F&O did not go tourist-ing much this past week, as there has been a move to another part of AZ and some of the pokers to attend prior to the move (will be addressed in a separate post). Flynn has decided to jot down some observations about full-time RV living from his point of view (with the help of the editor, of course).
Flynn and Ollie have been living full-time in Bebop since June of 2022. When asked where they are from, their response is “bourgeois homeless” . This has been a matter of some discussion between F&O, as finding the right description of their ‘home’ location has been difficult. Most readers know that Bebop is a rolling condo, as opposed to what most envision a “we live in an RV” conjurs up: rusty broke down 18 ft class C tan and white POS. The F&O rig has a bath and a half, king bed, huge shower, double sinks, 4 burner stove and almost every bell and whistle available on a 5th wheel. Glamourous, for sure. The bird and otter travel around the country, wherever & whenever they want, see what there is to see, in their own home without paying property taxes, doing yard maintenance, or spending hours on housework.
But is it really glamourous? Is it as simple as driving to the next desired location? Is it an affordable way to live? Let’s dive in to the challenges:
Privacy is nearly non-existant. Living in 450 sf (with the slides out) with another being is a test of one’s relationship. Every burp and bathroom visit is audible from most any part of the rig. When moving about the cabin, it is inevitable your house-mate will be in the way. There are not many doors to close for physical separation, and outside is the only place to go to ‘get away’. Fortunately, love will overcome this issue.
Laundry is a thing. If you are coming from a brick & mortar with a washer and dryer, going back to college days having to use a laundromat is mildly cumbersome. Getting quarters, having to physically drag clothing and sheets to and from. Ugh . Most RV resorts have laundromats, which is convenient, but it is still a pain. Otherwise you are stuck with finding one in town, hanging about guarding your underwear.
Finding Accomodations should be a breeze, but it’s not.
Boondocking (dry camping): Turns out it’s not as easy as just pulling up somewhere, popping the slides, and enjoying a cold beer in your beach chairs. When the rig you live in is the size of a semi truck and weighs 18k pounds, one cannot just park any ol’ place. Sure, BLM land and National Forest land are free to use, but in reality there are only certain locations a big rig can get into, and the land management folks have started cracking down on where one can actually camp. Find a place that’s permissable? Cool – have you checked egress/ingress, turn radius, ground stability, and levelness? Pulling in is easy, getting out is a bitch if you your jacks have sunk or you can’t turn around to get out.
RV Parks: Like the rest of the bougeois homeless, F&O prefer to follow the weather. This means the SW for the winter, where it is sunny and dry. EVERY other RVer is going to the same place so finding a park with available sites that can take a 44 ft rig is a huge challenge. When you arrive, is it what they advertised? Pictures on the internet are not a thing, so the research into finding and approving of a place is a gigantic time-suck. Flynn wants to feel it is safe to leave the RV unattended while he goes tourst-ing. These days most good locales are booked out a year in advance and that bring us to:
Cost of accomodations specifically. Nice RV resorts are now ranging from $60-90/night on average. Some have discounts for weekly stays, but frankly that 10% doesn’t mean squat. Monthly is the way to go, but finding a monthly spot is difficult at best in the SW winter and when one wants to travel, staying for a month in one location is not appealing. Less pricey parks are less pricey for a reason – fewer amenities, maybe a rougher crowd, more full-time residents. F&O had what they thought was a reasonable budget for accomodations originally. Not so much any more (see boondocking above).
Electronic Communication is the only way to survive on the road. Email, banking, bills communicating with family online, etc is a necessity if one is a full time traveller. Suprise! There are places in this country that do not have cell service nor interrnet connectivity. This is a specific problem for Flynn who likes his streaming at night, Twitter and email connection. Do you have satellite, starlink, in-house wi-fi, and/or how much are you willing to spend? If your vibe is to go dark, there are tons of places to go. If you can’t stand being away from that connection, you best do your research ahead of time before you park and set up.
Mail & Packages are not a thing anymore. If you hope to survive on the road, moving about, you will need to invest hours and hours into contacting every contact you have, personal and business to get off snail mail communications. Also one must get a private mailbox with forwarding service or a family member / friend who will do this for you. No matter what, the dumba-s that send junk mail won’t stop, like grocery mailers and insurance sales. Need to get something from Amazon? Cool – you must plan way way ahead, know exactly where you are going to be, can you get mail there, is there a locker nearby? What if the shipment comes early or is delayed? It is easier to shop in a real store, assuming the price difference is not prohibitive.
Weather is a concern, despite being in a rig designed for all weather and full-time living. Bebop has 3 air-conditioners, a furnace, a heat pump, and a fireplace. None of these work like a brick & mortar house HVAC work. It is almost always too hot or too cold inside the rig, and constant adjustments are needed. Some of these work on propane, some work on electricity. If you run out of propane while boondocking then no heat or A/C. Three ACs cannot (okay, should not) run on the generator (at least if you wanna run the fridge or microwave), so boondocking in very hot weather without electric is not gonna happen comfortably. High winds can tear slide-toppers, and too far below freezing temps will freeze pipes even though the underbelly is heated. Rain is not a problem, as long as the rig is on solid ground (no sinking) and the roof seals are good, and snow – well… too much and who knows? Flynn and Ollie don’t really plan on finding out, as getting out of inclement weather is the whole point.
Flynn has more realities of RV living to add, but is going to hold off reporting on them for episode #2. We hope you enjoyed this 6 month check-in, or that it at least gave some food for thought.
Fin
Flynn