When we decided to take the leap into purchasing a fifth wheel for our home-base operations, we seriously had no clue how it would pan out. Maybe it would be like an incredible RV experience shared in the RV Living magazines or possibly become our worst nightmare. I guess that’s the beauty of stepping into the unknown.

After two months of hunkering down in the travel trailer, I still can’t say for certain what the true RV lifestyle is like, but I can share what we’ve learned as well as what we’ve decided for our future traveling plans.

What it’s like living in an RV.

Overall it’s been a really good RV experience, living a mostly peaceful life by Lake Texoma with no neighbors to piss us off. Watching the gorgeous sunset every evening by the two trees I could be buried between has been the highlight.

The trailer itself has been very comfortable and not much different than living in hotels … with the exception of having to use a kick stand to flush the toilet and dumping our beloved waste into the septic tank. It’s a shitty job but someone has to do it. LOL! So we’ve had plenty of space for our truck full of belongings and enough room for the occasional adult dance party.

Cooking meals can be a challenge due to the lack of counter space but using the Blackstone XL Rangetop outdoors has provided manna from heaven. The propane stove has worked well though not all burners want to fully cooperate when we need them. The fridge stores enough food for a couple weeks’ meals and a six pack of cold, delicious beer. The cabinets hold everything we need and use from the road.

Our shower has been ample for washing off the beach sand and sweat endured during the hellish summer. It has a small tub, and I’ll be honest, I tried to sit in it one night to take a bath. Unfortunately being scrunched up in the fetal position wasn’t a zen like moment so my glass of wine and Michael Bolton playlist had to wait.

The bedroom was great for sleeping and romantic preludes, though slapping one’s head on the over-the-bed cabinet space easily changes the mood. I wanted to place “mind your head” signs on the walls to avoid further injuries. The good news is we had no problem with clothing storage or space for the endless charging of electronic devices essential to our survival as humans.

Our bathroom area provided enough shelving for my beauty products and Manscaped Lawnmower, as well as Donetta’s lovely assortment of makeup and other tools women use to make themselves pretty. Even though the area was about four feet by three feet, there were no fights when getting ready for the day and it makes me wonder why in the hell couples must have two sinks on HGTV. Eye roll!!!

If the house is rocking …

The hardest part for me the entire two months we resided in the RV was the rocking -and no - I’m not talking about that kinda rockin’. Wink, wink.

When we first started living in the trailer it was during Oklahoma storm season and being inside a 33 foot cargo container in 70 mph winds while being off the ground is enough action to make your butthole pucker. Sorry for the rough analogy but it truly gave me fits and anxiety.

Perhaps having the RV anchored differently would help, but the sometimes constant movement from the wind or from us jumping around is unsettling. This is the biggest reason why I don’t know if trailer life is for me. Sounds crazy but then I’m weird.

The only other things that make me hesitant to commit to RV living, even with it never moving places, is Donetta’s Facebook stories of near-death experiences from RV fires and the fact that I have to do ongoing maintenance. Being free of those responsibilities is one reason we sold our house.

What’s the takeaway from all of this?

There are plenty of pros and cons to the RV experience just like there are for living in hotels. Besides, no matter where you choose to call “home” there are going to be things to love or hate about it. So you gotta just figure out what works best for you.

In the short time we’ve spent in the RV, it has been a tremendous blessing and enjoyable. It hasn’t been any harder than living in a traditional home or staying in hotels - even though our trailer is a smaller and older model. We know we could always upgrade to something newer and larger and maybe even safer.

However we know what we like and what we want to do going forward.

It’s become VERY CLEAR that Donetta and I are happiest when we’re living life from the road. Oklahoma will always be home and it’s nice to come back for extended periods of time, but we are meant to live our adventure by traveling wherever we’re led to go.

Living in an RV for stay overs is going to be a great solution but not one we desire long term. At least for the next few years.

We’ve really started embracing the idea of purchasing a transit van and converting it for our travels, which seems even more crazy given it’s a smaller space and a higher expense. Yet we’ve met so many people who live this way and love it. It opens up opportunities to stay in places not easily done any other way and experience travel life in a whole new way.

Hopefully this will be our future and my lovely wife can survive the hippy lifestyle. Of course we’d supplement our travels with hotels and crashing on your couches. After all we will need a hot shower from time to time. But this is the vibe we feel is right.

So that’s it!

I hope you learned something from our RV experience should you be considering the same, but at a minimum I hope that you were entertained for a little while.

We’d also love to know your thoughts and advice too. Feel free to drop some comment bombs below. Provide your own experiences, hopes, or dreams. Conversation is always welcome.

Ciao!