5 Things I Learned RV’ing with My Family

All aboard the RV that we will be stuck in for multiple days while driving from Toronto to Michigan. When my Dad first told us we were RV’ing to Michigan I didn’t quite think much of it, other than the fact that it was a completely random family vacation. We had never RV’ed before, let alone really gone on a family vacation out of Ontario, Canada, and this was how we were going to start? I was intrigued, and hey, my family isn’t really the traditional type anyway.

In the end we learned a lot as a family about RV’ing and what it’s like being stuck in a confined space together for hours on end. Here are the 5 things this trip taught me.

1. It will be embarrassing

From sleeping at Wal Mart and movie theatres, to brushing my teeth outside in the parking lot as people were pulling up in the morning to get their groceries, RV’ing is definitely sure to make you feel slightly (or really) embarrassed at times. It was just something we learned to accept, despite the fact we felt like wandering gypsies. Never did we think we’d be that family sleeping in parking lots, but it’s always fun doing something out of your comfort zone and having your whole family with you doing it.

2. You will get sick of each other

This is a given. I mean you’re stuck with each other in an RV for hours on end with absolutely nothing to do. Then on top of that, you spend every waking minute outside of the RV together and instead of coming back to your own room in a hotel or house, you are all sleeping in one big room, right next to one another. By the end of it, it’s only normal to be a bit sick of one another and want some alone time.

3. You’ll get weirdly used to bringing your house everywhere you go

Need to go to the grocery store? Everyone pile into the RV and lets go. Want to go out for dinner? Hop in the RV. We didn’t bring a car with us to use when we got to each destination, so everywhere we wanted to go, we went in the RV. Imagine the looks we got when our Dad brought us to tour Michigan Tech and we pulled up in front of all the college kids in an RV and rolled out one by one. Everywhere you go, your house comes with you.

4. You will start to lose your sanity

Due to the fact that you are going everywhere with your house, you are completely stuck with each other 24 hours a day, and you are living in parking lots, camp grounds, etc. you do start to lose your sanity a bit. By the end of it I think we were all delirious, which only made the trip even more entertaining and ridiculous then it already was.

5. It will give you the best memories

All in all this trip gave us memories that we still laugh about today. It was probably the most random “vacation” I have ever been on, but I think I laughed more on this vacation than any other one. I’m happy I was with my family when we did this trip and even though this is a normal vacation for many people across North America, for us, it was something very new, and something none of us had ever done before. I guess they always do say you have to try everything at least once.