Have you ever considered the full-time RV lifestyle or have you been curious about how people get started with RV living? This lifestyle has grown in popularity in recent years which has more and more people researching how it all works.
Would you believe me if I told you that when our family made the decision to RV full-time, we had never been in an RV before? It's true! We had never even been camping before, other than in a tent in our backyard. We sold it all and dove in with both feet. Here is our story of how it all happened.
Guest Post and Photos by TheAdventureDetour
"Someday" Talk About RV Living
When we were young 20-somethings with no kids, we used to joke about someday buying a motorhome and traveling the country when we retired. This was actually a hilarious conversation to have at that young age but we loved traveling and never seemed to have enough time off of work or extra money to take the trips we so desperately desired.
To make this conversation even more ironic, we had just custom-built a 3,000-square-foot home in the suburbs of Kansas City and of course, filled it full of stuff. Our large basement area was also packed full of things in storage. I honestly don't know how two young people had accumulated so much junk in such a short amount of time!
So as we tossed around this retirement RV thought, we joked that we could never make it living in a small space with all of the stuff we had. Plus the idea seemed so many years away that it was only a pipe dream. Then we had our daughter and that was the end of the conversation.
A Family Event That Rocked Our Perspective
My parents decided to retire early at 55 and build their dream house on a lake with a boat. They had saved and talked about doing this for many years. The house was beautiful and my family and my brother's family all enjoyed visiting them there the first year they lived in it. Then my dad suddenly fell ill. He was diagnosed with lung cancer and then brain cancer and died six weeks later.
It all happened so quickly and he was so young. The whole event really rocked our world. He had two brothers that also died by their early 60s. There was a family trend of men not living very long and that reality hit me like a ton of bricks. Retirement isn't guaranteed. If you wait to do the things you long to do in life, they may never happen!
So here we were in our early 30s at that point with a preschool-age daughter and a dream to travel that seemed impossible. But my wife and I had this nagging feeling that we just couldn't put a finger on. The feeling was that our family seemed made to live differently, to take advantage of life more, to enjoy the time together while we had it. Van and I both had this feeling but didn't really understand it at the time.
A Vision Was Born
My wife, Van, already stayed home raising our daughter and had the plan to homeschool her. She had a homeschool friend with a young family that came up with a crazy idea in 2014 to sell their beautiful home and buy a 5th wheel RV to live in as they traveled the country. We both thought this family had lost their minds!
What I didn't know is that Van was asking them tons of questions and looking into how they planned to make this happen. She was researching and taking notes. The next thing I knew in late 2014 she told me she wanted to sell our house and travel full-time in an RV. Now I thought that my wife had lost her mind! I had a house and a job and a kid, we can't just take off and travel at our age. Or so I thought!
Making It Happen
This time period was a complete tornado of events. How could a family like ours who had never even camped or been in an RV before, sell everything we own and move into one? What would our friends and family think? And what on earth do we do with all of that stuff?
Honestly, my head was spinning trying to wrap my head around it all but I had that strong feeling that this is exactly what our family needed to do. This lifestyle was the solution to that time together that we were craving. The solution to that nagging feeling was that we were meant to do more, to live more, to have more experiences during our potentially short time together. If I follow my family's health pattern or not, I still feel like these few short years when our daughter is with us are just precious, and want to maximize all of our time together.
We just knew that we had to go for it and that we would figure it out one step at a time as we went along. Today it is common for families and people of all ages to RV full-time, but in 2014 there were very few young people living this lifestyle and even fewer resources to learn how to get started. We felt like we were diving into this blind but did it anyway.
An Emotional Rollercoaster
As we planned how to make this lifestyle a reality for our family, we decided to put our house up for sale. After all, it was heading into the holiday season and we thought it would probably take a lot longer to sell in winter. Wrong! The house sold in the first week and we had to be out in late December. So here we were trying to figure out how to sell, give away, and donate 3,000 square feet of furniture and belongings to move into a 300-square foot 5th wheel. December was the worst possible time to try to make this happen.
While all of this was happening, we were on a huge emotional roller coaster. One day we were so excited that we were almost jumping for joy. This was really happening! While the next day, we felt like we had absolutely no idea what we were doing and were completely out of our minds. What a wild ride of emotions. Change is hard for everyone even if it is a change that you deeply desire. This was an enormous life change and at times it felt a bit scary. What if we didn't like this lifestyle? Or what if it didn't work out?
How Is It All Going Now?
We did make it through the whirlwind stage of selling our home and moving into a 5th wheel RV in 2015. In fact, we are still on the road traveling today. This enormous leap of faith has given us seven amazing years of travel experiences, invaluable memories, and an incredible education for our whole family.
Is this lifestyle easy? Definitely not. Just like anything in life worth doing, there are challenges at times. It helps to see both the good times and the challenges all as part of the experience. Have you ever wondered if you would enjoy RVing full-time? It isn't always easy but it is without a doubt worth it!
We have traveled to 42 states so far, 37 national parks, spent time in Canada and Mexico, been on all 5 Great Lakes, and traveled both the East Coast and the West Coast from tip to tip. All of this is because we stepped outside of our comfort zone and went for it. I don't know what the future holds, but no matter what happens later in this life we can say that we didn't live on the sidelines wondering what if.
Considering an RV to travel full-time in? La Mesa has the selection you are looking for with all of the RV features that are perfect for RV living. Go check out a few of their models to make your RV wish list today!
Scott, his wife Van, and their 12-year-old daughter Sissy have traveled full-time in their RV for 7 years. They have worked and homeschooled on the road through 42 states so far. They blog about RVing tips, travel destinations, and the full-time RV lifestyle on their blog, TheAdventureDetour. They are also RV content creators @theadventuredetour on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. They love connecting with RVers so be sure to reach out to them and say hi!
