Working From the Road

Chris with his assistant — Working from the Road

Working From the Road

If you look at most fulltime RVers Instagram feeds or facebook posts you would probably think this lifestyle is like a vacation with all of the amazing sunsets, sunrises and gorgeous views. While all those things are a big part of it, a lot of our time Monday through Friday is actually spent working (although a lot of the time in our pj’s). Chris’s company is based out of Houston so no matter where we go he has to stay on Central time and his hours are from 8 to 5. This wasn’t very fun during our time on the East Coast because he didn’t get off work until 6 locally. Living on the west coast has been pretty cool because he gets off work at 3.

Related Read: Top Tips for Working on the Road

Chris has worked for the same company for the last 8 years. He created his companies ERP system and continues to maintain and develop it from the road. He works from the passenger seat and uses the dash area for his laptop, extra screen, keyboard and he even has a printer/scanner combo. Occasionally, he will set up his office outside but probably not as often as he should.
I have an etsy shop where I sell crochet animals. So, I pretty much just need good wifi and a post office nearby to mail out my orders. Being near a craft store can be nice as well but most of the time that doesn’t happen. Luckily, I have a good amount of inventory stored in the dinette benches. I don’t really have a designated work area and mainly try to get my work done during the day since that is when Chris is working.

Related Read: RV Friendly Crafts You can do this Weekend

The most important thing for us is a good internet connection and cell signal. This definitely limits where we can stay. We would love to do more boondocking or be able to stay at more state and National Parks but a lot of time there is no wifi and limited cell phone coverage in those remote areas. For this reason, we only stay at RV Parks. We just try to research coverage maps and RV Park reviews before we stay anywhere and really haven’t had any problems. Chris starts off his day with an early morning skype meeting. If his wifi isn’t working he will have to go the RV Park clubhouse or a coffee shop for the day. We have a sprint hotspot that was provided by Chris’s job but it hasn’t worked too well in some of the places we have stayed at, so we normally don’t rely on it.

Related Read: Staying Connected

Working remotely has definitely been an added bonus to our travelling life because before we hit the road Chris was working in the office five days a week. Now as soon as the work day ends we get to explore whatever new city we are in and enjoy the fun amenities at our campgrounds. For example, we just stayed at a really nice park called The Lakes RV & Golf Resort in Chowchilla, CA and they offered free golf for two daily. Chris scheduled tee time every day right at 3 so as soon as the work day was done he was out of there.
We are really enjoying our life as digital nomads. I think next year we might try to do some more wild camping but for now we feel like things have been pretty great the way they are.

Author

Rachel & Chris Baumann

We are Rachel and Chris Baumann of It’s a Wanderful RV Life. We are both from Houston, TX, which is where we met. Chris currently manages and develops custom software for the company he has worked for since 2009, but he is an artist at heart. Rachel spent 10 years in the insurance industry but now has a crochet business and sells her creations on Etsy. Never the traditionalists, we married in Vegas on 10/10/10 and celebrated with a Halloween themed wedding reception. Wanting more than just the normal 9 to 5 jobs, we decided to sell most of our belongings and travel the U.S. with our two dogs, Remus and Samson. Our rig is a 35’ Fleetwood Bounder named Lucy. Now, we find ourselves traveling from state to state, visiting our nation’s National Parks, meeting new people, eating tasty food and checking out local craft brews and wineries. We love sharing our journey in hopes of inspiring others to do the same.

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