Our RV office conversion - how we work from the road
How can you work from the road? What’s the best RV mobile office set-up? We have finally dialed-in an office set up that we really like.
The corner office
From the moment we picked-up our Rockwood Mini Lite 2205s with the Power Package we knew we wanted a good mobile office solution while on the road. In that article and video we shared how that trailer would normally come with theater seats facing a 12 volt TV. But we elected to have no seating installed.
That also revealed a four-outlet 120 volt outlet that would normally accommodate the theater seats. That’s nifty.
In the space where the theater seats go we bought two rolling office chairs and height-adjustable plastic tables. On those we put folding risers to lift our laptop computers up to eye level. That worked okay but those office chairs didn’t hold up as well as we had hoped.
So, in Quartzsite, we replaced them with simple folding chairs that we saw for sale at the show. These chairs are light and fold up but they also have extendable foot rests and they recline. This solves the problem of wanting both somewhere to work but also somewhere to lounge.
These chairs also allow us to either face in or face the main living area of the trailer and it’s not unusual that one of us will face one way, the other the opposite direction as you’ll see in the video below.
Computers
The height-adjustable tables are still working very well for us. Peggy has kept the height-adjustable stand that sits on the table but I have changed mine for a UGreen height-adjustable iPad stand. Except I put the laptop on it.
I’m really liking this stand with one very important caveat. It works exceptionally well with the iPad but the computer’s weight bias means it’s a bit tippy so, when moving the desk, I usually close the computer so it doesn’t go falling backward onto the floor.
Again.
As for the iPad I got this height-adjustable iPad stand which sits on the floor. I absolutely love this thing because it’ll hold my phone for shooting video and such or it’ll hold the iPad as well. It’s height-adjustable so you can put it up to 72” tall which makes it great for shooting video.
It also folds-up to a very compact size and there’s a flexible arm mount that holds the grabber that holds the iPad at the top so you can adjust the iPad to whatever angle suits you. Or the phone if you’re doing it that way.
Further, having an iPad and a MacBook Pro I can use the iPad as a second display for the MacBook Pro. This means that I have a relatively compact computer but then a second screen when I want one, which is often. It’s’ a great situation that requires no additional software - this is just how Apple sets this up.
Plus, I get an iPad so there’s that.
Connectivity
As for connectivity we have three cell phone plans - one with each of the major carriers. So we have a plan with AT&T, Verizon and a mobile hot spot with TMobile. We figure that one of the three will usually work.
We also have a Starlink dish. Starlink has absolutely been a game changer for us allow us to connect and get things done even in very remote spots.
For example, when we were camping in the Jemez Mountains none of the cell providers worked but we were getting a strong signal from Starlink. Our Mastervolt Power Package with 1,000 watts of solar kept the juice flowing to Starlink so it was better connectivity than we have in our home base. All without a single power outlet in sight.
We’ve also shared in the past how we mount our Starlink dish on our RV and this solution has continued to work very well and prove to provide the flexibility we need. For example, the campground we’re in right now provides a tree cover over half the site so we just moved where Starlink is and it worked out well.
Conclusions
I’m sure we’re going to change how we do things in the future because I can’t leave well enough alone, but I really like how light and portable this system is.
I can also take the plastic table outside and have used it under our Lippert Picnic Popup Gazebo so I get to be outside but also not inundated by insects.
Of course I always am curious what you’re doing because some of the best ideas are stolen. Do you work from the road? What is your office like? You can answer here or at our fun and friendly StressLess Campers Facebook Group.
