So you’ve decided to take the leap into full-time RV living, and now you’re wondering what you need to do to get there. There are many reasons to live and travel full-time in a recreational vehicle from saving money to a desire to see more of our beautiful country. In this article, I’ll cover a few key steps you can follow to prepare yourself and your RV in a stress-free way!

The RV Purchase

Before you start looking at RVs, first consider your RV life. How you plan to live and travel in your RV should have a huge impact on what type of RV you choose. Consider these questions for a start: 

• How quickly do you plan to travel? Breaking down and moving often can be more cumbersome with some RVs than others. 
• Which room in your home is most important to you? If you enjoy cooking, you may want an RV with a large kitchen. If you work remotely, you will need to consider a comfortable workspace. 
• What type of activities do you enjoy? Will you want room for indoor activities or space outside the RV to carry bikes and kayaks? 
• Do you plan to stay mostly at privately owned campgrounds or would you like to frequent national parks? Most national park campgrounds have smaller sites and restrict larger RVs. 
• Would you like to dry camp or boondock often? If so, you’ll need to consider your power sources, water tanks, and 

Here’s a video we created discussing some tips on choosing the right RV for you. 

Download our free RV shopping tips here. 

If you are in doubt about what type of RV to purchase, we recommend renting first. Peer-to-peer RV rental services have all makes and models of RVs. You can even rent a fifth wheel or travel trailer and have it delivered to a nearby campground if you don’t have a truck yet. 

One great way to save money and yourself from a very costly mistake is to purchase used ones. Read this article to answer the question should I buy new or used? 

RV Gear

Once you have your RV, there will still be work to get it ready for your full-time RV travels. This will include purchasing the essentials and completing any required modifications. This ranges from electrical and water systems to safety gear and comfort items.

Electrical Systems

There are a few key items you may need for your RV’s electrical systems. 

The first and most important is a Surge Guard electrical management system. This is much more than a surge protector. It provides total electrical protection for your RV. Any surge or even low voltage issue can wreak havoc with your RV’s sensitive electrical components, so don’t try to cut costs by skipping this item. 

If you are at a campsite with power, you’ll need a power cord. While your RV likely came with one, you’ll want to check and see how long it is and where it plugs into your RV. The last thing you want to do is arrive at a campsite after a long day of driving and realize the power post at the rear of the site is too far for your cord. If you have a 50 amp RV, you may also want to purchase a 50 to 30 amp adapter known as a dog bone. This will allow you to connect to the 30-amp power pedestals often found at state and national parks. 

Another essential piece of equipment you’ll need if you want to do any off-grid camping is a generator. For RV’s, the type you specifically need is called an inverted generator. Not only are they quiet and compact, but they provide a more stable stream of power. With a generator, you can power your entire RV, from wall outlets to convection ovens and lights no matter where you are camping.

Water & Waste Systems

You’re going to need a few items to manage your RV water and waste systems. First, you’ll want a long potable water hose to connect to a water source at your site or at a potable water fill station. In between the water spigot and the hose, you’ll also need to add a water pressure regulator and a water filtration system. 

You’ll also need a sewer hose to empty the black & gray water waste tanks either at your full hook-up site or a dump station. We’ve used the RhinoFlex hose for years. We are glad we got the 20′ because not every campsite and dump station is created equal. Some are placed quite far from where you’d expect. The clear elbow and 4-in-1 dump station fitting will make life much simpler too.

Tire Pressure Monitoring System

The most important piece of safety equipment you can buy is a tire pressure monitoring system or TPMS. It consists of a series of sensors systems that screw onto each tire’s valve stem to monitor tire air pressure and temperature. We have the sensors installed on the Fifth Wheel and truck tires. The TPMS alerts the driver if a tire gets too hot or has pressure outside the desired range (too high or too low). This gives you time to pull over safely before a blowout occurs. We personally recommend the TST 507. 

Those are the basics, but see our list of essential items that every RVer needs for more recommendations. 

RV Modifications & Renovations

No RV is perfect. You will likely want to make some changes to make it feel like home. Our two major projects were a solar and lithium power upgrade and interior decor renovations. 

Watch our four-part series on our RV solar and lithium power upgrade:

See the costs associated with our RV remodel:

Take some time to think about how you plan to use your RV, then prioritize what projects you’ll want to undertake to make it your own. 

RV Familiarization

Now you have your new RV home, you’ll want to get to know it well. If you are an experienced RV traveler, or you’ve had your RV for quite some time, this should be a fairly easy step. But if the RV is new to you, give yourself some time before you move into it full-time. 

One thing to be aware of: an RV comes with stacks of user manuals, not just one. The reason for this is that your RV manufacturer makes the body of the RV, but all the components like the air conditioner, furnace, oven, microwave, stairs, leveling jacks, etc. are made by other manufacturers. You’ll want to test all of these components and make sure they are working well before you move into your RV. It is much easier to leave your RV at the shop for warranty work if you have another place to stay.

You’ll also want to get some practice driving and parking before you set out for a cross-country adventure. A great place to start is with an RV Driving School. Simply go to their website and find an instructor near you for a personalized training for parking and driving all types of RVs. 

Downsizing

To state the obvious, an RV is considerably smaller than your average house. With a smaller space, it’s important to reduce the number of “things” lying around which can cause clutter. 

Secondly, you can start to reduce the size of your closet. You may love clothes, but do you really need them all? 

Lastly, the other extras such as books, cooking utensils, and extra bedding or towels. All of these extras can be sold in person, online, or even donated to charity shops. 

A good rule of thumb is if you haven’t worn it or used it in the last month, you probably don’t need it. 

The hardest items to part with for many are those with sentimental value. Check out my article on tips for overcoming common hurdles with downsizing.

The Take-Away

Now we have covered the major steps to prepare for full-time RV living: RV purchase, RV gear, RV modifications, and downsizing.

The steps can seem fairly basic, however, it’s easy to forget some of the most important things to check when you have so much to think about. 

While it can feel like a huge change you should now hopefully feel more confident to tackle, and even enjoy, preparing for your new lifestyle! 

Note from Chickery’s Travels: This is a guest post from our friend, Laura of Chapter 3 Travels (bio below). We’ve been a big fan of her blog for a couple of years now and finally had the chance to meet her & her husband in person last month. We whole heartedly agree with the advice she shares in this article. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did!

Since the summer of 2016, my husband and I have been traveling fulltime in our motorhome. During that time, we’ve gawked at mind boggling natural wonders, learned about everything from ancient civilizations to modern scientific breakthroughs, and, perhaps most importantly, met numerous kind, thoughtful, and interesting people. The overall experience has been nothing short of phenomenal. Unsurprisingly, however, it has not been without its challenges. We’ve weathered some serious storms — physically, mentally, and emotionally — and, along the way, we’ve learned a lot of lessons we think are worth sharing.

Here are a couple of the things we would advise a new RVer as he or she prepares to hit the road. 

1. Get the good insurance. 

While it is tempting to try to save money on insurance, we’ve had multiple experiences where we needed our health insurance company to come through for us in a big way. Thankfully, they did. We have friends who needed their entire diesel engine replaced — at a cost of more than $40,000 — and their insurer quickly sent the check. When it comes to health and RV insurance, we are convinced it is better to be over-insured rather than under-insured. If you’re facing enormous RV repairs or a serious medical situation, the last thing you want to do is sit on the phone with your insurer pleading with them to pay the bill.When you need these companies, you need them and that is not the time to find out you were penny wise and pound foolish. 

2. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

Put another way: Research, Research, Research! There are so many resources available to fulltime RVers these days. Everything from what kind of RV to buy, to which campgrounds are nicest, to what sights are worth seeing has been discussed to death on the internet. But all the information in the world doesn’t help anyone if it goes unread. One of the questions we are frequently asked is whether we have ever felt unsafe at a campground. Our answer is always “no.” But it’s not because there aren’t plenty of somewhat sketchy campgrounds out there.  It’s because I always research places beforehand and if I see reviews that call into question the safety of the area, we just go elsewhere.

By doing our research we’ve also avoided problematic roads and routes, we’ve purchased high quality products we’ve used and loved and never needed to replace, and we’ve avoided wasting time and money on overpriced tourist attractions and restaurants.

Additionally, our research has led us to lesser known places we might have totally missed had we just shown up without a plan.

There are people who will tell you that all of life’s joys are found in the unexpected; that you should just wing it and see what happens. For us, that’s just a recipe for stress, aggravation, and disappointment. Doing our research beforehand has consistently served us well.

3. Go slow. 

Just about everyone who starts RVing starts too fast. Of course! Who wants to spend a week in one place when they can hit 3 different national parks in that same week? The thing is, while life in an RV simplifies some things, it complicates others, and those things can create stress that is only magnified when you are constantly running around.

Many of the things you take for granted in your sticks and bricks house are much more difficult and time consuming when you live on the road. You don’t know where anything is in a grocery store… heck, you don’t even know where the store itself is!

You have to figure out where you can get your mail forwarded, where to get your hair cut, where to have your car repaired, and which veterinarian to go to. You need to make three meals a day and then do all your dishes, clean your tiny living space, and dump your tanks – none of which you can do while you’re sitting around at a laundromat waiting for your clothes to dry.

All of these things take time and if you’re constantly zipping around from one destination to the next, what should be a fun lifestyle can quickly turn into a stressful nightmare. And that’s the thing: this is a lifestyle, not a vacation. Build in time for your normal life stuff, for the additional things that RV life requires, and, most importantly, for yourself.  

4. Understand that everything in RV life is a tradeoff. 

The bigger your RV, the more comfortable it will be, but the fewer places you’ll be able to camp. Conversely, a smaller RV will mean you can go anywhere, but you’ll likely sacrifice comfort and convenience.

When it comes to the social aspects of life, nomadic RV travel often leads to people making more new friends than they’ve made in years. The tradeoff, however, is that after a week or two, all those new friends end up driving off in different directions.

On a related note, while fulltime travel means having numerous incredible experiences and adventures, it also means missing out on lots of events and milestones back home. It is an awesome life, but there are tradeoffs to be made and it is wise to give some consideration to how you want to handle those.

5. Appreciate the importance of weather.

Understanding the importance of weather in RV life is not just a matter of chasing 70 degrees.

I recently completely changed our intended Spring travel route because I realized my original route would have us driving straight through Tornado Alley during tornado season. We spent last summer nervously watching wildfires burn out of control just miles from where we were camped.

Cold weather can wreak havoc on RV systems, extreme heat can cause a tiny home with lots of windows to become a greenhouse, and getting caught in bad weather can make you go absolutely stir crazy.

Never underestimate the importance of weather when planning your travels and when evaluating how you felt about a place. 

6. Be honest with yourself about what YOU want.

It’s easy to look at someone else’s Instagram feed or blog and think “that looks amazing!” but you have to be honest about whether that’s true.

Before we started, I was sure we’d be out boondocking in the desert for weeks at a time. But, honestly, we haven’t done that at all! Between complexities with our particular RV and the costs of solar, it just hasn’t made a lot of sense, and the reality is, it just doesn’t appeal to us the way we thought it would. No big deal, but I’m glad we didn’t go sink a ton of money into solar panels on day one. Same goes for many RV related purchases.

Until you figure out your style of camping, hold off on spending hundreds of dollars for things you might not even need or want. 

7. On a related note, don’t drink the Koolaid on Instagram or other social media sites.

I can assure you, there are very few super hot babes standing on top of their hipster-perfect vans demonstrating perfect tree pose while gazing into the distance at sunrise. 

8. Life can be messy. Plan accordingly. 

In other words, have an emergency fund and prepare to be flexible.

No matter how much you plan, things will sometimes go awry. We’ve faced enormous unexpected emergencies that we’ve had to handle on the road.

If you don’t have funds set aside to address these things, or you struggle with changing your plans, you’ll face even more stress and emotional upheaval when you are least prepared to deal with it.

9. There are as many different ways to RV as there are RVers. Do what you want to do and what makes you happy.

One downside of doing all that “research” I just told you to do is you’ll run into plenty of people who think their way is the only way to go. Our advice: ignore those people.

If you want to boondock for months on end, do it. If you’d rather be hooked up to 50 amp, water, and sewer every single night, that’s good too. Want to work camp? Awesome. Want to volunteer? Great! Want to be a slug? Fine.

Your Class A doesn’t have to be a diesel pusher, your travel trailer doesn’t have to be an Airstream, and your tow car doesn’t have to be a Jeep.

You should do whatever works for you, keeps your budget in check, and makes you happy. Don’t let anyone make you think your style of travel is wrong or ‘less than.’ If you’re happy, that’s all that matters.  

The last two and a half years have truly been life-changing and something we will cherish forever. We’d encourage anyone thinking about taking the plunge to go for it… just be realistic, be flexible, be prepared, and, when all else fails, be ready to rely on your sense of humor to get you through. 

Author bio: Laura and her husband, Kevin, have been traveling fulltime in their motorhome since August, 2016. Just recently, they expanded their pack by adopting a one year old German Shepherd puppy named Thor. She writes about their travels, observations, and misadventures on her blog: Chapter 3 Travels.

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