If you’ve ever thought of traveling around the country in your own home on wheels, you’re not alone. It seems like full time vanlife or RV living is all the rage – and why not? Freedom of the open road, no schedule, seeing new, exciting places.
But before you jump into a major life change you may want to ask yourself these questions..because everybody else will be asking them too.
I know from experience. My Mountain Fam just launched a year-long full-time RV road trip.
Full Time RV Living FAQ
This has been a dream of mine for years and we finally got all the groundwork done so we could hit the road. As we planned, prepared and packed up these full-time RV living frequently asked questions came up from friends and family again and again.
Q: Where are you headed first?
A: We’re driving to Maine and then down the east coast of the US to enjoy the autumn colors. Then we’ll head back toward Utah in December for the holidays.
We’d love for you to join us! Sign up here to follow along via my mailing list and you’ll get a FREE photo ebook of my family’s 2016 National Park-to-Park Highway journey.
You can also sign up as an Adventure Buddy on Patreon for just $8 per month and we’ll come visit you in person! Plus you’ll get early access to 360 videos and a monthly handwritten postcard from my tots to yours.
Do you have any recommendations on where to camp, what to see or where to go in the eastern US? Email them to susan@mountainmomandtots.com before December 2018. I’d love your tips and advice!
Q: What will you do for work?
A: Not blog. I love writing here on MountainMomandTots.com and hosting FREE monthly outdoor challenges for you all, but as I explained in my recent post How Bloggers Make Money – most bloggers don’t make enough money to live on. At least not in the outdoor family niche.
Don’t get me wrong, I sincerely appreciate every dollar my awesome Patrons over on patreon send my way. It’s just not enough to support a family of five on a cross country road trip.
The real answer for us is that we sold some assets and decided to take a sabbatical year. Mountain Dad firmly believes (and I agree) that NOW is the best time to raise our kids. We want to hike, bike and adventure with them now when they’re in our home, not at age 65 or older when we eventually retire and they are out of the house.
We will also be renting out our house on AirBnb and VRBO while we are gone so we should get some income there while we’re on the road. Read more below.
Q: What about school for your kids?
With a 9, 6 and 3 year old, our year long adventure meant transitioning to homeschool (or road school) for my fourth and first grader. I love the Spanish immersion program that Big E attended in Utah and I would like him to return there when our year on the road is over.
Because of that, Mountain Dad and I will be teach Big E and Little G in both Spanish and English.
I contacted the first and fourth grade Spanish Immersion teachers at his school and asked what books and curriculum they use. Whatever I couldn’t find on amazon, I supplemented on my own.
Here’s what we’ll be using:
- Go Math books in Spanish on amazon
- Handwriting Without Tears in Spanish
- Calle de Lectura by Scott Foresman
- English and Spanish literature books downloaded from our library (Overdrive – It’s FREE and AWESOME)
- Spanish language kids books downloaded onto our Amazon kids kindle (We bought this specifically for this trip because of it’s awesome parental controls in the Amazon FreeTime app and downloadable library for Amazon Prime Members)
- Studies Weekly social studies and science online newsletter
- DuoLingo – FREE Spanish language learning app
- Literature/Writing exercises downloaded from teacherspayteachers.com (love these).
- Nature Adventure Journal from Backwoods Mama
- Nature Connection by Clare Walker Leslie
Psst…some of these links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on them I get a small commission.
One resource that really impressed me was the Utah Educators Network Common Core Guidelines. It may not sound that impressive but in addition to having all the specific guidelines that need to be taught in each grade level, they offer free online lesson plans and age appropriate examples so I can have some idea of what a typical 4th or 1st grader’s writing should look like.
In addition to books, apps, and online resources, I plan on learning from our immediate environment A LOT. We love Junior Ranger programs in National and State Parks and I’m really excited about the new website omniclassroom that’s designed with roadschooling parents in mind. You can submit and download lesson plans based on the area you’re visiting.
If you’re planning a full time RV roadschooling adventure there are lots of options for you including complete online curriculums like kahnacademy, k12.org and more. We opted for a mix of physical books and downloadable content on tablets. It seemed like the best solution for minimal space to store books and minimal connection to the internet.
Q: What will you do with your house?
Unlike some full time RV families who sell ALL their belongings to travel, we still own a home in the mountains (this is MountainMomandTots after all). While we’re out adventuring we’ll rent out our mountain home as a vacation rental on VRBO.com and AirBnB.
We did this all summer before we even bought the RV and made our final travel plans, staying with family or camping when our home was occupied. This allowed us to figure out all the kinks related to renting out a home without worrying about traveling at the same time.
If you choose to rent out your home while on a full time RV adventure I highly recommend giving yourself two months or more BEFORE your launch date to figure out all the logistics. Here are some questions to ask if you’re renting a physcical sticks and bricks house out while you’re adventuring.
- Who will clean it? Hire a dependable housekeeper. We also have a groundskeeper to manage the yard and shovel snow in the winter.
- Where will you store your personal stuff? We added locks to closets and cupboards, bought beds with drawers underneath to store our extra clothes and donated half of our personal belongings over a period of several months before even posting our house online.
- Are all maintenance items complete? Now’s the time to fix the leaky faucet you’ve lived with for three months or that window that doesn’t quite close all the way.
Some of our full time RV travel friends sold their home flat out before moving into their RV (currentlywandering.com I’m thinking of you). If that’s where you’re at, devote the two weeks before and after the sale is final to handle all the transitioning.
Reactions to Full-Time RV Travel
Now BEFORE people ask these Full time RV Living Frequently Asked Questions they inevitably have a reaction to the news that we’re moving our family into 180 square feet to travel North America. Generally these reactions fall into one of these four categories.
Yeah that sounds like something you’d do.
This is the reaction family and friends most frequently have to the news that we’re full time RV living for a year. They know me and Mountain Dad, know we did a 6 week National Park-to-Park Highway trip in 2016 WITHOUT an RV – just camping out of our truck – so this is a step up for us.
If you’re already a wanderer, this is the reaction most people close to you will have. They’ll be excited for you too, but not too surprised that you want to live full time in an RV.
Are you completely crazy?
This reaction is my favorite. It’s reserved for people who aren’t afraid of hurting your feelings, but have a totally different perspective on life. My writing group friend Joe (he’s got a great podcast about the craft of writing) had this reaction when I told him our plans.
Essentially he said, “Why would anyone want to move into a tiny house on wheels with three young kids? That sounds awful.”
Joe is not a camper. Or a father. But his perspective is valid.
You are living my dream.
This reaction lets me know I’m with my people. This reaction is the one I get surprised by. My neighbor in her late fifties who is looking at retirement on the horizon. My writer friend who I never knew was a closet outdoors enthusiast.
Whenever someone has this reaction I feel an instant bond with them. They get it. No explanation or defensiveness needed.
I did that back in ’73.
The final reaction I’ve gotten when telling people I’m taking a year-long full-time RV road trip is to hear about THEIR full time RV travel experience. I especially love this reaction because it reminds me that although I feel like living out of an RV is something new and interesting (because it is for me) it’s really nothing new. Retirees, transients, hippees, family vacationers, even pioneers lived full time in tiny homes long before I had the idea to do it.
And now I get to join that club. I get to share my full-time RV travel experiences with my family – to see and experience all parts of the country and actively participate in my children’s lives. What more could I ask for as a Mountain Mom?
See you in the outdoors!
~Mountain Mom
