“Glamping”: Everyday Life on the Road in a 40’ 2013 Thor Tuscany FX Motorhome

Many friends and family have asked what our life is like with this new “style of life” we have chosen. First off, we’d like to say we know how fortunate and lucky we are to be able to afford this “way of life”. Everyday we are grateful and don’t take advantage of this life changing, relationship building way of living. For the practical things and experiences, we can break them down to our personalized reality.

On board “Store ”- We are very brand loyal and like to pack our hygiene, cleaning supplies, OTC medicines, supplements and snacks. Yes, we know we can buy them along the way and we do when we run out of the initial loads. We pack them in large Rubbermaid containers to keep them dry and pest free. We keep a written inventory on the inside of the compartment doors and a second master inventory onboard in a binder. Sallie is the rat pack, but what a packer she is!

Laundry – For 3 loads of laundry we have spent anywhere from $10 to $35. We have a washer/dryer on board, but prefer to use the RV laundry most of the time.

Rainy days – We usually spend the morning taking our time drinking coffee, playing on the computer and occasionally we have taken in a movie or strolled a mall. It does put a damper on a new towns activities especially if we have a limited amount of time there, but we try to plan ahead and focus on what we really want to experience.

Playing tourist – We usually have planned in advance of a new city, what sites we want to see, have been told about or have read about. We obviously miss out on some things, but we have the mind set that we can always come back and do the things we missed (like Dollywood & the Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee). Sometimes what we end up doing is completely based on the weather and that’s a little hard to plan on. Luckily for Sallie, the rain invites mall shopping and Sue at “home” playing on the computer or watching tv… a fair trade!

The Cats – Yes, we have all 3 with us. They seem to be doing really well, they have such distinct personalities and is a treat to have our family along. They have their specific hiding places when we are driving and territories when we stop. They have learned to stay away from the front door, except when the screen door is open and there are ducks and birds to watch with the breeze. They love to have the bird feeders on the windows (when it’s allowed). We have caught all 3 in front of the windows where the feeders are, chatting and trying to catch the birds through the glass.
Unfortunately, we have attracted ants once in the cat food bowls and mice in a candy drawer along the way, so we had to clean thoroughly and use traps. Luckily for us the cats are very attentive and have led us to where the mice have been. The old wives tale of using Downy sheets and bars of Irish Spring soap to ward off pests hasn’t seemed to work for us, but we still use them in our basement storage area.

Internet – In the US (not sure about Alaska yet) we are fortunate to have fairly good internet coverage so we can stay connected to friends and family. In Canada, it was difficult due to expensive international roaming charges and campgrounds that didn’t have wifi to get connections. We spent a good deal of time in libraries for dependable coverage.
It’s hard to be away from the people in our lives that we care about, so we send lots of postcards and try to write/text, keep up with Words with Friends and call “home” as often as we can. Sometimes we do get wrapped up in the tourist things, that our communication briefly falters. Luckily, we have understanding loved ones that realize we do the best we can.

TV and Cable Connections – Our coach is equipped with an antenna and cable, when the satellites are hard to get depending on the overhead tree situation and degree of the satellite position, so we just live with what we can get on the tv, sometimes it’s been one very snowy channel. Thank goodness for Redbox and the occasional video store and books.

Exercise – We brought our bikes along this year and are exploring new territories on them. We plan hikes, walks, (sometimes just around the campground) and Sallie does try to get a run in every now and again. We do look for yoga and group exercise classes when available for a drop in basis. We try to do the best we can to stay fit and make that the focus of every day.

RV rules, roles and routines – “Everything in it’s place”! Since we are just under 400 square (living) feet, we have learned to be pretty tidy and keep everything in it’s place. Our family that has “glamped” with us probably think we are very petty and anal about things, but it’s gotten normal for us. Since Sallie is in charge of the dump and water area, she has the rule that we only put liquids into the waste black holding tank (you have to figure out exactly what that means). Needless to say, we try to get our camping sites near the real bathrooms as much as we can. Also, we wipe off our dishes of food matter, so the gray holding tank doesn’t have organic material in it. She sanitizes the fresh water tank twice a year so we can drink out of the faucets/dispenser and use the ice machine. These rules seem to be keeping the holding tanks fresh and like new. We don’t keep the holding tank valves open while parked because the sewer vapors can back up into the coach, so Sallie watches the holding tank water levels and tends to dump the tanks approximately every 4 days, depending on how many showers we take and real dishes we wash.
Sue manages the electric hookups, generator, batteries and inverter upkeep so we are using our power sources appropriately and not blowing fuses, tripping circuit breakers or going without power unnecessarily (thanks Al T for mentoring me). We try to clean the coach, wiping counters, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, beating floor carpets every week, usually the day before we leave a city. The night before we leave, Sallie dumps the gray and black tanks, flushing the black tank, then adds chemicals to the holding tanks, adds fresh water to that tank and stores all the hoses. She stores the water pressure regulator and hose water filter in 2 different plastic bubble mailer envelopes to protect them in the storage bin. In the hose bin she keeps the black tank hose gloves separate from gloves she uses for the hose and regulator. After she is finished with the black tank hose, she uses hand cleaning wipes to clean the gloves then another cloth for her hands. Sue unhooks the electric the morning we leave. We hook up the “toad” (the Honda Pilot) in the morning, right before we leave the RV park and have gotten that timing down to about 10 minutes. Sue hooks up the brake buddy while Sallie hooks all the electrical cables from the coach to the toad. We do a final walk around, check blinkers and brake lights then hit the road. We shouldn’t admit to this, but we can change drivers while under way. The coach is so easy to drive, it practically drives itself. There’s nothing like driving, then needing to go to the bathroom or want to lie down and the other person takes over so easily.

RV=Hale=Home – We seem to have made the coach feel like home. The coach has a built in fireplace with blower under the main 40″ tv, which has really come in handy on those cold nights and mornings. We have a little counter water fountain and candles for ambiance, our home blankets and couch pillows, special family pictures and favorite souvenirs that we’ve picked up along the way for that special home feeling.

“Collecting memories instead of materialistic things” – This motto has been sometimes hard to continue to do, but again, since we have 400 square feet of space it does help to remember we can’t collect or buy all the cool things we see. We are very specific about the knick knacks we have bought. Mostly we get stuff for the favorite children in our lives so they can maybe see something from a different city or country and want to maybe see it for themselves when they get older.

Emergencies, at home and on the road – In our home town we have neighbors/family/cop friends looking after our house, as well as an indoor and outdoor security system which gives us some peace of mind. But, when things happen, we take care of them through emails, texts and phone calls to repair companies. On the road, there are mobile RV repair companies and dealerships around the nation for the tow vehicle, dentists, urgent cares, vets, therapists and churches when we need them. Luckily, we haven’t needed all of those services, but its good to know they exist.

Budget – We planned long and hard for this life on the road, trying to anticipate where all the money would be spent. This life style definitely takes a lot of planning and not going into it lightly. We have learned that things are much more expensive in real situations. We have a set amount that we are supposed to be able to spend each month. We changed the miles traveled in our second year based on our monthly budget. The time and money spent at “home” is done to try to save and recoup what we can spend on the road. So, this can also alter how much time we can spend planning our next trip.

“Don’t you ever get tired of being with each other ALL THE TIME”?
This has been a really good opportunity to improve our relationship, communication and desire to experience daily life in new ways. We are both pretty strong willed and have very strong opinions of how things should work, be planned yet try to be spontaneous, how to be patient, and overcome adversity. There are times that we must be away from each other, as in all relationships, distance helps to foster independence, break cycles of co-dependence and keep oneself grounded to self. This said, each of us has our individual coping skills that we both recognize and use when we need to, we don’t judge or question why we need to use them, we just do. We think it’s important to give each other that space so we can keep doing this thing called “life”.

Thank you for following our Blog. We hope you are enjoying the posts and pictures and would appreciate any and all feedback.

Sallie & Sue (OURHALE)