This has actually been on my radar now for several months and then just last week I ran across this
article on us news.com about yet more people that are leaving full-time RV living in exchange for
part-time Rving so I felt it was time to do a video update and break down why and what it is
that causes people to leave the full-time RV lifestyle and why moreover maybe a full-time
lifestyle of r living just isn't sustainable for most people is a longterm living situation
so buckle up I think you're going to be surprised about why now even more people
are quitting full-time RV life so it's been absolutely fascinating to me the sheer number
of individuals and families that have migrated from nomadic Freedom a full-time RV life back
to a more traditional stationary lifestyle of Sticks and Bricks homes now I for one think
that this transition speaks volumes just about human nature in general and our needs and really
what true home and happiness are and we'll get to that in just a few minutes but for years the lore
of the open road has captivated many people us included in that and the RV lifestyle that
promises freedom and adventure and an escape from the mundane and in many ways it does truly fulfill
on these types of promises however social media has really glorified this nomadic way of life
presenting it as the ultimate solution to the confines of societal norms and the conventional
9 to 5 grind yet despite the charms and genuine satisfaction that it does and has brought to
many a significant number of RV enthusiasts are returning to choose to a hybrid or part-time RV
lifestyle and set up some sort of stationary home base so why is this happening well one
reason is really just the yearning for community and deeper connections now while the RV Community
is incredibly supportive and you guys can leave us a comment and just let us know how supportive you
have found this community to be it is possible to find that Community while you're on the road but
it's kind of more of like a Meetup every once in a while kind of thing and very rarely does it work
that you actually find another family or couple that wants to go to all of the same places all of
the same time and that you just link arms together and travel everywhere together doesn't usually
happen that way and while community on the road is possible it's just not the same as being part of a
social group on a regular basis for example one thing I know I really missed during our time of
full-time rving was things like my mom's groups or my Bible study groups just where I had that same
group of people that I would see and get together with every single week the transient nature of
the RV lifestyle can really make it difficult to establish and maintain those types of long-term
relationships and because we as human beings are inherently social beings the lack of that stable
ongoing Community interactions can really lead to a lot of feelings of isolation and loneliness and
that takes a toll on mental and emotional he or some I mean they're saying right now that
loneliness is like the new like Health crisis so it's super important to just be connected with
others and returning to a stationary home allows for people to re-engage with those communities and
build lasting friendships participate in local activities and traditions that are sometimes
really difficult to try to do from the road I mean I can't tell you how many times we've been in an
area and found out oh there's a special event or like community barbecue that's going to be
taking place the day after that we're scheduled to depart so then you have the challenge of living in
a confined space now despite the freedom to travel anywhere the physical reality of living in an RV
is a life of minimalism and tight quarters and this can be more of a challenge for some than
depending upon your family size and so most people don't really realize the impact that this really
truly has on the quality of day-to-day life I mean the challenges of limited privacy storage personal
space can and do start to take a toll over time I mean trust me I am speaking from experience
here and most families realize either they need something that's like bigger like a larger RV
with a more family friendly layout and then that has challenges in and of itself because then you
need a larger truck to pull and there's a reduced number of campsites that can actually accommodate
an RV that's 42 to 45 ft in length or some just opt for the more spacious and more permanent
living environment like a sticks in bricks home now another reason for this Exodus from full-time
RV life is the logistics of Maintenance and RV living can be flat out overwhelming now contrary
to the idilic images often portrayed on social media life on the road is a constant maintenance
and repairs repairs and maintenance dealing with mechanical issues managing Waste Water Resources
all of these challenges coupled with the task of finding campgrounds or public lands to park on and
stay really does take a toll and it becomes stressful and speaking of the challenges in
finding a campground or a place to stay this can be a problem for all our viers now whether you're
full-time or part-time and this is why we have and do love to partner with a service that we found
about a year ago called rvy which is the sponsor of this video now not only is RV a timesaver when
you're looking for those campgrounds but picking up cancellations when campgrounds are sold out is
one of my favorite ways that I use RV now I've scored reservations due to cancellations at
several top rated state parks during Peak Seasons so now think about it in most situations you have
to plan months in advance to get reservations at some of the bus campgrounds and many people
have already made res ation well in advance but we know plans can and do change and as a result
there's dozens of Campground cancellations that really do happen on the daily so when I have a
sold out search set up in RV I have RV not only notify me but actually book that for me if and
when it becomes available and that's why I love using RV versus other just kind of alert Services
because RV will Autobook that site as soon as it becomes available you can give RV a try for free
at grateful ler.com rvy and if you decide that you want to get started with using RV to make
those reservations we've partnered with RV for an exclusive 10% discount off the membership options
the details will all be in the description below or you can visit grateful glamper
docomo of this Channel and sponsoring this video so now another Factor why people are
opting for part-time versus full-time RV life is because some sort of Home situation in the
the financial implications of full-time rving now let's just explain this a little bit I know many
of you are thinking wait a minute isn't full-time RV life supposed to be cheaper now while RV living
can be coste effective in some aspects it often involves a lot of hidden expenses that's going
to be about a thousand a thousand yep a thousand you have campsite fees or you don't want to do
that then you're going to have memberships for your Campground stays fuel costs maintenance
repairs the list really truly does go on and then if you're needing to work from the road the need
for consistent and reliable internet access can literally be a major cost did you know Starlink
which is great it'll cost just under two grand a year just for your Starlink and another Financial
thought to consider is not having an appreciating asset such as some sort of house or piece of real
estate and instead a depreciating asset like an RV in this article I recently read from Liz
Brumer-Smith the YouTuber behind the channel eat See RV she wrote "we were ready to buy a home in
2023 and thankfully in the financial position to afford it however looking back on our journey into
rving I wish we would have purchased a home before we transition to RV life if we had
purchased a house in 2017 and rented it out while we were gone we could have bought at a much lower
price and mortgage rate making home ownership far more affordable than it is today we also
would have had Equity to tap into when buying a different home or better transition Our Lives
when we were ready to settle down again" so you can see the financial unpredictability and then
implications of selling it all to go full-time RV living it's definitely a reason many turn back to
a more traditional living Arrangement where expenses can be more fixed predictable and
you have that appreciating asset now one of the largest reasons that we have cut back on some of
our trouble recently is a change in personal and family priorities life circumstances such as our
kids who will both be freshman in high school in the fall and their desire for a more traditional
High School experience for our family and many others that we know there are experiences that
just cannot happen on the road I mean on the road experiences are great but things like
participating in youth Athletics clubs like girl scouts or boy scouts or even a part-time summer
job for teens just isn't going to happen when you're moving from a place to place every 2 weeks
and for some the desire to maybe start a family or health issues or just the need for stability and
routine can shift priorities so the big thing to remember is this full-time RV life for the
majority is a season of life just like there's other seasons of life in many other aspects
seasons do end will change and different things are necessary to thrive in different seasons and
the journey from home life to RV living and then maybe back to a traditional home is just
a reflection of the complex nature of just really human desire s and our core needs as human beings
and it underscores the importance of flexibility in the pursuit of happiness and fulfillment now
this transition really just reminds us that a home is not just a physical space but home is
really just a reflection of our needs and our values and those connections that we have with
others now there's one more thing you have to understand about this lifestyle and that is the
cyclical nature of it and to learn more about that you can watch this video right up here