I've now been living in the RV for a little over two months. I've seen temps down to 15 degrees, and winds of around 55 mph. I'm starting to get a firm grasp of what it's like to live in an RV full time. In relation to living in a house, some things are better, some worse. Here's what I've found so far:
Things I Really Like
- Small size = fast cleaning: I can clean my entire house, including vacuum, sweeping, mopping, bathrooms and kitchen in under 30 minutes. That's for a deep cleaning. When you live in ~150 square feet, it's a FAST clean with little waste and minimal cleaning products.
- Minimized Belongings: While I do have a big storage unit as my rough space, I tend to need rough space more than soft living spaces. But within the RV, I have minimized my dishes and all other belongings, so there's not as much potential clutter. Simple and minimized makes for just a plain simpler lifestyle.
- The potential to leave: How many people have had bad neighbors? I have a few I don't like, but there's profound comfort in knowing that I can literally unplug and go within 24 hours if people really bug me. And there's not much in the way of moving to be done, either. Just unskirt, unplug the utilities, and drive away. Pretty amazingly simple.
- Feeling the Elements: This is one that doesn't fit a lot of people, but I've found that I like being closer to what's going on outside. Even though the RV is a tiny house on wheels, temperature swings are still greater than most new stick and foundation houses. After spending 10 years going from a climate controlled workspace to a climate controlled house, I greatly appreciate some variety in my living space. Not for everyone, but it was an intentional side effect that I welcome.
Things I Really Don't Like
- Sewer: The RV has two tanks, one for toilet and one for all other water waste. These tanks can't just continually drain, due to the potential for leaving solids in the tank, so they have to be filled then dumped. The process isn't hard -- just opening a couple valves in the water closet, then closing them, but it's one piece of maintenance that is unwelcome.
- Humidity: In a space of so little volume, humidity builds up fast. Whether from cooking, shower, or breathing, the humidity rises sharply. This will become a problem come January when I can't easily just open all the windows to dry the place out a bit.
- The Pitfalls of Small Volume: Like the humidity element, everything else works the same way. Cooking food, burning food, if you smoke up the kitchen with burnt toast, the whole house is smoked up. That's not always fun. Lots of testing of the smoke detectors.
Overall, I'm enjoying it quite a bit -- There are challenges associated with it, but considering that my house cost as much as a modest used car, the trade-offs still seem well worth it.
