When things go wrong (and they will), what are ya gonna do?!?
We’ve always said full-time RV travel is our happily-chosen lifestyle, but it will not be forever. Nothing in life lasts forever, actually, so this unique living arrangement would be no different. We have been “on the road” since July 2020, and we went into this joking that it will go well and take any number of years to complete our adventure, or it will last for only six weeks before we decide we’ve had enough of living in 310 square feet of space together!
There is a romance about full-time travel, and generally, when we tell people that we are full-time RVers traveling North America, we are usually met with smiles and an expression of “Wow, I’ve always dreamed about doing that”! These types of comments are often followed by a smattering of questions about “how” we do it!
Since we recently took a break from the road and have subsequently and happily returned to full-time travel, I thought it might be a good time to share some TRICKS AND TRUTHS for FT RV living that might help others that are considering this adventurous lifestyle.
TRUTH: FT RV travel is not a perpetual vacation. There is still all of “real life” to face. So go into it with realistic expectations and know that life’s problems will follow you on the road…and even then, it can be awesome!
Periodically we reassess and check in with each other to see how each is fairing with limited personal space, limited hot water, limited storage, and nearly 100% “together time”. As anyone might imagine, it can be GREAT – and other times, it can be TIGHT. After one full year on the road, we assessed our situation and still couldn’t see the end in sight, so we doubled down and bought a new RV that was a bit more conducive to the long haul, selling our “old faithful” rig, Desi, at the peak of the market, making the justification a bit less costly and painful.
TRICK: Check in periodically with yourself and if applicable, your partner, to see how you feel about your nomadic lifestyle. Adjust to meet changing interests and goals. Keep an open mind about what RVing can look like, as there are MANY ways to enjoy life!
After two-and-a-half-years of travel, we were faced with another assessment, In 2022 we had limited our journey to a four-state region around our family base in Maryland and Pennsylvania for about nine months because of a series of family weddings and graduations, and our wanderlust (mine, mainly) was soaring and aching for the road again. Then it finally happened. We had a breakdown that caused us to think about taking a break from the road.
As we left Rodanthe, NC, and Camp Hatteras RV Resort just before Christmas, we had a problem with one of our Schwintek slides on our 2022 Grand Design Solitude 346fls. These electric slides are notorious for getting “out of sync” with their paired motors, and in our case, one side of the slide-out became over-torqued and pulled away some of the RV sidewall trim as the slide tried to fully close. This resulted in some broken screws and minor damage to the side of the RV.
warranty ended instead of two months AFTER.
Finding a way to repair RVs in this post-Covid economy has become challenging. Even before Covid, it wasn’t unusual for RV dealers complete warranty work only on RVs that they sold to their own customers. So as we drove from Rodanthe, NC to our Christmas destination of Gettysburg, PA, I called nearly every RV dealer in a four-state radius of Pennsylvania that sells Grand Design rigs to secure an appointment.
Not only do dealers not want to do WARRANTY work if we didn’t buy it from them, but most of those we spoke to also weren’t currently doing ANY KIND OF WORK on RVs that hadn’t been purchased from them. Fortunately, we found ONE – shout out to Tom Schaeffer’s RV in Shoemakersville, PA, which was also within a couple of hours of us. We would have to wait three weeks for the appointment, but they were very happy to accept our business.
TRUTH: Expect things to break down – both big and small, and try to roll with it. Expect those breakdowns to have a bigger impact on your daily living than in your “foundation house”. Repairs take longer, are often more inconvenient, and usually cost more as well. The more you can fix yourself, the more peaceful your RV life will be.
We knew that finding a way to repair this warranty-covered item would be challenging, and indeed it was. With our appointment secured, and further use of our slide-out risking more damage, we decided that our best course of action was to head to “sticks-and-bricks” living while we waited for the repair appointment, since not using our slide-out for weeks would cramp our bedroom more than we were interested.
We also decided to use this needed repair as a time to take care of lingering problems we wanted to have resolved before our warranty coverage expired the following month. So we winterized our home on wheels and dropped her off at Tom Schaeffer’s RV in Shoemakersville, PA on January 4th.
TRICK: If you have a warranty, use it strategically. If you don’t, don’t fret. If you need to make a warranty claim on your RV, document and communicate clearly when repairs are needed. Report issues as they occur, even if you “save up” the repairs for a later repair date. Note dates, times, and important information at every step, as getting efficient, capable, and timely service is a real challenge. If your RV is used and no longer has a manufacturer’s warranty, we suggest not bothering with purchasing an extended warranty. Instead, build up an emergency fund for unexpected (but expected) repairs.
Fortunately for us, we had a place to go while our RV waited for some TLC. Part of what helps fund our full-time RVing lifestyle is a small business I run – managing two vacation rentals that I began in 2012 and 2015. January is the slowest month of the year for our rentals, so we were off to our “foundation home” in Cape May Beach, New Jersey, for sticks and bricks living. (Shameless plug: DreamsComeTrueCottage.com).
TRICK: Have a short-term and long-term exit strategy. Options include maintaining a primary home, identifying a friend or family member with space, or acquiring land upon which you can “park it” for a while. In our case, short-term rentals give us storage for personal items and a short-term place to stay when needed. If it is during our busy rental season, we can park our rig on family property for a bit of “moochdocking” (dry camping in my brother and sister-in-law’s backyard!).
As a short-term rental owner, it is important to be on-site regularly to inspect the property for minor repairs, complete maintenance work, and plan future projects, making small improvements along the way. So this visit was a fortuitous result of our RV breakdown. While at our beach house, we prepared for some late winter renovations, making all the product selections and purchases needed for a bathroom renovation, and completed a long list of to-do list items from replacing our mailbox, to freshening up our linens, replacing some furniture, organizing closets, ordering replacement board-game pieces, posting instructions for use of various amenities, and even digitizing our guest guidebook.
When the designated appointment came for our RV, we were delivered our next surprising blow – our slide-out problem was more than just the notorious “out-of-sync” problem and we now needed to wait for parts – another 6 – 8 weeks in this post-Covid world of supply-chain issues. So we hunkered down for the long haul and focused on all the opportunities waiting for our attention at our short-term vacation rentals.
TRUTH: Things never quite go as planned (in RV life or “real life”, so allow for flexibility in your travels. You will enjoy the journey more when you can bend with the realities of the life you must face.
We stayed at Dreams Come True Cottage for nearly two months, working nearly every day, and sprinkling in some fun along the way to enjoy our home away from home. We enjoyed some restaurants, walked the sandy shores, hosted visits from a couple of our children, and saw some of the local sights, including the Cape May County Zoo and the Cape May – Lewes Ferry. We routinely visited antique and thrift shops, and enjoyed the full-sized amenities and improved water pressure!
As the planned bathroom renovation was set to begin, we moved from the Jersey Shore to rural Pennsylvania with a visit to our other vacation rental (Shameless plug #2: CloversCottage.com). We did more of the same at our second rental and again, sprinkled our visit with friends and family, visits to the farm market, the movies, and for me, many, MANY warm baths in the antique cast-iron clawfoot tub! Ahh, the things I do miss during RV travel!
Like clockwork, the parts arrived as expected, our warranty work was completed, and our beloved “mobile home” was ready for pickup after 11 weeks of “foundation living”. It was unplanned but was really for the best. We had nearly all of our warranty work completed, and we were able to end our “winter camping” sooner than expected – a welcomed change in plans.
We were fortunate that our breakdown happened in the worst of winter when I was tired of the cold (we were staying in PA/MD intentionally over the holidays to be near our families this year). Our vacay rentals were unrented and therefore available to us and we were long overdue for a bigger visit to both properties. The break from the road turned out to be just what the RV gods knew we needed!
TRUTH: When something goes awry and your travel is interrupted, it may just work out to be for the better! When your travels are interrupted, the very fact that you travel full-time means that you can usually put a little “pivot”in your itinerary. Try to take it in stride – and you may just discover some really great “upsides” to your “side-trip”!
We will soon be ending our season-of-not-really-going-far with a repaired and beautiful rig, grateful hearts, and a welcome to warmer weather in North Carolina just in time for Easter! We leave you, wishing you safe travels and one more “trick” for successful nomadic living:
TRICK: If RV travel is on your life’s bucket list, create a way to DO IT! Plan, save, sacrifice, and work hard. Live debt-free and set specific goals to achieve your dream. This lifestyle is an amazing journey, even through the trials and tribulations of “real life”!
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If you would like a getaway at one of our short-term vacation rentals, mention that you heard about us here on our blog and you will receive our “friends and family” discount! CloversCottage.com and DreamsComeTrueCottage.com are waiting for you!
Safe travels, and always keep an RVing trick up your sleeve!
