18 Things I Never Did Before Moving into a Motorhome

Today our family will be celebrating the one-year anniversary of living in our motorhome as a “full-time family.”  It was chaotic and crazy downsizing from a six-bedroom home into only 400 sq. feet, but we took the plunge and eventually hit the road on an amazing family adventure.  Prior to moving into our coach, I had certain ideas of what to expect, including high hopes and definite fears.  But I sometimes sit back and laugh at the sorts of things we do, routine or not, that I had never imagined doing in our lives.  Here is a list of 18 of them…

Before I moved into a motorhome, I had never:

1. Driven my “house.”  Admittedly, it took me several months on the road before I was anything more than a backseat driver.  But once I faced my fears, it was awesome!  You can check out that experience here.
   

   Ali cheered me on and snapped this photo before takeoff the first time I drove the motorhome.

2. Spent time in the shower with my neighbors.  This may require some explaining!  During a tornado warning, we had nowhere to go for safety except the campground bathrooms, which were made of concrete block, and the corner shower seemed the strongest section of the building.  So there we were, all having a “block party” in the women’s shower!
3. Given our home a name.  We affectionately call ours Galactica or The Big “G.”
   

   Here she is, Galactica in all her glory!  This was taken on BLM land near the north entrance of Joshua Tree National Park.

4. Leveled our home on a regular basis (or ever, for that matter).
5. “Set up house” in a parking lot.  I mean, how many people can say they live at Walmart and mean it literally?  Yes, we are usually at campgrounds, but we have spent our fair share of nights at Walmarts all across this great nation.
6. Felt my entire “house” shake on a gusty day.  This is just as disconcerting as it sounds, especially when winds hit 60 mph in Death Valley and you begin to think its name is quite apropos.  Click here for a video of that wild day.
7. Played Tetris in my refrigerator.  RVers are so proud of their mad Tetris skills when putting away groceries that they’ll post interior fridge photos over which others in the RV community marvel and respond with highest praise.  Kudos to people who live on the road without residential fridges!  Display those fridge photos with pride!
8. Kept an overflow pantry outside our front door.  There really was no other choice; pantry space inside our rig consists of two small cabinets and a storage ottoman.  By designating the bay storage nearest the front door to serve as a pantry, we are able to stock enough food and supplies to carry us over during extended stays in rural areas, far from any real grocery store.
9. Stored our dishes in cabinets above the couch.  Experience taught us that wise people velcro opposing cabinet handles together before driving to keep said cabinets from flying open and bombarding their children’s head with dishes.
10. Served meals on my child’s bed.  Seriously.  Who keeps a sleeper-table in their dining room?
11. Thought about which was more important- using the dryer or the stove- at any given moment.  Until RVing, I could use every appliance in my home at the same time.  So if I wanted to bake a cake, fry chicken, wash laundry, run the dishwasher, and blow-dry my hair all at the same time, I totally could.  AND I could even have my heater or air conditioner running smoothly in the background.  Of course, I’ve never actually needed to blow-dry my hair while cooking, but at least we never had breakers tripping while using multiple appliances simultaneously.
12. Been sprayed with raw sewage when flushing the toilet.  This is what happens when one’s husband leaves the San-T-Flush system filling with water that has nowhere to go, thereby placing the black tank under incredible pressure in need of an outlet;  I was the lucky one to provide its release.
13. Had raw sewage overflow the toilet, soaking the bathroom, hallway, living room and dining room.  The carpets smelled just lovely that night.  My husband explains how that happened here.  Did I mention this took place on our oldest son’s birthday?  Talk about being a party pooper!
    

    It was just awesome receiving a call while at the grocery store telling me I couldn’t come home without a carpet cleaning machine. I was somewhat scared to set foot inside my door upon my return.

14. Hiked so often.  Although the kids complain about this quite regularly (they’d rather be home playing video games), we enjoy it and have made some pretty incredible memories on the trail.
15. Been on the desert floor one minute and atop a snowy mountain 10 minutes later.  Having grown up on one flat peninsula (Michigan) and spent the second half of my life on another flat peninsula (Florida), I didn’t even know this was possible.  But it is, and it’s amazing!
    

    We spent my birthday at Mt. Jacinto State Park, a ten-minute tram ride from the desert floor in Palm Springs, California.

16. Met new neighbors every few days.  This is one of the coolest parts of an RV lifestyle.
17. Asked friends what state they were in every time we communicated.  “Hey!  How ya doin’?  Still in California?  No?  Where are you now?  How long will you be there?  What state are you heading to next?”
18. Befriended  so many people of various cultures, religions, political stances, careers, and financial backgrounds on such a regular basis.  I’ve always loved diversity in my friendships, and this lifestyle lends itself quite naturally to meeting a variety of people.
19. Shown our children the world.  Did I say there would only be 18 items on my list?  I think this is a worthy bonus, bringing the total to 19!  Let’s be real here.  Planning vacations to even half of the places we’ve been would have been impossible living a “normal” lifestyle, given the vacation time and expenses required.  RVing simplifies planning, packing, and paying and allows us to see more than we ever could have imagined!
    

    Our plans are to travel from Key West to Alaska and everywhere in between!  This photo was taken at the very beginning of our journey.

So there are some of the unusual scenarios we find ourselves in as full-time RVers.  Are you a fellow full-time family?   What are some of the quirky situations you’ve encountered that are unique to this lifestyle?  Leave a comment; we’d love to hear your stories!