Now we have all dreamed about doing it in the future. Simply promote all the things and hit the highway. Purchase an RV and spend our days touring the nation, However is RV Life truly price it?
Do the benefits out weigh the complications? Is it even nonetheless pleasing with how many individuals have bought an RV within the final yr and endlessly stuffed the campgrounds we’re planning to go to?
Now we have been on the highway for the final 9 months and for those who follow me a couple of minutes I’m going to reply all of these questions for you.
My Spouse and I had been daydreaming about residing the RV Life for the higher a part of a decade. We might take highway journeys with our Son yearly throughout his winter break from college, in an effort to get him to all 48 Continental United States earlier than he graduated highschool, which we did. This in itself was no straightforward activity, however these 2 weeks yearly gave us a few of the most priceless recollections any of us have as a household.
Again then we had been simply two younger dumb ‘youngsters’ with a child of our personal, we began life off as many mother and father do, barely getting by and going hungry some nights to ensure there was sufficient meals for him each day. We couldn’t afford a cup of espresso not to mention a household highway journey.
As time went on we obtained higher jobs, began a enterprise, and obtained sucked into the required rat race you could run with the intention to get forward in life. Issues had grow to be mundane and predictable, and each day began to look like we had been residing within the film Groundhog Day.
It was then that we determined we had been going to throw a tent behind our 13 yr outdated GMC Suburban and go on a tenting highway journey to as many states as we might that yr, which then developed into us making the 48 state objective, which then developed into us deciding to revisit all of them as empty nesters at 42.
There’s a massive distinction in the place you’re in life at 24 and 42. On one hand your not a younger dumb child anymore, and also you’ve obtained just a few {dollars} in your pocket. However you’ve misplaced that fearless a part of your self who will simply say screw it and take the massive threat since you really feel such as you’re lastly profitable the sport everybody else says you could play.
After we bought our first RV we by no means thought the next yr we’d be residing the Nomad Life. Certain we had talked about it, and we had been going to do it Some Day, however not subsequent yr. We’re solely 40, that may be the dumbest factor we’ve ever accomplished. Wouldn’t it?
Our Son was going off to commerce college after which heading out to work in one other state, we had been accomplished teaching and being crew mother, which leaves a shocking great amount of spare time in your day after work. Enterprise was going very well and my Cousin had just lately come on board the household enterprise with me. We’re simply hitting that Golden time as adults the place our bills are down and our earnings is up, so we’re imagined to spend the following 20 years stuffing cash beneath the mattress for retirement proper?
In all honesty that was our plan. We had been going to take care of life being predictable for the foreseeable future whereas we obtained prepared for the golden years and saved each penny so we might do cool stuff like hike the grand canyon after we hit 65, however then it occurred. That curve ball that life throws in any respect of us sooner or later and takes the plan you thought was etched in stone and exhibits you that it was written on a Etch-a-Sketch in an earthquake zone.
Mountaineering the Grand Canyon in my 60’s goes to be unimaginable if my legs cease working in my 40’s. That was an extended yr and it pressured us to reevaluate a few of our life plans. We determined to maneuver the Sometime plan up and make it the Immediately plan.
We offered the Home, my Cousin took over the enterprise, our Son moved on along with his plans, and we Hit The Highway. We’re going to drive not more than 4 hours in a day, with loads of roadside attraction stops to interrupt it up, head south for the winter and observe 70 levels. I’m gonna make Jimmy Buffet proud and solely ever put on Hawaiian shirts and flip flops the following 2 years.
LMAO… positive… that’s the way it’s gone the final 9 months.
After we began heading south to go to family and friends alongside our path to At all times Sunny Florida for the winter, so did the freak chilly snap that introduced freezing temperatures to states the place the spend New Years Eve of their swimming swimming pools. Regardless of, we made it Florida, and it will definitely warmed up. To the decrease 90’s in January.
Nicely no worries, we’d fairly be in bathing fits than winter jackets anyway. We stayed till March after which began heading north. This might be good. The climate isn’t loopy sizzling in the remainder of the nation, so we gained’t want the AC and may do a number of boondocking and recoup a few of the cash we spent partying with our new buddies in Florida.
Nicely, Actually nothing has gone to plan since we offered our home and hit the highway. We spent the following few weeks being chased by Twister’s, or spending twice what we used to for a camp web site so we might run the AC within the RV after we needed to depart our canine house, or dealing what looks as if rattling close to all the things having some form of catastrophic break down on the truck or camper.
So is it nonetheless pleasing?
It’s. My Spouse and I spent final night time sharing a glass of wine beneath extra stars than I’ve ever seen in my life subsequent to a lake within the mountains of Montana by ourselves in an empty part of a Free Tenting space.
We’re WAY over price range, and regardless that we solely drove 2 hours down the highway from our final cease we now have just a few “fixes” on our checklist of issues to do as we speak, and people glasses of wine began as a coping mechanism, however become the candy style of victory.
The final 2 weeks of touring has actually put this life alternative into query. We had been serious about giving it up. After I say all the things was breaking, I imply Every thing. We broke a leaf spring on our truck. Popped one of many airbags. Broke the cross member that holds up our black tank, that was shitty…
And to prime all of it off, now our spirit was damaged. For each of us. BUT, we hit the jackpot.
We had been on our option to our first ever Boondocker’s Welcome when all of that occurred, and all we needed to do was get there, and we might sleep it off, and determine how we had been going to get “house” and stop making an attempt to reside out this silly fantasy earlier than it kills us.
Boondocker’s Welcome is a gaggle of personal house house owners who permit RV vacationers to park at their home for an evening freed from cost. We had by no means accomplished it earlier than so we had been going to present it a strive. This turned out to be among the best selections of our lives.
Our hosts Mark and Celia welcomed us with open arms, and all of us hit off instantly. I don’t know if they may see the defeat on our faces, or if it was all the time their plan for the day, however then by no means allow us to dwell on the issues we had been having that day. As a substitute they took us to their buddies farm to choose candy corn for the dinner they insisted on making us earlier than we loved drinks on their again porch whereas watching the sundown.
It was on the again of thoughts all night time, who am I kidding it was no less than within the center, however at one level Mark mentioned ‘Hey don’t fear about it, we’ll handle it tomorrow”. This man doesn’t know me from a gap within the wall, we’re two strangers from reverse sides of a tenting app Loretta has on her telephone.
We spent the following week fixing all the things subsequent to their barn, having dinner collectively, and web site seeing round their city turning into buddies. I don’t know in the event that they knew it on the time, however they had been repairing our souls that week whereas we had been repairing our truck and camper.
We are saying on a regular basis, the perfect a part of this life-style is the individuals that you simply meet, fairly than the locations that you simply go. The 4 of us began as full strangers and every week later had been lifelong buddies that may’t wait to see one another once more.
I can repair something. However that week, I used to be up a creek and not using a paddle. I don’t have a store filled with instruments anymore, and even when I did, it will have been 2,000 miles away. There was no method we had been going to have the ability to repair a damaged leaf spring in a truck cease parking zone and we don’t know Anybody out right here.
I used to be damaged. For the second time in my life, I used to be fully damaged. I’m a person who by no means takes no for a solution in life, there’s all the time a option to get it accomplished or make it occur, however as we speak all I might do was have a look at my Spouse and shrug my shoulders. I couldn’t wave the magic wand I all the time do and get us again on the highway.
Mark and Celia didn’t need to allow us to keep at their home for every week, or drive us round city to choose up components, of use his instruments, or introduce us to their buddies. However they did. As a result of they’re nice individuals? Perhaps. As a result of they’ve been there earlier than? Perhaps.
Regardless of the motive was, they simply took us beneath their wing till ours was mended sufficient to fly once more. They confirmed us that there are nonetheless wonderful individuals on this planet who’re prepared that will help you with out asking something in return, no matter what the information would have you ever imagine. They confirmed us that life has hiccups, however they’ll all be overcome.
Who cares that the freezer door wont keep closed and its build up ice? I can modify it tomorrow.
Who cares if the compressor for the airbags on the truck gained’t work? We will substitute it.
We gained. We made it right here. Even after all the things we now have gone via, we truly made it right here.
The issue the general public we now have talked to within the final 9 months, who say it isn’t price it, is that they beginning to get pulled again into the Matrix, which is what was taking place to us. We had began pondering like we had been nonetheless caught within the rat race, and life was falling aside.
That isn’t the case in any respect. Regardless of the place you reside, you’ll need to do upkeep to your own home. Issues break. The issue is we hadn’t budgeted for them. Not with time or cash. We had been preserving our journey schedule too tight, with these imaginary deadlines we needed to get to locations, and didn’t price range something for repairs, so it appeared as if we had been out of money and time. So a phrase of recommendation, price range for the dangerous days.
And so far as the stuffed campgrounds, positive they’re extra full than they was once, however we haven’t had an issue staying at or close to precisely the place we needed to be. You simply need to be a little bit versatile.
Do the benefits out weigh the complications?
This one is a complete hearted sure. Sure we now have been put via the emotional ringer the final couple of weeks, however one factor I’ve discovered through the years is that the dangerous days make you admire the nice days that rather more.
We might have given up at any level within the final 9 months however we didn’t. Not after the primary twister that was headed our method, and never after the third one which began forming over the parking zone we had been in. We didn’t stop when the leaf spring broke, and we didn’t hand over after being caught within the RV within the pouring rain for 3 days annoying one another.
As a result of we didn’t hand over, we now have met individuals from everywhere in the world who in some half have added to the expertise we’re having on the highway. We obtained to fulfill buddies in Yellowstone and hang around for every week.
We even obtained an opportunity to go “house” for 3 weeks and go to with family and friends and we nonetheless selected to hit the open highway once more and head off into the wild unknown like Lewis and Clark on an journey throughout the nation to see the issues most of us solely say we are going to go see in the future.
Is it truly price doing?
Like I discussed earlier, final night time my Spouse and I had a complete part of a Dispersed Campground to ourselves, having fun with a glass of wine, watching the solar set and the moon rise and spent the night time having fun with every others firm beneath the celebs.
If we had been nonetheless at “house” can both of us say we wouldn’t have simply been sitting on the sofa enjoying on our telephones ignoring one another as a result of we had already accomplished all the things there’s to do round city? Most likely not.
So in a method that no phrases I ever write might start to clarify, YES.
It’s truly price doing. Take the possibility. Stay your life as a substitute of simply residing.
If you need some tips about methods to make all of it occur, you may learn our article collection on methods to promote all of it and go, in addition to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel, and hopefully, in the future, we will have a beer across the campfire and swap tales of our travels.