The idea – sell everything and live in an RV and work for expenses – wherever and whenever. Crazy, right?
The idea isn’t new. We’ve mentioned it before, but more of a “Hey, we should get rid of everything and find something we could do traveling and living in an RV.” Kind of a “hahahaha”, but with a twinge of, “Gee, that would be cool if we could swing it.”
The subject came up while talking to Gayle (our neighbor and landlady) outside yesterday afternoon. The people that live back-to-back from us have a large motorhome parked in their yard, and we thought they had already left for the winter to go to their home in Arizona. We both figured that perhaps someone is just storing the rig there.
Anyway, Gayle and I were talking about more simple lives, changing lives, getting away from stress, etc. I looked at the RV in mid-conversation and the wheels in my head started turning and gears started grinding, and smoke started coming out of my ears. (I don’t know that for sure, but with the way my mind was spinning, it is entirely possible.)
That whole afternoon and evening my thoughts were multiplying. Questions were rising. It was all I could do not say anything to Tom about it yet. I wanted to do some research first. So today, I started looking stuff up about living in an RV fulltime.
First I sat down and started writing out a plan. If I was going to be brave enough to bring this idea up to Tom, I would need a plan. Answers to the questions he was going to have and certainly rebuttals to his protests. Knowing full well that he will be negative to it right from the beginning, that there “is no possible way” for us to afford it. I wanted to have my ideas in writing and have had spent some time reading as much as I could.
I came across a couple articles that I read and found helpful before finding a fantastic web site called RV-Dreams.com. This site is written by a couple that has been living fulltime in their RV since August 2005. They give lots of tips and advice and provide links for even more information. I read their site for most of the day. I sent the link to Tom – we’ll see how Mr. Negative feels (if he even reads it).
I’m not saying that this is something we can jump right in to, but I truly believe it is something we can work towards making it a reality.
First things to do would be for us to build up our means of income – such as for me to build up and spend more time and effort on Craftystuffandmore.com (my crafting website); getting some experience and references with my desire for being a professional organizer; and for Tom to get his voice/production work going and to get clients and referrals. He could/we could also do blogging and social media work. We could check with artists we know and see if there is any side work we could do for them.
Another thing to do is to start selling off things if we make this decision. We’ve already started selling some items, keep selling all items!
It’s the usual story: boy meets girl at radio station with a country artist, thinks she’s with someone else, but follows her to her car for her phone number anyway. (With much persistent prodding from a friend, that is! – Thank you Adam!!)
Ok, so, we met in March 2000 in Reno, NV started seeing each other. Two years later moved in together. Two years after that went on a life changing vacation to Fiji.
We learned a lot from the people there. The native Fijians are gentle, happy, and kind people and seem to love their lives even though they still live in small villages in huts with dirt floors and wash their clothes on rocks by the river. (No, they aren’t cannibals anymore!) They live simply and enjoy their lives.
When we returned to our daily lives of working our butts off forty plus hours a week to pay for our million dollar home, brand new cars, and other luxuries, we didn’t feel the same. We felt that “something” was still missing. We felt that there was more to LIFE.
Two years after that we bought a bed and breakfast business in Montana. This was a lifestyle that was supposed to afford us the “luxury” of being together more and enjoying life. However; the timing was not good for us and we both spent all of our retirement on a dream that we quickly woke up from with nightmare results.
Two years later (see a pattern here?) – Tom was back in radio and Lori back in an office, but in California. Hating life again. Then, two years later (again), an opportunity to go back to Montana, in radio surfaced. So, back to Montana for, you guessed it – two years.
One day, Tom received a phone call asking him if he’d be interested in working at the legendary radio station that Buck Owens started in Bakersfield, CA. We said, “…no thank you!…” “…we’re happy here…” But, then we got to thinking about how far away we were from family (mostly in Reno) and how much we missed our friends on the west coast, and our youngest daughter in the central valley of California, and after many offers, Tom finally accepted and off we went, back to California.
Now, in all this time, we got married in 2008 and still hadn’t given up the dream of a simpler life, with more time together and less hassles from other people and annoying jobs working for other people and not working for ourselves. Tom loves his radio, but the “corporate’ business it has become just makes it not so fun anymore. We talked about wanting to travel and how much we like to drive. We joked about being truck drivers and having one of those great big semis and living and working in it. Or… we talked about buying a motorhome and traveling and living in it when we retire.
This journal is going to do some back-tracking in order to catch up to the current day. Who knows where we will be or what we will be doing when this journal goes live.
We would hope to be very close to hitting the road, but who knows.
Right now as I’m writing this entry, it has already been three months since the inception of our conversations and research of the possibility of becoming full-time RVers.
It all started with Lori’s hair-brained notion that we could sell all of our stuff (99.9% Lori’s stuff), and buy an RV and hit the road. (Everyone that knows Lori and is reading this right now is laughing hysterically – more on why later in the journaling).
All I had to do was convince Tom. He’s Mr. Practical. Mr. Reasonable. Mr. In-Charge-of-the-Finances. I was sure that he would shoot it down right away.
Sooooo, I got my ducks in a row first. I started researching and reading about full-time RV living. I read lots of articles and got hooked on a website that was full of great information and a fabulous and entertaining journal, RV-Dreams.com. I read just about everything they have on their site and one year of their journal before ever even looking at actual RVs AND taking Tom to go see them.
The first RVs I went to look at were at Grapevine RV in Lebec, CA since it was right across the street from the post office I’m at every day. I first went through a huge motorhome since that’s what I had originally thought I wanted. It was nice, but even with the slide-outs out, it just didn’t seem large enough for full-time living. I went through a couple other rigs and none of them were quite right. Then, I stepped up into a 2005 Alpha Leisure See Ya! 5th Wheel and was blown away! Wow! This thing was awesome! It had three slide outs, two of which were adjacent to one another so it made the living area so nice and roomy. The first thing I noticed was the kitchen island! Then, the double fridge! Then, the KING sized bed and real closet! The whole layout was perfect!
I went home and started looking at a BUNCH, and I mean A BUNCH of different styles, and shapes, and sizes of RVs. I never found another one that I like as much as the Alpha!
So, now, I wrote up a plan, ideas for jobs we could do from the road, and an inventory list of our “stuff” and what we would do with all of it. Give to family and friends: sell on eBay and craigslist; have numerous yard sales; and donate the rest.
I had read that living in an RV is very limiting for possessions due to space, but mostly weight. So, “I” was going to have to do some SERIOUS downsizing. I can do it!! I’m determined!! I mean, if it gets us out of the crazy rat race and traveling WITH our home, then I can do it!
Next step, sell this whole idea to Tom! Oh boy! I felt ready. I had researched and read, and had all of my rebuttals ready. So, one Saturday morning I got all ready to go “out” and I told Tom I was going to take him somewhere and I wanted him to keep an open mind. First, I showed him the huge motorhome and then I took him to see the Alpha 5th wheel. I knew that there wasn’t any point in showing him anything else on the lot. He really liked it! He also checked out the Ford F350 Turbo Diesel dually truck that came in with the Alpha. We would have to buy both.
We went home and discussed things and Tom started his own researching. One thing he said was that “I” was going to have to go get a job. We would have to pay down a couple things before we could do the full-time thing or even buy the vehicles.
So, that next Monday, I went out and got a JOB! Determined I tell ya!
The journaling I started actually began on Tuesday, November 12, 2013.