This post is written by my friend and fellow full-time RVer Britt Densford from The Art of RV Harmony. She offers RV living relationship advice, because let’s be real…navigating a relationship in roughly 250 square feet is an art.

I love collaborating with other bloggers and content creators. Having experts share their knowledge provides more value than we ever could on our own. Britt is an expert on relationships and marriage and I hope you enjoy all the wisdom that she has to share.

RVing and Relationships

I’d like to thank Camille for inviting me to be a guest on her blog.  I’m an administrator on her facebook page Full-time RVing – The Emotional Journey, for a very good reason.

I’m passionate about relationships.

That includes relationships with ourselves, with our RVing partners, and with the people around us.

I started a blog in April 2017 called The Art of RV Harmony, about the relational experiences my husband, Stephen and I encountered as we RVed.

We’ve been together as a couple 24/7 for 40 years as we were working artists who traveled to art fairs all over the country.  We’ve already done a lot of figuring out how to maneuver around each other.  But even during those years of living and working together, there was a bit more “wiggle room” to avoid conflict than our new lifestyle as full-time RVers.

When we became RV full-timers, it was illuminating being cooped up with each other all the time.  I decided to share our experiences, and at the same time conduct research that would help us bring our best selves to the relational table.

So, during the past year, I’ve been sharing our RV relationship story and I’ve done it with complete transparency–the good, the bad and the ugly–to show what the process of trial by fire might look like.

RV Living Relationship Advice

I hope that I can be of service to RVing couples as they navigate through the complexities of being with their life partner ALL THE TIME in a tin can on wheels!

As I finish this first year of writing my relationship blog, I’m reflecting on how we’ve grown as a couple.  When we began, I was curious just how much pleasure we could take in each other’s company, so I made our relationship a major focus of our road time.

I recently followed a facebook thread where a couple was getting on the road specifically to enjoy more time with each other.  They are not the first couple I’ve come across who looked forward to this part of their RV lifestyle.  What was interesting about the online conversation was they were also convinced that if you didn’t take pleasure in each other’s company, you should probably steer clear of RVing.  I completely disagree with this assessment.

I believe RVing can be the best thing that ever happened to your relationship.

I was curious if this was true for other couples besides ourselves and started an interview series on my Youtube channel to (hopefully) prove my point.  Even though my interviews with other RV couples are with a very small sampling, I can say with confidence that every RV couple felt their intimacy and partnership had been deepened by the RVing experience.

Check out my interview with Bryce and Camille from More Than A Wheelin’ here.

That is not to say it’s easy.  Oh no, it’s anything but easy.  We have to earn our personal growth, and it’s the same in our relationship.

The RV Crucible

I call the RV a crucible.

This single word captures the incredible challenges and infinite rewards of choosing to RV with your life partner.  A crucible is a “difficult test or incredible challenge, and a place or a situation that forces people to change or make difficult decisions”.

We should all ask ourselves, what do we want from our life on the road?  Here is where I’ll admit to having a bias.  I can’t see how you can enjoy the places you’ll go and the experiences you’ll have unless you take pleasure in being with your significant other.

And that is why we should allow the crucible to do its work – to hone our connection and fine-tune us to each other.

Love is, after all, the crucible that holds the secret to healing all that ails us.

I can honestly say that any personal psychological wounds I’ve carried I’ve healed through being open and vulnerable in my intimate relationship.  It has been worth all the work to continue to reach out to each other for authentic connection.

When Stephen and I married we exchanged necklaces instead of rings (artists use their hands all day long, and rings are a nuisance.)  The one I gave to Stephen I inscribed with “I See You.”  That is the work I take on every day, and believe me I’m not perfect but the phrase inspires me always to try to be my best and most thoughtful self.

Stephen inscribed “Pleasing You Pleases Me” on his necklace to me.  That has been his double-edged sword.  It’s easy to forget himself while attending to loving me.

But we show up everyday in our tin can, and continue to burn away all but the core of our bond – our love.  My fondest wish is for every RVing couple to find the courage to stay present to their relationship.  And that is why I write my blog.

We are so fortunate to have a lifestyle that allows us to gaze at each other in a new way.  Don’t miss the opportunity.

Check out more about RVing and Relationship on The Art of RV Harmony.

Click here for more posts about RV Life and The Emotional Journey.