in this video we're going to talk about some uncomfortable truths about the RV lifestyle
that you need to not only hear but also be reminded of especially if you're new or
considering jumping into this lifestyle so you're going to want to stay tuned
hello and welcome to our Channel if you're new here my name is charity and my husband Ben and
I have been rving for five years now visiting 47 States along the way and we have learned a
ton during this time and that's really why we have this channel to share our best tips tricks
travel stories and more with you and the RV community so let's Jump Right In and talk about
some inconvenient truths when it comes to RV life try and keep on walking that road truth number one
life on the road is not easy logistically living a travel lifestyle requires a lot more forethought
and nothing is guaranteed in this lifestyle including a place to park your RV from campground
reservations to getting packages delivered on the road to Medical Care the list really just goes on
and on and when you take life on the road and you're in a different city in a different state
every week or every month life gets exponentially much more complicated so let's just talk about
getting packages delivered for just a moment as an example now let's say you need to order
something from Amazon do you will need to order something at some point which you'll understand
when I talk about truth number five this is not just easy as clicking a few buttons like when
you're living stationary when you're an rver you first need to check to see when that package is
going to arrive versus when you're going to be moving to the next RV park or campground to make
sure it's going to arrive before that you leave and in more than one instance we've actually had
to send things to the campground we're going to be at two visits down the road since campgrounds
in some remote areas don't always get two to three day delivery plus more and more campgrounds right
now are charging campers to receive a package so you have to make sure to check with the
campground office that you're at least allowed package delivery at no cost in short things are
a lot more complicated with this lifestyle and it's definitely not as easy as stationary life
now let's talk about truth number two RV life isn't cheap
there is a lot of misinformation out there about RV life being cheaper than Sticks and Bricks
living no one is talking about something called opportunity cost when speaking of how much cheaper
the RV lifestyle is and I'll tell you a little bit about what this opportunity cost is here in just
a minute but when you really run the numbers the RV travel lifestyle is not cheaper than a
traditional Sticks and Bricks lifestyle when you add up Campground costs maintenance repairs food
internet Insurance fuel it's not less now I know right now a lot of people will say that they can
live in an RV for less than it costs for a rent or mortgage payment and I'm not talking about
living in an RV stationary I'm talking about the RV travel lifestyle it's not cheap traveling from
location to location and when an RV is in the mix throw fuel economy out the window Campground costs
can also run anywhere from 900 dollars to two thousand a month even sometimes more and let's
just say that you've got the top of the line Thousand Trails membership run the true Break
Even analysis with the yearly maintenance fees the annual dues and you'll figure out what your true
monthly cost is for campgrounds now the biggest elephant in the room when it comes to the cost
of this lifestyle is something called opportunity cost and really the best way I can explain this
is by sharing a little bit of Our Own Story we have chosen to have a home base that we also use
as a vacation rental when we travel instead of selling it all to go full time or even selling
the house to buy an RV we personally have felt that the wise thing to do was to not get out of
the real estate market when people choose to not have money in either some sort of an investment
or in real estate which is an investment they lose the opportunity to gain the appreciation on that
asset or investment so for example the house that we purchase when we relocated our home base to
Florida in 2020 his game gained over two hundred thousand dollars of equity since we purchased it
just two years ago if we had sold our home base in Colorado and just purchased an RV instead
we would have essentially lost two hundred thousand dollars in the last two years that
is the opportunity cost where RV life is simply not cheaper or a way to get ahead financially
not cure or fix fill in the blank there's a misconception that if your family's falling
apart at the seams just move into an RV to be closer together or that if your marriage is
falling apart or if you suffer from depression or whatever it is that ails you just hit the road and
magically all your worries and cares disappear into the sunset and if anything RV life can
actually make things worse if your family Dynamic isn't what you consider peaceful and harmonious
right now rving's not going to help RV life could actually be more stressful and if you are not in a
good place mentally or emotionally RV life could make things worse we highly recommend seeking
professional help getting healed getting whole focusing on Mental Health before jumping into this
lifestyle there have been way too many stories in the news in the last year or so emphasizing this
exact thing you will take you with you wherever you go and rving is not a way to escape whatever
baggage that you or those close to you might be carrying night but I'm still fighting I'm not
staying down truth number four campgrounds are getting harder to book especially in the winter
in warmer climates or in popular destinations now rving in cold weather is not ideal which is why
most rvers either one put their RV into storage for the winter or two move with their RV to a
place that's warmer for the winter and if you've ever tried getting reservations for Florida in the
winter you know the struggle is real thousands of people since the pandemic have jumped into the RV
lifestyle which has met more Campground crowding than ever in campgrounds near popular destinations
like national parks can be near impossible to get into in the summer months seems the secret is out
the RV travel is more comfortable and convenient than other forms of travel and it shows when it
comes time to make reservations at campgrounds as the saying goes necessity is the mother of
invention and this is where we are glad we can now use a surface called RV when looking for cam
grounds RV not only makes finding campgrounds Easier by being able to search up to five
platforms at once but one of the things we love most about RV is their unique instant
book feature for sold out searches now we've had amazing success using RV to book campsites at
the highly popular state parks in the Florida Keys and more unlike other campsite searching
platforms which simply just notify you of an opening RV will actually instantly book that
campsite for you if you so choose and RV has a 92 percent success rate in booking a campground
for the upcoming weekend when there are three or more sold out searches running at the same
time this solves a huge problem when it comes to finding a campsite especially if you're more of a
weekend warrior rver now because we love sharing our favorite Resources with the RV community and
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good day coming it's a good day truth number five RVs break all the time we've been in this
for five years and I cannot tell you how many times things go wrong and when you think about
it it's just really to be expected I mean every time that you drive your RV down the
road it's like a series of earthquakes with your RV shaking and moving around
and if you drive across I-10 or almost any Road in Louisiana it's like an 8.0
on the Richter Scale earthquake people if you're going to be an rver learning
how to work on an RV yourself is a must see how much water we can get out of here
oh that's nasty and let's just be real calling an RV Tech every time something goes wrong gets
expensive fast ask me how I know when we first started rving we were not the most handiest of
people and neither Ben or myself have any sort of background in the trades or experience with
things like electrical or plumbing and we paid our fair share of stupid tax calling a tech out
to fix our RV only to find out it was a blown fuse we have learned to attempt to try to cover
this simple basis first but we really didn't know much about basic RV electrical or Plumbing Systems
now this is where resources like the National RV Training Academy are very helpful and the
nrvta is not only a certified tech school but they also have an owner's fundamentals course designed
specifically for RV owners and this is a great way to get to know your RV but also to save a
ton of money by knowing how to fix things yourself and if a visit to Athens Texas where the nrvta is
located isn't feasible well they have a home study course available as well which is the course that
Ben and I have taken to learn more about our own RV in fact a little story we just got back
from Athens and on the way home our fridge decided to stop working now Ben was able to troubleshoot
and fix it pretty easily just having some basic knowledge on how these systems work good job Ben
truth number six rving is addictive if you've been rving for any length of time you know
what I am talking about once you get out there and you start RV travel or RV camping you are
hooked there's just something about having your own bed and your own pillow and your own food
and your own fridge there's a lot of own going on here isn't there basically there's nothing
like bringing your own home with you wherever you go plus let's not even talk about the beautiful
changing view the new scenery the new friends and much more that come with this absolutely
amazing lifestyle one of the reasons that we choose to live the RV life is because we want
to go and do and see and just really prioritize experiences with our family over material things
you'll have to let us know in the comments below what are some truths that maybe you've
learned or even questions you have about the RV Lifestyle the comments is a great place where
all of us in the RV Community can just come together and have a great discussion if we
don't see you out on the road or around the campground we'll see you in the next video