Going Small, Living Big

Seeing that ‘For Sale” sign in our front yard brought tears once again to my eyes. Why was I crying over a house? It is just a house, a building, a materialistic item. But this house held many beautiful memories of raising a family, a lifetime of memories for some. Yet, I knew this time was coming and had been coming for some time. We had plans and now it was time to put those plans in action. Thinking back, I remember how it all started…

I happened to be watching YouTube one night and was looking at my '“Recommended” feed when I saw something different. Something amazing, something that would change our lives forever. I saw a young couple, traveling, with freedom and independence, and having a good time, in their small RV. I scratched my head and thought to myself, how could they do that, and they are not retired yet? Where are they getting the money for their adventures? And how could I attain that?

I discussed this concept with my husband, with innocent but pleading eyes as I wanted his opinion, his thoughts, his feelings. After all, it would be a joint venture for us. I was shocked he agreed with me. We had a lot of planning to do and I knew I would do the bulk of that since I am a searching guru.

After watching many videos, I then proceeded into the endless researching, reading articles, examples from other fulltime rving couples and especially blogs about the good, the bad and the ugly of this new lifestyle. How, where, and when to get begin were good starting points. I only thought retired people got to travel for long or extended periods of time, since they could live on their well-earned social security and any investments they had.

But I was wrong. Travel was becoming big and it does not matter what age you are. RVing was a dream that could come true for anyone, you only have to plan and work for it. But for us, my husband was retiring, so we knew this adventure was going to happen soon.

An exciting adventure was awaiting us - Fulltime RVing!

Fulltime RVing is not for the rich, but you have to be savvy. Yes, you can spend a lot of money, especially on some of those RV resorts, but you can also budget yourselves if you are willing to. Fulltime RVing is for the adventurer in all of us. It is risky, but can also produce memories you may not have if you stayed home. But first there is a catch to this.

Going small. You cannot shove a houseful of stuff in a trailer. That is the hard part. How do you get rid of a lifetime of stuff, collections, memories? Well, you can either throw some of it away, put it in a storage unit for a monthly fee, or bring some of it with you. Going small is not easy and not for the faint of heart. It is sacrifice, sacrifice of things you may have held onto for many years or something you just purchased.

I went through my stuff so many times, trying to figure out what I could keep - that was my goal. Throwing stuff away or giving it to a local charity organization is easy peasy for me, as I am known as a “throw-away-matic.” But we had to REALLY downsize!

Our first step was to sell the house and rent an apartment. We were not quite ready to move straight from house to trailer, even though I wish we could have. We went from a 4 bedroom house to a 1 bedroom apartment. I have lived in apartments before but to go back to living in one has been hard. As we prepared to move into this apartment, I still had stuff to give away, stuff that I did not want to part with, but had no choice.

I gave away things I either restored or remodeled which kind of stung. I wish I could have brought them, but there is no way they would fit. What is important to realize is the size of your rig and what you can put in there. Think of it this way: you are starting over as if you are 18 years old and moving out of your parents home, with not much to bring. That is it. Your rig will have everything you need, except some of the filler stuff, like kitchen ware and bathroom things.

Dreams can come true, but there is work to make it happen. Selling, selling, selling is the key to independence from the stuff you had. Getting friendly with Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist is a start to getting rid of your things. Just think of it this way: the things you once had could be a blessing to another family. That “For Sale” in our front yard was something hard to swallow, but now I look around in my humble trailer and feel thankful for a comfortable place to be in, even if it is small.