Yep, I said it! #RVLIFE wasn't all that it was cracked out to be on YouTube and all the blogs I had read.
I spent 2 years researching #tinyhousemovement and I had endless notes on the cool, nifty ways to utilize such small space. I thought that I was ready for the big jump, or should I say tiny!
My top choice was A) Build a Tiny House on wheels & travel across the country.
Verdict: Tiny Houses are not aerodynamic enough for excessive traveling like I wanted to do.....NEXT!
B) Buy a van, do a van build.
Verdict: I originally had 10k budget & wasn't getting too far with that (at the time)..NEXT!
C) School bus conversion
Verdict: It's too long for the driveway & we don't have the skill set to build it (prior to help from some frands)...NEXT!
D) RV remodel - How hard can it be?
Verdict: A headache, never ending expense, approx 35k expense & 20 states later!
Side note: I am very grateful the RV got to experience this road trip with me & got me to WA safely!
I must have missed all of the blogs talking about how much upkeep it is to own an RV because straight out of the gate dollar bills were flying. If you read our previous blogs, we lost our tire the first 15 minutes in. After half way through the trip I averaged approx 3k in additional "RV expenses" from the time we left in May until end of June.
Some problems:
Gas is very expensive, you will use A LOT more than you budget for
Hills are hard, 35mph max speed in Colorado
75mph feels like flying
Smart cars will may you sway on the highway
Gravel roads sound like your house is about to fall apart..no big deal
Our fridge decided on it's own when it was going to shut off & make our food spoil
Trees will mess up your solar panels
Cool boondock spots? You can't fit
Scraping on shopping plaza driveways becomes normal behavior
P.S. Our back lights are champs!
Finding 2 spots in a row so you can pull in the tiny-ass parking lot & grocery stores
Finding somewhere to dump your tanks after realizing they are fill
Overflowing your pee in your compost toilet...same reasons as above
Having your RV smell like a zoo because of the above reasons
Whatever temp it is outside, it's also insides.
Views from my little door...complicated to capture
Living in an RV full time was a great 1st step to living a minimalist life style, even though it wasn't as glamorous as I had pictured when I pictured #vanlife . I was able to learn how little I need every day to live a normal life. I learned that I still have way too much in my tiny space! Being able to travel across the Country for me, was my major goal and I think that even though I wasn't in my top 3 choices for this change, I am very glad that the universe worked to conspire to get me where I am at today! My birthday is today & I am going into 26 with open arms and excited to see what the future holds for me.
Birthday goals: Sell the RV & get a small van to start my van build. Welp, I guess the cats out of the bag!
Missed my big announcement on YouTube and Instagram? Phil, my best friend and travel companion for the last 4 months, he went back to NYC. Traveling and living minimalist wasn't as easy for Phil as it was me, so moving back to the East coast is a good move for him at the moment. He is going to work his butt off & work on finding what truly makes him happy and I couldn't be more proud of him! I am so grateful I got to shack it up next to him & see this beautiful country all summer and I am excited to see how our paths cross in the future.
Stay sexy my friends(:
