RVing and Bookkeeping can make a great life.
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Have you considered living in an RV? But do you need a virtual job that you can take on the road with you? Well, Heather Ryan, a.k.a. The Tax Queen, shares her story of how she is doing this very thing with her husband and dogs. Listen to this 30-minute interview to assess wither this might be a great life for you.
Some of my main take-aways are the following:
1) I learned a lot about RVing in general, including some cool terminology like “fulltiming” and “launch” and “domiciled”. There is an entire RV sub-culture that you will want to immerse yourself in to thrive as a Full-Timer.
2) Internet is her biggest and constant concern. All RVers face this. She has had to change travel plans and not stay in certain spots because of lack of reliable internet. To illustrate how much of an issue this is, she says they subscribe to THREE different cell phone carriers to combat the issues with internet connectivity.
3) She started her business a few years before going on the road full time. When she did go on the road, she lost several of those initial clients, the ones for whom having a local person was important. So anticipate and plan for that outcome as you build your business prior to going on the road.
4) I was somewhat surprised to learn that she really didn’t have an official “office” set-up. I thought there would have been at least a stationary desk that had a second monitor or something. But she just has her laptop and just works from the kitchen table. They didn’t make any modifications to the RV to run her business.
5) Heather said she mostly works inside. So that is A LOT of additional time in the RV. I guess I had visions of working under the shade or out at the picnic table outside their parking spot. Not sure why I thought that. But you can’t see computer screens in the sun. And it is still just easier to work from your normal inside table. So, be prepared to really like your tiny space. I think my vision of RVing was wrong. I now realize that you are more than likely in a campground surrounded by other RVs, not on some beautiful mountain or ocean by yourself with your computer and a private view. But you are able to be CLOSE to those beautiful and interesting places. And you can go to them before or after you get your work done.
I hope you enjoyed this chat with Heather. Check her out at https://tax-queen.com/
Chime in below in the comments if you plan on “fulltiming” in the near future and virtual bookkeeping will be part of that lifestyle. If you are already doing this, tell us about how you run your business and where you prefer to roam.
And come to the Bookkeeping Side Hustle Facebook Group if you’d like to meet more Bookkeeping Fulltimers.