I was recently reflecting on how quickly life can change. This time last year I was living in a large house. We had only just started considering choosing the perfect RV for full-time RV living. Now we are in our RV, and we haven’t looked back.
A year ago, Jordie and I knew that we didn’t want to deal with owning a house anymore. We were tired of fixing and renovating and had accumulated too much stuff. The amount of stuff weighed us down. However, we weren’t sure what we wanted to do about it and choosing the perfect RV full-time RV living felt overwhelming.
At a certain point, we made the decision we needed a change. We knew that how we were living wasn’t working for us anymore, so we discussed our options. One of the things we discussed was moving into an RV. For some reason, I seized onto the idea of living in an RV. It felt right to me. Jordie wasn’t immediately convinced that it would be a good move for us, so we decided to research it.
We did a lot of reading and looking at different options for RVs. We had no real experience with RVs, so we had no idea where to start. A lot of our information came from the personal experiences that had been posted on blogs like this one. From blogs, we learned what was/was not working for others. It wasn’t easy choosing the perfect RV for full-time RV living but the information from Blogs really helped us zero in on the most important things to look for.
If you are interested in reading more about how to figure out what RV would work best for you check outRoads Less Traveled’s post. Wand’rly Magazine also has an extensive post on the different options available. You can find Wand’rly’s post here. There are also some great YouTube videos. One of the ones I thought was helpful was about how to pick the perfect RV.
We decided that the most important things to us were the size of the living area and that we could keep it warm in Canadian winters. The other most important factor, of course, was that the price was within our budget.
Based on our research we determined that most couples and families found that anything under 28 feet was difficult for full-time RV living. So based on their experiences we didn’t look at any less than 28 feet. We went with a 32-foot travel trailer and find the amount of room perfect for us and our pets.
Also, because we live in Canada, we needed to make sure it had enough insulation and an enclosed underbelly. If you are somewhere where winters are very mild or very warm then this probably isn’t much of a concern for you. We are currently on Vancouver Island where the winters are mild compared to the rest of Canada but can still get pretty chilly. A well-insulated trailer was the right choice for us.
For our first RV, we decided we preferred to purchase a new one. We were inexperienced in RVs, and we weren’t confident in our abilities to detect issues well enough to buy one used. We weren’t a 100% sure what to look for. And, we didn’t want to have to start fixing anything in the middle of winter. Choosing the perfect RV for full-time RV living can be overwhelming when you aren’t sure exactly what may be in store if you don’t know what you are doing.
One of the reasons we sold our house is we didn’t really have time to complete renovations. We didn’t want to run into the same issues with a used RV. We were starting out our RV adventure in mid-October and it was getting cold. If we ran into any major issues we would be trying to live in and fix an RV right in the middle of winter. We didn’t want to risk it. We wanted to start off right so buying new was the right choice for us.
Fortunately, choosing the perfect RV for full-time RV living in the middle of October is a great time to find deals. October is right during the switch between seasons. Many of the previous year’s models go on sale in the fall. We found what we wanted in a new RV for a great price and it fit right into our budget.
We aren’t particularly outdoorsy people, and we didn’t have any RV experience. J. and I gave up a lot of living area to move a very small space. It wasn’t because we wanted to live a camping lifestyle, it was because we felt the needed to simplify. The full-time RV lifestyle just felt so right to us. So we decided to take a leap of faith and go for it.
We have now been living in our RV for over 6 months. I can honestly say that it is everything I thought it could be and more. We feel incredibly grateful to all the YouTubers and Bloggers that posted about their own journey of choosing the perfect RV for full-time RV living. Reading about other people’s experiences have been a great resource for us. It has helped us make the best decisions we could at the time.
If you have any questions about how we started our RV lifestyle or want to share your RV experiences then please comment on this post or send me an email at deb@intothesticks.com. We would love to hear from you!
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Nice article. I just wanted to congratulate you on getting going with the RV lifestyle. My husband and I have an RV and have actually lived in our RV on two different occasions. For us those two times it was economy related and not necessarily a choice. We know what it takes and we are looking forward to doing under different circumstances and being able to enjoy ourselves some. Our 10 yr old travel trailer needs a little TLC first so we plan to video our repairs and journey to preparing for our RVing adventure.
Thanks so much for your comment! I am so grateful that we have had an opportunity to live in our RV. It’s been such a positive experience for us. I can imagine that if it wasn’t a choice it may have been a bit more difficult. I am so excited for you that you are going to get the opportunity to do it on your own terms!