So You Want To Live In An RV: What Will You Need?

Trent and I have received a few questions lately to the effect of, "We're thinking about RVing full time. What should we bring?" Because space in an RV is so limited, it's important to think critically about what you need/want to haul and what you can/should leave behind (we now realize that even though we worked hard to bring only the necessities, we still brought too much!)

We've compiled a list of products that we purchased, use on a regular basis, and highly recommend to other RVers and would-be RVers. (Note: these links are Amazon affiliate links, meaning that if you purchase the product via the link, Amazon will toss us a few cents in loose change. Many digital nomads are using this as a way to generate a little extra income.) We've also briefly described what we use each product for and why we like it so much.

A disclaimer: We can only speak to what's worked well for our 29 foot Coachmen Freelander. Obviously, certain specific products (such as the RV cover) will not work for every type of rig. With RVs, one size does not fit all.

RV ELECTRONICS:

1. Progressive Industries EMS-PT30C Portable EMS RV Surge Protector - 30 Amp

• What it does: Protects our RV from a range of electrical issues and helps us monitor our amp draw so we know how close we are to our 30 amp limit.
• Why we like it: When selecting a camping site, we check the electric post with the surge protector BEFORE we set up everything else. This device lets us know everything is in working order and within acceptable limits. If not, we can select a new site before setting everything else up.

2. Camco 55501 PowerGrip 25' Cord with 30 AMP Male Standard/30 AMP Female Locking Adapter

• What it does: Works as an extension cord for our RV.
• Why we like it: It allows us to park farther away from the electrical post if we need to find level ground, better shade, or a nice view.

3. Camco 55175 18" PowerGrip Dogbone Electrical Adapter with Handle

• What it does: Allows us to hook our 30 amp RV to a 50 amp outlet.
• Why we like it: If the only site left is 50 amps, we could stay at that site. Also, sometimes the 50 amp outlet is in better condition than the 30 amp outlet on the same electric post. This device gives us a better chance of a good electrical hook-up.

4. Camco 55165 15M/30F 12" PowerGrip Dogbone Electrical Adapter with Handle

• What it does: Allows us to hook up our 30 amp RV to a standard household outlet.
• Why we like it: If we park in someone's driveway for the night, we can still get electricity to the RV.

WATER AND SEWER GEAR:

1. Camco 43051 20' Sidewinder Plastic Sewer Hose Support

• What it does: Keeps the gray and black water moving in the right direction and prevents, well, stagnation...
• Why we like it: Flexible yet sturdy.

2. Camco 40285 RV Green Disposable Dump Glove - 50 Pairs

• What it does: Protects our hands while we deal with the sewage tanks.
• Why we like it: Because nobody wants to touch poop water or contaminate the entire family.

3. Walex TOI-91799 Deodorizer

• What it does: Eliminates unseemly odors that emanate from the black tank.
• Why we like it: Because we'd rather not smell our toilet.

4. Camco 20123 Brass Water Wye Valve

• What it does: Bifurcates a single water outlet.
• Why we like it: With this valve, we can hook up both a freshwater hose and a hose for washing or flushing the tanks.

5. Camco 40043 TastePURE Water Filter with Flexible Hose Protector

• What it does: Helps clean/filter water from city water lines.
• Why we like it: Light, effective, easy to install, easy to store.

6. Camco 39062 Dual Flush Pro Holding Tank Rinser with Gate Valve

• What it does: Makes emptying the gray and black tanks easy and sanitary.
• Why we like it: Permits easy cleaning of the black tank to remove any remaining residue.

7. Camco 22783 TastePURE Drinking Water Hose (5/8"ID x 25') - Lead Free 

• What it does: Serves as designated hose for drinking water.
• Why we like it: A standard hose is not suitable for drinking water, and we like to drink water!

8. Camco 22505 90 Degree Hose Elbow - Lead Free

• What it does: Hooks up to your water intake and connects to the water hose.
• Why we like it: It allows the hose to run straight down and not out and down forcing the hose to bend. This reduces wear and tear on the hose.

9. Camco 39761 RhinoFLEX 15' RV Sewer Hose Kit with Swivel Fittings

• What it does: Hooks up to the sewage tanks (black and gray) and runs to the sewage dump.
• Why we like it: It's easy to connect and disconnect and compresses into a much smaller size for storage.

10. ETL 26781 White Body Spa Oxygenics Shower with 60" Hose 

• What it does: Maximizes water pressure while reducing excess use of water.
• Why we like it: You can press a knob to turn off the water flow while you're soaping up; easy to install.

RV MAINTENANCE:

1. ADCO 2509 Clear RV Windshield Cover

• What it does: Keeps the windshield covered while we're in camp and helps manage indoor air temperature.
• Why we like it: Easy to put on and take off; easy to store; relatively inexpensive.

2. Carrand 93210 Long Chenille Microfiber Wash Mop with 48" Extension Pole

• What it does: Allows you to gently wash your RV without use of a stepladder.
• Why we like it: Effective; inexpensive; eliminates risk of someone falling off a ladder and breaking something.

3. Bug Scrubber RV Car Aircraft Bug Remover

• What it does: Removes all of the bugs that attached themselves to your windshield as you were driving.
• Why we like it: It works! Bug guts are sticky and can be hard to remove.

4. Aero Cosmetics Wet or Waterless Car Wash Wax 16 oz.

• What it does: Gently removes the grime from the side of your RV without the need for water.
• Why we like it: It's good for fast, effective spot cleaning in camp - no hoses needed.

5. Aero Cosmetics Waterless Car Wash & Wax 128 oz.

• What it does: Same as above - just in a larger size.
• Why we like it: We use this product fairly often, so we like to carry the larger size with us.

6. Dicor 501LSW1 White Lap Sealant - 10.3 oz. 

• What it does: Easily repairs small rips, tears, and weathered areas on roof of RV.
• Why we like it: Easy to apply; quickly repairs potential leak points in roof.

7. Aero Cosmetics Tire Shine Protectant, 16oz 

• What it does: Protects tires from damaging UV rays.
• Why we like it: Easy to apply.

KITCHEN TOOLS AND APPLIANCES:

1. Camco 43753 Hardwood Stove Topper and Cutting Board

• What it does: Fits over the stove, thereby creating additional counter space for food prep and improving efficiency of the kitchen area.
• Why we like it: Sturdy; doesn't move while the RV is in motion (thanks to grippy material on the base of the board).

2. Melitta Coffee Maker, Porcelain 6 Cup Pour-Over Brewer

• What it does: Provides liquid of the gods to sleepy RVers.
• Why we like it: Easy to use; easy to clean.

3. Instant Pot IP-LUX50 6-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker, 5Qt/900W

• What it does: Cooks everything from beans to rice to veggies to soups and stews to cheesecake - and in the fraction of time required by regular appliances.
• Why we like it: Fast, effective, and easy to clean and store.

4. Magic Bullet Blender, Small

• What it does: Blends single-serving smoothies and shakes.
• Why we like it: Small, easy to store, easy to clean.

IN CAMP:

1. Camco 42805 60" x 78" Handy Mat with Strap

• What it does: Reduces amount of dust and dirt carried into the RV.
• Why we like it: Helps maintain cleanliness of RV interior; inexpensive; colorful; easy to store.

2. Camco 44432 Wheel Chock

• What it does: Helps keep the RV from rolling away while parked. Whew!
• Why we like it: Light and inexpensive.

3. Tri-Lynx 00015 Lynx Levelers, (Pack of 10)

• What it does: Levels out your RV if you're parked on uneven ground.
• Why we like it: Light, easy to use, easy to clean and store.

4. Modkat Litter Box Kit

• What it does: Provides your cat with a relatively attractive, private place to use the facilities.
• Why we like it: It fits nicely in the cab of the RV (between the driver's and passenger's seats); reduces scatter of kitty litter throughout the rig; includes a reusable, sturdy liner.

Two days to go, and here's where we're at...

Major furniture recycled or rehomed: CHECK.

Messy house achievement: UNLOCKED.

That's salt all over the counter. I had a little salt grinder accident at lunchtime.

Even the resident ants took part in the mess-tivities:

(This is a good time to be an ant in this house: there are plenty of snacks, and at this point we're too lazy to try to get rid of them.)

By late this afternoon, we'd made some progress in terms of getting items out of the house and into the RV. At least the kitchen is starting to look a little emptier and less frenetic.

Take away message: Moving is never fun - regardless of whether you're moving into a new house or a tin can on wheels.

The kitchen gear not voted off the RV island

We've made amazing progress in reducing the amount of STUFF we own and identifying what we want to take with us. Today it was all about the kitchen gear.

Here's a rundown of what we decided to take with us on the road:

1. Utensils: Four regular knives, four forks (one currently in use), four spoons, two serving spoons.

2. Knives: We like to cook, so these are important.

3. Dinnerware: Three plastic bowls, four plastic plates, four small bamboo plates, one small bamboo cereal bowl.

4. Pour-over coffee maker: We had a press pot, but cleaning it is messy. On our last shakedown RV trip, I managed to spray a full cup of soggy grounds all over the interior of our rig. This coffee maker is much easier to wash.

5. Variety of necessary kitchen paraphernalia: Stirring spoons, measuring spoons, measuring cups, bottle opener, bag clips, grater, peeler, spatula, etc.

6. Mugs and cups: So far we've got it narrowed down to four ceramic mugs, two plastic camp mugs, one beer glass, and three juice glasses. This is a small percentage of the glassware we previously owned. We need to make another cut here, but for some reason I'm having trouble letting go. Of drinking glasses. Yeah. 

7. Pyrex measuring cup: I think we've had this since we got married. It's awesome for measuring liquids as well as heating up water in the microwave. It's coming with us.

8. Pots and pans: One wooden salad bowl, one plastic mixing bowl (with handy gripper base), Pampered Chef mixing bowl (I can't part with it - I use it almost every day), saucepan, 8 x 8 glass pan.

9. Instant Pot: This thing is amazing. Every 5-star review you've seen is totally justified. Beans go from dried to fully cooked in less than 30 minutes, and it has a crockpot mode for soups and stews.

10. Our beloved, grimy toaster oven: We really thought about giving this away, but we use it all the time. We make toast in it, bake bread in it, and roast vegetables in it. We'll house it in one of the storage bays, pull it out when we're in camp, and use it as part of our outdoor kitchen.

Going through our belongings to figure out what we need to take, what we want to take, what's easy to let go of, and what we find ourselves attached to has been an interesting and informative experience in itself. What does it say about me that I have a death grip on a coffee mug? (Although come to think of it, maybe that's not too surprising...) What does it mean when we are desperate to sell things we thought we just HAD to have when we purchased them? Should we be giving out plastic- and candy-filled goodie bags at the end of every child's birthday party? (Answer from someone who just spent an hour tossing these foot-piercing pieces of cheap crap: NO! STOP WITH THE GOODIE BAGS.)

One thing I've realized is that I want to become a more thoughtful consumer. I want to spend more time weighing the pros and cons of my purchases - not only in terms of cost, but also in terms of space, emotional aspects, environmental effects, and social impact. Am I buying things because I truly need them or because I want to keep up with the latest trends I see on Instagram, Pinterest, and HGTV? Are the things I'm buying worth the price and the space? What is the cost of disposing of something that looks kind of ugly but that is still completely usable? 

We dewinterized Clark. Nothing broke and nobody cried.

Last night we drove Clark to Two Rivers Campground in Kentucky to flush out his systems and dewinterize him. We were nervous about this because we'd never done this before and our user's manual is not always helpful (sometimes it references other models, rendering the instructions kind of useless). We had a walk through when we purchased Clark, but the guy giving the tour explained everything really quickly; as a long-time RVer, he clearly seemed to think some of our questions were rather ignorant (I'm sure they were).

Besides, Trent and I have a long history of accidentally breaking stuff or buying things that turn out to be duds. We were concerned that this could be the moment when we realized that Clark isn't as fit as he looks. This is going to be our home and we paid a lot of money for it, so the thought of realizing we'd made a bad purchase totally freaked us out.

We chose Two Rivers because it is close and relatively inexpensive ($36 per night with a Good Sam discount), and has full hook-ups. Not knowing what to expect in terms of quality, we were pleased when we arrived at a clean, well-equipped campground with flat RV sites, picnic tables, plenty of space, and a viewing platform overlooking the river. 

After initial setup (making sure Clark was level and hooking up the electric), our first task was to find the low-point drains and close them. These drains allow water to drain out of the rig; what we wanted, however, was to fill up our freshwater tank, so the drains needed to be shut.

There are two low-point drains in our rig (don't I sound all official when I say "rig"?) One is easy to access and was already closed. The second is located underneath the bathroom sink... and to get to it, I had to stuff my arm down a tiny space behind the lowest drawer in the sink vanity. But I couldn't actually *see* the valve, so we spent a good 45 minutes or so using our phones to take pictures and orient ourselves with the setup.

See that little white rectangular thing? That's the low point drain valve.

So I stuck my arm down there and turned it, and then we turned on the water... which proceeded to cascade from the undercarriage of the vehicle to the cement pad. I stuck my hand in there again and rotated the valve, thinking that maybe I had not positioned it correctly. Still a waterfall.

At that point we decided to give it a rest and just connect our pipes to the city water so that we could flush out the antifreeze in the pipes. We were thrilled when that worked. We made a little video to document our success.

Next step: activate the hot water heater. We got it to heat up water... but the hot water wasn't flowing through the pipes. Trent spent some time interpreting the owner's manual and realized that (predictably) a valve was closed. The manual suggested that we could locate this mystery valve by opening up the grate beneath the fridge, so we did that. Once again, we couldn't actually *see* the valve until we stuck our phone in there and snapped a picture. Once again, I had to stuff my arm into this tiny space in order to access it.

No joke - here's how my arm looks today:

But it worked! We opened up the taps and voila - hot water.

The last thing we needed to figure out was how to open up the low point drain. Trent posted an SOS on our Facebook RV group asking for help, and within minutes someone responded to let us know that these valves don't work by rotation... they work by pushing them in or pulling them out. 

Duh. Why didn't we think of that?

By this point my arm was actually bruised and swollen, but we were determined to get it figured out. It was worth the effort because it totally worked! We were able to clean and fill the freshwater tank and rinse the system.

All in all, it was an extremely successful trip. It allowed us get to know Clark better, boosted our confidence in our ability to problem solve without destroying anything, and demonstrated just how helpful the RVer community can be.

Three more weeks until we're doing this full time!

Biscuit's first RV adventure

This Friday and Saturday, we took Biscuit the cat on her first RVing adventure at our local state park.

Getting her into the RV was pretty easy: we tossed her favorite toy into her cat carrier, she ran in, and Sam closed the gate. Trent drove the RV (Biscuit's litter box was safely stowed and latched in the shower for the trip) while Sam, Biscuit, and I followed in the car. After arriving at the park and setting up camp, we released Biscuit into her new abode.

This was the first safe spot she found: in the bedroom right below the "closet." She seemed happy enough.

It eventually dawned on her that something unusual was going on in her life, so she hotfooted it up to the cab and squashed herself under the driver's side seat. For hours. We were relieved when she made an appearance to use her Modkat kitty litter system, which we placed in the cab in order to keep it out of the way yet still accessible for her.

We pretended we didn't notice, but silently, all three of us were cheering. Biscuit is unpredictable when she's uncomfortable or unhappy. A couple of weeks ago, she peed on our bed (while we were in it!) for reasons that are still unclear and that, according to the vet, were entirely unrelated to her physical health. We hope that was a one-time occurrence but with her? Who knows. So the RV Modkat use so early on in the trip was a victory for everyone.

The situation went a bit downhill when, at bedtime, Biscuit hopped up on the bed, made a horrible yakking sound, and proceeded to throw up all over the duvet. A few minutes later she knocked over her water dish and created a mini-tsunami that rolled through the slightly-tilted rig. We dug out a few rolls of paper towels and all was well again. 

Sam was wondering whether Biscuit - who's not the most coordinated feline you've ever met - would dare to hop up into his bunk space. She waited until everyone was settled down, gave her best leap, and made the jump from the table to the loft. Then she gazed down upon us as if to say, "I will allow you to stay. For now."

I'd call that a success. It might sound silly to be so worried about a cat, but she's a part of the family and our happiness is somewhat dependent on her happiness. If she can't get on board with our new lifestyle, that's going to be a problem.

So far, though, all signs point to a cat that will be ruling the road the same way she rules the house.

Welcome to the adventure, Biscuit!