Not All Rainbows & Butterflies

We have had many conversations with people about what we're doing this year and the first thing they say is, "OMG, that's my dream!!!" Sometimes we internally then say, "Maybe find a new dream???"

Don't get us wrong -- this has been one of the coolest things we've done. That being said, we've already had many moments of wondering how easy it'd be to just sell the Smile Wagon and not have to worry about dumping our own sewage again. So, this post serves to give y'all the lowlights of RV living.

We had a pretty hard time transitioning to ~RV life~. I already vacuum a concerning amount, and my anxiety around cleanliness increased significantly living in campgrounds. I'm always worried about bugs being where they shouldn't be, rodents living in our pantry, and dirt that's been tracked in.

Chad is a guy who really loves a schedule, and it took him awhile to figure out how to work from home. He also gets easily side tracked with travel planning, so some days that he was planning to do teledentistry he actually ended up with 42 tabs open across AirBnB, Harvest Hosts, and SkyScanner with a crazy look in his eye.

It also seems important to mention that we have had to figure out how to live together in such a small space and in a new environment every month. With bickering being one of our love languages, we have really had to figure out how to communicate with each other without using a tone. It's been really tricky for me with high-stress situations (see previous blog post on using a CAT scale for the first time).

I've also had a weird time figuring out being in a new hospital/rotation every 4 weeks, because clinical rotations are where I'm being constantly evaluated. Everything I do and say is graded, so I'm on high alert all day and I'm usually exhausted when I come home to the Smile Wagon. New Hampshire was especially tricky: working with the medical examiner was an incredible opportunity, but I had a hard time emotionally with a few of the autopsies. I took a lot of that out on Chad, and living in 300 square feet of space with not a lot of escape doesn't help. I'm still trying to figure out how to leave work at work.

Nothing *knock on wood* has gone horribly wrong with the rig. Yet. But we've had our fair share of small frustrations already within our first ~4 months that can really pile up mentally, physically, emotionally and financially. Here is a list of said things, in no particular order, just for anyone seriously considering moving into an RV (or if you want a real-life account of this adventure).

• The RV battery was dead when we showed up to pick it up in New York, so our adventure started with having to jumpstart it.

• The auto level system is just smart enough to know there's a problem, but not smart enough to tell you how to fix it. *immediately opens YouTube*

• When we opened up one of the slides for the first time, somehow a piece of the wood trim got caught and looked to be too long, preventing the slide from fully opening. A huge shoutout to Chad's stepdad Terry and our first host Sean and this fancy wood cutter.

• One of the handles to the underneath storage kept locking up, causing us to have to crawl through from the other side to unscrew the entire fixture. And, lucky us, it keep happening over and over. I think we have actually permanently fixed this, though!

• So. Many. Bugs. We are still vacuuming up dead lady bugs that accumulated while the Smile Wagon was winterized until we picked it up. We have ant traps that keep spilling, rodent repellant that needs replacing, and tiny gnats that can fly through the small gaps in the screen door.

• Our site in New Hampshire was on the steepest incline of the entire campground, and it was our first time publicly backing the rig up. Thankfully, all of our curious neighbors had an opinion about best practices for backing up!!!

• Chad wanted to make eggs and bacon one morning, but cooking stinky stuff inside tends to linger. He tried using our cutie little portable camping stove instead, and the eggs ran over the side of the griddle and seeped into the internal components of the stove. It was a lovely, respectful, tone-free breakfast.

• We accidentally drained the RV battery by putting the slides out in Pennsylvania with no electric hook up, so then had to jump the RV once again. (Maybe solar panels are worth it??? Side note: we're getting good at jumping this thing.)

• Recurring nightmares about overflowing tanks, hitch problems, mice in the vents, etc. Every single noise puts us on high alert.

• When storms blow through, we really wonder if the Smile Wagon is just going to rip apart piece by piece and we'll just be left in the living space watching The Bear.

• When we arrived to our campground in West Virginia, we couldn't figure out the water hydrant. The campground host was gone on vacation and it was pouring rain and already dark out. Our RV neighbor had to come over and help us figure it out. (Thanks Stan!!!)

• Infinite tools and gadgets that you "must have." As soon as you purchase a few and cross them off the list, a few more get added. Good thing we're rewards members at Tractor Supply!

• Navigating the WINDIEST roads we've ever seen in West Virginia made us sweat out of pores we didn't know existed.

• Our closet rods keep breaking during hauls because of too much weight. (Read: CHAD'S closet rods keep breaking because he refuses to donate old t-shirts.) There seems to be at least one casualty from a haul, which is always a fun surprise.

• On our last night in West Virginia, I accidentally left a bag of trash outside that we were going to take to the dumpster on our way out in the morning. We should not have been surprised to soon find a raccoon AND a skunk going to town. Chad grabbed some tongs and went outside in his robe and Crocs at 11 pm to clean it up.

• The door flung open while driving once because the lock loosened up.

• Last but not least, on our most recent haul we (I) unfortunately added some character to the Smile Wagon. The tail swing caught a stone column as we were leaving a driveway. Nothing a little duct tape couldn't fix.

With all of that being said, we do feel like we're getting the hang of things. These minor frustrations are thankfully becoming less and less frequent. This has been such an important learning experience for us, and we can't believe how much cool stuff exists in this country.