

• Traveling in a motorhome means we don’t have to unpack at each destination. We’ve done trips in the past where we’ve stayed at five or six different hotels in 10 days as we’ve traveled around, and all that packing/unpacking gets old quickly. No need in a motorhome!
• There are some cost savings…probably not as dramatic as one might think, but here are some comparisons….
  • While gas prices are on the rise, it’s still less expensive for most trips to put gas in the RV than to buy two plane tickets (since those prices are rising, too!)
  • Thus far, our average cost/night for a campsite has been just under $50 (some are much less expensive, especially at state parks, and private campgrounds are typically more). There aren’t any hotels at this price that we are willing to stay at!
  • Food costs are a huge savings – we’re basically cooking and eating like we would eat at home, so we’re just transferring grocery costs over. It’s much healthier and much less expensive than eating all those meals in restaurants.
  • There are some trips where we want/need to rent a car – while it’s an added expense, it’s generally minimal and evens out with what it would have cost us if we had flown to a destination. And I always book our rental cars through Costco – they have the absolute best pricing I’ve ever found! At some point in the future, we will likely tow a vehicle to avoid this need.
  • The upfront costs need to be factored in…those are discussed below in “the ugly”.
• Flexibility is a big deal. When you’re traveling in an RV, if you decide to spend some extra time somewhere, it’s pretty easy to do – as long as you are willing to boondock (dry camp) if needed…since most reputable campgrounds require advance reservations, you can’t necessarily just show up or extend your stay – but you can pull into most WalMart or Cracker Barrel parking lots and spend the night as long as you don’t need electricity, water, or sewer for that night. It’s generally more flexible than hotels, but not quite as flexible as some might think.
• If you do all of your day trips in the motorhome as well (e.g. disconnect from campground and travel to national park in RV), it makes for a super-easy day trip. No need to pack food for the day, think through weather/changes of clothing, etc…plus you always have a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen with you for the necessities.
• There’s no better way to see this beautiful country than from the front seat of a motorhome, especially one with a really large windshield like we have. It’s so relaxing to look out on the open road and enjoy the scenery, whether it’s mountains and trees or flat farm lands or small towns.
• Campgrounds are a fantastic place to spend time – surrounded by nature, generally nice people, and mostly very quiet. I’m still a person who likes to go places and do things when we’re traveling, and I likely always will be, but I’m learning to also just sit and enjoy some quiet time.
• A motorhome truly is home on wheels. We have all the modern conveniences with us at all times. So far, our refrigerator & freezer have been just the right size – and for longer trips, we can just restock along the way. We have a TV and we stream to it. We have WiFi wherever we go so we’re connected.
• Menu planning is really important; when done correctly, it’s a breeze to cook and eat in the motorhome. We have a microwave/convection oven and two-burner cooktop, plus a portable gas grill for outdoor cooking. Before any trip, I spend time thinking through our meals and making lists of what we will need to bring. So far, we’ve done great and have eaten very similarly to how we would eat at home.  
• Technology makes everything much easier. We have a GPS that is specifically designed for RVs – we entered our size/specs and it will route us around any roads we can’t use or bridges where clearances aren’t high enough.
• I’ve always loved planning trips, and this has introduced a whole new aspect. I’ve learned what to look for when evaluating campgrounds, and there are some great apps out there with reviews and info that makes it easier. It’s been a good new challenge for me!
• It’s fun to research and buy new gadgets and goodies that fit into our new lifestyle. E-bikes. SoloStove firepit. RV backup camera. Getting creative with storage in our small space.

The bad:

• While our motorhome is easy to drive, it’s more tiring than driving a car. The road noise is more prominent, and the ride isn’t as smooth…so it’s hard to drive more than 5-6 hours in a day, even with two of us splitting the drive. It’s not a huge issue, since part of the reason you get an RV is to enjoy the journey, but it is an adjustment when planning trips.
• Also, if Google Maps says it will take five hours to get somewhere, assume it will take more like six or seven in a motorhome – you generally drive a bit slower, so it takes longer.
• With a car, you’re forced to stop at rest areas/pull off at exits to use restrooms, so you’re likely to stretch your legs pretty regularly. In an RV, because those stops are less necessary, you can drive for longer stretches without a break, which can be a negative (or a positive, I suppose, but it’s good to walk around/stretch legs) – and when we do stop, since we don’t have to walk to a building to use the facilities, we don’t move as much during the day. So we’ve made it a point to get out of the RV at rest areas and walk around for a few minutes.
• You have to plan ahead a bit more, since it’s hard to navigate the motorhome into some smaller parking lots and you don’t want to end up in a place where you have to back out if you can avoid it. Google maps satellite view is incredibly helpful to get a feel for where you are going and what the parking is like.
• There’s a lot of work to be done – I’ve said more than once that I would not have wanted to do this when I was still working – it’s great for retirement, but if you’re taking a week off work, you really don’t want to be washing dishes and cleaning and setting up campsites…you want to relax and let a hotel or restaurant do the work!
• If you have never camped before, be sure you know what you’re getting into. Mark grew up camping pretty frequently in a tent trailer. I had camped exactly twice in a tent trailer. Mark knew a lot about camping and supplemented it with a lot of research. I knew pretty much nothing and supplemented it with a little bit of research.
• While we have a full kitchen, it’s not stocked the way ours at home is….so I always need to think about what we plan to eat and how we will cook it. For example, we wanted corn on the cob, but no pot in the RV is large enough to boil ears of corn (no place to easily store such a large pot!), so we had to figure out another way to cook the corn.
• We very intentionally sold our home and became renters before we started traveling in a motorhome (so we could travel without the worries of home maintenance), but as renters, we do not have a place to park our RV. Our driveway is not long enough, and even if it was, our lease specifically prohibits RVs in our community. We have a nearby street where we can safely park it overnight, but that’s about it. Less than ideal, for sure, but we’re managing!
• The shower is really small. And water pressure can be really bad at some campgrounds. So showers are short and full of surprises.
• Stressful things will happen while you are on vacation. Roll with it! Instead of flight delays, you might have an issue at a campground where you can’t find your electrical box or the dump station isn’t easy accessible. Oh well.
• It’s hard to keep the inside of the RV clean. We’re in and out constantly, and even though we have a rug outside the door, dirt and the great outdoors are constantly tracked inside. Broom/dustpan and small stick vac are necessities!

The ugly:

• You can’t talk about costs and savings without factoring in the upfront costs of the motorhome (or travel trailer/5^th wheel plus towing vehicle). Prices are all over the place, and you could easily spend upwards of $150K if you wanted to. Our motorhome cost us $85,000 (sticker price $128K – but I don’t think anyone EVER pays anywhere near sticker on an RV). And, along with the upfront investment, biggest learning here is that you should pay cash if you can afford to; interest rates are higher than for cars (5.5%) and they will let you finance over 20 years. That’s a lot of interest.  We financed initially because you get a better deal on the price (since the dealer gets kickbacks from the bank), but quickly paid off the loan because we hated paying so much interest. The other side of this, though, is that motorhomes usually hold their value pretty well…so when we sell, we should get a decent percentage of our original costs back.
• And there will be maintenance costs. I’m sure oil changes and the like will be pricey, as will things like new tires and new brakes. We haven’t had any of these expenses yet, so it’s hard to know what they will look like. I’m sure that’s one reason why so many people choose trailers and 5^th wheels – no motor or mechanical parts to worry about…just need a heavy duty truck to tow it with, and most of the maintenance is on that.
• Quality is notoriously bad with RVs. Manufacturers don’t do the best job putting them together, so you have to expect some issues. Fortunately, ours have been pretty minor/easily repaired and have been covered under warranty.
• Dealers and quality of service vary – we haven’t loved our dealer thus far for service, and will likely take RoVer to another local dealer for any future needs.

So that’s where we are three months in. At this point, we can honestly say we wouldn’t have done anything differently and we are enjoying the process and the journey of being part-time RVers!