Our Transition to Full-Time RV Living
Do you want to know how we plan to go from apartment life to full-time RV living as a growing family in one month? Read on to find out!
Our first rv experience
Joel and I bought our first travel trailer in 2017 before we were married. We planned to park it in the driveway of his grandparents’ house and help fix up the property. We did stay in the trailer in the driveway but it wasn’t “full time” because we used the kitchen and bathroom inside the house and even stayed in the house a bit once it was possible.
So many things have happened since then!
Searching for our place
Since we got married and started a family, we have been looking for the perfect spot to settle down. That’s what you do, right? Get married, have babies, find your forever home… Well, it was a bit more complicated for us.
Joel is from California and I am from Ohio. We both have family in northern California but the bulk of my family is still in Ohio. It was important for us to be close to family as we entered into the unknowns of parenthood. We weren’t totally happy in CA and so we decided we would try moving to Ohio.
Our first baby was ONE MONTH OLD when we packed everything we owned into our truck and 19′ travel trailer and moved across the country. The trip was awesome and we LOVED traveling, but only a short time after we arrived, we encountered a series of unfortunate events.
First, just like the rest of the world, we got to encounter a pandemic. Then, Joel was laid off. I was working as an online ESL teacher for kids in China which was also shut down. And last but not least, our lease was up and we decided to go back to our rural property in California.
So, we moved across the country, again, and traveled the United States in our travel trailer, again…
*If you read that in a Forrest Gump voice, we should for sure be friends.
Fast forward to now… We had another baby, sold Joel’s grandparents’ house, moved back to Ohio (yes, again), are expecting baby #3, and are decidedly done with moving back and forth across the country. After living in both places that our families exist, we have found that neither place checks enough of our boxes to make a permanent decision like buying a house.
Our biggest challenges to living in an rv
Joel is definitely the person to ask about this. He considers pretty much any and every possibility. Me, not so much. I decide on something and basically do whatever it takes to make it happen with very little forethought. However, here are the things we have to consider when contemplating moving into an RV:
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- I am 6 months pregnant
- Joel has a full-time job that cannot be a remote position
- His job is our only source of regular income and health insurance
- Cost of RV life vs. renting
Why RV Life Makes Sense for Us
We have a bit of a leg up on the whole transition-to-RV-full-time thing. We already have a truck capable of pulling a fairly large trailer, we have a super cute remodeled trailer to sell or trade, we do not have a house to sell, and we aren’t complete newbs to the pitfalls and peaks of RV life.
We are sick of paying rent and not ready to buy a house, not to mention that we really are adventurous people and love road trips. Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!
With all that being said, I still had some convincing to do as far as Joel was concerned but I broke him down pretty quick š
Next steps to rv living
As of today, we have one month before our lease is up. Moving day is creeping up and we have a lot to do before then.
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- Seriously downsize every room/decide what will go to storage
- Fix the water pump and screen door of the little trailer and list for sale
- Find a new trailer and hope it doesn’t need a lot of work
- Move
- Find at least our first camp spot (but we need enough to hold us over until our fall spot opens in mid-October
Baby Girl Brisno (not yet named because I am far too indecisive for that) is due on October 8, just about a week before our fall spot opens up at our local KOA. We are staying on a monthly contract and can leave whenever. Our plan is to stay for the holidays and soak up as much family time in Ohio as we can and then head south for the winter.
We hope you will follow along on this journey with us! We’ll be sharing as much as we can along the way like finding remote jobs, our RV search, organizing the RV, and more. Be sure to join us onĀ Instagram,Ā TikTok,Ā Pinterest, andĀ Facebook. You can also see some of our OLD *cringey* videos on ourĀ YouTubeĀ channel.Ā
THANK YOU FOR READING!
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