RV Ownership For Beginners

In The Spring of 2019, Sara and I came to an agreement with a friend of ours that we would take over the ownership of their 1993 Fleetwood Bounder, class a motor home.

Let me make this very clear…we had absolutely no idea what we were doing, what would eventually go into it…or how much fun it would be.

Fast forward 1.5 years later and we have made an incredible amount of progress converting a water damaged old bus, into a comfortable home away from home on wheels.

Our goal is to travel the western United States in search of a new place to live. St. Louis has been a great city, but both of us are ready for a change of scenery. Sara and I are both into Camping, fishing and hiking so the Pacific Northwest seems like a likely fit, but we are open to just about anywhere in between that tickles our fancy.

So…what is it like owning and working on a nearly 30 year old RV? It’s terrible and awesome at the exact same time…with a big lean to the awesome. We acquired the bus for under $6K and I’m sure we’ve invested well over $4k (not including the windshield I broke in Sara’s car) in getting it to where it is today.

Here are some of the projects we’ve tackled so far…

• Weather Sealing the entire roof with Flexseal (3 coats)

• New vent/fan above bathroom.

• New wall cover material in bathroom and living room

• Painting of all interior walls, cabinets and furniture

• New cabinet hardware

• New Flooring in whole bus

• Built/installed new vanity/counter/sink in bathroom

• Shaped/installed new butcher block counter in kitchen

• Installed new microwave in kitchen

• Oil change/new headlights

• New Taillight

• Installed Backup camera and monitor

• New personal cabinets for driver and passenger

Every step, every project has been more expensive, more difficult and more stressful then I anticipated. We have completed all of these projects with simple hand tools and a few borrowed power tools from friends.

We did the majority of the work on a tiny back patio or in my basement, carrying tools, materials and power cords up and down stairs countless times.

I say all of these negative things to tell you that it’s all been worth it. It’s been the biggest learning experience of my life and we feel so much more confident in the RV knowing what we have put into it.

We have a lot more work to do on the plumbing systems, the generator and the power management systems…but it’s going to be ok…we’ll figure it all out.

If you have ever thought about an RV, a travel trailer or a camper of any kind, my suggestion is to jump in. It’s scary, but it’s worth it.