Welcome to our home.  We live in a 2005 Holiday Rambler Ambassador 40 PLQ that we modified to include bunk beds.  It has 4 roomy slides, a powerful diesel engine and a big basement with lots of storage room.  It works beautifully for us.  This is the type of rig that people who full time with kids are often looking for.  Many people want a diesel engine but find that there are few options when it comes to diesel pushers with space for children (i.e. bunk beds) under $200,000.  This rig solves that problem with ease.  The PLQ model is easy to find used and therefore costs much less than a new rig.  It’s also easily modified to fit a variety of different needs.  In the bedroom there was originally an area that was designated as office space.  We had all of the furniture removed from that area and put in custom-made bunk beds that hold regular twin-sized mattresses.  We left the overhead cabinets in place for toy storage and the kids keep their clothes under the bottom bunk.  We removed the smaller sofa in the living room to make way for a computer desk so that Daddy would have an office space away from the sleeping area.  It works well because once the kids go to bed in the back we close the door to the bedroom and  stay up as long as we want, doing whatever we want, alone.  (Yes, the door has a lock.)

The kitchen is, of course, much smaller than we’re used to, but we’ve figured out that we don’t need nearly as much as we thought.  We have 5 pots and pans .  That’s plenty.  We have 1 cake pan, 1 cookie sheet, 1 muffin pan, 1 loaf pan.  We have 2 collapsible mixing bowls , a small hand mixer and a small food processor .  We cook on a gas stove or in our convection microwave.  We also have a few electric appliances – an electric skillet/griddle combo , a toaster , a crock pot .  The other thing that’s a lot smaller is the bathroom.  Having only one bathroom takes some getting used to, especially coming from a house with three, but we’re learning to take turns.  Still, the bathroom has everything we need.  The showers are hot and the water pressure is good.

We are finding this lifestyle...freeing.  With less “stuff” we have less to take care of, less to clean, less to manage.   It used to take 4 hours to clean my house, now it takes 30 minutes.  I used to do 2 loads of laundry every day, now I do 4 or 5 loads all at once, once a week.  America is our backyard, and we don’t have to mow it!  It doesn’t get much better than this.  We are learning that less is more.  Think about it.  How much do you really use/need all of the things in your house?  How much more time would you have if you weren’t taking care of your “stuff”?  What would you do with that time?  I will admit, it takes some getting used to.  The first 5 or 6 weeks were a time of adjustment for all of us – learning to cope with less personal space.  Wanting to be alone for a few minutes.  Wishing for some peace and quiet.  Learning to give each other grace.  But now, after the adjustment period, we are better off.  We are closer, more tolerant, and less materialistic - already.  I think we’re learning some very important lessons. 

If you’re considering taking a trip like this with your children or grandchildren (which is more and more common these days), we would highly recommend the Ambassador 40 PLQ by Holiday Rambler (or the Monaco Knight 40 PLQ which is the same thing).  If you have any questions about our RV, just contact us.  We’ll do our best to answer them.