Remember the video game Oregon Trail? If you’re between the ages of say, 20 and 50, chances are you played some iteration of the educational Apple video game in grade school. For those robbed of this wonderful schoolhood privilege, here’s a brief synopsis: You are the leader of a family making the trek across the Oregon Trail. You must keep the rest of the family healthy and, well… alive. Oh, and the oxen. Gotta keep them healthy and living as well, otherwise your trip stops and the family dies. You begin the game by selecting the supplies you think you might need along the way: food, ammo, clothing, water, medicine and spare parts. The numerous challenges faced by those on the Oregon Trail are there to greet you in digital form via the video game and in many cases they lead to the sudden loss of life - especially if you aren’t equipped with the proper supplies. Because you name your family at the start of the journey, you feel a little tinge of emotion every time the game displays a little digital tombstone complete with the family member’s name and cause of death. ​

The truth is, Oregon Trail is a perfect game in the sense that it puts into perspective the hardships faced by those travelers while teaching the player about the importance of planning ahead, being prepared, and dealing with sudden hardships. These days you can get Oregon Trail on emulators and online, but there is also a card game version. In fact, we carry the card game on board the RV during our travels! I’d recommend checking either game out, both are a lot of fun but most importantly they make you realize just how easy we’ve got it these days. As a full-time RVer the Oregon Trail games hit a little closer to home. Let’s walk through the parallels of driving a motorhome across the US in 2020 and driving a digital wagon across the US in the Oregon Trail game.

Supplies

In the Oregon Trail video game, supplies are limited due to weight and space. In RV life, loading the rig up with all the necessities while staying under the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is truly a balancing act. Our Class A coach has an overall GVWR of 30,000 lbs. When we are full of fresh water and fuel and towing the Ranger, we weigh in at about 29,700 lbs! Talk about cutting it close. And that’s after we unloaded about 500 lbs of weight during our last stop in Oklahoma City.

In the Oregon Trail games, if a hardship arises and you don’t have the supplies to handle the situation, your entire party can perish in just a few turns. Wagon axle breaks and no spare parts? You’re stranded and everyone starves. While the consequences are not typically that dire, RV life is pretty similar. Balancing our on-board water for instance (@ 8.3 lbs per gallon) with a large load of groceries might mean we dump 30 gallons of fresh water in a WalMart parking lot. Speaking of food, we can only bring so much since our fridge and cabinets are in no way “residential grade”. 

As the primary driver of the coach, I am responsible for repairing and maintaining our “wagon”. When something breaks or needs general attention, I better be prepared. Some items that have proved their weight in gold: tire plug kit; tool kit(s); electrical connectors and tools; fuses; spare oil and other fluids; tire pressure monitors; electric impact wrench; RTV silicone sealant; silicone lubricant; rubber roof patch tape and the Dremel tool. Obviously that’s a lot of stuff but, really, I’ve used all those items more than once in the past year. Some, weekly. What’s the tradeoff? All those things take up space and add weight to the vehicle. For me, the pros of being able to diagnose and repair in the field outweighs the cons of space and weight.

Beyond the needs of maintaining the RV, truck, generator and motorcycles, Tosha and I also need to consider that little thing where we keep the kids comfortable and alive. Food, drinks, entertainment, clothing, learning tools and medicine are all crucial. Again, lots of things there but all are necessary. Carter in particular has Type 1 diabetes, which means we always have insulin on board which must be refrigerated. If we lose power, we better have propane on board to run the fridge. No power and no propane? We’re in trouble. By the way, we have to work out logistics for ordering and restocking these meds as we travel across the country!

Keeping tabs on propane, gasoline, oil level, fresh water, medication, spare parts, food, ammo (yes ammo is a necessity), waste on board, generator/coach maintenance and 10 different tire pressures can feel like a full-time job in and of itself. Losing tabs on any one of these things can put us in a predicament that sends our stress level skyrocketing.

Calamities 
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In the Oregon Trail games, those predicaments are referred to as calamities. Sure that sounds dramatic, but I can relate. Over the past few months we’ve experienced a flat tire, an exploded electrical system thanks to a short in our power hook-up cord and various generator issues. In fact we’re currently living without mobile power since our generator completely went out last week… but that’s a story worthy of it’s own blog. 
The key is being as prepared as possible for any foreseeable issue while not overloading the RV. Non-tangible things that can still bail you out of a sticky situation include roadside assistance plans, vehicle/RV extended warranties, and the best insurance you can afford. These don’t add weight or take up space, but they do provide protection and peace-of-mind.

Hunting when times get tough
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When you run out of food on the Oregon Trail, it’s time to load the gun and go hunting. Assuming that you have ammo on board of course! In real life I would equate this to hustling for a few extra bucks. This can be done remotely depending on your primary sources of income (and again, assuming you have wifi reception!), but you can also forage for some extra income via a workcamping gig or using your toad vehicle as an Uber. When times get tough, rolling your sleeves up and hunting for those extra dollars can really save the day!

The oxen
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Like oxen, the RV is one of the most important things to monitor during your travels. Without a healthy yoke of oxen you are stranded, and you better hope you’ve got roadside assistance. The thing about RV’s is there are SO MANY THINGS to tend to! Of course you have the running gear; engine, transmission, tires, axles, brakes, suspension, steering and cooling system. But you also need to remember the coach elements; plumbing, electrical, structural, air conditioners, appliances, generator and exterior sealant! Neglect any one of these items and a small inconvenience could quickly become a big big problem. I use a couple different apps to keep me on schedule with all the RV maintenance needs. A logbook works as well. 
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Oh, and don’t neglect your toad vehicle!

Camping overnight in strange places
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Just as on the Oregon Trail, you sometimes find yourself in a strange place with no other choice but to stay overnight. We generally try and scout our surroundings ahead of time using various crime mapping websites, but even that isn’t foolproof. Only a few times have we been truly sketched out, but we can take a little solace in the fact that we have home protection on board. When parked in less than desirable areas we simply pull the shades down, lock all doors and compartments, and we all sleep in the mid/loft area of the RV away from entry doors.  Again, it doesn’t happen often but you do need a plan and protection for the times it does.

Arriving at the next checkpoint and resupplying

When you’re low on supplies or have an ongoing calamity in the Oregon Trail game, seeing the next sign of civilization on the horizon is a huge relief. In the Oregon Trail game, it’s a fort or a town. In RV life - for us anyway - the equivalent “sigh of relief” moment would be an RV park with full hookups. Electricity without the restrictions of our generator size! Water without worry of running out! And draining our showers and toilets without worry of overflowing the holding tanks!  

Living in an RV, you quickly start coveting things you once took for granted. As I mentioned earlier, we’re currently grappling with generator issues. For the past 24 hours we have done a delicate balancing act of conserving every watt of energy while still making food, running the water pump, etc… We also completely filled our waste tanks which meant dirty dishes stacking up, and no one being allowed to use the toilet. This morning Carter woke up with high blood sugar (again, diabetic), and unfortunately he was sick and throwing up. We ran out of water flushing. Worse, we had no water for him to drink in order to reduce his sugar levels!

Finally, at noon today we rolled into an RV park for the first time in over four days. We plugged in 50 amp electric and the sewer dump as soon as we arrived, we put the slides out, kicked the AC units on and emptied the waste tanks. Let me tell you, it was nice. It truly felt like we were back in a house. Just as comforting: Leaving the RV park with full batteries, empty waste tanks, full water reserves, and - if I’m lucky to find the time - a freshly-washed rig! RV parks truly are an RV’ers equivalent of civilization on the Oregon Trail.

Fording a river

I debated putting this one in, but it’s relatable. In Oregon Trail, when you come across a river you have a few options presented to you: You can ford the river, attempt to float the wagon across, or at times pay a ferry. The RV equivalent? Low clearance things like bridges, power lines, trees, etc., or a dead end road that you can’t turn around on. Maybe a steep incline that could cause you to rip the entire rear cap off your rig. In these instances you have to make quick, sometimes stressful decisions. 

I’ve attempted to clear low bridges and crushed my roof elements, and I’ve been stuck in dead ends that made for time-consuming turn arounds. It’s not fun and it can cause everyone in the wagon (RV) to hurl stress-induced comments at one another. Essentially, when navigating an RV you have quick decisions to make around every turn. Assuming you’re going to clear that low bridge without knowing your actual height? Better have the budget for a new satellite dome! But hey, most of the time you’ll only make a mistake once. That being said, I’ve repaired our satellite dome three times now. Take better mental notes than me.

These are all first world problems   

In the end, everything aforementioned - aside from keeping medication stocked and refrigerated - is not a big, life-threatening deal. These are truly “first world problems”. In the grand scheme of things, whether you live in a big sticks-and-bricks home or a little travel trailer, a day or two without electricity or water is nothing compared to what our forefathers endured. More importantly, it’s nothing compared to what others experience even in these times. We must remind ourselves of this. Perspective is very important. 

Hopefully if you’re new to RVing or considering it, this blog opens your eyes to some of the everyday challenges you may face. For those of you already familiar with all the things I described above, my hope is you got a smile from this and you’ve been reminded to keep your cool when times get tough. But regardless of how you relate, reading it all the way through means you’re now rewarded with this: A fully playable web-based version of the original Oregon Trail game! Have fun, good luck and… make those supply choices wisely!

Most people plan their journey to full-time RV living through a thoughtful, phased approach. They come up with the idea, discuss it with friends and loved ones, research the best way to go full-time, make decisions on when and how to go full-time and then pull the trigger on those things based on the timeline that works for their lives and budgets.

We're not most people. We started our RV journey sort of on a whim. We went from our first conversation about full-time RV living to buying an RV in twenty-four days. There were no conversations with friends and family, very little research (at least on my part) and no well-thought-out plan with a formal timeline. We made decisions on the fly which caused us to move quickly

The first big decision we made to make to become full-time RVers involved our house. What would we do with our house while we were on the road? Sixteen days after our first conversation about full-time RV living, we put our house on the market. We have a beautiful, historic home in downtown Oklahoma City (our dream home, really). We made the decision to sell it because we didn’t want the risk of not being able to cover our costs of the home while we were on the road. Since we were quitting our corporate jobs to run our business, we were concerned with the strain that would put on us financially. However, twenty days after listing our house, we took it off the market. It truly was our dream home and we were terrified we were making the wrong decision by getting rid of it. We listed it as a short-term rental on Airbnb and VRBO instead. The house was officially listed on both platforms within four days of making that decision and we had our first booking two days later. It was official – we had to be out of our house within three weeks.

The second big decision in becoming full-time RVers was the RV. Rob spent the first couple of weeks doing a ton of research on what type of RV would be best for us. He would send me texts with links and pictures and go into these huge, in-depth reasons why we should (or shouldn’t) choose this model. He looked at everything from fuel mileage to towing capacity. I mostly focused on what layout made the most sense for our family. We finally decided on a Class C motorhome (Super C). We even went to look at a few of them in person. Then, one morning I woke up to tons of links and pictures of different Thor Outlaw Class A motorhomes in my text messages. Rob had stayed up super late the night before doing more research. He found the Thor Outlaw 37MD layout that was ideal for our family. He found two that he was interested in – one in Texas and one in Florida. The one in Texas was obviously a lot closer but the one in Florida seemed to be nicer and was less money. After several phone calls with the dealership, we put a deposit down on the one in Florida and had one-way plane tickets booked for three days later. Within twenty-four days of our first conversation about full-time RV living, Rob and I were officially RV owners.

​The next big decision we had to make about full-time RV living had to do with our jobs. Some people go full-time but stay stationary most of the time due to work or any other reason that may keep them close to a certain geographical location. Our plan was different. We wanted to go full-time to build our business so there was going to be a lot of travel for us. We needed the flexibility to work on the road. Since I had made the decision to leave my job of nearly eight years and my career as an accountant at the same time, I was faced with the decision to not only find a new job but also find a job in a completely different space. Let me tell you – switching careers, looking for a new job and needing that job to be flexible to lend to RV life was quite the challenge! I did find a job that I thought was going to work but that only lasted about three months (long story there). By November, I was convinced that the perfect job for me didn’t exist so I forged a new path to figure out how to make money on my own. (That’s probably a blog post of its own.) Meanwhile, Rob had quit his job as the Service Director of a couple of car dealerships to focus on building our business full-time. Since our business, Bison Track, operates through an e-commerce store front and does not involve a physical store front, the flexibility for travel was certainly there for him.

The last big decision in our series of decisions was deciding how to educate our children on the road. Believe it or not, that one came fairly easy to us because we had been going down that path for three years already. Three years prior, our son, Carter, started having severe abdominal pains in the fourth grade. They caused him to miss a lot of school (50+ days in one school year). Over the next two years, we took him to several doctors, ran countless tests and couldn’t find any answers until mid-way through fifth grade when his neurologist suggested it might be abdominal migraines. We started him on some medications and things started to improve. He wasn’t having migraines nearly as often and, when he did, they were rarely as debilitating as they had been previously. By the end of fifth grade, we were pretty sure we had him on the right track with his medications. However, as it was time to research and decide on a school for him for sixth grade, we realized there was a misalignment between the school we wanted him to go to and the needs of his health condition. We decided the best option for him at that point was an online charter school where he would have the flexibility to go back to sleep if he needed to sleep off a migraine but still do all the work he needed to advance his education. Sixth grade went great for him. He had some bad days but he had the flexibility to do the work when he was feeling better. We were also extremely lucky that our employers were both flexible and allowed him to go to work with us daily. After our experience with the online schooling, we knew that was the best option for both of our children as we began to travel. Edith has been more of a challenge because she has a completely different personality than Carter (and she’s also much younger). However, we were able to get her through first grade remotely and she’s excited about continuing to learn on the road.

​Becoming full-time RVers was a decision we made and implemented in less than sixty days. This involved four critical decisions. What do we do with our house? What RV is right for us? What should we do for work on the road? How will we educate our children? I’m not recommending anyone else necessarily make the decision on that timeline but it worked for us because we didn’t have the opportunity to drag our feet or back out when things got tough – we just figured it out. If you’re struggling with either of these things as you’re trying to go full-time, consider just doing it. It’s amazing what you can figure out when you make yourself.