Many times when you do something against “the grain”… something different, many people will ask the million dollar question. WHY? Why would you give up “The American Dream” to do something crazy, like live in an RV? Many people live this lifestyle for different reasons. Here is our “why” along with a couple of misconceptions.
Adventure
Our family has loved to travel for some time. We began traveling with a tent years ago. While we do love a good theme park on occasion, we find just as much joy relaxing and exploring state parks and geocaching. Exploring and observing wildlife is another one of our favorite past times. Growing up outside of Savannah, GA, I always enjoyed frequent trips over to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge to see how many gators I could spot. When Philip and I were dating, I took him to the wildlife refuge to experience the gators together.
Change of Scenery
Let’s face it, our history together proves that we desire a change of scenery pretty frequently. We have been married 18 years and have moved 9 times during that time. Those moves have all been made for deferent reasons, but the fact still remains that we have moved a lot. The truth is that Philip and I are not getting any younger. All of these moves have taken a toll on our bodies as well as our physical possessions.
Time with our Kids
The older we get, the more we realize that time is the one thing that you can never get back. You can make more money, but even that cannot replace time once it is gone.
Opportunity to Constantly Meet New People
How else could we have to chance to meet people from all over the world? Just this week, Philip and I meet an older couple from New Mexico. Across the campground, a group from Eastern Europe is attending a camp at our group camp area. There is no better way to teach your children about other people and cultures than meeting these people right where they are. Our children have already learned lessons in cooperation, patience, and compassion from our work in the campground.
The Ability to Live Life with Less STUFF
While researching this lifestyle one word kept coming up time after time… minimalism. The definition I like the best came from Becoming Minimalist. Their definition states, “Minimalism is freedom from the passion to possess.” In the traditional American culture, people put way too much emphasis on possessions. Everyone has to have the biggest house, the best cars, the newest electronics. Americans have become obsessed with having bigger and better toys than their neighbor. Families make a conscious choice to continuously get deeper and deeper into debt to do this.
Our family’s goal is to live more with less stuff. No, we aren’t giving away our computers, tablets, or phones. We are still very well connected in our RV, just as we were in our sticks and bricks. However, it means that we don’t need 100 outfits each, multiple kitchen thingamabobs, nicknacks galore, and multiple storage units full of stuff.
A Couple Common Misconceptions:
This lifestyle is cheaper. Not always the case. I have seen posts where people have claimed that this lifestyle is more expensive. It’s all about how you choose to use your money. We are definitely not living this lifestyle for monetary benefit. If we manage to pay off some debt and save some money GREAT, but that’s not why we are doing this.
We’re broke and can’t afford a house. Not true. I have heard of people to whom this has happened, but they are not the norm. As I mentioned above, it’s all about where and how you choose to spend your money. For us, Philip still works full-time and I have several businesses that I own.
It’s impossible to prep a big meal in an RV. Meal planning and prep takes a lot more work in a small RV kitchen, but it is definitely not impossible. We changed out our kitchen sink and countertop (link to the countertop article) to make more counter space. As mentioned in the article, 7 Things I Can’t Live Without in My RV Kitchen, we also purchased a 46″ rolling Husky toolbox to use as an island. Having the toolbox has helped tremendously!
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