Frequently Asked Questions

There were a few things we were looking for in a 5th wheel. The first, which we now deem less important, was finding something that looked modern and attractive on the outside. But we spend so little time looking at the outside it quickly dropped in importance. Secondly, we NEEDED something with a bunkhouse so I (Jen) could have a separate office space. Lastly, we wanted something where the layout didn’t feel super awkward (like having the mount for the TV across from the fridge…). Oh—I can’t forget that we needed something lightweight that we could tow with our Ram 2500. The Arctic Wolf bunkhouse models fit the bill for everything we were looking for!

We contemplated buying something used & spent hours pouring over options on RV Trader. While giving us a good idea of the layout we wanted, we didn’t feel 100% comfortable buying used. While we are both pretty savvy when it comes to basic maintenance and repairs we loved the idea of having a warranty and not having to be forced to make fixes to the RV ourselves. It really gives us peace of mind to not have to worry about something going wrong.

Despite purchasing a 2019 model 5th wheel, the industry is a little behind the times when it comes to modern design. When living in such a small space you want it to be bright and open. While our 5th wheel had more modern finishing and design—it was still very dark. So we painted nearly the whole rig a bright white with navy blue as an accent. We LOVE how much brighter it feels!

Jen’s answer: Dustin doesn’t let me drive (ha) so towing is great for me! I watch the side of the rig here and there when he’s worried we are close to the edge. When parking, I do my best to direct Dustin where to go. It’s hit or miss whether my directions are right so far…

Dustin’s answer: It sucks. It’s so nerve-wracking. We make sure to only drive 3-4 hours at a time because it’s stressful. You constantly worry about the tires and how they’re holding up and watching the wind levels to see if they’re causing the rig to sway. You also have to make sure your route gives you enough clearance. You need to 100% know the height of your rig so you know what bridges you can go under!

It took us about 6 weeks to complete everything we wanted to change in the rig. We already loved the floors so the majority of what we spent time doing was painting (4 coats of white on the walls). We had to sand any of the “woodwork” to get down past the top layer of paper veneer because primer wouldn’t stick…but that’s a story for a blog post!

Bauer has adjusted well to RV life! Honestly, it’s not too different from apartment living. We have a small space inside, with just enough room to play tug-of-war and toss a ball around (gently, of course). We take him outside frequently to walk and always choose RV parks that have areas specifically for dogs (fenced in dog parks with grass are the best!). Honestly, he gets more time around people and other dogs than he would’ve in a sticks n’ bricks home.

Because of how big of a responsibility towing is, we choose our routes very carefully. We utilize a GPS manufactured for truckers (and compare against google maps) as well as a Truckers atlas. As we are inexperienced towing, we try to avoid steep grades as often as we can (that means no mountain driving for us!). Sometimes this means taking a longer route to where we’re going. But we feel safer and more at ease when we aren’t careening down a steep incline at 60mph. We try to avoid anything at a 6-7% grade or higher.

We have a few things that are musts in RV parks we choose:

1. Parks that offer monthly rates.
2. Full hook-ups. We try to find places that included electrical in their monthly rate.
3. They have to have some sort of fenced in dog park—preferably with grass but not a dealbreaker.
4. They must be within 45min of an airport.
5. Close(r) to civilization. We need cell reception to be able to work!

We have found we like to stay at least one month per city/location. We think the longest we will stay in one spot is 3 months! Anything shorter & we feel stressed for time.

We use Verizon for cell-service & internet. We have 75GB of streaming data on each of our phones. We kept an extra solely to use for streaming & as a hotspot for work (3 total). We also utilize a Verizon MiFi device, but the speed is throttled after 15GB, which you can go through quickly. Because we were concerned about getting consistent cell reception across the US we also purchased a cell booster. We will write a review on that at some point.

*Most parks offer free WiFi, which we will utilize for watching Netflix, Hulu, etc. but it isn’t consistent enough to rely on for work.

Dustin’s answer: a bath-tub.

Jen’s answer: a shower that stays hot long enough for me to finish washing my hair.

We don’t think so. We love the experience so far but are ultimately only planning on doing this for 5 years or until we pay off our debt. But we will see how things play out!