RV Off-Grid Living?

So, you’ve decided the city life is not the option you want to continue raising your family in? Welcome to the club!

While I completely understand if you are not one of those individuals who are ready to leave a suburban community, there are many families who are ready to go. We’ve spent around a year researching different means of RVing and I hope to give you some guidance on what might be the best option for you and your family. By no means am I an expert, but after a year of searching and finally settling one, I think I can certainly give some insight.

Before you get too excited about RVing, you need to sit down with your whole family (kids included, if they’re old enough) and talk out the pros and cons of moving into an RV. There are plenty of videos and lists out there for you to research on your own. I would recommend that if your spouse isn’t one hundred percent sold, you just might be fighting an uphill battle. We moved from approximately a fifteen hundred sq. ft. home with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, large kitchen, foyer, and an extra large family room down to a motor home.

One of the first things you need to take into account is the size of your family, because the needs of two retirees is quite a significant difference than a family of five. If you have any children or perhaps a spouse with a disability, this needs to be taken into account too. If you are a retired couple who are past their baby making years, then something like a converted van with camping toilet, bed, mini fridge and microwave might just be something you are interested in. Or if you drive a large truck such as an F250, you may want an attached camper so you can leave it at a campground while you drive around sight seeing without the burden of towing the camper around.

If you are married with one or two children, you may want to consider a converted school bus (lovingly called a “skoolie”) that can be customized to include full size kitchen and bunk beds for your children. You can find groups on facebook and other forums where skoolie fans hang out and begin to get the idea of the costs involved with customizing a school bus and really find out the pros and cons of that way of living.

The most I’ve seen is a family of four children with two parents in a large fifth wheel or park model RV that gives them the expanse of at least a single wide mobile home with the flexibility to get up and go whenever they want. Know that the more children you have, the harder it will be to find an already built vehicle to fit your needs. If you are willing to convert your table and fold out couch every single night into beds for your children then you have more options open to you. Many parents opt for bunk beds or a bunkhouse to give their children the ability to have their own little cave where they can have peace and quiet away from their own siblings and parents.

Take into account, whether you plan to travel frequently or if you are planning to park your RV on a piece of property in a rural area. If you have a large enough back yard you can purchase an RV, and kit it out with whatever you would need to leave in an emergency. If you decide to travel school with your children, you’ll need to have the financial means to pay for their schooling materials, campground fees, gas, vehicle maintenance and any unexpected costs that could arise. If you are intending on purchasing a rural piece of property in the boonies, you’ll need to look at the building codes in that specific county to see if it’s forbidden. While it may not be legal to live in your RV, there are still hundreds of families who do it because they have no other financial options available to them. And those intending on parking an RV in their backyard, need to look into not only local county zoning laws but HoA laws too.

I’ve compiled a list of questions for you and your family to sit down and discuss before taking on the weight of buying an RV or converted vehicle. These aren’t in any particular order but just as they came to me, so fair warning.

• Do you currently have any outstanding debt?
• Do you work from home or are you required to go into work somewhere?
• Do you, your spouse or children have physical limitations that prevent them from living in an RV?
• Are your children in public school or home schooled?
• Could you adjust to moving from a large home into a much smaller space?
• Are you willing to sell or give away the majority of your furnishings and live a much simpler pared down lifestyle?
• Are you willing to deal with family naysayers who may discourage you from leaving your current life?
• How do your children or spouse feel about RVing?
• How will you get electricity? water?
• Will you have a regular flushing toilet or composting toilet?
• If you intend on living in a rural situation, will you plant a garden or have farm animals? Who will be responsible for them?
• If you intend on travel schooling, do you have the financial means to pay for that lifestyle?
• How much time will your family spend inside versus outside while RVing? How will that effect what vehicle you chose?
• Will you buy a new or used model?
• Will your RV be for casual, part time or full time use?
• Will you have a truck/camper set up or motor home style?
• Do either you or your spouse have any training in the area of auto mechanics?
• Are you aware that motor homes and large RV’s require specialized engine bays to do any engine work? You can’t take them to normal mechanic shops fyi.
• Are you aware that there is a current shortage for certain tire models?
• Are you aware of the cost to replace tires on motor homes and converted vehicles?
• How will your family adjust from their current neighborhood environment into a new one?
• Do either you or your spouse have any handyman skills?
• Are you aware that certain RV parks have size limitations and will not let RV’s over a certain size stay on their property?
• Do you and your spouse have good communication skills? When breaking down or setting up an RV, you will both be required to have complete focus so there isn’t any accidents.
• Will your children be able to cope with less toys and electric entertainment?
• Will you be staying at campgrounds that provide electricity or will you be boondocking in a national forest?
• Will you be using solar power if you live off-grid?
• Will you be able to cope using a smaller kitchen or will you invest in a rig with a full size kitchen?

Speaking of RVing, the recent lag in my postings is due to the fact that myself and crew have left the city for the option to live that country lifestyle. Woot! We are desperately trying to get back to having some semblance of normalcy, so hopefully more postings will come soon.

P.S. I still very much believe you have the legal right to live the best homesteading life in a suburban environment, but I will be expanding my postings to include lessons and interests to those who live in a rural environment as well.