We Sold It All For RV Life

I remember scrolling through social media and always wishing I could be that person who made the plunge into tiny living and RV life, but fear always stopped me. Societal expectation to live in a standard home with many bedrooms and a huge yard had always been embedded into my head. The bigger the better, the more space and rooms is what society expected, yet I longed for something else.

In 2018, I followed a few social media accounts on Instagram that were RV living, one of which was our former neighbor from Camp Lejeune, NC. Jessica, the content creator behind TheLowCountryCottage, had transformed a shabby trailer into a beautiful farmhouse style RV. Her creativity and renovation sparked my longing for tiny living even more.

However, it was not until 2019 after we moved to Camp Pendleton, CA that I started to actually pursue a life on the road. While playing in a military spouse kickball league, I met a player who recently moved into an RV for life. I became inspired by Brielle and her family and started wanting to downsize ASAP, however my husband wasn’t quite on board.

I began extensively researching RVs and trying to convince my husband why we should give up our 2,500 sq. feet home to live in under 300 sq. feet. I created a spreadsheet to show him how living in a RV would actually benefit us financially. The military was taking $2600 a month for rent on a 3 bedroom house we would never own. Instead, we could use that $2600 a month to pay for our RV, RV spot rent and a truck payment . I took him to dealerships on weekends to see what an RV actually looked like in person. Neither of us had actually stepped foot in a camper before. The idea slowly grew on him when he realized the opportunities the lifestyle could bring and that he didn’t have to give up his comforts that a standard home offered.

Our three-bedroom home in Camp Pendleton, CA

By July 2019, I had finally convinced him to take the plunge. We started downsizing our three-bedroom house room by room. Selling items we didn’t need or want on Facebook Marketplace and by having yard sales. We had accumulated so much stuff over the years of living in a standard home. Two guest rooms full of furniture that had been used maybe a handful of times, an entire dining room table set that was used twice all sold along with other items that had no real purpose. The more we got rid of, the more free I felt.

The first obstacle we faced was finding a truck that would be able to meet our towing and hauling requirements. Keep in mind we didn’t have an RV yet and were still on the search; however, we knew the first puzzle piece we needed was a truck to pull our future home. From July to October we searched for the perfect truck while saving up money for a down payment. Once we finally had the funds needed, we drove over 400 miles to Arizona where we picked up our new 2018 Dodge Ram 2500.

The puzzle piece that made it all come together

We began eagerly searching for RVs for sale by third parties near us in California. We researched day and night about RV living. We had no idea how to even hitch an RV, how to dump tanks or do anything that the lifestyle involved. Luckily, we had amazing support from a friend from kickball. Brielle and her family had allowed us to come watch them during a moving day to get a taste of what was to come. The entire process terrified me, yet drove my yearning even more.

By November 2019 we had fallen in love with a Heartland travel trailer RV. We put in our 30-day notice to housing and began full time RV living December, 1 2019. It was the scariest leap we had taken in our six years of marriage that paid off. We’ve since been full time RV living on the beach going on two years and couldn’t love it more. We’ve met amazing RV families along the way and developed life-long friendships. We look forward to our newest endeavor, traveling full-time in the Heartland Sundance beginning June 2022.