Working on the road, in the comfort of your own RV — could life be any better?
Many are choosing to work from home these days and pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. Fortunately, with some portable electronics, many “work at home” careers can be easily taken on the road!
Here’s how to create an RV office while you’re on the road…
5 RV Office Necessities
Modern technology has opened a whole new world of employment options and business opportunities that will fit into a mobile lifestyle as if they were specifically designed to do so.
Think along the lines of photography, writing, and selling — to name just a few. There are so many different possibilities, to list them all would be very hard.
One thing that makes this possible is the vast array of portable electronic communication devices:
#1 – Cell Phone
Choose a cell phone contract that gives you unlimited long-distance and roaming anywhere in the country for one set price. That means you can talk to anyone… anywhere… for as long as you want… with no additional fees. You can even connect your cell phone to your computer in order to have internet service while you’re RVing.
#2 – Laptop Computer
With a good laptop computer that’s equipped with a wireless Internet card, you can do everything from your RV office that you could do from a home office. By parking near a library, hotel, truck stop, or any number of wifi hot spots, you will have quick access to the Internet just like the office at home. Most campgrounds these days also have free wifi access for RVers.
#3 – Digital Camera
With digital cameras being the preferred mode of photography these days, you no longer need to send pictures in to be developed. Instead, you can immediately edit, repair, and crop images then send them wherever they need to go instantly — or publish them to a website. If you’re selling things on eBay, having good photos will improve your sales considerably.
#4 – All-In-One Wireless Printer
While any printer will do, ideally you’ll want to have a multitasking unit that serves as a scanner, copier, printer. Your computer becomes your file cabinet, since everything can be scanned and electronically stored. For safety’s sake, a separate external hard drive should be used to backup all of your files. That way, if your computer’s hard drive crashes, you will still have everything on another drive — so you would still have a way to do business. Once you get a new laptop, you’ll be up and running again in a matter of minutes with all of your files and business records intact on the external hard drive.
See why the HP Photosmart all-in-one printer is a great choice.
#5 – Fax Options
You may think that without a phone connected to a land line the ability to send or receive faxes is no longer possible. Fortunately, this isn’t the case! There are a few services online that allow you to both send and receive faxes to and from those who haven’t moved up to the world of e-mail attachments yet. You can sign up for a 2-way contract to send and receive faxes through one single service for a small fee. Or you can send faxes for free at one website and receive faxes for free at a different website. (It’s a little less convenient, but if you’re only dealing with faxes occasionally, it may be worth it since it’s FREE.)
The amount of space that you devote to your RV office is completely up to you.
For example, you might simply need a spot to keep the printer and paper since your laptop and cellphone are used from various locations within the RV.
On the other hand, you may want a neatly organized space devoted solely to your work — which includes file folders for receipts, invoices, and notes; as well as shelves or cabinets for items related to your business; and enough space to comfortably work on your laptop for hours on end.
I’ve been involved in RVing for over 50 years — including camping, building, repairing, and even selling RVs and motorhomes. I’ve owned, used, and repaired almost every class and style of RV ever made. I do all of my own repair work. My other interests include cooking, living with an aging dog, and dealing with diabetic issues. If you can combine a grease monkey with a computer geek, throw in a touch of information nut and organization freak, combined with a little bit of storyteller… you’ve got a good idea of who I am. To date, I’ve shared my RV knowledge in over 300 articles here at The Fun Times Guide! Many of them have over 25K shares.
