I have worked and lived in RV for 3 years (Score 1)

I've lived in my RV for 3 years as a DBA (and writing this from my RV office). Just browsing through this thread there are quite a lot of negative, wrong, and closed-minded comments.. kind of lowers my confidence in slashdot dev content in general. Set up: I live in a 21 foot travel trailer (4900 pounds fully loaded) that I bought new for $13K (industry is struggling and was able to get 40% off MSRP). I pull with a Toyota 4Runner V8 (7300 pound tow capacity) I bought used for $18K. It tows nice.. it isn't a big loud diesel truck. You don't need a diesel these days if you select the right trailer. Less is more. Smaller allows you to fit in way more camp sites and your gas mileage increases (I get 11-12 MPG towing). If I had to make these decisions again.. I would have gotten a 19ft trailer or maybe go the Class B. route (this adds some interesting urban stealth options). I have way more room than I need.. but is nice when I have visitors (but that only solves for a 5% use case). This is my home.. when I visit friends along the way.. they offer a guest room.. and I decline telling them I'm way more comfortable in my home parked outside. First of all, 4G is making for exciting times ahead! Not so much on the coverage-front.. but instead of tweaking the system to get .7 Mb.. you'll now be fine-tuning to pull in 12 Mb! Never rely on wifi signals in RV parks.. as they get overloaded or are severely underpowered. On that note.. stay in RV parks as little as possible.. they are expensive, have amenities you don't need, and clientele are not really that interesting. Go to State Parks ($15-$35), National Forests (free-$20), BLM land (free), National Parks ($12-$45), and Provincial Parks in Canada (free to $50). I stay in RV parks every 5 days or so to reload up on water, top off the batteries, do laundy, and dump the tanks... and if I really need some high bandwidth.. but that is hit or miss. Sometimes I'll stay in an RV park for a week (they offer cheaper weekly rates) when I just need to be at a convenient more urban location during an important project. Use rvparksreviews.com to determine best ones (sometimes they'll mention how the wifi signal is) On that note, get some solar panels (300 watts should be sufficient.. but you need to check your average load) and possibly a small quiet generator for cloudy days (2KW is enough). Some of these parks have full hookups.. but the best and cheapest ones will be no hookup (possibly w/ electric). You need to pair this with some good batteries. I have two 6 volt 230 amp batteries. If I had the room I'd get four total. Get a cell booster (Sleek 4G or SoHo 3G.. better 4G boosters on the way though) and a 4G directional antenna (also an omnidirectional as a backup) and mount it on a painter's pole that you can extend 8 ft about your rig. This helps with oscillation issues and gets you over any dense obstacles. You will be able to pull in 3 bars signal where without you would not get service. I use Verizon exclusively and I've been able to stay at all but the most remote campsites. Use Verizon's coverage map to determining where you can stay ahead of time. If you need to pull in wifi signal.. get an Engenius booster with a directional antenna or an Ubiquiti Bullet. They come in handy. I'm a DBA.. and backups are my bread and butter.. having multiple signal options is critical. Tear out the useless cramped dinette and put in a full custom desk and mount your spare LED panel on an articulated mount. I worked from the dinette the first year.. and my butt hurt after every work day. I ripped that out and put a 2' by 5' slab of 1.25" thick oak on some ikea cabinets/stands and a used Herman Miller chair for a total of $450 (most of it the chair). Your bathroom is fully as functional as home.. but if you can go number two in the camp bathroom.. than you'll lengthen how long you can go with dumping the black tank before it starts smelling. This is your home.. tweak/hack things as you need.. don't feel like you need to keep the RV in pristine for sale condition. I have so many hooks (mostly Command stick-on but some screw in) and other upgrades to make it more livable. I've added pop up shelves, etc as I find is needed. For the winter I actually put the trailer in storage.. it's just not made to sustain those conditions comfortably (unless you go south which doesn't appeal to me).. so I actually rent a condo near a ski resort or in Hawaii for the winter.