At 52 years old, my husband of 30 years and I are selling it all and taking to the road for an 18 to 24-month extended vacation. This wasn’t a decision that was pondered or dreamt of for years and years, but simply one that made sense in the year 2021. While we were lucky enough to do this and pull the trigger, many of you may be considering or dreaming of making the same decision, but something may be holding you back.
Moving forward under the social channels of #whereverimayroll, we cannot wait to see the US, one state at a time, and share it with our followers and readers. Here are the signs that told us we were ready to sell it all and hit the road in an RV.
1. The Value Of Your Home Has Increased
If you own your own home, I hope you’ve been following its value on Zillow or another similar website. When the rental house that I invested in 9 years ago tripled in value, I called my realtor to get it on the market. It didn’t sell in a day like some people have been lucky to witness, but within 3 months, I was closing on the sale.
Shortly after listing the rental, I checked the value of our current house, and it was going up by the thousands every month. I mentioned this to my husband, and just for kicks, we sat down and figured up how much money we spent monthly for property taxes, insurance, and utility bills. We did not include cable, internet, health insurance, and things we would need regardless of where we lived. The amount was staggering. For us, we figured we could live in a campground with an RV for the same amount, give or take a little, anywhere we wanted. So, we listed our house, signed a contract, and closed shortly after.
Pro Tip: Figure out your expenses and see if you are as shocked as I was.
2. You Want To Downsize
The older we get, the more we cannot wait to start parting with the things we so painstakingly collected and nurtured through the years. We hardly ever entertain, but we still had hundreds of pieces of American Fostoria from life years ago in another state and time. There are so many things I toted around for years, namely our daughters’ schoolbooks, schoolwork, toys, and books that they have no desire to keep at ages 26 and 28. That generation, or at least our kids, simply does not have the nostalgic bone that our generation grew up with.
Though we have taken carloads of donations to shelters and such over the years, we honestly had not even begun to downsize, as we kept holding onto things that had sentimental value. So, we rented one of the PODS they deliver to your door to store the furniture and belongings we were still not ready to part with because we sold our house. The POD will go to a storage facility and then be delivered to the address we call home after our RV vacation is over. Yard sales, Facebook marketplace, and thrift stores are great places to sell or donate your items. Some items may also need to be taken to a local landfill to be adequately disposed of, like old TVs, computers, and things that have sat in the garage for way too long.
3. The Itch To See The Countryside Needs Scratching
As a travel blogger, I have thrived living on the road seeing amazing things for 6 years. I can’t get enough of small towns, national parks, meeting people all over, and sharing great itineraries through my blog and publications I write for. I wanted my husband to come along with me and do the same. Now we are in control of what we see and do, plus we can see it all without having to go home and tend to a house and such. We are bringing along our 11-year-old King Charles Cavalier, who is thrilled to be tagging along.
If you always wanted to explore wineries and vineyards, visit the Presidential Libraries around the country, go to every baseball stadium in the U.S., or whatever you have always wanted to see and check off your bucket list, you can do that. We plan to spend a month in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas to finish off the year.
4. You Aren’t In Love With Where You Live
My husband and I did not choose to live in Vero Beach, Florida, but inherited a property there. We came to town to sell the house, but I knew I was meant to live there after a short visit with our whole family. My husband didn’t believe I would move after 44 years of living in West Virginia, where my folks were, but I proved him wrong within a year.
Vero Beach is a beautiful town, and if you live in Florida, you probably feel like we did — very in love with living in Florida. The weather is favorable, there are a million things to do, the tax structure is admirable, and we had a gorgeous home with a pool and plenty of property to move around on. But … airports were 90 minutes away, the traffic during snowbird season is a nightmare, we never really had time to make many friends, and the food scene wasn’t our favorite. So we were okay with considering moving somewhere else. We will miss parts of living in Vero Beach, but I’m subscribing to the “home is where the heart is” sentiment for the time being.
5. You Learned Some Lessons From COVID
If nothing else, COVID taught us all that priorities and family are the key to life. Being together and making memories with your loved ones or friends that fill that spot is what matters — and your health. Being in pretty good shape, Eddie (the husband) and I figured that living on the road in an RV would never be more possible than now. There is also something very satisfying knowing we will be staying in our own sanitized vehicle that we can keep clean and safe for our health.
6. You Can Appreciate Portable Luxury Living
Did you know that recreational vehicles have come a long way since my camping days with my family in elementary school? Memories include going to outhouses, being too hot or cold, and living on cold cuts and the occasional can of soup or something similar is a thing of the past. Our RV, a Cedar Creek 291RW fifth wheel has all the comforts of home and then some. Full kitchen appliances, recliners that lay flat for enjoying a good nap, oodles of storage, a porcelain toilet, and a shower (with a seat) that would make any cruise stateroom envious are a few things that enticed us.
While we chose a fifth wheel, we walked through the motorhomes that rivaled staying in a luxury resort. I am guessing you can add any luxury feature to your RV to make your life as comfortable as possible. We were even able to take our Sleep Number bed with us.
7. You Want To Provide Unique Experiences With Your Grandchildren
My main reason for buying an RV was to take my one and only granddaughter to explore state and national parks. She is already a Nature Cat, and I want to show her the country and the unique features of each state. Now we have a place to stay for camping along the way and plenty of space for her to bring her toys and necessities.
We were not outdoor parents, and since she loves the outdoors so much, I hope to nurture that love she has for trees, plants, animals, and landscapes. This will be a far cry from how we raised our children, which had plenty of traveling experiences, but hotel stays all the way. It’s incredible the lengths we will go through as grandparents to create these memories with our grands, and I know many of you can understand this.
8. You Can Work From Anywhere
My husband and I both have jobs that we can work at remotely. We will need to purchase MiFi, a portable Wi-Fi device, to connect to the sites we need for our work, but at many of the campgrounds we choose, they will have free Wi-Fi as an included amenity. I’ve already received many comments from people who want to sell it all and hit the road in an RV full-time, but they question how good and dependable the service will be. I have yet to do this, but I hope to be an expert at answering this question in the next couple of weeks.
Pro Tip: If you are worried about campgrounds filling up, try to visit the places you wish during the off-season. Though friends have warned us about the campsites being booked up, I have planned 2 full months of travel thus far and have not had that problem even once.
