RV Life Update : Q1
We just finished out our first 3 months of RV life, so I wanted to give you an update of how things are going. They say the first 3 months are the hardest and I would have to agree. However, for me it was not as hard as I imagined it to be and for others in our family it was a harder adjustment. There is A LOT to learn, especially when you have only ever driven and stayed in an RV once before. Nonetheless, I am loving RV Life. Paul says “I like the travel aspect of it, however it is more work than I expected. Also, if you want to test your marriage- move into an RV. We haven’t killed each other yet, so that’s good.” Ha! Truth, lol. There is a lot to adjust to but oh, man is the adventure fun.
The teens love the freedom and of course miss their friends. As long as there is good wifi – they are happy. Spencer literally judges an RV resort by the wifi speed and Hannah loves to find the closest thrift shops. I keep telling people that living in an RV is the same as living in a house, except it’s smaller and we can move it around with us. Oh, the teens attitude does seem much bigger in a smaller place, – haha! Overall, I think they are adjusting well and have enjoyed meeting new friends. I do have to “force” them out on family adventures for hiking and once we are out they are taking pictures and enjoy themselves. They are just typical teens who think every canyon looks the same. I think they will look back at all of this and see what a cool opportunity they were given. Nova loves her tiny house and meeting new friends. Her toys basically take over the RV and she loves being outdoors, and she loves finding the nearest park everywhere we go. She is my little adventure buddy.
So far we have camped at the beach, spent time in Arizona, Texas, Utah, and stayed the night in New Mexico and Nevada. We have driven roughly 5,000 miles towing our tiny home. Visited 2 National Parks and 5 State Parks, where Hannah said she could “see the same stuff on Google.” Discovered new cities we would have probably never visited. Checked off an item from my bucket-list by hiking The Narrows with Spencer. Stayed on a Llama farm. Visited family that I have not seen in over a decade and got to stay at their beautiful lake house. Watched the sunset from the beaches to the mountains on a typical week night. Scaled a rock above some natural pools. Visited countless play parks. Shopped at Walmart more times than I would like to admit. Drove back to Cali for my sisters wedding. Played at Disneyland. Met people from all over the USA and from all different walks of life. Bonded with other Mama’s on this journey. Spent more time in nature with my family then ever. With so many other in betweens. I have realized that while I would have never imagined this being my life a few years ago, it is exactly what my soul needs during this season.
Now let me hit you with some reality. RV Life is not for the faint of heart, haha! You are kept on your toes from things breaking to navigating regular life stuff from afar. We have learned to fix things from YouTube University like installing a washer/dryer to dealing with the infamous “poop pyramid” (within the first 2 weeks of full-timing). We were literally churning other peoples poop like butter with a pex pipe as rookies. Just like in a normal house things break and you either learn to fix them or hire someone to do it. Except everything freaks you out because it’s such unfamiliar territory. I mean we even almost nose bombed our RV, it slipped half way off the blocks and we had to have the big guns tow truck come to the rescue. One of us took out a giant tree branch and the other stopped traffic from not turning wide enough while simultaneously disassembling a vent on the roof. I won’t say who was who. A favorite of ours is backing in with audiences, once into a tight spot and another time into the most unleveled spot in the park. One day we will have backing in down, we are almost there. Kind of. Backing in is rough on a marriage is all I will say. Like I said – A LOT TO LEARN. I would say we have gotten pretty seasoned, pretty quickly.
Keep in mind most of the week we are just trying to work and do school like normal people. Our home just moves allowing us to explore when we can. I feel like people forget that the reality is, life still has to be done and it’s not rainbows and unicorns all the time. Think traveling with kids and how exhausting that is. That is our reality mixed with real life. Haha, I wouldn’t change it for the world though.
We are now what is called a “Fulltime Family” in the RV world, and I think it’s a pretty cool title to have. Each family has different reasoning for living this lifestyle. For us it is a stepping stone into our future, and I feel pretty damn lucky to be experiencing RV Life. If you know me, you know I am down to travel and explore in any way, shape, or form. I am a modern day gypsy and could literally float around and be happy. We are not sure how long we will be doing this for, right now the timeline is open and will likely end when Paul finds work. Being nomadic allows doors to remain open for him finding work in other states and gives us the chance to explore and see where we would like to settle when the time comes. The big goal is a homestead in a state that has less expensive land than California. We just aren’t sure where that is yet, and likely a job will help direct our next home state. I hope we get to adventure through summer and of course hope he finds something remote.
In the meantime, we are enjoying what we can while we can. All while trying to dodge the weather since it’s winter. If we make it to spring – we will have more options of states to visit. I just keep thinking about what a great opportunity we are experiencing. The memories we will look back on. In the forefront of my mind, is the fact that time is fleeting with the kids and I just want to grasp onto that. I can literally envision how quickly the teens will reach 18 and how Nova’s transitioning from baby to “big girl”. I wish I could just freeze time. So for now, I am going to soak it all up and be grateful for this season and this adventure.
We are going to explore Utah for a couple more weeks visiting a few more National parks before we move on to the next state. I can’t wait to see where our Q2 (aka the next 3 months) brings us, where we travel to, and what views I can have my morning matcha to.
Until then, I hope we inspire you to explore a little more.
No Comments