Full Time RV living - Page 3

[kimmom]

Hey We are in Slab City with 2 other full time families that we met at the FOTR rally in Newport Dunes. If you guys are close by still you should come hang out with us!! We are heading to Joshua Tree in the next week before going to Arizona. Slab City is great, very neat ecentric people here and FREE camping! Email me if you want to meet up!

[holyhelianthus]

Originally Posted by beaner&tiegs

Hello all!

We've been traveling a bit in the desert now....spent a few days in Palm Springs,

Bummer! That's my neck of the woods.

Don't mind me I'm just a lurker (this is DH's dream for us someday). Going back into lurkdom now....

[sugareemoma]

I am getting evicted and considering getting a VW or another camper van. Is it legal to live in a van with a toddler? I am in WA and will be in school until June but then I will hit the road and go to my parents in Nor Cal. I am concerned about 2 things:
1. Potty training because a van wont have a toilet
2. None of the VWs I am looking at have working refrigerators, how long can a cooler keep milk/yogurt cold?
Thanks for the help mamas!
I have lived in vans before but never with a kid, I would just get milk for one day but with WIC checks I have to get 1gal + at a time.

[Pilgrim]

Hello y'all!

I came here (to the Florida tribe) to look for playdates, and I saw this thread! We moved into our RV in January, left Oregon, and are currently in Florida. We'll be back in Portland in July. I just want to say a quick "howdy" before I go back to my task of looking for a playdate for our nearly 6yo.

Cheers!

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by sugareemoma

I am getting evicted and considering getting a VW or another camper van. Is it legal to live in a van with a toddler? I am in WA and will be in school until June but then I will hit the road and go to my parents in Nor Cal. I am concerned about 2 things:
1. Potty training because a van wont have a toilet

I wanted to give a quick answer to the potty training thing. Just buy a little plastic potty to keep in your vehicle. We live in a motorcoach, and DD2 isn't potty training yet, but we plan to use the little potty for her anyway.

[burke-a-bee]

Hi we are still on the road. We've been in Albuquerque for a few months now. DH is trying to get some work here. He's had to fly to Florida and NYC for work. If things don't happen here soon we will probably head east again. We hope to visit CA before heading back. I can't believe we've been on the road since June!

[burke-a-bee]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

I wanted to give a quick answer to the potty training thing. Just buy a little plastic potty to keep in your vehicle. We live in a motorcoach, and DD2 isn't potty training yet, but we plan to use the little potty for her anyway.

That is what we did until DD could reach the potty.

[Thystle]

Originally Posted by sugareemoma

I am getting evicted and considering getting a VW or another camper van. Is it legal to live in a van with a toddler? I am in WA and will be in school until June but then I will hit the road and go to my parents in Nor Cal. I am concerned about 2 things:
1. Potty training because a van wont have a toilet
2. None of the VWs I am looking at have working refrigerators, how long can a cooler keep milk/yogurt cold?
Thanks for the help mamas!
I have lived in vans before but never with a kid, I would just get milk for one day but with WIC checks I have to get 1gal + at a time.

How did everything turn out?







Oh yeah and a BIG BUMP. And a bit more lurking.

[MoonStarFalling]

I'm also curious about updates! Our house has been on the market for a few weeks with lots of interest but no offers yet. As soon as it sells we're on the road!

[kimmom]

Good to see this tribe back
We are in one place since April 1st back on Vancouver Island BC while my DH is working on a contract. It is an amazing piece of land we are on, we are off the grid here which is nice so much space and wildlife!! DH is just finishing up his contract so we are heading back on the road again July 13 to go do some climbing , looking for land and visiting then heading to do an internship on building earthships. We hope to building our home a year from now But so far we are all happy being in our small RV home Thank goodness for our big always changing backyard xo

[BeckyBird]

Hi RV folks! I just have to say--all you full-timers are so cool. In high school read "Travels With Charlie" by John Steinbeck. Ever since then, it has been my dream to travel the country. It was also my dream to have a small farm with horses and birds, so for now, I am living dream #1--having a small farm with my husband and children.
When the kids are grown, I am looking forward to hitting the road for a tour of America. We grew up camping for our vacations, since we could never afford fancy hotel rooms. I learned that traveling and camping is much more fun than a cushy hotel any day. In fact, just this weekend, we took our new (used) camper out on her maiden voyage! It was a blast, and I can't wait to go out again.
I love to hear more stories from those of you who live in your rv's. It gives me something to daydream about!

[pollyanna]

Hi
I'm thinking about buying a RV and was wondering if you moms could give me so advice about how much it costs to rent space at RV parks and state parks.
And how you can find some yr round parks?

Thanks
Pollyanna

[Pilgrim]

Hi Pollyana,

I think this is a very hard question to answer! It depends on what type of rig you are in, and if you are "on" or "off" season. We are in a big rig (42' coach), and we use 50 amp service. We tend to stay where it's "on" season, so we pay a premium for that. We also stay where there are good ammenities (pool, playground, wifi). We typically pay $30 - $45 per night, but we've paid $75 - $100 per night in places that draw big crowds (like Disney).

Some places offer a weekly and monthly rates, and that makes it more affordable.

State parks are generally less expensive ($20 - $30/night for us). They also don't have ammenities, but usually make up for that in beautiful settings.

Boondocking is free, or next to it, and it comes with its own set of pros and cons. We try to boondock when we can when we are driving between spots.

And yes, there are plenty of RV parks that you can live in as long as you want.

hth!

[Dahlea]

hi! we're having a hard time financially and hate where we live so we're planning to take it on the road. my husband is an engineer and plans to work as a consultant.
at this point we're selling stuff, researching and looking for a cheap but working class c.
look forward to any stories/advice. we'll have our son and 2 dogs with us.

[LeslieB]

Originally Posted by Dahlea

hi! we're having a hard time financially and hate where we live so we're planning to take it on the road. my husband is an engineer and plans to work as a consultant.
at this point we're selling stuff, researching and looking for a cheap but working class c.
look forward to any stories/advice. we'll have our son and 2 dogs with us.

We were just living in our van for awhile with our son and 2 dogs. We don't own a camper. We got a Dodge Sprinter passenger van, and my husband did his own modifications to build us a bed. That's all we needed really. We had a Coleman stove, a cooler (just replaced the ice every 2 days). No need for a bathroom or shower. There are facilities everywhere. We had a lot of storage space under the bed and in the back. This was our second time van living. I would go with a van over a camper any day. Way too much maintenance with an rv/camper. Plus, a regular van will tend to get better gas mileage. Just thought I'd throw that out there for you.

[lightinmyhands]

dreaming

Hi everyone, I've never posted here before, but I have been talking a lot lately about how I just want to take an RV on the road with my partner and our 2 kids (oh, and the puppy).....but I'm kind of scared. I spent a lot of time on the road before I had my first, but I'm wondering what life is like with children in an RV? I hate to limit my life because of fear, and I think I may be more afraid of never doing it and regretting that than I am of what the experience could turn out like. If anyone has any thoughts, please don't hesitate to reply!


Love and Light

[lightinmyhands]

hi mamas! I'm absolutely desperate to get on the road with my partner and our kids----I'm tired of him working 40+ hours a week and us not getting any time as a family where we aren't all exhausted. Not to mention my 5 y/o daughter is just as sensitive to city dwelling as I and she seems kinda insane with bottled up energy unless she's in nature. I traveled a lot before I had kids and it was the best time of my life. My partner is a computer programmer so I'm almost certain he could find work wherever we were to go, I'm just kind of scared of taking that leap. My second child is due this Saturday and I'd like to make a decision in the first year of his or her life whether or not we're going to go on the road. Any insight, advice or experience shared would be so very appreciated!

Love and Light

[sweetpeppers]

I want to get an RV, but not so much to travel in. I want to have it parked most of the time on my parents property. Has anyone done that? I have a two and a half year old son, so it would just be the two of us and lots of space to play outside.

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by lightinmyhands

Hi everyone, I've never posted here before, but I have been talking a lot lately about how I just want to take an RV on the road with my partner and our 2 kids (oh, and the puppy).....but I'm kind of scared. I spent a lot of time on the road before I had my first, but I'm wondering what life is like with children in an RV? I hate to limit my life because of fear, and I think I may be more afraid of never doing it and regretting that than I am of what the experience could turn out like. If anyone has any thoughts, please don't hesitate to reply!

Hi there!

I would say this to you "just do it!" OK, seriously, there are so many considerations, and if you want to do some deep digging, go to rv.net. But seriously, you can move into an RV, and if you don't like it, move out again.

We moved into our RV in January, 2 adults plus 2 young kids, and we love it. Now, we have a huge beautiful motorcoach and have stayed at expensive RV resorts in highly desirable destinations too. I don't know how well I would have liked this lifestyle in a smaller space, or if we had not stayed in nice places. (I'm about to find out!)


We also just learned that DH has another contract, so we must stay in one spot for the next few months (work is good!) I don't like the idea very much of living in the RV while we stay put, but we decided to do that anyway because we may need to take off again in 6 months or so. (if his contract ends and it's winter, we're heading somewhere warm!)

The hardest part for us adults has been that our older daughter really misses her friends. The other challenge is that we must really consider places to go and things to do that the kids will enjoy.

A lot depends on your current situation. If you own your home, then it's a huge commitment to either sell it or rent it out and go. We were in a rental house, so it wasn't a big deal to move out. Well, it WAS a lot of trouble to sell and give away so much, and put the rest into storage, but we found it to be very worthwhile to do.

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by sweetpeppers

I want to get an RV, but not so much to travel in. I want to have it parked most of the time on my parents property. Has anyone done that? I have a two and a half year old son, so it would just be the two of us and lots of space to play outside.

Is there a handy-person involved? The reason I ask is that RV living requires lots and lots of maintenance. I've said it 100 times living on the road that we could not do it without having at least one of us being handy with repairs.

Most of the time, when something needs attention, it needs it *now!* You have to be able to have someone watch the kids while someone else does the repair.

Other than that, you must consider how you are going to get power, water, and handle your sewage. It's often not so simple as to plug into another person's house. Our RV requires 50 amp service, so we can't plug into a house. (Well, we can, but we pop a lot of fuses, and can use only one appliance at a time.)

You can get water from your parents' house. And if you always shower, potty, and cook in their house, you can get away without a sewer dump spot.

When we parked at my parents' house, we let our "gray water" (used water that's not toilet water) go into their pasture. So we were able to cook, wash dishes, and shower without any trouble. (We use only natural cleaners and soaps, so no harm is done to the pasture.) It takes about 2 weeks to fill up our black tank (with toilet matter), and that's as long as we stayed anyway, so we found a dump station then.

oops - waking baby - must run!