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From Virginia to California - Based on Working at Home

by Justin Lewis
8 replies
My home is now an RV that we purchased back in December of 2014. It's been an amazing experience because now I have the ability to work anywhere I'd like to.

This year alone, I was in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and now California, all while working on the road.

It's an excellent experience but I will tell you this, it's not something that came easy. It took me 4-5 years to get to this point. It's the most freeing feeling in the world too.

Even better, my girlfriend has now gotten a gig with Starbucks where she'll be able to work in any city we travel to around the country for 2-3 months at a time. This way we can experience everything that the United States has to offer and once we're ready we can even start traveling out of country!

Anyway, just figured I'd give an update as I used to post really heavily in this section of the forum and want you to know your dreams can come true.

EDIT: I get asked about internet a lot. Most RV resorts/parks have moderately good connections. Outside of that we use our data plan with T-Mobile and Verizon for when we don't have a good connection. And of course Starbucks, a lot
#based #california #home #virginia #working
  • Profile picture of the author Benjamin Farthing
    Sounds awesome.

    I've been looking a lot into the "Digital Nomad" movement. People who can work remotely spend a few months at a time in places all over the world. I'm thinking of spending some time in Mexico.
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  • Profile picture of the author Curtis2011
    What kind of monthly expenses does living in an RV incur?
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    • Profile picture of the author Justin Lewis
      Originally Posted by Curtis2011 View Post

      What kind of monthly expenses does living in an RV incur?
      It really ranges depending on the lifestyle you want to live.

      We have a truck with a payment of $325/mo
      Insurance for everything is about $200/mo
      The RV cost us only $5,500 cash (paid in full)

      And once you have that, it varies drastically. You could stay at a basic park/campground for only $200 - $350/mo, or you could be like us and stay at more upscale parks and pay anywhere from $700 - $1,800/mo.

      But overall it's extremely cheap versus anything else and you can move if you feel your rent is too high
      Signature

      My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author RogozRazvan
    Hello Justin,

    Interesting. I've always wondered how it is to live and travel in an RV. I've seen some videos on YouTube but I wasn't really sold on the idea.

    However, it is something on my lifetime to-do list.

    Can you please let me know about a few concerns I have?

    1) How do you deal with water? I prefer to take long showers and wet napkins are not really something I'm looking forward.

    2) Doesn't it becomes claustrofobic after a while? I mean yes, you only sleep and eat in it but it seems as a small place. How comfortable it is?

    3) What about storage space? For example, storage for clothing, ironing, washing clothes?

    I guess this is more suitable for some people than for others. I find it sometimes difficult even to stay in hotel rooms since I own a lot of stuff and I actually make use of it. I wonder how much I would have to sacrifice if I were to try this too.
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  • Profile picture of the author violet0176
    You must be young. I'm almost 40 and the idea of being stuck on an RV for months or years at a time skeeves me out. When I want to go somewhere, I drive or hop on a plane. I recently spent the past 3.5 years in Santa Fe, NM and definitely plan to return at some point. Those NM skies are too beautiful to never see again.
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    • Profile picture of the author Justin Lewis
      Originally Posted by tracyt12 View Post

      That is great really! I want to go to California on some winery tours soon. I will rent an RV there and travel around working. Have you ever been to Napa Valley? They say, it is an awesome destination.
      I'm in Vacaville today for a morning meeting and it's only 15 minutes south of Napa Valley. I'll likely skip out on going today, but I do hear they have a great RV resort/park there that I want to look at

      Originally Posted by RogozRazvan View Post

      Hello Justin,

      Interesting. I've always wondered how it is to live and travel in an RV. I've seen some videos on YouTube but I wasn't really sold on the idea.

      However, it is something on my lifetime to-do list.

      Can you please let me know about a few concerns I have?

      1) How do you deal with water? I prefer to take long showers and wet napkins are not really something I'm looking forward.

      2) Doesn't it becomes claustrofobic after a while? I mean yes, you only sleep and eat in it but it seems as a small place. How comfortable it is?

      3) What about storage space? For example, storage for clothing, ironing, washing clothes?

      I guess this is more suitable for some people than for others. I find it sometimes difficult even to stay in hotel rooms since I own a lot of stuff and I actually make use of it. I wonder how much I would have to sacrifice if I were to try this too.
      You can follow our adventures on facebook.com/openroadchronicles and youtube.com/openroadchronicles to get an idea of how it it is

      1. Most resorts have upscale individual bathrooms that are typically larger than those in a house. Examples would be Raleigh Oaks RV Resort and Anchor Down RV Resort. That's the only way we take showers and for water we use water bottles primarily. The water in the RV we use only for washing dishes and our hands.

      2. Funny you say "only eat and sleep" when really once you go to a resort, you'll realize an RV is just like a home and for us, we are in it more than most people since we work on the road. Even funnier is... we realize it's bigger than we expected after we began getting rid of more and more. We're considering either going smaller or getting on that just has a large living room and small everywhere else as that's our primary use.

      3. I had a 5 bedroom house, then moved to a 2 bedroom townhouse with a separate office down the street. Luckily in the move, I gave away or threw away most of my stuff. I still had a furnished townhouse/office/storage but I just tossed most of it anyway. We have closets that would seem small, yet fit all of our clothes and if anything we have more storage than we can fill.

      You come to a realization that you don't need everything you want or have.

      It really depends on the lifestyle you want to live. There are some HUGE RV's that are like 38ft to 40ft+ and ours is only 27ft and we're looking to possibly downsize (undecided). But really.. even though we thought we used everything, we definitely didn't. Totally worth every bit of effort to learn how to live this way.

      Originally Posted by violet0176 View Post

      You must be young. I'm almost 40 and the idea of being stuck on an RV for months or years at a time skeeves me out. When I want to go somewhere, I drive or hop on a plane. I recently spent the past 3.5 years in Santa Fe, NM and definitely plan to return at some point. Those NM skies are too beautiful to never see again.
      Yep I just turned 26 in July. I was in Albuquerque, NM and Mora, NM for Thanksgiving and it was gorgeous. We plan on heading back to Albuquerque at some point because of how gorgeous the mountains and sky was.

      But I'll tell you this.. it freaked me out too. I didn't think we'd be able to manage without upgrading, and yet it becomes extremely refreshing. Especially when you stay at resorts
      Signature

      My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author thedark
    I always thought at buying a RV, but I was scared about the big price. In Romania, where I live, prices are usually higher, despite the fact that the income is 10 times smaller than in US. The VAT here is 24% so buying a new one gets our of discussion. I did some math and I also need a bigger car for the RV, so I need around $20,000 to get on the road. With that money you can buy a small house in my city.

    In our area ( Easter Europe ), a night at a hostel is $25-50, depending on the season and facilities. This means that for the costs of a truck and a RV, we can stay 400-800 days in a hotel with all facilities, this without including the renting for RV, the water, the electricity, and other costs. Most hotels come with included breakfast too.

    Also, there are only few places in our country where you can legally park the RV, the prices are high and conditions are on the low side.
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Lewis
    Well to help you understand the lifestyle, majority of people I know disagree entirely with buying anything 5 years or newer when it comes to RVs, they depreciate in value instantly and every year going forward. Once an RV is over 5 years old it doesn't really lose much value anymore, so when you buy the RV you have you can sell it for roughly the same price (or more in our case).

    However I will say this.. I considered a hotel as well. We have hotels here that are $1000/mo that include everything. Not a bad choice, whatever makes life more entertaining and enjoyable I say go for it.
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    My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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