Getting Away From the World
While sitting beside a campfire with other RVers talking about how they got into RVing, I hear a version of this story over and over.
A couple (or an individual) is on vacation trying to unwind and get away from the world for a few days. They are away from the routine of day to day life and away from sitting in a cubical day after day, hating their jobs and not enjoying life.
Then reality hits them and it's time to go home and get back into the grind and the routine that's stealing their lives. That's when they start thinking that there has to be more to life than the way they're living now.
It's not so much that they want to get away from life. It's that they don't want life to get away from them.
They start to wonder (almost like a daydream), "Wouldn't it be nice to just live like this all the time? Not someday or when we retire but starting right now?" They don't want to continue to be stuck in a rut and not enjoying life.
That's when the RVing bug bites them and they start doing some research and they discover that there's a whole universe of people actually doing what they are dreaming about. The secret is that it doesn't take a lot of money to live full time in an RV. Your income may go down, but your expenses go way down when you get out of the rat race and the trap you're caught in.
This reminds me of my grandpa
My grandpa lived all his life on a small farm in the Tennessee hills. He had a team of mules that he mainly used to plow a few acres of corn, and he had a big hay field. He also used the mules to plow his tobacco patch two or three times a year. He did plow grandma's garden once at the beginning of each year. She wouldn't let, him in the garden the rest of the year. She said the mules would step on plants and trample her garden. She insisted on doing all the work in her garden with her little hoe.
In a nutshell, the main purpose of having the mules was to cultivate the corn and hay fields. Of course, the reason he needed the corn and hay was to feed the mules.
Are you caught in the same trap?
A lot of people are caught in this same trap and don't realize it. They commute to a job they don't like every day to get the money to buy a car they need to get to work and to pay the mortgage and upkeep on a big house (most of which is not used). And of course, they have to have money to buy all of the stuff that's in the garage and attic. There's no time left to spend with their family or to do the things they wish they had time for.
They would like to have time to play music, paint, read, go fishing, write a book, do crafts, etc., but there's just no time for those things--maybe one of these days when they retire.
Are you living for retirement?
Are you living your whole life with the hope of getting to enjoy life one of these days when you retire? Happiness is not a destination. It's a journey.
Reasons why you can't live the RV lifestyle now
You may be thinking that there are a lot of reasons why you can't quit your job and live the RV lifestyle now. You have kids in school, you have a mortgage, you have too much stuff, and the list of reasons go on and on.
Those are excuses. They're not real reasons. A lot of people travel with kids--some with four or five kids. I know one couple who RV with 12 kids. You need that job to pay for all of the stuff you keep buying. You don't need that big house.
You can buy an RV for less than most people spend buying a car. You can make more money while living on the road than you will spend. I put more into savings every month now than I ever put into savings when I was working a full-time job.
One of the big ways RVers cut their expenses is that when you're living the RV lifestyle, you're no longer trying to keep up with the Joneses. Whether you're living in a $3,000 RV or a $300,000 RV, you're living the same lifestyle and you have the same fun and care-free life.
Bottom line: If you have a desire to live the full-time RV life, I'm almost sure you can make it happen. You can't just quit your job tomorrow and buy an RV. There's a lot you have to learn, and there are things you have to do, and changes you have to make, but by reading books, watching YouTube videos, and following RVing blogs, you can make it happen. There are thousands of people out there doing what you're dreaming about. It can be done. Go for it.