12 Main Reasons People Quit RVing (Helpful Facts)

More and more people become full-time RVers and they love it so much that they never stop.

Other people become full-time RVers but end up quitting over time.

Here are some of the most common reason why some people quit RVing full-time.

1) They Run Out of Funds

One of the main reasons people end up quitting full-time life is because they simply run out of funds. Living life in an RV can be cheaper than living life in a house but this isn’t always the case. In fact, oftentimes, living in an RV is more expensive than living in a home.

The reasons for this are many but mostly it comes down to expensive campsites and unforeseen expenses. When something breaks down in your home, it is possible to defer maintenance for a little while. When something breaks down in a motorhome, it is often an emergency and you have to fix it right away.

For example, a small roof leak in a house can be covered with a tarp or stopped with a bucket. However, a small roof leak in a motorhome needs to be fixed immediately. Otherwise, the leak could completely ruin the RV in just a few day’s time.

Another reason people run out of funds is that they forget to budget for the increase in entertainment expenses. Exploring new areas often costs money and this can add up quickly.

For example, you might spend $10.00 visiting a museum one day and another $8.00 in tolls driving to a park the next day. Two days later you spend $35.00 at an amusement park and three days later you spend another $7.00 visiting a state park. These expenses are all small by themselves but they quickly add up over the course of a week.

This is why saving money and creating a spending plan are critical steps to becoming a full-timer. Remember, you aren’t on vacation anymore so you can’t get away with spending money like you are.

2) They Have Great Financial Success

Some people become full-timers because they do not have a lot of money.  They find that they can live inexpensively in an RV and they end up getting to travel too.

After a while, many of these people end up earning money. With their newfound earnings, these people decide to buy a house and their life as a full-time RVer comes to an end.

3) They Have Kids

There are some people that travel full-time in their RVs with their young family. This works for some people and it doesn’t work for others.

Others never intended to have kids while out on the road and they stop full-timing as soon as they do.

Still, others decide to have kids and they decide that they do not want to have their kids while traveling full-time.

These people make the conscious choice to stop full-timing so that they can pursue family life. They can keep their RV and use it for vacations or they can sell it and use it to fund their new stationary life.

I’ve even seen other people who hit the road with young children but later decide that they want to stop traveling once their kids become old enough to attend school.

These people travel for a few years and then quit RVing when their kids reach age four or five.

4) They Get Old

Many older Americans live life out on the road. They become full-timers after retiring and they do so until they pass on. However, most senior RVers do eventually give up full-time RVing. These people head out on the road and they don’t stop until they’ve crossed everything off of their bucket list.

Once these folks feel they are too old to RV, they sell their campers and move into senior care facilities or they go live with relatives.

The transition is usually much easier in this case because these people do not have to downsize or sell a large home before moving. Also, they get to go back to their traditional lives knowing that they’ve done everything they ever wanted to do and seen everything they’ve ever wanted to see.

In some cases, I’ve even seen people go from full-time living out on the road to living full time in their RV while parked on their children’s properties.

These people literally bring their own “granny homes” with them and they get to keep their privacy and autonomy while still being close to the aid that children can provide to them as they age.

Here’s a complete guide we have made for seniors who want to go RVing. It’s a GREAT place to start if you are considering RVing as you retire (or if your parents are about to do so).

5) They Have Health Issues

Old or young, rich or poor, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have your health. It takes a relative amount of good health to be able to live full-time in an RV.

This is especially true for people who want to go full-time boondocking.

Boondocking is even harder to do than regular full-timing because it often lacks many of the amenities that other types of RVing have to offer. Additionally, most boondocking sites are far away from urban areas so you have less access to hospitals and other health care providers.

Some people develop injuries or become sick while full-timing.

Many of these people end up quitting because of this. Some of these people regain their health and become full-timers again while others do not.

If you’re a full-timer who feels they might need to quit because of your health, don’t feel bad about it. Your health is the most important thing you have and it is important that you care for it as best as possible. Quit full-timing for now and come back to it once you’ve acquired good health again.

If you’ve developed a serious injury that prevents you from full timing again, head out on short weekend trips instead. Nobody ever said you have to go full time to enjoy the fun that RVing has to offer.

6) They Decide to Go Boating

RVing and boating have a lot in common. They both consist of tiny living and they both offer an almost unlimited amount of freedom. Getting into boating can be difficult but so can getting into full-time RVing.

Many of the traits that give people the confidence to go full-time in an RV give these same people the confidence to become full-time boaters.

Also, once a person owns an RV, they have something that they can use to sell to buy their boat. Since boats often fall into the same price ranges, the transition does not have very severe financial stresses.

For this reason, many RVers eventually transition into boating.

After all, the world consists of more water than it does land so boaters have access to even more opportunities for exploring than RVers do.

Young people are especially prone to going from RVing to boating. This is because they eventually see everything they want to see on land and decide that they’d like to see some of the sites that full-time boating has to offer. If you don’t believe me, just check out some of the popular boating channels on Youtube.

You’ll see that many of these people had channels that were all about RVs just a few short years ago.

7) They Meet Someone

It isn’t always easy to manage a serious relationship while full-time RVing.

This is especially true for people who travel often as they do not get a chance to stay in one area long enough to meet someone.

Sometimes people meet someone while traveling and they decide they’d rather stay and pursue the relationship rather than continue full-time RVing. In other instances, people meet someone and they decide to take the person along with them on their travels.

This ends up having the opposite effect and instead of someone quitting full-timing you end up adding another person to full-time RV living.

8) They Get a New Job

Just because a person has enough money to full-time in an RV doesn’t mean that they should.

Sometimes people quit because they find their dream job.

This can happen when a temporary job becomes permanent or it can happen because a new job opens up that requires the person to remain stationary.

Either way, dream jobs are rare and you can’t blame a person for choosing to quit their RVing experience to chase fun and rewarding career. Ironically, I’ve seen that many of the people who find dream jobs while out on the road actually started their full-time lifestyle to escape a job that they did not like.

It may mean that this person just decided to go full-timing when what they really wanted all along was just a job that suited them better.

9) Their Family Needs Them

Even if a person remains in perfect health while out on the road, some of their stationary family members may not. In this case, some people end up heading home to take care of sick and injured relatives, or aging parents. These people who are free to go wherever they want are in the perfect position to go and take care of others when their stationary counterparts cannot.

The nice aspect of this is that many of these RVers get to keep their RVs at their relative’s house while they take care of them.

This gives them the option to head back out on the road again after they’ve nursed their friends or relatives back to good health.

Additionally, it gives them the opportunity to have their own personal space while they stay at their relative’s home. This can be especially important to the freedom-loving full-timer who likes to know that he or she can have peace and quiet whenever they feel they need it.

10) They Get Bored

Do anything long enough and it can become boring.

The same statement holds true for full-time RVing. Many people head out on a long journey only to find that they quickly get tired of it.

These people will often go full-timing for a while and then suddenly quit. They establish a more stationary life and they end up getting bored with that and become full-timers again.

This is one of the greatest aspects of full-time RVing.

People can full-time for as long as they choose and they can come in and out of the lifestyle whenever they see fit.

I once met a couple that would RV for a few years and then buy a small business. They would run the business until they became bored with it and then they would become full-time RVers again.

When I met this couple, they had just sold a beautiful little bed and breakfast that they had owned for several years. They had actually come across the bed and breakfast while full-timing and had fallen in love with it. The bed and breakfast went up for sale and they decided they’d like to own it for a while.

They’re now living in a small class B on a Mercedes chassis and are enjoying their time traveling once again.

11) They Become Stressed

RVing can be a lot of fun but it can also be a lot of work.

This is especially true when a full-timer decides to spend most of their time traveling.  Constantly setting up and taking down an RV can just seem like too much of a hassle for the average person.  After all, the average person doesn’t have to put much thought into their electricity, gas, water, or sewage needs each month.

An RVer, on the other hand, has to spend every day worrying about these needs.

Constantly being on the move can be freeing for some people but it can be stressful for others.  While one person might love waking up in a new place each day, another person might find the idea downright scary.

As a result, many people quit full-timing because they’re just too stressed out about it.

12) They Lose Their Pet

The title of this one might sound odd but it is true nonetheless.

Sometimes people choose an RV to travel in because they want a steady place for their cat or dog to live in.

After their beloved pet passes away, they have the option to pursue other methods of travel.  These people then move on to international travel, backpacking, biking, boating, or some other form of travel that just doesn’t involve living in an RV.

13) They Start a Business

Not everyone happens to come across a business they’d like to own during their travels.  Some people decide to build their own business from scratch.

Establishing a business takes up a lot of time and it can often be easier when stationary rather than when out on the road.

For this reason, some people decide to quit to pursue new business.  In fact, some of these people may even fund the new venture by selling off their RV.  In this case, the person took their full-time RV lifestyle and turned it into an investment.

If the business ends up doing well financially, the person can always sell the business and buy a new RV so that they can become full-time RVers again.

14) They Fall In Love With One Area

Often-times, people who feel they want to travel really just haven’t found an area that suits them yet.

These people hit the road intending to full-time RV forever and end up finding a place that they just don’t want to leave.

These people fall in love with one new area and they decide to quit full timing so that they can make a life there.  After a few years of making friends and laying down roots, full-timing in an RV just doesn’t appeal to them anymore.

15) They Want More Space

Small space living can be very liberating for some people but it can feel oppressive to others.  Even a large class A RV is only going to provide a person with about 300 – 400 square feet of living space.

This is about half the space that a person would get from a small apartment and about 25% of the space that a person might get from a small house.

People looking for more space might decide to settle down in one area so that they can rent or buy some more space for themselves.  This is especially true for the full-timers who ended up putting their stuff in storage and who now find themselves missing it.

16) They Want Less Space

Others love minimalist living so much that they decide to stop full-time RVing so that they can become backpackers.

These people sell everything in their RV and reduce their possessions down so much so that they can fit everything in a backpack.

Free from the RV and the campground fees, these people now have money for hostels, hotels, and fancy camping.  This type of transition is especially useful for the person who wants to do a lot of overseas traveling as it can be difficult and expensive to move RVs between landlocked countries.

This is especially true for Americans looking to explore other continents as there really aren’t any inexpensive options for getting an RV from the United States to Europe or Asia.