“I love waking up in the morning not knowing what’s gonna happen or who I’m gonna meet, where I’m gonna end up.” – Jack, Titanic
When you tell people you're selling everything and buying an RV to travel FT, the reaction is always the same. "Wow, I've always wanted to do that." Then comes the unspoken "...but I never would, that's crazy." It doesn’t matter if it's a stranger or family, it's always the same.
So why?
We've never been afraid to pull the trigger on a new path. We wanted to try running a food truck so we researched for months, I quit my corporate job and we bought one. We did that for 4 years. Move to a new city? Check. Find a way to retire early and live comfortably? Check. Travel overseas? Check. Buy an RV? Check.
We get to experience new places and things with less stuff weighing us down. Don't like where you are? Move tomorrow. Love where you are? Stay awhile. It also doesn’t hurt to be able to travel and still shelter in place if necessary in this COVID era.
We weren't sure where we wanted to retire and traveling to every potential place seemed daunting. It's much easier to travel by RV to places on your list rather than by plane. You can immerse yourself in each place...the people, the vibe, the culture, the landscape by living in it for a while. It's also much less expensive to visit without airfare, eating out, hotel rooms, kennel fees, moving expenses. and so on.
There are a million reasons why not. IMO, the number one reason is fear. Fear of the unknown, of leaving the familiar, of being "homeless", of not having some of the comforts. Pick one. People think RVing is hard or dangerous and start with the innumerable "what will you do whens". What if you blow a tire, what if there's bad weather, and so on. The difficulties we face are very similar to what people face every day in a sticks and bricks home. Plumbing, HVAC, weather, etc. The difference is just a smaller, less expensive scale to fix. It helps if you're handy, just as it would being stationary.
We can upgrade our travel trailer to one that has an oven and a washer and dryer. We chose a smaller trailer for now so we have the freedom to go places other rigs can't. The PCH and National Parks for example. Tradeoffs. Do we feel we've sacrificed to do what we do? Nope. The sacrifices we've made are a smaller footprint and less stuff. I've also become very proficient with an air fryer and instant pot.
When most people think seriously about leaving the comforts of a home and downsizing to 10% of their worldly possessions, you will most likely hear a resounding no thank you. In this more is better world, it is truly freeing to minimize the clutter. You figure out really quickly how much you actually need vs want.
I've had some time to think about this lifestyle. Really think. Pros and cons, conveniences and inconveniences, best and worst case scenarios, household spiders and ladybugs vs bears, wolves, and rattlesnakes, real closet space and a bathtub vs. Command hooks and short showers, the list goes on. I add to that list daily. I also just have to step outside and take a deep breath of fresh air surrounded by nature and resettle myself into my simpler, less cluttered life. The rat race chaos doesn’t touch me here.
Don't get me wrong, I miss having a bathtub and a washer and dryer. I also don't have an oven. Gasp! What I do have instead is a view of the sunrise over the Rockies or the ocean with my coffee every morning. The tradeoff is very worth it to me.
It is better to travel well than to arrive. - The Buddha
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