Full-time Living in Our Diesel RV
We embarked from our home base of Austin, TX at the beginning of January to take our most ambitious RV trip to date. The aptly-named Grand Loop Trip would take us west to California through New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada, then north to Seattle before cutting east to North Dakota and going back south to Texas. It would take eleven months and more than 5,700 miles.
Alas, our epic Grand Loop Trip is not to be. [Read more…]
We do a lot of detailed trip-planning. Every RV traveler is different, with different priorities, circumstances and goals. There’s no formula that works for everyone. By reading about the experiences of others, we can find the courage to forge our own path. Welcome to our chaotic journey of learning how to plan our RV travels. [Read more…]
In a perfect world, we control when we go into the RV shop, and it only happens once a year for annual maintenance. As we start our third year of RVing (the official date was February 21), it would seem we don’t live in a perfect world.
So we had our massive annual appointment in November at Iron Horse RV. That bill hurt, but it meant we were ready for our Grand Loop Trip. We’ve had a few relatively minor things happen since then.
Quick 2 Fix It saves the day in Fredericksburg, TX
Our wild camping spot between Sedona and Cottonwood, AZ
Aside from quick overnights on our way to somewhere, Eric and I have only ever dry camped at Xscapees’ Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta convergence, surrounded by friends who have inexhaustible knowledge when it comes to going off the grid.
So when we had the opportunity to do some real wild camping, all by ourselves like big kids, we were really excited. Our excitement increased as we researched BLM land near Sedona, AZ. We spent an afternoon scouting locations, and loved the look of Campendium’s Loy Butte Road spot. [Read more…]
For those of us who fulltime RV, it’s more challenging to take a vacation away from home than it ever was when we lived in a stick-and-brick. The challenges held Eric and me back for a long time, until we couldn’t wait any longer.
We just got back from two weeks visiting Cancun, Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula-without our RV. It was a trip we dreamed about for years. The process was hardly without its ruts, but we don’t regret the decisions we made. Instead, we’re glad for the challenges because we learned a ton. Most importantly, we feel equipped to do more international travel in future. Europe in 2017!
You may be curious about what it looks like for fulltime RVers to be away from their RVs for a long period of time. While our choices may not work for everyone, we hope you can take some useful knowledge away from our experience. [Read more…]
We have 39 light bulbs on the inside of our RV. They come in all shapes and sizes. We’re especially proud of this one, which looks like it belongs in a Star Trek ship or at an 80s dance party. (Seriously, who comes up with half the “decor” we find inside our RVs?) [Read more…]
Our site at Fredericksburg RV Park
Our “Grand Loop Trip” has begun! That’s what we’re calling our 11-month journey this year.
We left Austin, Texas on Sunday, January 3, 2016. Let me tell you, our first Grand Loop day was a really long day. [Read more…]
Because an RV is a huge investment, regular maintenance takes on added importance. But although we understand that maintenance can save us from incredibly expensive breakdowns and emergency repairs down the road, many of us aren’t familiar with our RV’s systems and what we need to maintain.
When we started fulltiming at the beginning of 2014, I kept telling Eric that we needed a comprehensive RV maintenance checklist. He agreed, but we were worried we’d leave something out. [Read more…]
Meriwether on the lift at Iron Horse RV in San Antonio, TX
As our second full year of owning Meriwether and traveling full-time, 2015 offered complete relief from the breakdowns and emergency maintenance we dealt with throughout 2014. We started and ended the year in the shop, but it was by choice!
We’ve actually developed a rhythm we hope to stick with. At the end of every year when we come back to Texas for the holidays, we get our regular maintenance done (oil change, fuel filter change, etc.), as well as minor repairs that have added up over the year. Our RV repair shop of choice is Iron Horse RV in San Antonio, who we first visited in December 2014. We really love the work they do for us and plan to be long-time customers.
Here’s the rundown of the repairs and maintenance we had done in 2015. [Read more…]
We left the day before this picture was taken, but we did have THIS much fun!
There are numerous membership programs for RVers, each with their own perks. Signing up for all of them is budget suicide, but deciding which ones are right for you can save a lot of headaches. To date, we’ve signed up [Read more…]
Welcome to RV Wanderlust! We're Eric and Brittany Highland and we're on a pretty amazing adventure. As of 2019, we're starting our sixth year as fulltime RVers and we've been transparently documenting the journey all along the way. In December 2016 we … Keep reading
