Form-factor is a design principle where the philosophy of “form follows function” is highly developed. Besides effectiveness and efficiency, there is some sort of pleasure that comes from an ergonomic design and tiny features that fits well in the user’s hand, way of motion, or habits of thinking. Little details of line, texture, and location of buttons or other interactive parts of a machine, a building, or a vehicle or article of clothing, for instance, can amplify the worth of the thing by enhancing the user’s experience.
In the case of the RV (Recreational Vehicle; camper van; palace on wheels) there is great appeal to potential buyers, lease holders, or rental service customers. The imagination is excited by the promise of turning the key and following one’s heart’s desire on the highways and byways, unhampered by the normal constraints of a fixed abode. In reality there are still constraints that define the roaming RV life. They are a different set, though: keeping the mechanical and electrical systems in working order, navigating routes and road construction seasons, keeping one eye on weather conditions and the other on traffic flows and times. Seeing the world though the eyes of someone well-practiced in taking trips, long or short, means looking at the map and the landscape out the window in terms of fuel stops, bathroom and shower locations (and periodic pumping out one’s own stored waste, as well as topping up water reservoirs). The range of legal overnight stop-over places is familiar when one lives on the road.
The pragmatic and logistical considerations become second-nature after adapting to the rhythms of mobile visiting and passing through high points of the natural landscape and the cultural treasures of history or today. But a little of the luster can become dulled by those everyday RV realities. On the other hand, emotional peaks can come in little and big ways — sometimes it is the serendipity of a familiar face unexpectedly met, or a seldom seen animal or plant. Other times it is the satisfaction in fulfilling a life-long goal to reach a particular location or event that had filled the person’s imagination for so many years. And the simple fact of being away from one’s regular postal address introduces a betwixt-and-between (liminal) psychological experience: neither a digital spectator (instead being physically present), nor being a local resident who can claim a sense of belonging (instead being a guest or visitor). For some travelers that release from routines of home is a great liberation from community obligations, activities, and accustomed faces and places. After many weeks on the road, though, some travelers may feel a longing to return home. Only by going away is the coming home sweetened. Those who never go away will not benefit from the gap that separates self from social circles and familiar movement around a fixed place.
Most RV experimenters or full-time fans are middle-aged or retired. Poring over the many models, brand new or antiques still in active use, the myriad designs fill the mind of the prospective buyer or borrower: how many can sleep there, what is the mileage, is it suitable for sites reached off of the hard surfaced road? Does it make more sense to tow a trailer with similar features, or to stick with a motorized RV that is self-contained for driving as well as living? When money is no object and the RV serves as culmination of a completed working life, some people may decide on a custom-built RV to suit their specific wishes. And judging from the titles of books aimed at enthusiasts who are new to RV living and to long-time fans, it is quite possible to dispense with a fixed abode altogether for a few years and live entirely in a (semi)mobile way.
Leaving aside the realities of carbon footprint, care and maintenance needed to operate an RV for overnight trips or for extended sojourning, it is interesting to think about the form-factor of the RV concept using a cultural lens. It combines the attraction of an all-in-one, self-contained, convenient way to move through the world. It allows a person (more often 2 or more, not solitary travelers) to go (almost) anywhere and to enjoy many comforts of home while also freely moving whenever the mood arises. There are hints of vagabonding in the RV life — beholden to no single place or group of people, self-propelled, literally the physical expression of Rugged Individual that resonates with many legendary figures of USA history. Viewed through this cultural-theme lens, the design of an RV matched to a particular person’s needs and imagination really does promise something big that can very often be delivered to fulfill one’s expectations.
The old and seldom heard word ‘canny’ in one of its senses sums up this marriage of clever design and imaginative vision that RV people grab onto. It is canny because it fits nicely into one’s hands, into one’s dreams, into one’s reality. It can be a well-matched moment when desire for “the open road” (whatever that may mean to a particular RV traveler) is fulfilled by a well-designed solution to transportation-plus-dwelling. Not all matches are made in heaven. So some travelers may learn by experience what they value above all and then go back to the drawing board, again and again, to refine their search for a perfect RV, eventually arriving at one that satisfies their heart’s desire.
Looking at this photo of a bigger than average size RV for sale illustrates the great care that goes into “form follows function” design and engineering those plans into road-worthy reality. For a few seasons this was the fulfillment of a dream imagined by the owner(s). But as the world changes, one’s place in in life moves along, relationships continue unfolding, and some of the dream destinations and experiences have been achieved, then this sophisticated creation on wheels is ready to relinquish to another set of would-be voyagers seeking something more to fill their imaginations out on the road.
