Unfortunately, on our wat to work the Sugar Beet Harvest every year in Crookston, Minnesota, we have to travel for a few days without our Thousand Trails or RPI campgrounds.  Because staying at campgrounds can become expensive, we always end up boondocking in parking lots for a few days.  I will be honest, we are not great boondockers.  We can handle a couple of days hunting for a spot to land for the night, leaving the slide in, and running the generator.  But, we start to get grumpy after a couple of days.

Boondocking In Parking Lots – Our Experience

When we talk about boondocking, we include dispersed camping in the definition.  However, dispersed camping, to us, signifies finding a designated campground on public land or a park where we can sit for a few days in our own spot.  We can run the generator and put the slide out when we disperse camp.  Although we still prefer campgrounds with full-hookups, we have dispersed camped in one area for a week or two.

But boondocking in parking lots is completely different.   Yes, you can boondock in lots of different parking lots!  We have stayed at Casinos, Walmarts, Cabelas, Cracker Barrels, Truck Stops, and Rest Stops.  After four years of RVing full-time we definitely have our favorite parking lots for crashing for  a night.

Some of Our Favorite Parking Lots are Casinos!

The only parking lots we stay longer than one night in is Casinos.  The couple of casinos we boondocked at were awesome.  One even provided free electric!  Casinos are usually the best parking lots to stay in.  However, we did bypass The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Sioux City, IA.  It was downtown.  We didn’t like the parking lot and area.  So, we continued on to the Flying J Truck Center in Sioux Falls.

Most casinos have a designated area for RVs to park for the night.  Some charge a low fee.  Sometimes you get free electricity.  Usually the casinos have large parking lots where you can have a bit of privacy from the customer parking lots.  Before parking our vehicle, we always enter the casino and speak to an employee.  We ask if overnight parking is okay and where we need to park.  We also do this for other parking lots.

If you are traveling and need to crash for an evening, we recommend trying a casino.  Again, the only casino we didn’t stay at was the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Sioux City, IA.

Boondocking Overnight in Stores and Restaurants Parking Lots

Let’s be honest, Walmart parking lots are our most frequented parking lots.  Not all Walmarts allow overnight parking and we don’t like all Walmart parking lots for boondocking.  If we arrive before the store closes and do not see any other RVs, we will go inside and ask if overnight parking is allowed.  Sometimes, you don’t even have to go inside.  They will have signs posted all over the parking lot saying no overnight parking!

Before we arrived at the Flying J Travel Center, we visited the Walmart Parking Lot in Sioux Falls.  Per Campendium, it allowed overnight parking.  However, when we arrived, the parking lot was filled with “No Overnight Parking” signs.  And, we wouldn’t have boondocked there anyway.  The parking lot was small!  It was way, way too small for all the traffic to the Walmart and Sam’s Club right beside it.

We have sat overnight in some really nice Walmart parking lots.  They were away from the highway and much quieter than you would expect.  We always try to park the farthest away from the store entrance and sometimes you will see RVs sitting in a back parking lot.

However, we have also left Walmart parking lots.  Once we were traveling through a city and had decided to stay at a Walmart overnight.  I don’t remember the exact location of this city, but I believe it was in Montana.  We pulled into the parking lot, parking as far away from the building as possible.  When we looked around more closely, we noticed a lot of older RVs that appeared to be living there.

The final large warning light to us that we didn’t want to stay at this Walmart occurred while we were fixing supper.  A car with a couple and some children pulled in near us.  The children left the vehicle to stand on the corner of the street right above us, panhandling.  That was enough for us.  We packed up the camper and headed to the Cracker Barrel.

The Cracker Barrels that we have stayed at have a few nice, long RV spots.  They are usually around the back.  However, you should always go in and ask if overnight parking is allowed.  You will not have as much room to put stairs down and work out in a Cracker Barrel parking lot.  However, they are usually pretty quiet except for street noise.

Cabelas is a fabulous parking lot to sit for a night.  Usually you have a lot of room, with no other RVs near you.  We have seen a huge bus with a long trailer pull into a Cabelas to set up.  Although we usually only sit for one night (who wants to sit in a parking lot longer?), we did sit at one Cabelas for three days.  We were traveling west at the time.  For some reason, we needed to sit for a couple of days.  We went inside and talked to the staff in Cabelas.  They were very friendly and told us no problem to stay a couple of nights.

We were not the only RV staying for a few days in that particular Cabelas parking lot.  However, usually, Cabelas allows one night overnight parking.  They are usually very quiet spots, away from the downtown area, and are perfect for a good nights rest.

Because our stairs are the heavy type that you have to drop down, we usually try to park on the last passenger side slot.  We don’t want to block anyone else from parking.  Also, we don’t want someone to take out our stairs.  Whether it be in store parking lots, truck stops, or rest stops, we always try to park early enough to grab the last parking space on the right hand side.

Boondocking in Truck Stop Parking Lots – Always An Option

My husband drove for the oil field and over the road.  He has more experience with truck stops than I do.  When he first suggested that we pull over for the night in a truck stop from Texas to Missouri , I was hesitant.  That first experience was not our most comfortabl in a truck stop.

We had to pull the truck and camper into a middle spot.  Because we had no experience with our camper or stairs at that point, we didn’t park early to grab the far most parking spot on the right.

So, we were in a middle spot.  The first truck that pulled in beside us was super nice.  They gave us plenty of room to put our stairs down.  However, when he left, the next truck pulled in right beside us.  Jumping out of the camper, over the stairs, is not the most fun way to wake up.

We have learned a lot since that first experience at a truck stop.  On our way up to the beet harvest this year, we decided to stay overnight at a Flying J Travel Center.  We backed up the truck and camper into a truck spot way in the back.  Windell parked the camper perfectly next to an unhooked trailer.  When we pulled the stairs down, they landed right on the line.  It was the best night sleep we had in two days, parked between two tractor trailers!

If you do not arrive too late and you plan how you are going to park, truck stops are a fabulous overnight parking option.  We loved the Flying J back parking area.  The tractor trailers were still running.  But the camper was behind most of the noise and we slept like logs.  It was way better than the Walmart parking lots we popped a squat on for the previous two nights.

Be Careful of  Boondocking Overnight at Rest Stops

We have stayed at lots of rest stops.  You can’t beat Florida for the quality of its rest stops.  Usually they have water to fill your tank and sewer dumps.  Some are away from highway noise.  You can stay overnight at rest stops in Florida, with no issues.

We know when we travel through Florida, we will be staying at rest stops.  They are easy pulloffs from the main highways and interstates.  They usually have 24 hour security and we have never had any issues at Florida rest stops.  In fact, Florida rest stops are our favorite overnight boondocking parking lot!.

However, not all states allow overnight parking in their rest stops.  Some states allow twelve hour parking.  Some limit it to ten hour and others may only allow you to sit at a rest stop for four hours.

When we travel to a state and are looking for a parking lot for a night, we mainly use our Campendium app.  If you click on a rest stop parking and scroll to the bottom of the description, the app tells you how many hours you can legally stay at the rest stop.

We know some people break the rules.  While traveling on Interstate 29 North, we saw a Class C with two flat tires sitting at a rest stop that only allows ten hours.  If you read the comments in Campendium, people will say they stayed longer in a rest stop parking lot than what was allowed with no issues.

However, we don’t want to be those people.  We don’t want to risk having a knock in the middle of the night, startling us.  So, we avoid rest stops that do not allow overnight parking.

If they have signs of “No Camping”, we don’t stop for the night.  If the rest area states ten hours maximum, we don’t stop for the night.  When we travel and look for boondocking parking lots, we want to sleep and sit for at least twelve hours.  We are not speedy travelers.

So, if you are thinking about boondocking at rest stops, know the rules and beaware that they change from state to state.  No matter where we do pull into a parking lot for the night, whether a store, restaurant, truck stop, or rest stop, we do not run our generator overnight.  Although it probably would not bother tractor trailer drivers, it is just a habit we have to shut the generator off.

The Campendium App is a great resource to find parking lot and other boondocking sites.  Be aware, though, that you should scroll down the screen to see how many hours you can legally stay in the parking lot.  Also, ordinances change.  So, we always try to go into the store or restaurant or call ahead to ensure it is okay to park overnight.  Some of the spots we have found in previous years are no longer available for overnight parking.

Are We There Yet?

The hunting and pecking for boondocking parking lots is our least favorite way of traveling.  We enjoy knowing we have a campsite at our next location.  However, we have boondocked at various parking lots.  Casinos and rest stops are our favorite overnight parking spots.  Yet we have had some peaceful nights at Walmarts, and yes, even at truck stops.  But we miss our campgrounds when we boondock.  We love full-hookups and programmed coffee.

Although our full-time RV memberships provide us many options for campsites, some areas just are too expensive for us to stay in campgrounds.  So, we boondock in parking lots in these areas simply to travel through them quickly.  Sometimes you are just trying to get to greener grass.

Because we don’t want to be awaken or visited by the law, we try to make sure we know the stay limits in parking lots and talk with store staff to ensure overnight parking is allowed.   When we finally reach our next campground, we both let out a sigh of relief.  No more parking lot boondocking, no more driving around with a camper to find a spot for the night, and no more walking Walmart for exercise.  Finally, full-hookups and regularly scheduled programs!

RV Repairs are a constant when you live in an RV full-time.  There are many conflicting views on what RV to buy and how much you need to know to make your own RV repairs.  When we decided to RV full-time, we purchased a brand new Salem Hemisphere Lite 23 foot travel trailer from RV Nation for about $21,000.  After we purchased it, we took it to a dealership to have it inspected and fix anything they found.  Luckily, they found no real issues that required immediate repairs.

The first year on the road, our awning would not work.  So, we called a mobile RV tech for the first time to fix our awning.  The repair was simply reconnecting a wire.   The tech not only reconnected the wire, but made sure it couldn’t pop out again.  This was the start of our relationship with Mobile RV techs.

We have used a total of four mobile RV techs during our four years of Full-time RVing.  The last three technicians we used were called to repair our water pump.  We have replaced our water pump twice.  The water pump fails, and the fresh water tank will fill while connected to city water.  The water pump should not allow this to happen.  So, our most frequent repair to date on our travel trailer has been replacing the water pump.  The last time we replaced the water pump, we added a brass check valve to prevent the water from filling our fresh water tank even if the pump itself fails.

The last repair we had was the camper toilet valve replacement.  This is an easy repair.  We knew something was wrong when we began seeing water around the floor bolt on the toilet.  So, we had the part replaced.

If we have repairs that we do not feel comfortable fixing ourselves or if we want more information, we ask the park where we are staying for recommendations on RV Techs in the area.  Although we do research the most likely fix in YouTube, there is a lot of additional service technicians provide us.  We are always asking lots of questions about our RV.  Mobile techs are great sources of information, and for us, much better than exploring the internet.

We now know how to replace the seal that cracked on the front of our camper, that our slide out rubber does not need replacing, and that no leaks can be detected in our RV.  They have even offered us suggestions on installing a We-Boost on the camper.  We love asking questions and speaking with experts who have been in the field for over twenty years.  Many people simply look at the cost of the repair but do not consider the wealth of information you receive from a knowledgeable RV tech.  We appreciate all the advice and information most of our technicians have provided.  And, they have saved us quite a bit of money on their advice.

Many posts have been written on the poor quality of the Salem Hemisphere and the worst buying experience from RV Nation. We have been very lucky.  Our experience with both have been really good.  However, we are glad we had another dealership inspect our camper before taking her on the road.

Our travel trailer is now four years old.  The trim and cabinets on the inside show their wear and superglue has become one of our best fixes.  We have taken her to a trailer place in Okeechobee, FL and had our wheel bearings replaced and greased.  We have installed our silicone roof and continue to observe and maintain our RV.  However, we know she will not last forever and that the repairs on her will become more frequent.  We expect to replace her, hopefully way in the future, whenever the cost to repair her becomes too much.

For now, though, we fix what we feel comfortable doing ourselves and call Mobile RV Techs for the rest.  We have watched many YouTubers who insist that you must learn how to repair your RV yourself.  But don’t fret.  If you, like us, are not mechanical or if you are unsure about the fix, call a reputable RV tech.  We have only had one tech who stopped by but never returned to actually repair our RV.   No worries, though.  You only pay when the job is finished.  There is no shame in acknowleding that someone else is smarter than you in an area and that you can learn a lot from them.

When we started RVing Full-Time we watched a lot of YouTube videos and read a log of blogs on RVing.  Many of these recommended unneccesary RV improvements, renovations, and purchases.  2024 is our fourth year of full-time RV living!   We have learned so much about ourselves and our Full-Time RVing.  We have made few RV improvements to our little travel trailer as we are not remodelers nor are we mechanics.

Our little travel trailer has done amazing for us.  It is our means of comfort while not exploring and playing.  However, we are not people who are comfortable drilling holes, doing major rewiring, or making significant overhauls to our camper.  Our few RV improvements have been simple, easy, and have made our full-time RVing more comfortable for us.  We do believe in preventive maintenance, however, and try to inspect and clean our camper on a regular basis.

Our RV Improvements

Silicone Roof Sealant

For the first year of traveling, while we had warranty on our roof, we cleaned and took care of our rubber roof.  While sitting in North Carolina under trees, our rubber roof got black mold in some areas, although we never saw any punctures or integrity loss.   After North Carolina, we began investigating coatings for our roof to provide more protection and to minimize maintenance.  We decided to apply a silicone roofing layer to our camper.  This may not be the best choice among experts, and we are not RV techs.  However, we love our new roofing.

When our manufacturing warranty on our roof expired, we added the silicone layer.  We know that reseach indicates that rubber RV roofs should last ten years, and we had no issues with our rubber roofing.   However, we have also known people whose RV roofs had to be replaced within a year.  Because we are the sort of persons who like preventive maintenance, we wanted to avoid any obvious leaking or issues before they happened.

Our travel trailer now has two layers applied.  We really coated the areas around the skylights and fan bases with the silicone to make sure there were no leaks and to better insulate our little travel trailer.  The camper is definitely more insulated and more comfortable.  During the nights when it gets cold, we will still wake up with the camper about ten degrees warmer than the outside air.

Although we still inspect the roof a few times a year, we do so less frequently than when we had the rubber roofing only.  We were checking about every one to two months with the manufactured rubber roofing.  Now we check around every four to six months.  If we start seeing issues where areas are not covered or the silicone layer is reducing around the skylights, we will apply another layer.  And, if we purchase another RV with the rubber roofing, we have already decided to add the silicone layering after the warranty expires.

One of our favorite RV improvements is our silicone roof.  We have no issues that we are aware of.  It doesn’t leak, is well insulated, and stays cleaner.  Applying our due diligence, we even made sure our camper could handle the extra weight of the layer on the roof.  However, the slideout still contains the old rubber roofing.  It is not recommended to add roofing layers to slideouts and we wanted no issues.  So, we clean and maintain our rubber roofing on the slide.  But it is a small area that does not take long to clean.

We do not recommend everyone add silicone layering to their roof.  We are not experts and we are always learning more about our camper.  And we have made a lot of mistakes.  However, our silicone layer on our roof is one of our simple, but positive RV improvements.  Everyone should research and decide their own roofing maintenance and replacement if needed.  We do recommend that instead of YouTubers and Bloggers, however, asking questions of RV techs is the best way to decide on your personal RV improvements.

LevelMatePro for RVs without Automatic Leveling

We live and travel in a small travel trailer that we love.  It does not, however, have automatic leveling. We purchased many items when we first started RVing full-time that we did not need.  Again, we were led astray by many YouTubers and bloggers.  Yet, the LogicBlue Technology LevelMatePRO Wireless Vehicle RV Leveling System we purchased on Amazon has made leveling our travel trailer so easy.  You can turn it on any time before you set up.

Our four year old LevelMate Pro connects to our cellphone using bluetooth.  Please note, however, there have been many updates since we purchased ours.  After it connects, the app on our cellphone simply tells us which side needs to be raised and how much.  It also tells us how much we need to raise and lower the front jack to be level. The most difficult part of using the LevelMate is remembering to turn it off!  It is so easy to use we recommend this tool if you, like us, don’t have self-leveling jacks on your RV.

Leveling is very important to us and worth the extra money of purchasing the Levelmate Pro.  We do not put our slide out if our travel trailer is not level.  Also, we have been told that if you have a propane fridge, it is not good for it to run while not leveled.  Besides, Jessica does not like sleeping in an unlevel camper.  It is no fun to feel as if you are rolling downhill while flipping in bed.

New Battery and Solar – Our Favorite RV Improvements

Our first year of full-time RVing, we kept the lead acid battery that came with the travel trailer instead of replacing it.  Unfortunately, we did not know that if you let a battery empty, it decreases the ability of the battery to hold a charge.  At the end of that first year, when we pulled over in rest stops for the night, we only had lights for about fifteen minutes before the battery went dead.  Luckily, we carry lots of flashlights.

Our second year we knew we would have to boondock more on our trip out west, and we decided to upgrade our battery to a 200 ah AGM battery and purchase a 300 watt portable solar panel.  What a difference these two RV Improvements have made to our lives!  We know that if we sleep without a power hookup, we will still have lights in the morning and the refrigerator will be fine. While we stored the travel trailer for a month and a half and disconnected the battery, we still had 80 percent left on the battery.

When we need to replace the battery again, we will again purchase the 200 ah AGM again.  Lithium batteries are too expensive and require rewiring of our little travel trailer.   Many YouTubers praise the lithium batteries.  However, a RV tech that we respect warned us against them.  He warned that when Lithium batteries lose charge, they plummet instead of gradually losing charge.  Our AGM battery should lose charge a little at a time.

We do check our battery frequently, even if it is not hooked up to the camper, just to make sure it does not drop below 70%.  We learned our lesson with the first battery.  Temperatures can also affect batteries, so while we were staying with family over the winter, we still checked the battery and kept it charged.  Yet, if the battery charge becomes insufficient, we can easily buy a new 200 ah AGM battery and continue traveling.

Both the battery and the Jackery can be charged with our portable 300 watt solar panel.  The solar helped us out a lot charging the Jackery while truck camping.  And we like using the solar to charge our battery in our travel trailer while boondocking.  The 200 ah AGM batter, the 300 watt portable solar panel, the Westinghouse Inverter Generator, and the 500 Jackery are sufficient for our boondocking power needs and worth every penny we spent.  If we purchase another travel trailer, and upgraded battery will be one of our first RV Improvements.

Water Saving Showerhead

One very small RV improvement that we recommend for everyone is a water saving showerhead.  Windell wanted to upgrade the showerhead as soon as we purchased our travel trailer.  However, Jessica, not thinking it was a necessity, put it on the bottom of the list.  She changed her mind quickly while moochdocking with friends.  The water pressure was so low, the water barely dripped through the showerhead.  Taking a shower was frustrating and forget about washing your hair.  So, we went to Walmart and purchased a water saving showerhead.  What a difference!

Instead of trying to maneuver your body under the dripping, the new showerhead allows us to rinse our bodies and wash our hair without being a contortionist.  And, when we do have some pressure in the parks (even though we always use a pressure regulator), we can take some awesome showers.  The water in the shower can now hit the opposite wall!  We never experienced such great water pressure in the shower with the old showerhead.  This may be a told you so from Windell, but the water saving showerhead will also be one of the first upgrades in any RV we own going forward.

Reinforcing the Bumper

We had no issues with the original bumper from the manufacturer for the first year of RVing.  Therefore, we did not reinforce it.  We put the bike rack with two bikes on the bumper and took off with no worries.  We traveled from Missouri to Virginia, then south to Florida.  So, we may have been a little over-confident in our second year that the bumper was just fine, without reinforcement, traveling out west.

Then, we hit a huge pothole traveling from Washington State into Oregon.  Yep, the bumper ripped.  During the rest of the trip in the west, when we moved, we put the bikes inside the travel trailer and took them out at the next site.  This was an absolute pain in the you know what.

So, we had our bumper reinforced with some plates while we are sitting in our home state.  We have realized that putting our bikes inside to travel and outside when we get situated is not a long-term sustainable plan for us.  And after several months of traveling this way, we will try to make sure we never ever do that again.  Reinforcing your bumper right from the get go is a necessary RV improvement and will probably save you headache in the future.  As with everything on an RV, when it breaks, it may not be in the most convenient area to have it fixed.

Bidet

One of our most favorite unnecessary RV Improvement is our bidet.  We originally purchased our bidet to save on toilet paper and wet wipes for two reasons.  Jessica is trying to reduce the usage of throw away plastics while Windell rolls his eyes.  And we are on a tight budget.  The money spent on groceries cannot be spend on adventures.  So, we try to analyze our expenditures frequently and see where we can save money for more flights and boat trips.

The RV bidet by Clean Camper that we purchased on Amazon was easy to install.  We nonmechanics had no issues.  At first, we were uncertain about using a bidet.  Now, we love it!  It was one of the main comforts we missed about our travel trailer while truck camping.  It has saved us a lot on wet wipes and toilet paper usage.  However, we also feel cleaner.  No matter where we live in the future, we know we will want a bidet.

The few RV Improvements we have made to our little travel trailer has made our RVing full-time more comfortable and easier.  We are uncomfortable with major improvements that could affect the integrity of our camper.  Instead, we enjoy adding simple improvements that we can carry on to the next RV.  When we first started RVing Full-time, we watched a lot of YouTube and read a lot of blogs.  Some helped us a great deal, but many recommended major changes to our camper.  However, our first rule should always be Know Thyself.  Our few small improvements have been enough to make us feel comfortable without any major overhauls.

2024 is our fourth year of Full-Time RVing in our 23′ travel trailer.  We have seen a lot of things, learned a lot of things, and missed a lot of things from living in a sticks and bricks home.

Living in a Camper Full-Time

When we sold our house to start RVing Full-Time, we had no idea what we were getting into to. We simply knew we were tired of working long hours without spending enough time together. While traveling we thought we would also look for a permanant home area while on the road. We would explore areas and see if any fit our needs.

Our travel trailer is a lot smaller than any house we have ever owned, including our first one-bedroom house in town. When we moved into the travel trailer, we didn’t know what to keep and what to get rid of. We spent a lot of money on a storage shed and tripped over a lot of stuff all over our camper. After the first year, we finally organized our travel trailer.  Now, most everything has its place; although we still have a few things sitting around the bed.  After the first year, we also sold everything in storage and got rid of the storage shed.

We still do not have the space for everything in our travel trailer. For some reason, the more adventures we try, the more toys we want to buy. So, the wetsuits, snorkeling gear and boogie boards are in the back of the truck. One of the reasons we do not have room in the travel trailer, though, is that we are carrying coats and old clothes for the Sugar Beet Harvest we work every year. When we decide to no longer work the harvest, we will have more room in a travel trailer for our toys.

After figuring out our organization, there are still many other considerations to full-time RVing that may differ from living in a house. Internet is a biggie. We have a Thousand Trails membership. Although we love our membership because it offers us campgrounds in a lot of areas, their campgrounds are notorious for not having the best cell service.

We have Verizon cell service for both our phones and our jetpacks.  Because we do not work from home, we have the luxury of not requiring internet service full-time.  However, we are addicted to Amazon Prime.  And, we like to make videos, post blogs, and study Spanish.  So, internet access is still a daily ritual with us.  Right now, we are both sitting in the truck with the jetpacks on the weBoost in a Thousand Trails campground.  Our goal is to buy an additional antenna for the travel trailer.  Hopefully we can sit in our recliners and have internet!

Originally we purchased NETGEAR Omnidirectional MIMO Antennas from Amazon.  These atennas connect directly to our jetpacks.  They have greatly improved our cell service for watching television in most campgrounds.  However, we still do not have enough service in some areas to make phone calls.  Because we were truck camping this year, we also added the weBoost Drive Reach OTR – Cell Phone Signal Booster for Trucks and SUVs.   This has really made a difference in cell service curing our travels.  Especially as we rely a lot on GPS and Campendium for locations and boondocking.  Our Signal Booster works very well, which is why we are currently sitting in the truck for internet.

We have not tried Starlink.  However, we see many full-time RVers with the notorious Starlink receiver sitting on their roof or in their yard at campgrounds.  Right now, with our budget and how we want to spend our money, Starlink is not on our purchasig radar.  We will continue to rub our bellies while patting our heads to try to receive cell service at some of our campgrounds rather than subscribe to Starlink.

However, we have experienced internet issues even when we lived in a house in the country.  We could not make or receive phone calls in our dead zone.  For internet, we signed up with a satellite service that cost nearly $100 per month.  We still have issues when we visit our friends in this location.  So, having cell service issues is not uncommon to us, but we still cuss a little.  If we did work online, it would be more stressful.  This is one of the reasons we decided to not to pursue online jobs.  We didn’t want to fall back into stressful jobs while full-time RVing.  Cleaning toilets and working the beet harvest temporarily are enough for us right now.

We don’t consider the repairs on our travel trailer being any more frequent than repairs on our houses.  We have owned homes where the roof leaked, water flooded into the carport, and cinder blocks held the house up.  In our opinion, houses require a lot of maintenance.  And, the more bathrooms you have, the more stories you have, and the more windows you have, the more maintenance you have.  Now that our travel trailer is approaching five years old, it seems to require more repairs.  However, when the repairs become too costly, we have decided to buy a new, larger travel trailer with more storage.  Then, we can put our toys inside.  Of course, with us, nothing is set in stone.

One constant in our Full-Time RVing is the planning.  We usually move more slowly than most of the RVers we know.  We sit at our Thousand Trails campgrounds for two to three weeks.  This did change a little while we were truck camping this year.  We usually only stayed at a boondocking site for a few days.  But usually we will sit in an area for at least a week.  We do a lot of planning.  We plan our trip, our campgrounds, and our activities.  This was something very new to us from living in a house.  When we planned a small getaway from our house, it was usually last minute and for a few days.  Now, we plan months in advance and have several plans saved at once.  Just in case we change our minds.

What We Miss While Full-Time RVing

There are some really important things we miss from living in our sticks and bricks.  It is not the space of the house or the internet.  We miss our hobbies.  Although we have added a lot more fun hobbies while traveling, there are some activities we really enjoyed while staying put that are difficult to continue on the road.

Gardening on the Road is Difficult

Jessica loves gardening and having chickens.  When she lived in the country, she had fresh veggies throughout the summer and fresh eggs throughout most of the year.  She built cold frames and a hoop house and kept honey bees.  Some of the things Jessica misses most is picking a watermelon and dividing it to share with the chickens.  She misses mulching the grapes and blueberries and pulling weeds from the herbs and flowers.  Watching a plant grow in the spring from a bulb you planted in the fall can be so exciting.

Windell misses hunting and fishing.  He loved planting crops, including turnips, for the deer.  Then, he would set up game cameras to watch the deer eat and see how well they grew in the Spring.  Although he really enjoyed bow hunting in the fall, his real passion was caring for the land and the deer.  Both of us miss feeding the fish in the pond together while sharing a beer.

It is very difficult to continue the same hobbies we had in our homes while traveling.  Jessica has tried.  She irritated Windell until one year he carried grow bags full of Salvia and alpine strawberries in the back of the truck.  He would unload them everytime they moved to another campground and reload them when we left.  She still owes him for this, and he still lets her know she owes him.

When we are sitting at a spot for several months, Jessica will probably still try to grow some flowers and vegetables to satisfy her gardening itch.  And, if we ever do find a spot that we want to sit at permanently, we have already decided to have some gardening space and maybe a couple of chickens, if we can.  Of course, it all depends on where we will eventually end up.  Who knows!

Quitting Full-Time RVing

Although we thought we might find a new location to settle down on, we are not yet there.  Everytime we think about settling down again, we cannot imagine ourselves waking up to the same view day in and day out.  Also, we would have to settle down somewhere near the ocean.  Snorkeling has become the number one hobby for the both of us, beating even gardening and hunting.  We want to continue playing in the ocean, no matter where we end up.

However, right now we are excited about traveling overseas.  There are so many adventures that we have yet to try and so many places we still want to see!  As much as we love snorkeling, we are considering trying scuba diving.  So, no, we have no desire to quit full-time RVing as yet.  But, we do understand why many people do quit.  The desire for a constant location, more living space, and a desire to return to our previous hobbies would be the reasons we would quit, if we wanted to.