Like all other types of RVing in the United States today, there is an increase in full time RV lifestyle of late.
For the uninitiated, full-time RV living is exactly what it sounds like, living in your RV year-round, as your primary residence.
There are basically four types of full time RV living: full-time traveling, full-time living in an RV park, full-time living while following jobs around the country, called the nomads, and full-time living as a solution for the homeless, parking anywhere along the street and living there until forced to leave.
Let’s talk about each of these in a bit more detail.
Full time RV living/traveling
This style is RV travel to the max, with people choosing to live in their RV year-round, traveling from city to city, staying for weeks at a time in RV parks or boondocking, living off their retirement funds and savings. Membership associations like Thousand Trails and KOA are perfect stopovers for those who live this RV lifestyle.
Is it an expensive lifestyle? There are several full-time RVers on YouTube who break down their yearly expenses for the curious, and they all seem to agree that one can live this traveling lifestyle on about $30,000-$40,000 per year. Fuel and lodging are the main expenses, with other expenses dependent upon their particular way of living i.e. do they go to tourist sites often, do they eat at restaurants on a regular basis.
Full time RV living in an RV park
This type of RV life requires no RV travel at all. One purchases an RV, finds an RV park, or mobile home park as they are also called, parks it and lives there year-round. Rental fees plus utilities can run anywhere from $500-$1,000 per month, and of course there is also the cost of the RV, but generally speaking this is a fairly inexpensive RV lifestyle.
Full time RV living as nomads
Full-time living, RV life on the road, but working to cover expenses . . . this is the life of the nomad in today’s world, and it is gaining popularity rapidly. With the increased popularity of remote work sites, with many younger people able to do their jobs on the internet, we see more and more people opting for this footloose way of life rather than the 9-5 office lifestyle and a home in the suburbs.
For those who can’t work remotely, online, we have the nomads who simply move their RVs to the next worksite. Some work on farms, following the harvests; some work at tourist sites like Yellowstone, working the tourist season and then moving on to another part-time job. At many of these job sites, RVers are allowed to park their RVs for free, so expenses are cut considerably.
Obviously, this constant RV trip lifestyle requires an ability to make money, but as long as there is a steady stream of income, this lifestyle can go on indefinitely.
Full time RV living as the homeless
And, finally, the saddest of the four options, and this option can be found in any major city in the U.S. The increasing problem of homelessness has led to many homeless choosing to buy a damaged or neglected RV, for very little money, and then use that RV as shelter instead of living in a tent on the streets. In most cities, RVs can be parked along city streets for a number of days before they are required to move to a different spot, but that is barely a deterrent and can be easily handled by simply moving the RV ten feet down the road to a new spot.
Is Full time RV living for you?
This lifestyle certainly isn’t for everyone, but with the rapidly rise in home prices around the country, many people are realizing that they will never be able to save enough money to purchase a home, so they are turning to alternatives like RV living and tiny homes. Until the economy changes, and until property values go down, we are likely to see a further increase in full time RV living in the United States.
