You know you have a good thing going when you’re away from your RV for two weeks and miss being home. That’s a nice surprise of our new lifestyle. Dorothy said it best in “The Wizard of Oz”: “There’s no place like home.” In addition to that revelation, here are the top surprises from our first six months of RV living: 1. 400 square feet is more than enough space. The living area of our fifth wheel doesn’t sound like much, but it’s just enough for the two of us. We have everything we need: a living room, kitchen and table, bedroom, bathroom, and a dedicated office — even enough space to entertain. It’s easy to take care of and keep clean, and it feels homey. We really enjoy it. 2. We have more than we need or use. When you set out on a major adventure, you likely have an idea of what equipment you’ll need. We did. And it’s always better to be over-prepared than under-prepared, right? But thinking about inventorying the things in our trailer we haven’t touched since we left the Phoenix area in May sounds like work. We have more unnecessary things than I’d like to tally. There are the fishing poles, DVDs, certain clothes, some dishes, and plenty more. And we didn’t even fill up all the space our rig has to offer. 3. Solid friendships traverse time and distance. It truly is a small world — and country. Traveling across it and reconnecting with friends and family we hadn’t seen in months and years reminded us of the depth of those relationships. The time apart didn’t matter. We made new connections and rekindled longtime friendships, picking right up where we left off. 4. Truckers are our friends. Semi-trucks (tractor-trailers in the East, where Bob grew up) were one of the best sights for us to see on any road. If truckers who travel regularly drove the roads we were on, it gave us confidence we could make it on those same avenues — because our rig is only 3 inches shorter than a semi. Seeing trucks at rest areas and travel stops gave us that same level of confidence for the same reason. 5. Rest areas are quieter at night than we thought. At the onset of our RV journey, the thought of sleeping in our rig in the parking lot of a rest area didn’t sound very attractive. Vehicles going in and out of the stop every so often would surely keep us awake. And, knowing we’d have to park where truckers park because of the length of Gulliver pulling Tagalong just added to the certainty of the din. While traveling across the country to stay ahead of some storms, however, we quickly learned otherwise. Wanting to cover a lot of ground in a few days’ time necessitated overnight stays close to the highway. As you probably guessed, rest areas made the perfect stops. And we slept just fine, unbothered by the drone of the diesel truck engines. 6. Even though our rig is made for full-time living, things break. Not all RVs are created equal. Some are made to be taken out for a short weekend trip, or even for up to two weeks or a month at a time. Others are more robust, designed for full-time living. But no matter the durability behind the construction, all of them are susceptible to things breaking.
Someone summarized it well: Our home experiences a mini earthquake every time we take it on the road. Highways aren’t designed for transporting your home every day, or even occasionally. Just as things break in earthquakes, they break in our rig and require fixing. Our downtime from traveling during these winter months gives us the perfect opportunity to address those issues (some have to be dealt with right away) — and dwindle down our belongings.
8 Comments
Betty & Ken
11/15/2020 07:06:46 pm
Nice to see your visit to our home included in this post! And you are so right! We picked up right where you and Bob left off so many years ago! You'll always be welcome in Otter River!
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Lana
11/24/2020 01:20:10 pm
Thanks, Betty. We enjoyed seeing and catching up with you guys.
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Jan
11/15/2020 07:24:22 pm
Really enjoyed it again. Especially liked the picture of you Lana. Love you guys!💖
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Lana
11/24/2020 01:21:26 pm
I'm truly amazed that you guys are still going strong in 160 square feet — and with your dog. Very impressive! But it's such a great life, right?
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Bobby
11/16/2020 07:17:40 am
Always a good read and I like keeping up with you. Kind of like that Gates Gossip you had going for many years. I still have a copy from December 2008!!!
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Lana
11/24/2020 01:22:22 pm
Wow! From 2008? That must have been a good one if you kept it this long. Thanks for reading and keeping up with us.
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9/22/2022 12:17:20 pm
It was interesting to me when you mentioned that some RVs are designed for full-time living. If you are wanting to turn your RV into a full-time living space, it could be a good idea to seek out a remodeling contractor. A remodeling service should be able to turn your RV into a miniature home.
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AuthorThis is the travel blog of Bob and Lana Gates and our truck, Gulliver, and fifth wheel, Tagalong. We live on the road full time, enjoying all the adventures that come our way. Archives
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