“Remember that place with the lake? What state was that? We liked it there.”

~ Donna or Vic on any given day trying to recall a place they liked

To go back and tell you of all the adventures we’ve already enjoyed would be an exercise in recall that just isn’t going to happen. Should a fun memory make an appearance in my forebrain, I’ll be sure to share. In the meantime, here’s the cliff notes:

2020

Sep-Oct: Moved in to the RV. Took a “shakedown” cruise around Southern Georgia. (We’re both Navy – we knew this was an important step!) Good news – everything worked and nothing broke. Well, the slide was troublesome, but not debilitatingly so.

Nov – Dec: Cape Lookout National Seashore resident RV Volunteers. It was a place I knew well and people I liked. There was a beach and cool Pelicans. A perfect place to learn if living together in an RV was something we could really do. (spoiler: We can!)

2021

Jan: Oregon Inlet Campground hosts at Hatteras National Seashore. (Insider tip – it gets REALLY windy there in the winter!)

Feb: First warranty repairs back in Indiana (that pesky slide problem). Also COVID. Blue Angel Park was an ideal place to quarantine and recover.

Mar – April: Drove West. Saw amazing sites. Almost got stuck in a light tunnel in New Orleans. Lost an antenna somewhere along the way. Tent camped at the Grand Canyon. Learned RV battery math outside of Joshua Tree. Slept under the stars in Arizona. Hiked in Big Bend. Rode the motorcycle into Sequoia National Park and hundreds of other miles. Learned we really do like to have internet.

May – August: Lived like a local in Felton, California. Worked at a 100 year old private family campground. Donna learned that she really would prefer to never take campground reservations by phone ever again. Vic learned that cleaning firepits and bathrooms is a thankless job. Ate yummy food. Drank yummy wine. Danced Salsa in Santa Cruz.

Sept – Oct: Fell in love with the Oregon coast. Made apple cider with friends in Washington. Watched hundreds of hot air balloons take flight in Albuquerque. Had BBQ in Memphis and listened to great blues music.

Oct – Nov: Kept Taz company back in Norcross. Visited family. Got new tires. Checkups and dentist visits all around. Stayed in a horse campground. Spent a cold rainy week on battery and propane at a state park campground. Rode the motorcycle through the north Georgia mountains. Tested out our new Lectric eBikes.

Dec – Feb: Volunteered at Andersonville National Historic Site. Appreciated the slow pace, though not necessarily the short, cold, rainy days of winter. Planned spring and summer travels. More RV maintenance and a little redecorating. Took a motorcycle spill and acquired a collection of mobility aids while Donna’s foot healed. (It’s doing MUCH better now, thanks!)

March-May: A speedy trip along the Gulf Coast, stopping for visits with friends, great views of the Gulf, and tasty Crawfish. Arrived at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge for a three month stint as volunteer Trail Docents. And most importantly, our snazzy new swivel pushback recliners were delivered.

There ya go. All caught up.

“Wow, you guys are living the dream!“

~ says everyone, always

We certainly do not take for granted that our lifestyle favors our desire to travel, live simply, and set our own pace. But it isn’t always a glamorous life of leisure. You know how social media goes, right? You only post the positive, or you might post the negative but only once you’ve resolved the problem and have a funny story to tell. So I’ll give you a peek behind the scenes, not for pity or sympathy, but in the spirit of full transparency. Here are some of the less glamourous aspects of full time RV living:

• Water in, waste out. A frequent topic of discussion is “when did we dump last?” or “Do we have full hookups?” “How many showers can we take this week?” Seriously – these conversations happen ALL. THE. TIME. It has to be managed with foresight. Otherwise, you get caught with full tanks and nowhere to…go.
• Maintenance. A home on wheels has some pretty basic systems that have to withstand a lot of potholes and speedbumps, not to mention just normal wear and tear. So, in between all those fun touristing days, we are mindful to always schedule days for maintenance. But who wants to see photos of that? I am ever grateful for Vic’s meticulous maintenance logs and his willingness to DIY almost everything that needs doing.
• Social connections. Or lack of ongoing in-real-life social engagement. Staying connected through messaging, face-time, and phone calls is fine, but we do sometimes miss those regular gatherings with friends. Sunday golf, game night, lunch with the gang, etc. Luckily, we never tire of each other’s company!
• Adulting. Being a responsible adult and taking care of medical appointments, voting, vehicle registration, those random bills that can ONLY be mailed, all of these things present challenges. As a registered Georgia voter, you submit your absentee ballot request and hope for the best. Using VA for medical care is never a walk in the park, but getting care organized from half way across the country is a practice in patience, persistence, and perseverance. Fortunately we are in mostly good health.
• Limited space. Storage space, living space, functional space…it’s all limited and takes some creative thinking to get the most use from it. Silverware under the sink, canned goods under the couch, frequent trips to the grocery store, chairs arranged to fit the yoga mat, tables that fold flat for travel days. Any item we add to the RV has to meet some really tough criteria for need and functionality. And yet, there’s still this floor lamp that follows us around and rarely gets used.
• Did I mention maintenance? Not just the preventative kind, but also the unexpected repairs. A short list of unplanned fixes: reinforcing the water holding tank below the frame, getting two different tires plugged on two different occasions, multiple fluid leaks repaired on the truck, random alarms at 3 in the morning.
• Boredom. Not every day is filled with fun and adventure. But that’s not a bad thing. Just a reality. Volunteering in one place for several months means living like a local. And sometimes there just isn’t anything going on. Or there is a lot going on, but none of it that interests us. We have realized there are times when we plan something so we don’t “miss out” only to discover we really aren’t that interested. Embracing the slow days helps us enjoy the more hectic pace that our travel days bring.
• Parking is a pain. When we are traveling and towing the RV, the logistics of where we can stop to eat, rest, or sleep for the night are tricky at best. Even when we aren’t towing, finding a place to park the 22′ long truck with fat dually tires is challenging. We’ve completely given up on Chick-fil-A drive throughs after that one incident with the cones.

Honestly, those last several things on the list were stretches…and not necessarily unique to RV living. There probably are more things that we complain about, but are quickly forgotten. We DO love this lifestyle and choose it as the best thing for us.

“we are very VERY loosely pondering what life with an RV/trailer camper might look like…”

I sent this note to my mom in June of 2020, mere hours after Vic and I first discussed the idea. We had barely recovered from the realization that our trip to Europe wasn’t happening and were slowly realizing that house and pet sitting opportunities were drying up. Not content to merge our two households into one and wait out the pandemic we explored other options. I reminded Vic of something I’d seen ages ago while driving the interstate on one of many road trips while on leave; a motorhome with bicycles and a kayak pulling a Jeep. I remember thinking at the time that that seemed like an amazing way to live and travel.

It’s probably reasonable at this point to mention that Vic and I met less than a year before this conversation. Our first few months together were spent traveling via house sitting gigs and planning our trip to Europe and living the carefree life of a new couple enjoying retirement together. As the world was thrown into chaos, we happily self-isolated in borrowed cabins and condos while we sorted out a way to still live and travel together without signing a lease. A cross-country road trip, picnicking at roadside rest stops, ferrying groceries into and out of hotel rooms, and enjoying the solitude of national parks and roadside attractions during a nation-wide lockdown proved we could travel together under strange circumstances.

But purchasing an RV together? Buying a truck? Living in a tiny home on wheels? What about the motorcycle? Where would we go? Thankfully, Mom had been doing this for years already. So, of course, she was the first person we consulted.

Fast forward two years, thousands of miles, and many states later, and we know full well what our lives in an RV look like! And we wouldn’t trade it for anything!