How we Plan Out the Next Adventure(s) – Part IV – Guest Writer: The RV Husband

So this will be my last week for a while as Sarah will be returning next week. Our final addition arrived and she needed a quick maternity leave with less focus as she had other things to celebrate 😊. In this (IV) post segment (Part I, Part II, Part III), I wanted to give some light on some events that Sarah and I experienced or came across and had seen little covered in detail as we hit the road. For Part IV, I wanted to give some perspective as someone who had not extensively pulled a large trailer. Not only had I never spent a night in an RV, I had never done any consistent trailer towing. I’ve come to realize there are important expectations to understand if you plan to embark on this path. Giving some thoughts about the mindset of RV life in general that you need to be prepared for. **These should not be excuses to try and opt out of exploring the road.

For your traditional road-trip you can pack a bag, a cooler, top off the gas, and hit the road at 80 MPH (Maybe 90 😉), weaving through traffic and making minimum stops for bathroom breaks and gas. When you’re hauling, however, this is the same process with a few different caveats. First off, there is NO weaving, weaving = death trap. Pulling a trailer requires additional levels of safety precautions as well as some things you may not expect. Tail sway, oh the lovely tail sway. Tail sway is caused by a multitude of things, but most often by high gusts of wind or what is called a ‘bow wave’ from a passing 18-wheeler or fast-moving vehicle. Don’t worry this is not a term I knew, I had to look it up, not a physics major. The common term that results is ‘Fishtailing’. I had read many articles about preventative driving to reduce the potential of fishtailing in regard to weight distribution, but rarely had read the consistency that you experience gusts or pulls that require defensive driving to keep you and other drivers safe.

Speed is another key component to RV life. Not only in the sense that you can’t travel as quickly on the road, but you need to know that RV life requires a little bit of a slow-down. Your average trailer tire rating speed is 81 MPH but keeping below 75, closer to 70 is safe for uninterrupted travel from what we have experienced. Space is limited in any travel trailer. Compared to the space you have in a home or an apartment, everything will be tighter. Things are closer and the space you have is incredibly limited. For us, we have hidden storage under couches, beds and benches which is very common in trailers. The shower/bath space is small. There are different variations of shower setups and some can be very close to traditional spacing in the bathroom, but most are going to be smaller. The doorways are tighter than a traditional home, the oven is smaller and requires unique solutions based on size and heat distribution. They’re all little things but require a change of pace to traditional movement especially with kids wanting to run up and down the trailer playing tag. Just because you’re not in a traditional home setting, doesn’t mean the traditional home activities don’t take place! Just at a slower speed 😉.

It takes a certain mindset to make RV life work, you’re changing your value structure to sacrifice some things, space and time in many ways. What makes up for less living and storage space for stuff, the amount of space you get to cover on the road together is incredible. The memories you get to share as you look back on the space that you have covered and the experiences and memories you have created along that path. The time you spend 1v1 with your children as well as spouse is incredibly unique. With Sarah homeschooling, I get to see the progression of the kid’s learning curve steepen as well as her enjoyment just to spend every day with our kiddos. It’s an incredibly unique time in our world, but especially for us as we look to see and experience places that we never would have, living a traditional lifestyle regardless of COVID or not.

There is often always a challenge to overcome if you are going to extensively travel, but all challenges are opportunities to grow a little bit. Growing alongside your spouse and in front of your children sets an example of a willingness to learn, constantly. Push your limits of understanding and your children will know no boundaries. Make no excuses, never say ‘I Can’t’, ask for help before giving up.

We’d love to bring you on our journey! We will be heading to the Hawaiian Islands in May and would love to hear from those that have tips of places and things to do. When we get back our plan is to head West. We will be traveling through Arizona, Utah and Nevada for a summer of National Parks, and then will be heading north towards Yosemite and then the West Coast. We’d love to hear from others on great places to stay, things to do and areas you have enjoyed through the Western United States!

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The Fabulous Life of an RV Wife’s Husband

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