It’s been 6 months since we started full-time rv living and 4.5 months of that have been since we launched full-time to travel the country with our family of 5. Before we started I spent hours upon hours of research trying to find ways to make living in a rv easier, especially coming from a large home. I knew it would be challenging but do-able.
Now, this is not a list of “must-have” (you can check that out here). This is a list of my favorite non essential things that have made life easier, because who doesn’t want easy, right?

#1 on my list is the Ninja Foodi. This bad boy gets used more than anything else that we’ve bought! RV kitchens are small and this allows me to just keep a couple other pots/pans since it pretty much does it all…. air fry, dehydrate, pressure cook, saute, you name it and it does it! We’ve cooked bacon, hard boiled eggs, cakes, soups, fried chicken, biscuits and more! It’s amazing!

#2 on my list is a dehumidifier. In my opinion, it’s a must because RV’s have condensation almost all year round. I remember waking up several morning to water dripping down the windows like it was raining inside! When the humidity is high it can causes a lot of problems including mold. Mold can happen quickly and in areas you may not look. We tried a small dehumidifier and it didn’t work, it pulled out maybe a cup every 2 days (roughly). This handy dandy guy pulls out well over a gallon everyday. It’s amazing! With some research we’ve found that your humidity levels should be somewhere around 30-50%.

#3 Command hooks. Okay, this one seems simple but any RVer knows that it can be a little nerve wracking to put holes in the walls since there are electrical cords everywhere! You never know what’s behind the wall. Some RVers will just chance it but I haven’t been able to get over that fear. We use command hooks for EVERYTHING!! Don’t forget that you can buy the command frame strips too if you want to hang photos or decor. These are great! The only thing is that it’s a little deceiving because it’s not easy to take off and put back on since you have to push hard to get the velcro to stick back together. My rule is that once it’s up, it’s not coming back down!
**TIP** Use rubbing alcohol to wipe the area you’re going to place the command hook first so it’ll stick better.

#4 A quality mattress! We humans tend to get a little grumpy if we’re lacking good sleep, it’s nature. We’ve found that this mattress is amazing, can be shipped easily and is priced just right. We’ve recommended it to so many friends and they all love it as well. I highly suggest this particular one as it’s served us well.

#5 An outdoor rug. I really didn’t think this was going to be incredibly necessary and almost skipped it before full timing. I’m so thankful so many people recommended this because the amount of dirt that can get into an RV is incredible! The rug allows people to keep a lot of sand/dirt outside because it kind of scrubs their feet as they’re walking to the door. When you live in a small space it’s important to keep it clean because it gets dirty so fast, especially with 3 kiddos and a german shepherd! Staying anywhere with sand has proven to be a challenge. I should also note that we take off our shoes at the door as an overall rule and we still get dirt/sand everywhere!

These were just my top 5 favorite items in no particular order. We have done some remodeling and I’ll be blogging about that soon. It’s crucial that if you’re just starting out to remember that this RV is your home. This is where you and your family come to relax, it’s nice to have comforts and things that make cooking/cleaning easier just as with any home.

Honestly, traveling the country has been amazing and I can’t wait to share more tips/tricks as we learn along the way. Let me know what your favorite hacks are as you travel!

Talk to you soon,

Amanda

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