As mentioned in our previous articles, we had been attempting to train our cats to go outside on their leashes so that we could tent camp while we traveled from one destination to another for work. In our post, Fearful Incident With Tent Training Our Cats, we explained the scary event that had occurred that made us reconsider our plan. Continue reading to learn the decision we made to keep our cats safe while following our dreams to travel.

The morning after Sammie’s escape from the tent, Ryan woke up super early and went downstairs. When I woke up an hour later, I found him sitting in the living room working on his laptop with a serious expression on his face. From the look on his face, I could tell he was reading something important on the computer. 

I assumed he was reading forums about camping with cats so that we could prevent another incident from occurring. I was frustrated when I thought this because at this point, there was no part of me that even wanted to try camping with the cats anymore, but I was afraid that he was still determined to make it work.

When he saw me, he looked at me and asked me a question that completely caught me off guard. He asked, “what do you think about buying an RV?” I was surprised by his question because I had mentioned it to him several weeks prior to this moment when we first started discussing housing options but we both thought it was a crazy idea. 

It just seemed ridiculous that we would buy an RV before we bought a house. It’s such a large purchase and neither of us have any idea how to maintain and operate an RV. We also thought it would be too small to live in full time so when we talked about it weeks prior to this, it just didn’t seem like a good option and that conversation lasted less than a couple of minutes.

When I questioned him about it now, Ryan simply stated that it would provide a safer option for the cats because they wouldn’t have to stay in a tent. It would also provide them a home base for when we take them outside for walks. They could learn to walk back to the RV door to go inside. During our discussion we came up with several other benefits of getting an RV. 

We wouldn’t have to pay for pet-friendly hotels. They are harder to find since not every hotel allows pets. They can also be expensive, and we wanted to keep our cost as low as possible.

We wouldn’t have to find housing once we got to our destination. We planned to find places to stay using Airbnb, but it is harder to find places that allow pets. The monthly rent also increases drastically with pets from what we were seeing.

We could go anywhere anytime we wanted. If we did the short-term rentals as we originally planned, we would have a lease and we would have to pay for it up front. I had heard about some of the PT contracts getting cancelled part way through if the facility no longer needs the help. If this happened to me, we would either lose out on the money we paid for that rental if I found another job in a different location, or we could stay there to finish out the time we paid for the rental, but chances of me finding another job in that particular location would be much lower. Having a home that moves around allows us to be much more flexible.

We wouldn’t have to pack and unpack every 3 months after the contract is finished. We had planned to get furnished rentals to stay in so they would come equipped with all of the essentials, however we would still need to unpack our clothes so we wouldn’t have to live out of suitcases. With the RV, we can be unpacked all the time. We read about having to pack up the RV to get it ready for travel; we wouldn’t want things falling and breaking while driving. So even with this choice, there is still some packing and unpacking that needs to be done, but it is a lot less and we wouldn’t have to worry about forgetting some of our belongings at the rental.

We would always feel like we have a home rather than staying in someone else’s home. We can make the RV our home by setting it up and decorating it however we want. No matter how nice someone’s home is, it never quite feels like your home. 

Having an RV would decrease the cats stress and anxiety. The cats don’t like change and it would be extremely stressful to them if they had to get used to a new apartment every 3 months. By the time they get comfortable with the apartment, it would be time to leave and they would have to get comfortable with the next place. They would never feel like they have a home to relax in. The RV would allow them to have a home and that would take a lot of the stress away.

We could get a return of our money with the RV. With renting, you don’t get that money back. Even though RVs can be expensive, we also knew that when we were done traveling, we could sell the RV. The values of RVs depreciate similar to cars so we will not get all of our money back, however we felt that the convenience of taking a home with us rather than trying to find places to stay was well worth the money. Plus, we could get some of that money back when it comes time to sell the RV.

Along with the benefits, we obviously had to consider the negative aspects of this plan.

Size of the camper- would we be happy living full time in a small space?

We were unsure as to whether we would feel crammed into an RV for full-time living as the living space would be significantly smaller than the condo we were currently living in. We needed enough space so that we don’t get frustrated being on top of each other all the time. We like to have space to do our own things so we knew that if it was a tight fit, we wouldn’t be happy in the long-term. Ryan also works from home so he would need a designated space so that he could separate his personal life from work and so that he doesn’t bug me when he yells at the computer!

Type of RV

Neither of us have any experience with this so how do we know what we need? Class A motorhome? Travel trailer? Fifth wheel? We had no clue which option would work so we would have to spend some time researching the pros and cons of each in order to figure out what would work for us.

Maintenance

Maintaining an RV is vastly different than maintaining a house! There is a lot to learn about the hook-ups for electricity, plumbing, and water. Hitching and unhitching the camper to the truck. Setting up the camper with the landing gear and stabilizers so that you are level and not rocking.

Driving the RV

No matter what type of RV we got, it would be quite different than driving the cars we were used to. We didn’t even know if we needed a special license for the RVs at this point! Shouldn’t someone take lessons on how to drive a huge trailer before they are allowed to get on main roads?!?!?!

And the obvious con- COST!

We were hoping to find a used RV that was cheaper so we wouldn’t have any loans, but we also needed to make sure we found the type of camper that worked for us and wasn’t too old where it could break down. Buying new is obviously going to cost much more so we needed to figure out what our price range was and how much we were willing to spend.

We spent some time researching what would work for us and we went to 3 RV dealerships to look around so that we could get an idea of the sizing and space. We initially went to the dealerships just to get an idea on whether we could see ourselves being happy living in a home of that size. We didn’t even want to think about pricing until we could determine if this option was possible. 

After looking around at the different options, we felt this was doable. It would be a huge change from our 2,000 square foot condo with 3 bedrooms and 2 and a half baths, plus a finished basement to a 300 square foot RV with 1-2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. We knew it would be difficult to drastically downsize our living space, but we felt we were up for the challenge if it helped make this adventure work out.