A Look Inside Our RV

There are two kinds of parents in this world: Those that “really, really, really want to” take their family on an RV trip, and those that do not. And it seems to me that each marriage is typically a union of one of each.

Which makes us weird, I suppose.

In the weeks building up to our current two week RV road-trip-palooza, I had a lot of inquires of very curious people wanting to know all about our plans, what brought us to this decision and how we were going to pull it all off. This typically went on while their spouse danced about in the background, waving their hands at me, using their right arm in a sort of slicing motion across their neck like – “Don’t go there. Do NOT give him/her any ideas! We are not going on an RV road trip with our feral children!!!”

If I’d written this post in the first 24 hours of our launch (and believe me I tried), I would have wanted to convince you that you did in fact NEED to take your family RVing. But today I’m pushing reset and would instead prefer to sell it to you as just a fun idea that you *might* want to consider in your future. Here are some of the pros and cons of RVing with small kids:

The PROS of RVing with Small Kids:

1. Your kids will have the time of their lives!!! And honestly, this is a big PRO that can NOT be discounted. When we first departed, Little Miss looked out the window, pinched herself and whispered, “Am I dreaming?” I have no doubt they will take away beautiful life-long memories of these two weeks.

2. You can eat well. With a refrigerator, freezer, microwave, oven and stove-top, there is no excuse for eating anything but great food.

3. No schlepping bags in and out of hotels, unpacking and repacking. Everything is right here and there is plenty of storage. Our RV even has a slide-out that gives us an extra two feet of room while parked.

4. You get to experience an RV park (This can be seen as a PRO and/or CON - see CONS #1) and there can be lots to do at RV parks for kids. Right now mine are fishing for bass at a man-made lake in a KOA park on the outskirts of the wine country.

5. No bathroom stops, easy access to lunch while on the move, and if you’re sleepy while barreling down the highway, you just head towards the back and crap out on a mattress.

The CONS of RVing with Small Kids:

1. You have to stay in RV parks (see PROS #3) and you never know who you are going to be sleeping next to, what they like to talk about around the campfire, how they treat their kids or what time they choose to go to bed. It’s a crap shoot and you get all kinds.

2. You have to clean up the RV at least once a day, sometimes two, and in that respect, it’s just like home. The places one takes an RV to are notoriously dusty, State and National parks being the worst. It’s what camping and RVing are all about – just get used to the idea.

3. Sleeping conditions are not much more comfortable than tent sleeping. While we sleep indoors and on a mattress I still wake up longing for a massage.

One more thing to point out is renting an RV appears neither cheaper nor more expensive than renting a hotel room. It’s just different. But different is good for me so I’m super happy we did it as we continue to have so much fun…just not sure we need to do it every summer. ;)