What It’s Like Living in an RV Full Time

16 Sep What It’s Like Living in an RV Full Time

It’s been about a month since we moved into the RV.

Sarah, can you cook in the RV?”
“Nick, what’s the RV park like?”
“Is Hiro ok in there?”

The answers to these questions are yes, it’s nice and pretty quiet, and yes.

Here’s the unique thing: Most people move to NYC and move into their smallest space yet. Us? We leave NYC and move into our smallest space yet.

Change of Plans

The plan was to park our RV at our property. However, in our neighborhood in Columbus, you need a permit to be allowed to park a recreational vehicle on the property. And, of course, we can’t park it on grass. It has to be on a concrete pad.

So, for now, we’re at an RV park in the area. Here’s what you need to know:

RV parks are much different than trailer parks.

Most people at our RV park are either passing through on their US travels or brought their RV to catch an OSU game, etc. A few live there full-time.

Yes, most are older couples and their pups. It’s nice. It’s quiet.

But it’s $510 a month plus electricity.

So, we could live at the park while we work on the 4plex or, we could take the money we would spend on monthly expenses there and get a permit to pour a cement pad for our 32′ RV and park it on our property.

That’s what we’re working on.

The Verdict

RV life isn’t bad!

1. Eating
   • Our RV comes equipt with a propane powered stove top and oven. It has three burners and is super easy to operate.
   • Above our stove top is a microwave. The microwave is small. It fits a side plate well but is just as powerful as the “normal” ones. The most important thing is it fits bowls…because I eat soup for 98% of my meals.
   • The kitchen storage, although MUCH smaller than our NYC kitchen, seems to be just fine. Here’s what we’ve got in stock:
     • 1 pot
     • 1 saucepan
     • 1 frying pan
     • 4 glasses
     • 2 bowls
     • 2 plates
     • 2 sets of silverware
     • wine pump
     • beer/wine opener
     • toaster oven
     • rice cooker
       • This is obviously significantly less stuff than we are used to having on hand but, funny thing is, we’re still making our favorite meals just fine. It’s been 4 weeks and we haven’t wished for anything else or missed having anything on hand.
   • Our fridge is much smaller than the fridge we had in NYC, but our NYC fridge was never full anyway. We have plenty of beer, wine, iced coffee, almond milk, condiments, lunch meat, and cheese.
   • The freezer is a bit on the ‘too small’ side, but we’re doing fine. We discovered it can’t fit a Red Baron pizza but it can fit a DiGiorno pizza….so, win!
     • Also, mini ice cube trays are where it’s at!
2. Showering:
   • Our shower kind of looks like a space capsule. Shaving my legs proves to be a balancing act, but I’m making it work.
   • The water pressure isn’t as baller as it was in NYC.
   • The hot water doesn’t last as long as it would in a house – but, that being said, it does last a solid 10 minutes. Nick just likes super long showers. I don’t mind it b/c it’ gets him going quicker. 😉
3. Wi-Fi/TV:
   • We get free Wi-Fi at the park. The flat screen TV that came with the RV isn’t a smart TV but does have an HDMI cable – let’s just say we’ve been watching a lot less TV.
4. Sleeping:
   • Our. Bed. Is. So. Comfy! We’ve got an Olympic Queen up in here! A big shout out goes to Nick’s mom, Julie, for the badass mattress. She gave us her guest room mattress because we love it so much.
5. Hiro:
   • Hiro has always been such a champion. He lived in our first apartment which was a 400 square foot walk up. We then upgraded him to a backyard in Astoria. Now he calls an RV park home. We make sure to give him plenty of walks, but really, all he wants is a good belly rub, a little tug of war action, and snuggles with us!

And the Topic You’re All Really Wondering About

We ONLY go number 1 in the RV. Number 2 only happens in the park restrooms.

Plus, girls don’t go number 2, as you all know, so it’s no issue for me.

🙂

Life Made Simple

When I was professionally organizing full-time, I always loved watching clients discover how much of what they owned never got used. They would realize that a lot of their stuff was just taking up space. Superfluous items can often lead to stress and anxiety. And a call to your friendly Professional Organizer.

Nick and I have always lived in small spaces. Our first apartment was 400 sq. ft. Our house in Astoria was 1200 sq. ft. and that included the finished basement. I grew up in an 800 sq.ft. home with my parents and sister. Small space has been my life and, honestly, I love it.

Last night, as I started writing this post, I asked Nick questions about his thoughts on cooking, showering, and sleeping. He shared his thoughts with me and then, he took a moment and said, “It really does feel like home”.

Get ready to gag….but, I think that’s because we have each other, Hiro, Corona Lite, soy sauce, chicken and a rice cooker. It’s really all we’ve ever needed to be happy after a long day hustlin’.

Permission to puke.

We won’t live in an RV forever. This RV is more of a mental health thing for me. I’m tired of living IN our renovations. It’s so nice to come home to a nice, new, and clean space…albeit brown.

WHY ARE ALL RV INTERIORS BROWN?!!?!??

If this whole real estate investing doesn’t work out, I’m going to reinvent the RV interiors game…for realz.

If you’re in the Columbus area, feel free to stop by and say hi! We have a table that fits four, a couch that fits two, and a fridge full of beer.

You’re welcome anytime.

Any questions about living in an RV? Hit us up! We’ll share what we know!