Our RV Story

Why we did it

We were comfortably living in our modified two story house, just outside the suburbs.  We liked having the country side out our front window, but yet we were still close enough to the city.  Camping was something we did prior to children and something we wanted to do with our children.  However, autism entered our world and we decided a tent would never be safe for our lil man.

When our lil man was first diagnosed with autism we were determined we would fight to have a “normal” family life.  We wanted him to experience everything the world has to offer.  So with tent camping out the window, we started daydreaming about owning an RV and traveling around the United States. Traveling is something we had on our bucket list. I was a travel agent in my former life (first career out of high school while attending college part-time) and wanted to instill the love of travel in our children.

As we were navigating a new world of preschool, autism day treatment and therapies; it was determined a move to the city was necessary.  We needed to sell our house and be closer to the schools and therapists that were going to provide lil man with the best treatment possible.  In making this decision, and selling our house, we struggled to find a rental.  My husband had this hare brained idea, “Let’s live in an RV!”

“Yeah. Right.” I said. 

He was very serious.  So I started considering it.  Running logistics over and over again in my brain.

How can I make an RV autism friendly?

The answer was not in making the RV autism friendly, although we did need to think about safety.  The answer was in us as a family.  Creating and keeping a routine. Making lil man feel safe.  Reassuring that we are together and we are all ok. Preparing with social stories and pictures of the RV and campground.  We controlled what we could and we let the rest of the pieces fall as they may.

Once we picked out our 28 foot travel trailer, we started showing lil guy pictures of it and talking to him about where we would sleep.  We secured a campground for what turned out to be 7 weeks in the end of spring/early summer. I would drive lil man by the campground once or twice a week and tell him that we would be staying there soon.

Moving day quickly approached.  While moving out of our house was not smooth.  The transition was practically seamless for our lil man.  Luckily for us, lil man does not typically struggle with transitions (which can be a big struggle for kiddos on the spectrum). Our first two days were chaotic.  Our biggest issue, not having the RV in advance of moving out of our house. It was the one thing we tried to control but we were not able to make it work. Lil man did great while we organized and adjusted.  He adapted to showers instead of baths.  (Highly recommend if you are considering RV’ing, practice showers if your child is older than a toddler.)

We chose an RV with a “bunkhouse”.  When looking at travel trailers this was an immediate answer to a nice, quiet space for lil man.  However, I noticed some units had windows in each bunk.  I wanted to be sure that the unit we chose did not have a window in the lower bunk due to safety.  Success in our Keystone Hideout.  AND lil man loved the bunk.  Often he would crawl in with his iPad and just relax.  We used all his bedding from at our house and we were sure to include a motion activated night light for when he woke up in the middle of the night.

Since safety is a big concern with kiddos on the spectrum, the first night our number one priority was to put up all our door and window alarms.  Our next big safety purchase was the “Connector Rx” or connector belts.  I wanted to be sure I would be able to take lil man on walks and be outside safely while also managing our infant daughter.

Overall, lil man adjusted really well to RV living.  We only had to use the connector belts on walks, lil man did great staying in our campsite when playing or eating outside. The toilet was a little unsettling but we just took a break from potty training.

Our biggest struggle as a whole family living in the RV was meal time.  On a good day in our house we would cook two meals for a family of four.  In the RV, it was harder to cook two to three different meals at once due to the limited size of the kitchen.  Not to mention the floor space was the play space, so moving around was a challenge.  We invested in a toaster oven, much easier to use than the RV’s oven (and cooler in the summer). Plus the toaster oven eliminated the need for a traditional toaster.  I highly recommend doing some meal planning and investing in a small portable grill.