“This was never about saving money or escaping something. It’s about not waiting,” said Beverly Brown, a 63-year-old from Texas who became an empty nester at 39 when her daughter moved to California. “I want experiences now, instead of ‘some day’.” She has been R.V.-ing since 2019, currently in a 2021 Ram ProMaster that she bought “with a little windfall” from selling the business shared with her ex-husband. Originally an empty cargo van, she vamped it up herself. “It’s my dream van now.”
Belinda and Duane Banks have found R.V. life has helped revitalize their marriage. “Even though we’ve been married 41 years, our relationship has gotten closer. When you’re not mowing the grass, tidying the yard or cleaning the house, you spend more quality time together,” said Belinda Banks, 66, from North Carolina, who with her husband Duane, 66, lives in a 43-foot Grand Design Momentum 376 THS, which they tow behind their Ford pickup truck. They run a YouTube channel, All About The Banks, with 25,700 subscribers.
Often it’s a life change or a health scare that brings mortality into view, and the ensuing carpe diem mind set. This was the case with Scott Kahler, 66, and his wife, Carolyn, 64. “Scott had a couple of major health issues between the ages of 49 and 54, which emphasized that life comes with no guarantees, and we should embrace as much as we could, sooner rather than later,” said Ms. Kahler.
The Kahlers, who were living in Texas, sold their home in 2018 and became full-time R.V.-ers in 2020. They R.V. for nine months of the year, and for the rest, they stay put in Florida, parking near their children and grandchildren. They live in a 46-foot 2026 DRV Mobile Suite Houston, which cost around $250,000 and is quite luxurious, with a full walk-in closet in the nose and one and a half bathrooms. In the two R.V.s they have owned, they have traveled to 46 states and eight Canadian provinces.
Of course, things can and do go wrong when living on the road.
Becky Goodell, a veteran R.V.-er and co-founder of R.V. rental company Blacksford said maintenance costs typically range between $3,000 and $5,000 per year, depending on how handy you are, and recommends finding “a good mobile mechanic who you can call from the road.” When all else fails, there are YouTube videos on almost every problem. “But be sure you have a Starlink so you can access the internet to watch them,” she said.
Ms. Brown, who has AAA membership, recalls getting a ruptured gas tank and a broken air-conditioner on the 2004 Chevy Express she was driving at the time. “You figure it out,” she said. “Those repairs cost me a few thousand dollars, but that was it for three years.”