The Path to RV Life is Long + Twisty
Hiiii. It’s our very first newsletter. Thank you so much for subscribing and following along with our adventures.
If you’re on Instagram or TikTok, you’ve likely seen the hashtags everywhere - #vanlife #rvlife #nomadlife. These beautiful photos that make having a home on wheels seem so magical and beautiful and amazing and easy. It definitely is those things, but maybe not easy, at least not at first.
Our path to RV life has been long and twisty, but well worth it. Freeing, even. We’d thrown the idea around a lot to sell our house and our stuff and buy an RV to live and travel in. Mostly we joked about it and thought, “it won’t ever happen, but wouldn’t it be cool?”
Cut to 2021 and the jokes and the ideas started to become more real. The thought of never being able to show our kids other parts of the country without saving and scraping for months (sometimes years), and cramming everything into 1 week of PTO, felt stifling. The thought of continuing to pay a mortgage for a house that we weren’t that thrilled with felt suffocating.
We were already homeschooling our kids, so we thought, why the heck not? We can go anywhere! So, we listed our house for sale. A couple of months later, it sold and we had a yard sale to get rid of unnecessary belongings. We sold our cars. We bought a truck and an RV. We stayed with family for 5 months while we got our RV ready for full time living.
Then we officially hit the road in March 2022. And now that we’ve been living this lifestyle for 8 months, we wish we could have started even earlier. Yes, it sucks not having a dishwasher or a garbage disposal. But aside from those minor inconveniences, our transition from over 2,000 sq. ft. to less than 400 sq. ft. has gone really well. We spend a lot of time together. We eat all our meals together. We go on adventures together. We’ve traveled to 13 states together. We’re more conscious of our utilities consumption - water, electricity, etc. - than ever.
Charlie started his own mobile RV repair business and gets to be his own boss now. No more commuting 2 hours each way, on top of working a crazy schedule, and then coming home and collapsing in bed from exhaustion. The freedom to work when and how he wants has truly improved his life and made him a happier husband and father.
My days are spent homeschooling the boys and pursuing my own interests like podcasting and writers coaching. I get to be with my favorite people every day and I couldn’t be happier.
Today, we just got back from a glass bottom boat tour at a local state park. Tomorrow, we’re having Thanksgiving dinner with family. The day after that - who knows?! Time is something we’ll never get back and we’re going to seize every moment and make incredible memories for our family.
I know this life isn’t for everyone. But it’s definitely for us. And I hope you’ll stick with us on this journey as we share everything we’ve learned and continue to learn each day - especially the mistakes we’ve made (stay tuned for those next time).
Love,
Mia + the dudes