My RV journey began nearly a year ago when my husband Todd and I were discussing some “next steps” in our weird life. To be honest, it didn’t look like we would ever retire. Retire in the strictest sense of the word. You know, the payout at the end of a long and storied career. The reality looked like we would be working until we keeled over.
We had just a few months until our lease ended. Buying a house and paying on it until we were dead didn’t look too good either. To be honest, I’m not sure whose idea it was but the question was presented. Why don’t we, a few years down the road, save up and buy an RV that we can travel the country in? That’s great, we agreed. Let’s downsize our life, save some
money, and in a few years, make that dream come true. Then came the math. Why not buy the RV now, live in it and save even more money so we can escape sooner? Yes, we could do this. So, we did.
For a little bit of background, during our 32-year marriage we lived in 11 states – that includes living two times in Kansas and two times in Arkansas. We are no strangers to living in different places, familiarizing ourselves with a city and making friends in the process. We currently have friends from one coast to the other.
In September of 2018, we began to seriously research the world of living in an RV full time. We looked at floor plans and manufacturers to get an idea of what we wanted. Eventually, we knew we would have to work while we traveled so we chose a Grand Design Reflection BHTS312. The BH stands for bunkhouse, by the way, which we have since turned into an office and a storage for musical equipment, office equipment, etc.
Step by step
By October, we had made our purchase which stayed at the dealer until we picked it up Dec. 1. Our lease on our house officially ran out Dec. 11. We called her Beauty! Step one done!
Next step was to buy a truck to haul her. My eyes were glazing over as Todd patiently explained to me all about gross weight and tongue weight and GBWFGS…whatever! There was this formula see and that would tell us exactly
what we needed. Ok, ok, whatever! We purchased a 2019 Ford F250 and promptly named it (him?) The Beast! By the way, I was the first to drive that beast safely through the McDonalds drive thru and I was not the first to put a scratch on it. I was, however, the envy of all the truck-driving guys at work… when I got to drive it.
We had to be out of our rental by mid-December and we had a lot of stuff to get rid of. I think that was the hardest part for me. I’m not sure why because in the end it is just stuff and once I got the important stuff taken care of, the handmade quilts and the few antiques I couldn’t part with, it all pretty much came together. I say that now. It was still tough. We had so much stuff that went to Goodwill that I joked I couldn’t shop there because I would just look and say, “that was mine, oh that too.” Or, I’d try to buy it all back. Not really.
I think what felt the best was giving a lot of things to a mom with kids who was starting over. She needed everything and she got a lot from us. We cried happy tears when we delivered the final items and got to pray over her and her family. We were blessed as much as she was.
Don’t even ask me about the few pieces of furniture we put up for auction. That was a disaster. That was one of those, “just let it go,” moments.
When move in day finally arrived, it was exciting and scary. The first night in any new house you hear all the weird creaks and groans. It was home, though, and it didn’t take long getting used to a new way of living. Even with a four-season rig, we had to make sure we didn’t freeze any pipes. Todd loves to tell people that after 9 months of living, we still haven’t used
up our original propane yet (we actually just re-filled the tanks). Our goal is to live where we never have to worry about frozen pipes.
I also want to stay away from the mid-west tornado season. The month of May in Arkansas was a nail biter. We never had to head to shelter, fortunately. The only time the sirens went off was when we had taken the trailer on vacation to Missouri. Now that doesn’t mean there weren’t some scary nights. I had a few nights that I went to bed with my clothes on and needed items ready in case I had to “bug out.” I thank God for good neighbors who made sure I was okay while Todd was out of town during some of that time. Their offers to take Newton, our dog, and me to shelter if needed, were appreciated.
We never had hail either. Even the rain can be very loud, I can’t imagine what large hail would sound like.
One of the fun things about living in an RV park is all the great people you get to meet. Most would give you the shirt off their back if needed. There was always someone to help back up the trailer, figure out an issue or just hang around a fire with.