Perhaps I should elaborate.
First, I think it's GREAT the OP found his camper to be a lifeboat. And there is nothing wrong using your camper for more than camping. Using them as a guest bedroom, a temporary dwelling, or a "lifeboat" when Mother Nature throws her hardest at us. It's a great alternative idea. We have them, why not use them all the time?
Whenever we visit relatives, we drag the camper along so we have our own space with power available for not. Everyone appreciates it, even us, to be able to get away from each other and sleep in our own beds.
About the lifeboat? We have a generator that is capable of powering everything in the camper. So, if push comes to shove, we can run the generator and keep things powered in the trailer, including running the air conditioner long term, or the furnace long term as long as we have a gasoline supply.
Our angry Mother Nature season is usually in the winter. Power outages when there's a blizzard and a foot of snow on the ground in common were we live. It's those times that generator comes in real handy. We run multiple lines into the house,not the trailer, to power the blower on our fireplace, I have lots and lots of fire wood as we heat the house mostly with wood, the refrigerator and freezer, the main television, our router and modem and computers and usually a light bulb or two. Because we are on our own well, if we have a power outage, we have no water. The well is 220 volt and the generator is not set up for 220. When weather begins to get ugly -winter- I have a 35 gallon fresh water tank I carry in the bed of my pick up truck. I'll bring it into the house, set it up in the laundry room. Fill, and at least we have a water supply when we know the weather is getting ugly. We usually keep it filled during the freezing months in the house. If we never loose power, I use the water then for flushing the toilet over time them. (For us, this works.)
In the warm months, we use the camper all the time at home. We've slept in the thing every single night since the end of April this year. So, we keep water in the tanks all the time, and I can dump my black and grey into my septic tank at home. On occasion we have power outages in the Summer, tornado, high winds, extreme heat. When that happens, we have water, showers, kitchen sink, toilet, stove and oven, air conditioning, lights, and power to keep our cell phones charged because of the trailer.
Hope this explains our usage some.
"Lifeboat" is a great term. It hits the nail right on the head. I appreciate the OP posting his experience. Hopefully, this will inspire someone else here to think outside the box for possible uses for their RV too, more than just camping and recreation.
FYI, because we live in the country, we have to think "outside the box." Another FYI, because we live in snow country, driving a 4x4 six wheeled behemoth beast comes in real handy on these back roads. Last Saturday my wife said we're selling the car and getting another truck. I couldn't believe it. She gave up her SUV for a Chevy Colorado 4x4 off road. Wow! I jumped on that in a heartbeat. I never dreamed we'd ever think outside the box THIS much! Both vehicles should do great on snowy roads now! Lifeboat! for sure!
