6 Benefits Of Fulltime RVing

Why I Choose To Live In A Camper

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Thijs
1 Comment
The days that RV s were solely for retirees are over. More and more young people d
eliberately choose to live in a motorhome, RV or campervan.
It s not only those who are blessed with a location-independent job such as online
entrepreneurs, digital copywriters, and artists who are making the step towards
a less consumerist, more free and fullfilling life.
Also students, nomadic minimalists taking jobs on the road, as well as urban ste
alth campers with normal day to day jobs are opting for this somewhat rebellious
form of living.
Stepping out of the treadmill and living the nomadic life is quite appealing for
reasons ranging from idealism to affordability to practicality. I myself am pla
nning to living the RV life soon. Here are my main motives.

6 Reasons For Fulltime Motorhome Living

1. Because I can

leaving the stiffling ideology of the American Dream behind

leaving behind the stiffling ideology of the American Dream
I m in the privileged position of having a location independent job. I don t have a
mortgage, children or a wife. I love to go hiking or do other outdoor activities
and just really like to spend time outside as much as I can. The simple joys of
having breakfast amidst the dewy grass or drinking a beer while watching the st
ars in the nightly sky nearly equal happiness to me.
I don t need much space either. A VW vanagon is a tad bit too crampy for my taste
but a somewhat more spacious RV will meet my needs just fine. What s just as signi
ficant to me is that I feel an instinctive aversion towards the corporate consum
erist life. A nice house in the suburbs, children, two cars, and a neatly mowed
lawn, you know the American Beauty scenario, are not things I particularly fancy
to put it mildly.

2. Freedom

RV-living-sunset
what s better than a home with seaview? a home with lots of different (sea) views
This one is obvious. I love to travel and explore. To meet new people from all k
inds of trades. See new parts of the world. Who doesn t? The force of wanderlust i
s strong in me. I always felt affinity with the lifestyle of vagabonds, troubado
urs, gypsies, nomads, hobos, you name it.
What s more is that I suffer from winter depression. I feel tired and gloomy due t

o the lack of light during the short winter days. By migrating to a sunnier part
of Europe I will be able to feel better and be more productive in my work too.
In a sense it will liberate me from the restraining influence of the dark numbin
g winter.

3. Because it is more affordable

motorhome piggy bank

you can save money by moving into your RV
It is widely known that owning a motorhome is expensive. But if you live in your
motorhome permanently those are your only costs. You can buy a decent used RV f
or under $10,000 and there are lots of locations that offer free or very afforda
ble parking and camping.
I wouldn t go as far as to say you can reduce your daily living expenses to near z
ero. You have to pay for occasional campsite fees, taxes, insurance, maintenance
and so on. There s also value depreciation of your RV. A house may increase in va
lue but a camper will only reduce in value. But it could cost you considerably
less than living in a rented or bank-bought home.
I have never owed money to a bank and fairly, I m done with paying rent too. I thi
nk rents are ridiculously high. When you ve experienced financially tougher times
you ll know what it s like when almost all your income goes to rent and utilities.
Now I don t need to for financial reasons but I choose to live in a camper. And ma
ybe, some day, if I ll find a nice spot, I will build my own house from salvaged m
aterials. Or trash even. I don t care. I feel no rat race compulsion. There s no imp
osed cultural prestige stress here. The so common look-at-all-the-stuff-I-can buy
peer pressure is alien to me. Actually I think that s real poverty. Blindly follow
ing the herd into oblivious materialism.

4. In order to pay off debt or avoid it all together

avoid the debt trap

avoid the debt trap
You wouldn t be the first who managed to throw off the shackles of debt by switchi
ng to living fulltime in an RV. By selling your home and living in a motorhome (
for a while) you can cut back on costs and save a lot of money. Adam Baker, you
may know him from his Man vs Debt website or TED Talk Sell Your Crap. Pay Your D
ebt. Do What You Love , did.
Being debt free is a form of freedom. You may think of the phrase debt is slavery
as an overstatement but if you think about it you ll know it s not. Pubilius Syrus a
lready said it; Debt is the slavery of the free . The fact that the world s financial
system collapsed and had to be bailed out by taxpayers at a cost of billions ma
y have awakened you. Millions of people are still suffering from lower living st
andards or even lost their jobs and homes due to the recession brought on by the
collapse.

At the same time almost no bankers have faced legal sanctions for their part in
precipitating the crisis. Nor have there been major adjustments in regulatory le
gislation allowing this to happen. This system is rotten, it s not there for your
interests, and it may wise to consider to what degree you want to be part of it.

5. I love the sea and ocean

home-is-where-you-park-it
nomadic beach bum-ism FTW
I spend a lot of time on the beach. I love stand up paddling, kitesurfing, swimm
ing, strolling down the beach or just the view of the sea or ocean. No matter ho
w often I go, the effect never wears down, it s pure magic to me. So for me fullti
me RVing is the logical step towards downsizing.

6. Out of some sort of idealism

No, this is not the Breaking Bad RV

no, this is not the Breaking Bad RV yet this picture does stand for doing what y
ou love no matter what s imposed by the system
I think people shouldn t be forced to buy a home or rent an expensive place. Curre
ntly, in a way, we are. Sure, you can live in an RV but there often are no affor
dable parking opportunities defeating one of the purposes of mobile living.
In many countries there are building codes that do not even allow you to build a
tiny house. Nor do you have the liberty to live in a vehicle. Not long ago it w
as even forbidden to sleep in your camper when you were tired from a long day of
driving. This absurdity was straightened out recently by European legislation.
I think it should be a basic human right to live in any kind of dwelling, no mat
ter its size or original purpose. It s ludicrous that you can build a mansion of e
pic proportions but if you want to go small you are not allowed to. It s yet anoth
er example of how corporate interests have take over politics corroding basic hu
man rights.
Which is why I applaude somewhat defiant trends such as urban stealth camping, b
oondocking and clever ways to bypass building codes as is often done with tiny h
omes.

Disclaimer:
It s not my intention to over-romanticize fulltime motorhome living. Fulltime RV l
iving may be less enjoyable for the claustrophobic, arachnofobic, dual left hand
ed individual who owns lots of stuff and loves to take long showers. For me howe
ver, the cheaper, lighter, independent existence is what ticks the box.

What do you think? Would you live permanently in an RV?

Shout it out in the comments section below.

Image credits: VW campervan, Beverley Goodwin Flickr. Debt free sign, DIY Preppi
ng. Van at ocean, Kickstarter. The Breaking Bad RV , AsWeTravel.
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One Response to 6 Benefits Of Fulltime RVing Why I Choose To Live In A Camper
Robert Platt Bell says:
January 26, 2015 at 8:48 pm
Your approach to RVing makes sense buy something affordable, easy to drive (or t
ow) that gets reasonable gas mileage, and pay cash
and have no debt!
Unfortunately, the Industry sells the opposite idea
buy a $300,000 motorcoach on a
20-year loan, so you are upside-down most of the time. Then stay at Motorcoach res
orts which cost $65 a day (daily rate) or hundreds per month (enough to pay rent
on an apartment).
And the Industry can sell this idea, because ONE COMPANY owns all the RV magazin
es, the largest chain of dealerships, the largest chain of RV parts and repair s
hops, the largest chain of resorts, the two campground guides, the largest RV cl
ub in the world, and so forth. And they sell financing, extended warranties, roa
dside assistance, etc. They can sell the entire package, all on time.
We have a small paid for older trailer (Casita) and spend three months a year in i
t. It is a lot of fun, but I am not sure it is cheaper, even at that level, than
paying $700 a month to rent an apartment (the going rates around here).
The big problem is, for older folks, what happens when a spouse gets sick or die
s? Planning the end game is important. RVing full-time may be fun, but eventually,
it helps to have a place to land.
I have seen, firsthand, oldsters living in rundown trailer parks in ancient RVs,
as they have no place to go and no money left. Not a way to spend the golden ye
ars. And I have seen the EMTs smash open the doors to take out the occupants in
body bags.
Rving is fun and you should do it when young

and on a budget!

But these monster motor homes turn into financial nightmares in short order, IMH
O.
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