8 reasons I want to live in an RV

I actually bought my RV five years ago.  I’ve had it out on a few trips since then, but mostly, it’s just sat parked in the street outside my house.  I write this to explain that traveling around the country in an RV has been a dream of mine for a long time.  Now I am working on making this a reality rather than just a dream.  So why do I want to live in an RV?

1. Travel.  I want to be able to really see the county.  While I have been blessed in being able to travel more than most people, having  a house always limits how long I can be gone for.  I want to be able to spend longer in the places I travel to and really see them rather than being limited in how long I can spend somewhere.  Travel is one of the things that really excites me.  I love to see new places.

2. Minimalism.  I wasn’t even aware of the minimalism movement when I was first captivated by the RV lifestyle, but in a word, it describes what what I want to aim for.  Less stuff, fewer chores and maintenance responsibilities and time and space to focus on the things that are important to me.

3. Nature.  I love being outside and spending time in nature.  There are a lot of beautiful places in our country where you can’t build a house and live there like State Parks and National Forrest.  Many of the beautiful places where you can build already have other houses which kind of ruin the area.  Or they are pricey.  Or they are a long way from any town and more out-of-the-way than somewhere you want to live permanently.  Living in an RV lets you stay at these places as long as you want and then move on when  you’re ready.

4. Fun.  What could be more fun than living on the road?

5. Finances.  I hope to minimize my expenses by selling my house and just living in my little RV.  I’ll be shedding the maintenance, insurance and property tax payments on my house.  I also won’t have space for any extra stuff, so I won’t be buying things I don’t need.  Plus travel is my biggest non-essential budget item and by traveling in my RV, I’ll be able to save the money on motels and eating-out on my trips.

6. People.  I hope to meet new people, but also to spend more time with the people I already know.  I want to spend more time visiting family and friends, which will be possible since I won’t need to head back home to take care of things.

7. Avoiding accidental permanence.  I moved to Socorro, New Mexico when I was 18 to go to college.  Once I graduated, I was working from home, so I had no pressing need to relocate.  I somehow ended up spending the next 10 years living in a small town with not much to do because I didn’t know where I wanted to move next.  Don’t get me wrong, there are things I love about Socorro, but I’m ready for something new.  I still don’t know where I want to move next though.  Living in the RV will let me travel around and keep me from accidentally settling down somewhere I don’t really want to be simply because it’s more convenient than moving.  That’s a mistake I don’t want to make again.

8. Owning my own place.  I thought about renting an apartment somewhere like Albuquerque or Austin so I could get out of Socorro without buying another place and committing to one location.  The whole idea of renting was just a turn-off to me though: giving my money to somebody else, neighbors (and noise) a wall away, relying on somebody else for maintenance, and being limited in the modifications I could do to a place.  With my RV, I’ll really have my own place, however unconventional.