Our Top 10 Full-Time RV Life Hacks

Full-time RV living is a dream come true for a huge number of people. After all, who wouldn’t want to be free to travel wherever they liked, whenever they liked? That said, just like any other lifestyle, RV living does come with its fair share of problems. These include expenses, pests, and some other issues you might never have thought of.

Fortunately, there are ways to solve each and every one of these problems. Sometimes the solution is pretty obvious and straightforward. Other times, it helps to know some full-time RV life hacks. That’s why we’re here today.

Below, we’ve put together a list of our top 10 full-time RV life hacks. Use these while living in your RV to make your incredible lifestyle even more amazing.

1. Invest in Reciprocal Passes

Sightseeing is one of the best parts about traveling in an RV. Unfortunately, sightseeing can get really expensive, really fast. This is where reciprocal passes can help.

Many museum memberships belong to organizations such as ASTC and NARM, and members receive free admission to all museums in the organization. Zoos have a similar program through the organization called AZA. Other options are the “America the Beautiful” pass—which provides free admission to national parks and other public lands—as well as the Six Flags and Cedar Point passes that provide reciprocal benefits.

A couple of these kinds of passes can save you a lot of money on seeing the sights.

2. Warm Up with Electricity

Another great way to save money? Try heating your RV home with electricity during the winter. This hack only works if electricity is included in the cost of your campground. In this case, you’ll pay the same rate no matter how much power you consume. Why not run electric space heaters while winter camping instead of burning through propane by running your propane furnace?

3. Run an Extension Cord

Speaking of electricity, if you’re in a 30-amp rig, there never seems to be quite enough amperage to run everything you need at once. Now normally, you can just shut one thing off while you run the other—however, there are some occasions that call for a different solution. Enter the extension cord RV life hack.

Most campground power poles have a 20-amp plug in addition to the 30-amp outlet. By plugging an extension cord into that 20-amp spot and running it into your rig, you can run an extra appliance.

4. Use Walls and Ceilings to Create Storage Space

Another thing there never seems to be enough of in an RV? Storage space. However, if you have any wall or ceiling space at all, you can increase the amount of storage space your rig has to offer. How? By hanging pocket storage on doors, shelves on walls, and fruit baskets from the ceiling.

Look around your rig to see where you might add some of these simple storage solutions.

5. Make Use of Command Strips and Hooks

Another great RV life hack? You can also make use of wall space by hanging Command hooks, which are handy for holding things like keys and jackets. We love them because they are super easy to put up and they don’t require any drilling at all. They can even be removed without doing any damage at all to the RV wall.

Command also makes hook-and-loop strips that are ideal for hanging pictures and other decor throughout your RV.

6. Light Your Cabinets

Of course, your RV likely has some built-in storage too. Typically, this comes in the form of cabinets. These are great for keeping things in their places while you travel, but it can be difficult to find anything in a dark cabinet, particularly if the cabinet in question happens to be very deep.

For this reason, we highly recommend using motion-activated LED lights inside your RV cabinets. These lights are battery powered, so no wiring is involved. Simply mount them on a cabinet wall and you’re good to go.

7. Get Some Turkish Towels

Getting wet towels to dry in an RV can sometimes feel like an impossible task. This is especially true if you happen to be running the propane heater or if you’re unable to open a vent or window. Running a dehumidifier definitely helps, as does hanging a clothesline across the shower so you can spread the towels out.

That said, the very best way to ensure your towels dry between showers is to purchase Turkish towels .

Turkish towels are absorbent yet incredibly thin. This means they will dry you off nicely, but they also air-dry quickly. This is one RV purchase we wouldn’t put off and an RV life hack you’re sure to appreciate.

8. Replace Your Shower Head

Another great RV shower hack? Replacing your RV shower head. Stock RV shower heads are notorious for using way too much water and offering way too little pressure in return. An Oxygenics shower head is the perfect solution to this problem.

Oxygenics shower heads use air to push water through the shower head, creating more pressure with less water. They make it much easier to take a full shower without running out of hot water, and are especially nice for conserving water while boondocking.

9. Put Down an Outdoor Rug

One of the most annoying things about living in a campground is the constant stream of dirt or sand that makes its way into your home and onto your floors. In some locations it can feel like you do nothing but sweep, and while other locations are better, there is rarely a spot that leaves your floors completely dirt-free at the end of the day.

If you’re tired of dealing with this problem and looking for a way to combat it, we recommend an outdoor rug. No, the rug isn’t a miracle worker, and yes, you will still have some dirt on your floors. However, because people will have to walk over the rug to enter your home, some of the dirt on their feet will inevitably be wiped away, making your floors that much less dirty. 

10. Use Lights to Keep Pests Away

Depending on where you tend to park, there’s a good chance you’ll have to deal with mice at some point in your RVing career. This is unfortunate for a number of reasons. Not only are mice gross, they also ruin your food and can even destroy wiring and plumbing. 

Fortunately, there are ways to keep these pests away. Diffusing peppermint oil can help a little, and we always like to have a couple of mouse traps set just in case. All that said, one of the best and easiest ways to deter these pests is by setting up a string of LED lights around the outside of your rig. 

Mice don’t like bright lights, so this will help keep them away while also giving you a bit of light to use when spending time outside at night. 

As you can see, there are plenty of clever ways to improve your full-time RV living experience. Which of these hacks will you implement first?