The month of May marked the end of our 2nd year on the road of full-time RV living and June kicks off year number 3! They say time flies when you are having fun, so you can imagine it is in warp speed while RV living. We are having a BLAST!
I wake up each morning excited for a new day and the adventures that await our family. No more dread or wishing for the day to end, so I can go home and see my family. I spend my day living on less in exchange for family time.
The transition was scary. Selling your home and most of your belongings is never an easy task. It is not a task I have fond memories of to say the least. As tough as it was, the real fun starts after the letting go process. After 2 years has come to an end, I want to share what living on the road has taught us along the way.
Taking The Leap Is Worth It
The decision was easy. When we discovered the RV lifestyle, we were all in! It took us a year to prepare to hit the road, and that was a difficult year. That year we did all the dirty work without reaping the reward. We watched a lot of RV videos and read tons of RV blogs, as we dreamed for the day to come. As the end approached and the house went on the market, I became scared.
What if this was a mistake?
What if we hated it?
Would this all a good dream and a terrible reality?
The mindset that pushed us out the door, was we wanted a life of no regrets. If we hated it, we could always go back. We could buy another house and refill it. On the flip side, we didn’t want to look back and wonder what life would have been like if we had made the leap. I can tell you after 2 years it was one of the best decsions we ever made by not letting fear keep us from our dreams. Taking that leap of faith and following our hearts, has given us some of the most amazing family memories and life experiences we could ask for. Taking the Leap is TOTALLY worth it.
Appreciate The Little Things
Living in an RV has taught us THANKFULNESS. I thought I was thankful before this lifestyle, but I had no idea what living “without” really meant. There are times while camping we have limited resources while boondocking which means no hookups. We just recently spent 2 weeks boondocking with limited water and no AC in hot weather. We spent one night in a campground after that experience with electric and a full tank of water and I was so appreciative! We turned on the AC, took a hot shower, had a good meal, and it was amazing! I never had those thoughts in a sticks and bricks home and I took for granted those everyday luxuries.
As part of our honeymoon, Nathan and I went on a mission trip to Honduras. This trip was eyeopening to us. It made us aware of how people live in other parts of the world and taught us a lesson on being thankful. As part of the mission trip we did a number of activities for the community. One of the tasks that has forever changed my heart was building a home. This was a small effort on our part. The total cost was around $3000 for wood and supplies and took our group less than 8 hours to complete. To most, this was a small shed tinier than some of the storage units we keep in our backyards.
To this family, it was life-changing. Made of just 4 wood walls and a roof, they cried tears of joy for this small space. It melted my heart the amount of gratitude they displayed. I think back to that moment and realize how lucky we are. Even though we choose to live in a small space and have limited resources at times, I never have to worry about our next meal or place to lay my head at night. For many in this world, that is reality and everyday life. Living with less has truly helped us appreciate the little things.
It’s About The Relationships
What originally enticed us about living the RV lifestyle was family time, adventure, and travel among others. Living simple and getting out of the rat race attracted our attention, but relationships flew under the radar. Honestly, our concern was leaving family and friends behind and that has been a challenge to overcome. We worried our relationships would suffer and be left behind as we travel.
For some reason, meeting new people wasn’t a goal of ours initially. We are both pretty introverted people, so although we love meeting new people, it didn’t really cross our minds as being a part of travel. We did not realize the importance of community until we hit the road and realizes life is about relationships. Without them, we are lonely and we found our purpose in making new friendships.
It is tough on the road to meet new people. When we lived in our home town, I had my group of family and friends, so making new relationships was not as needed as it is on the road. Traveling has forced us out of our box and we absolutely love meeting new people. It has actually become one of our favorite things about living on the road.
Although, logistically it makes relationships tougher, community on the road is very possible and a great way to meet lots of new people with interesting life prospectives. We also love that is has helped us reconnected old relationships as well that are throughout the U.S.
I Don’t Miss The Stuff
What holds a lot of people back from this lifestyle is their stuff. Moving into a smaller space requires downsizing and that is a challenging task. After downsizing from a 2,000 square foot house to a 200 square foot Airstream, I get it. It was a very gut-wrenching process, but only because I thought I would miss everything I got rid of. I thought I would “need” it.
In the 2 years of RV living, there has not been one thing I looked back on and truly missed or regretted eliminating. Don’t let the idea that you are going to miss “treasures” keep you from living a life you can “treasure”. There is more to life than our things and simplifying life is a freedom I can not explain. It is a weight lifted that has allowed us to fly.
Life Is Short
You hear quite often life is short and until now I underestimated those words. Those are powerful words because it reminds us to live each day to the fullest and make the most of our time we are gifted. We had the opportunity to live a life of travel and family time in exchange for extra square footage and to me that was more than a fair trade. I would make that trade any day.
Unfortunately, the future is not a guarantee. Making the RV living leap was a risk, but not trying was an even bigger risk to us. A risk of regrets, letting fear win, and not taking advantage of life changing opportunities. I can honestly say we are different people now after living this lifestyle. I would like to think it has changed us for the better. We have more go-with-the-flow personalities, we embrace new relationships, and we savor the good moments of life and laugh at the bad just to name a few.
Don’t let me fool you into into thinking we no longer have fears. We do have concerns as we go through life. The difference is we don’t let our fears control us. We don’t let fear make our decsions. We set fear aside, because we know what overcoming fear can do in our lives. Whatever your dream is, embrace it and know it’s possible. Don’t let “stuff” control your mind, decisions, and time. Life is short, live it well Grand!