Family of Seven Has Lived Full-Time in a Renovated RV Travel Trailer for Four Years

Living in an RV has its downs and ups. Yes, you do get to travel a lot, but you also have to be prepared if something goes wrong in the middle of nowhere with your car or your trailer. Renee and Shaun have five kids, and together they all have been living full-time for about four years in a 2016 Jayco Jay Flight 33RBTS.

The RBTS in the model’s name stands for Rear Bunk Triple Slide Outs, meaning it has a rear bunk house in the back and three slide-outs. The body of the trailer is made of wood, while the sidewalls are aluminum. It measures 33 ft (10 m) in length, 8 ft (2.4 m) in width, and 6.7 ft (2 m) in interior height.

This RV has a total size of 360sq ft (33 sq m), which for many people is quite a small space, even more so for a large family. But Renee, Shaun, and their kids all feel like this is the lifestyle that they want. However, they spend most of their time outside in the outdoor living room doing some barbecue and enjoying the warm weather.

Starting with the exterior, the family arranged a cooking area that is also the living room with a BBQ grill, a few chairs, a rug, and a large 20 ft (6 m) retractable awning. Before the renovation, the rear side used to be an outdoor kitchen, now it is used as a storage space, similar to a garage in conventional houses. They have added some tools, a mini fridge, and another small pantry for all the extra food that cannot fit inside. The front side has another tiny storage that goes from one side to another with many heavy tools and extra cords.

This travel trailer comes with a kitchen that has been redecorated just like the rest of the tiny house, with new appliances, furniture, and colors. The kitchen has white cabinets and countertops and a green kitchen island. It is also fully functional with a large black sink, a microwave, an RV fridge, and a range with a four-burner stove. There is also a spice rack next to the range and a pantry. On the other side, we find a small dining area with a two-leaves table and a bench with tons of storage underneath.

The living room was added next to the dining area with a futon couch on which one of the kids sleeps. The couch is a tiny bit raised, so a few storage bins could fit underneath. This area also has a TV mounted on the wall and a cabinet with all the school supplies. With a family of seven, of course, there are many shoes, and for this reason, they added a shoe closet right next to the TV cabinet.

One of the downsides of this RV that the family admits they would want to change is having only one bathroom for seven people. They do take showers on different days and try to spend as little time as possible inside. This bathroom has a medicine cabinet, a shower cabin with a 20-gallon fresh water tank (76-liter), an RV toilet, and a bathroom vanity. They have to be careful about how much water they use during showering, especially when they are traveling and do not have access to fresh water.

The master bedroom was added at the front side of the RV. There is not much space available to move around, but they managed to fit a full-size bed and add a few drawers on each side of the bed, his and her closet, and an essential oils rack. The whole bedroom has a mid-century cabin ambiance with the chosen color palette and furniture design.

As I mentioned earlier, this RV has a rear bunkhouse, which has been used to design a bunkroom for the other four kids. It has four beds, two bunk beds on each side. The beds on the floor also come with a few drawers beneath, and each bed has its tiny storage organizer. Because there can never be too many storage drawers for four kids, each with their toys and school items, there is another floor-to-ceiling cabinet and a few cubbies.

The couple did not mention any cost of the RV or how much they spent on redecorating it. If we go by the price shown on different RV websites, you can get this 2016 Jayco Jay Flight 33RBTS for as low as $35,000 (€32,628). Of course, it depends on what features you want it to have and how much you want to spend on customizing it the way you would like. Truly the sky is the limit with these kinds of homes on wheels.