Why I Love Living In A Vehicle

Most people probably think that living in a vehicle is not “normal” and probably a little weird, haha. Many people even make jokes about living in a home with wheels, like it’s something you shouldn’t aspire to. But, it’s my life, and I really, really love it! RVing is becoming more and more popular too….

Written By:

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Last Updated: May 27, 2023

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Most people probably think that living in a vehicle is not “normal” and probably a little weird, haha.

Many people even make jokes about living in a home with wheels, like it’s something you shouldn’t aspire to.

But, it’s my life, and I really, really love it!

RVing is becoming more and more popular too. According to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, there was a 17.2% increase in new RVs over just the previous year. That is a HUGE increase.

And, more than 9,000,000 households now own an RV, and surprisingly, the largest segment of buyers are between the ages of 35-54. More and more younger people are starting to see the appeal in RVing, and I have been hearing from so many readers who are interested in starting their own RV life.

While I know that traveling full-time and RV life isn’t for everyone, I also know that I don’t want to live in a “normal” home again anytime soon.

Now, don’t get me wrong, living in a house can be great. And, when I owned one, I loved it at the time. However, I just love living in a vehicle much, much more.

We’ve been doing some extensive traveling (in our Jeep) and living in a vehicle (our RV) for around 3 years now, and this has become our new normal, and I love it. And, we’re about to move onto a boat (more on that in a later blog post)!

If you’re interested in RVing, check out other RV-related content:

Here is why I love living in a vehicle:

I love the freedom.

Whether you’re living in a van, an overland vehicle, a big motorhome, or anything else, living in a vehicle gives you a lot of freedom.

You can choose where you want to live, and you can mix it up and change it all the time. You can also decide how long you will stay somewhere and travel however you want. Perhaps the city is for you? Or, maybe you just want to hike all the time! Whatever you decide, it’s about living your life how you want.

I love having all of my stuff with me.

You’ll see this talked about further below as well – but I really enjoy traveling in an RV because I can travel to tons of amazing places and bring everything I have with me.

While that may sound like I’m a hoarder and may have suitcase packing problems – it’s really just that I like to be able to bring my husband, dogs, my work, my clothes, food, outdoor gear, and so on with me.

Living in an RV just makes sense due to that because I can easily bring everything with me, wherever I go.

And, it’s more than just going on a vacation, which is nice too, but I love being able to bring my entire home with me. This way, I’m not forgetting anything, and because my home is always with me, I still get to live comfortably.

I can be in perfect weather 24/7 when living in a vehicle.

I always get asked how we decide where we travel to in our RV.

The great thing about living in a vehicle is that you can MOVE it depending on the weather. And, that’s exactly what we do.

Since we can park our home wherever we want, we, for the most part, follow the weather. We like to stay in temperatures that are just perfect for us – somewhere around 70 degrees year round, minimal bad/scary weather, etc.

What we usually do is go north for the summer and down south for the winter. While I do wish the summer months were a little bit longer in some areas, there are plenty of places to explore further south while the rest of the United States is receiving a lot of snow.

Following the weather is something that we truly love.

I can live wherever I want.

Do you want to live near the beach? What about being near a city? Perhaps the mountains are for you? Oh, maybe it’s the desert?

Whatever strikes your fancy, you can pretty much do it when living in a vehicle.

We have parked our RV right on the coast and have had amazing beach sunsets. We have also enjoyed perfect winter weather in the desert (while everyone else was experiencing snow, it’s perfect in the desert). We have parked in national parks and have gone hiking right from our door. We have also parked in cities and have experienced that side of it too.

Living in a vehicle can really allow you to live in so many different areas – there’s something for everyone!

Just a few years ago, I never thought I’d live in an RV. It was never a dream of mine or anything like that.

However, one step into an RV and I knew it was for me. Living in our RV has been the best thing ever, and we truly love it.

Since me, my husband, and our two dogs began RV life, we’ve traveled tens of thousands of miles in our RV, with even more miles put on our Jeep.

Living in an RV means that you can live wherever you want. The United States has so many beautiful places to see and live, and because it would be hard to just pick one place, RV life allows us to live in as many as we want.

I can spend more time outside.

I’m much more active than when I lived in a “normal” house, and I believe that’s because living in a vehicle brings me to all of these amazing places that I just am dying to explore, hike, bike, and more.

We love being able to do things outdoors, and we usually pick places that make that even easier. So, we like to park next to hiking trails, bike trails, rock climbing routes, and more.

This is great because we can usually just walk or ride our bikes to wherever we want to go, which allows us to spend a ton of time enjoying the beautiful outdoors.

I can easily travel with my dogs.

A major reason for why we chose to live in an RV was because we, of course, had to bring our dogs with us. They are a part of our family.

By traveling via RV, our dogs can go everywhere with us. While it would be possible to travel full-time with them and not live in an RV, I think it just makes it easier on everyone to have a place to call home. Or, at least, it’s easier on me! 🙂

Living in a vehicle means I can leave when I don’t like my neighbors.

I think pretty much everyone has lived next to a neighbor that they didn’t like. The great thing about living in a vehicle is that because you have wheels, you can just move your home if you have a crazy neighbor or someone who you don’t get along with!

And, trust me, we have done this a few times in order to get away from some not-so-friendly and/or crazy people and situations.

I like not having a lot of stuff.

I’m the type of person who can get frazzled over the smallest stuff, and I much rather prefer to be laid back. So, my solution to this is to just have less stuff because then I have less to worry about.

Living in a vehicle means that you’ll have to downsize. While some people may not like the idea of this, getting rid of nearly all of your stuff is a great feeling, and I’m so glad I did it.

When we sold our house and moved into an RV, we donated and got rid of a lot of our belongings. At first, it was difficult to get rid of so much, but it became easier as time went on.

These days, all we have is what we have with us. We have a small amount of everything, and we like it best this way.

We are much more mindful of what we buy, we waste hardly anything, and this is allowing us to save money as well. Plus, we have less things that need to be repaired, less things to replace, and so on.

And, when you’re RVing, you no longer have a need to buy as much stuff because the outdoors take up all of your time. Before, we would waste time going to the mall, Target, and other stores, but we hardly ever do that now. Instead, we spend a lot of our time exploring new places.

I can spend more time with those I love.

One question I get a lot is, “But don’t you miss everyone – like friends and family?”

Surprisingly, by living in a vehicle, we are actually able to see more of our friends and family. This is because we can park our home right in their driveways (sometimes, we can’t always fit), or somewhere nearby.

We have family and friends all over, so before it was hard to see them all. Now, we actually see them more and have a lot more fun.

I have less maintenance and repairs.

Since my home is a lot tinier, I also have less repairs and maintenance. There’s no yard to mow, leaves to rake, less monthly bills to handle (electricity, water, sewer, trash, etc. are usually just one campground “bill”), etc.

One of the best things about not having a normal home is that we save a lot of time when it comes to routine things that come with a normal house.

With an RV, we do have some new tasks and maintenance chores that don’t go along with a house, such as dumping our sewage. I can imagine the looks on all of your faces, but it’s just routine RV life for us now.

I can work and travel all at once.

I absolutely love being able to work and travel. It gives me motivation to do better, and having an amazing view while I work is refreshing as well as beautiful.

Living in a vehicle makes working and traveling much easier, especially since I can just bring my whole life wherever I want to go – and work while I’m at it!

Others can do it too – you don’t need to blog like I do. We’ve met people who are retired, but others are like us and also trying different things in order to make their traveling dreams a reality. I know that thinking about making money while traveling can be a scary thing for many people, but it has really allowed us to live our dream life.

This factor is something that holds many potential full-time travelers back, but it shouldn’t! Don’t let making money on the road hold you back from living your dream. Even though it may seem big, it’s something that can usually be worked around.

Related articles on how to make money while traveling:

To be able to live in an RV full-time, I run an online business which consists mainly of this blog – Making Sense of Cents. It is a lot of fun being able to work and travel at the same time.

At first, I thought it would be difficult. I thought internet service would be hard to find, that I would be too distracted, and so on.

I’ve come to find that I’m more motivated than ever when it comes to working, and having a great view out my window each day definitely helps as well.

If I want to take a break from work and go on a hike, I can do that. If I want to go on a mountain bike ride in the morning before I start answering emails, I can do that.

The list goes on and on!

Living in a vehicle makes traveling and working (and living) much more enjoyable because I can bring my home everywhere I go. I don’t have to worry about forgetting something, bringing a suitcase, or anything – I just have it all with me.

Living in a vehicle is fun.

Sure, living in a “normal” house may be fun, but living in an RV is a lot of fun for all of the reasons mentioned above.

Everything is just more fun in an RV, haha! Eating at home is more fun, working is more fun, watching a scary movie in an RV is more fun, and the list goes on and on.

Living in a vehicle brings us a lot of joy, and I’m so very glad that we are able to do this.

Are you interested in living in a vehicle or traveling full-time? Why or why not?

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Author: Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Hey! I’m Michelle Schroeder-Gardner and I am the founder of Making Sense of Cents. I’m passionate about all things personal finance, side hustles, making extra money, and online businesses. I have been featured in major publications such as Forbes, CNBC, Time, and Business Insider. Learn more here.

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