Inspiration

No toads on fire over here this time around! I’m sure you’re glad to hear that, I know I am. Today, I wanted to touch on a comment I made in a previous post, I wrote something that could be taken the wrong way. This was the statement, “Yes folks, I’m actually saving money and paying off debt by living in a little house AND having an RV”. I suppose that could be construed like this, “We have so much income that I can have an RV and a house and save money”. That is NOT what I intended to convey nor is it factual. Yes, we have decent income, however, we sacrificed a LOT to accomplish our goal. What I was tryingto say is this, “If you are truly passionate about RVing (or anything in life for that matter), with the proper sacrifices, this lifestyle can be had by nearly anyone!”. You don’t have to make a lot of money to live the RV lifestyle. Today, I’m going to prove it to you as well as introduce you to some of the people who inspire me.

Long before our RV ever came into sight, I followed a LOT of blogs, RV forums and basically anything I could get my hands on in reference to RVing. You see, the RV lifestyle seemed like something that fit me to a T. I love to travel and am perfectly content (actually thrive) on having my scenery change continuously. Something about that stimulates me and makes me feel alive. So when I came across this blog where a homeschool family was living in a converted school bus, I was fascinated. I wasn’t fascinated only for myself, I was fascinated for the kids and what an amazing education that must be. I was fascinated by how little it cost the family to live like this. They’re no longer on the road but there are many people who still are.

Now, if this is always something you’ve wanted to do, whether full or part-time, it is reachable by most. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy getting there. I’m not saying that you’re not going to have to put in some sweat, guts and hard work. I’m not saying you’re not going to have to change or give up anything. What I’m saying is I KNOW it can be done. I follow the blogs of real people doing this and loving it. They’re not all retired (actually, only one is). Some have children, some don’t, some still have a home base, most don’t, they range in age from the late 20’s to 60’s. They all inspired me in one way or another so I’d like to utilize their current scenarios to prove you can do this if you truly want to. You only live once, so if RVing speaks to you, I want you to know it is possible.

Do you have kids by the dozen? Do you think that is a show stopper when it comes to living the RV lifestyle? Well if you feel that way, have a look at this family and their blog called The Kellogg Show! This is a family of 14 traveling and exploring in an RV. I don’t even know where they put all the kids but when asked they say, “we only sleep and travel in the RV, we don’t live in it”. The true adventures are outside of the RV, not the RV itself. They’ve found viable options to sleep all those kids too such as bunk bed camping cots, which they share with a smile, “the older kids can put together by themselves!”. They do maintain a home base but they love the lifestyle so much they’re rarely ever in it.

How they inspire me?

If they can do this with a dozen kids, I most certainly can do this with three!

So what if you’re a woman in your late 20’s and sick of the 9 to 5 already. You’ve been at your career (working with monkey’s no less) for a short while but just can’t stand the thought of doing the grind until you can collect that first retirement check. Well, that’s where Becky Schade, from Interstellar Orchard comes in. This courageous young woman was at the beginning of her career and just couldn’t fathom being there long term. So she took steps to ensure she wouldn’t have to. She planned and plotted and eventually purchased her Casita travel trailer and tow vehicle. Catch up with her blog to see how she brings in an income while living her dream.

How she inspires me?

A single woman out on the road by herself. Yep, I got this :-). And imagine how that might inspire my three daughters in the future. Double score.

Since I’m in the 40, [cough, cough] something category, I felt a connection with these two very inspirational couples, bloggers and travelers. I’ve learned a WEALTH of information from them. I actually hate to link them together because individually, they’re a powerhouse of knowledge. But they know and love each other so I know they won’t mind! These couples have been at it for a while and they’re far from retired. If you’re going out full-time and need to make an income, want to learn the ins and outs of technology on the road, want pointers on the RV lifestyle to include a bunch of posts on RV maintenance or would like to invest for a living, these are your peeps. Phew, I told you they’re a plethora of information. So who do I speak so highly of? None other than Cherie and Chris from Technomadia and Nina and Paul from Wheeling It.

How they inspire me?

They pulled away from the safe harbors of mainstream society and are not only surviving but thriving. This spoke to my 40 something self that was feeling in crisis. It was time for me to pull away from my safe harbor and feel alive.

So we’ve covered the family with a dozen kids in an RV, the single woman making it happen and the 40 something crew living and thriving outside the box. So let’s cover the retired woman who just can’t fathom retiring the traditional way. The way in which most people work all their lives to pay off a house which they retire and stay in until they take their last dying breath. Nothing like saying it just like it is! For some, this is okay but for this lady, she wasn’t having any of that.

This time I’m referencing Sue at RV Sue and Crew. Sue is a single gal who was coming up on retirement. The more she thought about retiring only to be forced to sit and stare at the same scenery day after day, the more she searched for an alternative that she could afford. When she came upon the RV lifestyle, she knew instantly (as most of us do) that this was how she wanted to spend her retired years. So she set the wheels in motion (get it, wheels) and scrimped, saved, and downsized her dogs and herself to one room of her house. This was an effort to see if they went nuts. Needless to say, all went well and she held onto her dream, which became a reality for her in 2011. Please, if you see RV Sue and Crew out camping, she has a privacy policy at her camp: “No visitors, no photos, no exceptions. Thank You.” Please respect her wishes.

How she inspires me?

She shares my dream of simplicity with her motto, “Living on less and enjoying life more”. And I love how she tells her story. So much so that when I found her blog, I had to read it from the very beginning. Took me about a month!

And last but not least is a mom (actually family with four children). They were struggling to survive as a family unit. They decided to travel together in an RV to “heal our marriage, heal our family”. It was really only supposed to be for a year but it was such an awakening that they didn’t want to return to their old way of living. This time I’m referring to Jema over at Jema Studios. Jema’s true heart shines through in her writing and I love how she embraces the good, the bad AND the ugly. Because we all have the ugly, it’s how we choose to deal with it that makes all the difference in the world. She does it so gracefully. And did I mention that she’s an artist? In fact, her entire RV is a work of art. You really need to check it out, really cool. She also creates art that has personal meaning to her clients.

How she inspires me?

She’s a mom with four kids living in an RV! While I don’t have my husband with me on a daily basis, that’s as close as I probably can get to my current situation. I actually wrote to her before we sold our house to ask her advice on which RV she’d recommend.

I hope you enjoyed the introduction to my virtual friends. Please click over to each of their blogs and give them a peek. They’re fabulous folks!. While I’ve never met any of them in person, I hope to some day.

We still haven’t concluded our Lake George plans. In fact, I haven’t even booked a campsite. There’s been a whole lot of crazy going on around here. But things are starting to settle down so my next blog post should bring a peek into stop number two in our summer plans.

{HUGS} from the crew.

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