Constantly on the Road: A Look into Living Life on Wheels
There’s no way that you NEVER think of throwing everything away, moving far away as you can, traveling without ever having to go back and just start everything from scratch. That’s a lingering thought most of us have but would never take a chance to do due to three things: comfort, accessibility, and settling down.
Let’s say life took an odd turn and you suddenly never have to live in a permanent space and worry about comfort, stability, and proximity to establishments. What if you can replace a sticks-and-bricks home and all that comes with it for a compact, functional, mobile and overall cozy place? What does that give you?
Simple — an RV-ridden lifestyle.
Good news: life doesn’t have to take that tremendous spin to make it happen as two of our AMA Hosts live this kind of lifestyle as their own reality!
Curious? Tag along with us and take a look at Jack Hubber and Amber Hinds’ sweet digs featuring a whole new lifestyle you’ve always been dreaming of trying!
Do It the RV Way: Fast Facts
Essential Items
Jack: There’s a long list, and for each person, it might be different. Besides the normal kitchen gear, some of the appliances have been indispensable, such as the electric ice maker, the air fryer, and the double induction cooktop. For the rig, I have a generator and an air compressor, a 12v/ac cooler and a portable air conditioner that can run off our generator. There’s also the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) which warned us about a flat tire last month.
Amber: We have a “bunkhouse” model travel trailer, which means that they have their own room with a real door, and they each have their own bed. Their room has two slideouts, so it’s actually the largest part of the travel trailer, and they have a lot of floor space for playing.
Nomadic Lifestyle
Jack: Wherever you are, that’s where you live. I really like the nomadic lifestyle where I can explore an area more fully than visiting on vacation.
Required License
Jack: [There’s no need for a special license.] Not for standard RV’s, just a regular vehicle license.
Memberships
Jack: Thousand Trails is a membership-based RV resort group. We purchased a membership and pay an annual fee to get access to nearly 200 RV parks and resorts, mostly on the east and west coasts, for no out-of-pocket fees. We can only reserve space at these parks up to 60 days in advance, so planning is important. Since they aren’t everywhere and space isn’t always available, we need to include non-Thousand trails parks and boondocking in our travels.
Typical duration of stay in a single place
Jack: Our typical stay is 1–2 weeks, though we do have a few shorter stays coming up. As far as how we decide how long we stay put in one place, there are several variables, including whether there are friends or family members nearby, how much there is to see or do in an area, and what the weather is likely to be.
Trivia: There isn’t much driving as you think (surprise, surprise!)
Jack: We try to stay in an area for a few days or more (this stay and the previous one were each for 2 weeks) and limit the driving time between stays to 5 hours, though it’s usually less. We take Lucy, our Cairn terrier, for long walks multiple times a day and we will begin riding bikes when the weather permits.
Trivia: Comfort is not an issue. At all.
Amber: Honestly, living in the RV with the girls has been easier than expected. We all seem to get along pretty well, even with fewer toys and all that. The biggest challenges (or complaints) that come to mind immediately to living full-time in an RV are not actually kid-related. They’re things like having to take shorter showers, going to the laundromat, or having to keep on top of the propane so you don’t wake up freezing in the middle of winter.
To whom is it best for?
1. For adventure-driven couple
Jack: My wife and I have always wanted to travel and see the US and several years ago when we toured some RV’s we realized that it could be possible someday. Someday is here!
2. For exploration-loving families
Amber: I think that I am most motivated by the joy I see in our daughters getting to experience the country. I believe that as a parent, one of the greatest things I can do is expose my children to the world around us — new cultures and communities — so they can grow up to be empathic and worldly adults. Being able to spend quality time with my children in a way that will positively contribute to their growth is highly motivating.
How do they do it?
1. Choosing the right RV
Amber: We probably went to RV dealers 4–5 times before we identified the exact brand, make and model that we wanted. We also spent countless hours online flipping through RV floorplans and images trying to narrow it down. Once you have an idea of what you want, it’s always a good idea to read reviews and/or talk to other RV owners. Some brands are worse than others when it comes to quality and if this is your first time buying or using an RV, there will likely be things you don’t even think to ask or take into consideration. Don’t take the salesperson at their word or expect them to provide you with detailed information on every unit on the lot.
Jack: I do have two suggestions: 1) Never buy new and 2) Buy as small as you can be comfortable in while traveling in your style. I think that used rigs, if you have them checked out, actually can be more reliable, since they’ve probably gone through the initial shake-down trips and everything that was broken was already fixed. You can also get higher quality for less money if you do your homework. Most experienced RV’ers will tell you that the larger units are more comfortable but also more difficult to maneuver and that fewer parks are available to camp in. Again, do the research.
2. Planning
Jack: We definitely have a travel plan. We own a Thousand Trails membership, which allows us to camp in any of their 200 RV resorts around the country for free. That requires us to plan ahead and reserve sites up to 60 days in advance. Most of these resorts are full otherwise. So far we have our itinerary planned through the end of the year.
3. Budget
Jack: We had a budget before we sold our house and hit the road. We still use that budget, though changed to account for our new lifestyle, meaning no monthly bills other than insurance and our storage unit. We sit down together at least once per month to pay bills and update the budget.
Amber: Have a certain amount in savings (we went for $30k) so that we could feel secure in Chris quitting his 9–5. (This all took about 10 months)
4. Floor Plan
Jack: Fortunately we chose the right floorplan for our needs, with opposing slides to give us a large sitting room inside. We also spend a lot of time outdoors. All-in-all, it hasn’t been that big of an adjustment. The most difficult thing about it was downsizing our stuff. That took months.
Amber: We have a 38-foot travel trailer with a large bunk room that has two slideouts and 3 beds. Here’s our floor plan:
They don’t have a ton of toys, but they have plenty of space for their clothing and each have their own private space. This trailer works incredibly well for our whole family actually.
5. Goal- setting
Jack: My wife and I have been making sort of a bucket list of places we wanted to see over the last few years. We’re going to start checking those off the list when we reach the east coast next month and we’ll keep checking them off as long as we can. We are especially looking forward to New York City, Maine, Nova Scotia and the U.P.
Amber: I don’t know that we have completely mapped out what this will look like, but our over-arching goal is to visit every state. Hawaii will be last and we won’t take the RV there, of course, but we do want to drive to Alaska. I want to take a photo of our girls in front of every state capitol building and eventually make them a book of their travels.
6. Working while onboard
Amber: No, living and working in an RV has not made our work easier. It would 100% be easier to work from a standard office desk with a high-speed internet connection and a desk phone. It is definitely harder to work on the road, but the lifestyle is worth it.
Jack: I’m averaging 3–4 hours a day writing, which is much more than the 30–45 minutes I was spending per day before we hit the road. I consider writing my job and make time to do it, which isn’t difficult since I enjoy it so much.
Struggles and Downsides
1. Internet Connection
Amber: My biggest complaint is that “unlimited” is not really unlimited. We get throttled after 15 GB, which usually happens halfway through the month — with our work we’re often uploading and downloading a lot of large files. So we often have internet access, but at times it can be agonizingly slow.
Jack: Internet on the road can run from lightning fast to non-existent, and anywhere in between. Because my wife and I both need it for working (part-time, we’re both retired), we invested in a Weboost cell signal booster and a WiFi Ranger, so I now have two additional antennae on my roof. Without those, we would have found ourselves without Internet on roughly half of our stays this year.
2. Storage
Jack: That’s the one thing I miss, hands down. Not enough to buy a house, but I do have basement envy whenever I see a rig with a huge storage area.
3. Safety
Jack: One advantage of being in a home that’s mobile is that we can move. We never stay in a place we are uncomfortable in or feel is risky, and if begin to feel that way, we move along. No, we have never been in a scary situation. Some of that is we stay in parks and resorts about 80% of the time.
4. Sociability
Jack: The biggest thing would be not being close to our friends in Colorado. We belonged to a pretty close-knit group that we did a lot of socializing with. I don’t make friends on the road all that easily.
5. Downsizing
Jack: We went from 1700 square feet to 360'… that was the most difficult part of changing this lifestyle. Basically, a few months from the move we set aside a room to place tentative sale/giveaway items and pretended anything in that room was gone. If we survived a few weeks without needing it, we sold or gave the items away. As it got closer, that became more and more difficult and we ended up renting a 6'x10'storage unit for a year when we can move everything to a family member’s house. Many of those items are keepsakes.
Amber: The biggest step we took was spontaneously deciding to move to Texas last year in less than a month. We lived in Colorado in a relatively expensive community and ended up deciding that relocating would help us to achieve our dream of travel sooner. So we sold our house, put most of our stuff in storage and in early December we moved into our RV. Our kids are in traditional school, so we didn’t hit the road for our first trip until this summer.
6. Work and Parenthood Balance
Amber: As far as work, it can be challenging to have a baby around because they don’t understand volume and being quiet during conference calls. For this reason, aside from our weekly team meeting, my husband and I never schedule calls concurrently. That way, one of us is always available to be on baby duty while the other is busy with clients.
7. Maintenance
Jack: The day-to-day maintenance is easy and minimal, such as dumping tanks, checking for leaks, testing equipment, etc. The difficulty lies when we have a major repair or maintenance to do since we live in the RV. Last week we were moochdocking at my son-in-law’s house and needed the springs and brakes checked and the bearings packed. It needed all new brakes and had to be in the shop for 2 days. Luckily we could stay with my son-in-law, but that’s not always an option.
Does the RV lifestyle triggered the wanderlust in you even more? Go pack away and discover the life on wheels — just make sure you’re up for the challenges and neverending adventures to make!
Originally published at amafeed.com.
