Full Time RVing Workspaces: JRJ

Names: Joseph R. Jones & Rachel Jones

Website: www.JRJ.org

Occupation: Sr. Product Manager with Adobe

RV: 2012 Keystone Cougar 322 QBS (5th Wheel)

On the Road Since: Fall 2012

Workspace Goal: Because I work in technology one of the biggest considerations was having a usable workspace from which I could do my job without losing efficiency and effectiveness on the road. We tend to stay in one place for a couple months at a time— we basically spend our winters in the bay area, summers in Seattle, and spring/fall in Park City, UT… but with a lot of travel in between and around the areas we’re staying in.

Starting place:

We looked at dozens of floor plans, and were starting to lose hope when we had a blinding flash of the obvious: there were lots of RVs designed for families that had a bunk room for the kid. Why not get one of these floor plans, rip out the bunks, and turn it into a real home office with a door that closes?

Current setup:

The desk is just a piece of high quality plywood with some moulding to make it look a little nicer, stained and varnished. Took less than a weekend to complete.

• It’s in the front of a 5th wheel, so very low ceiling… but no matter when you’re sitting down.
• We kept one of the 4 original bunks— it is a great spot to sit and read, or a place for my 100 pound dog to hang out with me while I work. (You see a sleeping bag there because we’re in Park City right now, so it’s nice to have something to keep warm.) It’s right next to a large window.
• Current generation core i7 iMac 27″ with an additional 27″ Thunderbolt display – being on the road doesn’t have to mean sacrificing power. Everything but the second monitor works great on 12V power.
• Small 23″ TV in the corner shows either an AppleTV for entertainment or live news via Cable/SAT
• Printer/scanner – we generate very little paper – nearly 100% digital. Useful for printing airline and movie tickets, etc.
• Synology NAS device – dual 3TB drives in RAID 1. Your drives will get some extra jostling, so drive failure on non-SSD drives is a genuine issue.
• WiFiRanger Go (and a WFR antenna on the roof) handles our connectivity, and we have 4G mobile hotspots from Verizon and AT&T.
• Philips Hue lights are the newest toy we’ve been playing with.  🙂
• You’ll notice the weird light over the TV in the corner… that’s an LED light for video conferences and production. I do a lot of that kind of stuff for work, so having decent lighting is important to me. Also, I swear by the ”Blue Yeti” microphone— fantastic sound for the price.

This profile is part of the Change Your Office View: Full Time RVing Workstations series – we hope that by sharing what others have been able to create in their RVs will help inspire you as to what is possible to work on the road.

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