Going Full-Time:
How We Decided It Was Right For Us
By: Meredith Miller
Published December 20, 2018
“Where are you going to put all your stuff?” “How are you going to handle 2 humans and 2 cats in that?” “Where are you going to park it?” “Wouldn’t you rather just buy a house?” “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” “You’re crazy.”
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – R.W.E.
These are all questions (and comments) Randy and I heard before deciding to purchase an RV, moving from a 1000+ sq. foot, luxury apartment to a 300 sq. foot motorhome. While most of our family and friends have been amazingly supportive, there was obviously still some hesitation on all sides whether or not moving into an RV full-time was a good decision, and definitely some adjustments.
Deciding to move into an RV was an easy decision for us.
“And then there is the most dangerous risk of all – the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.” -R.K.
First off, we love to travel, and living in the apartment had put a damper on traveling. It’s hard to want to go anywhere when you have to make sure you work enough each month just to pay rent. Second, we decided we need to be traveling for work on the Best of the Interstate. Third, we’d made a lifestyle change to become more minimalistic, so the space was not an issue.
The biggest question we –and anyone else who’s ever moved from a house/apartment into an RV/tiny home – gets asked is,
“Where are you going to put all your stuff?”
This was probably one of the toughest things to prepare ourselves for losing 700 square feet. We didn’t need our couch, TV, bed frame, dressers, etc., anymore. So what were we going to do with all our stuff?
To this I recommend George Carlin’s comedy skit on “Stuff.” It’s kind of the perfect way I can describe how we view physical things. The furniture we owned we put to use in a family members’ house, and all other decorative things were either packed in boxes that fit into a small room or donated.
Once we got past the false notion that everything we owned in the apartment was either nonreplaceable or absolutely required to live (like all those knick-knacks that we never touched), it was easier to give up our stuff and live with only what we really need. My biggest concern stuff-wise was being able to fit my scrapbooking supplies somewhere in the RV.
The largest “obstacle” (if you let it become one) were the people who asked things like, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” and “Why don’t you just buy a house?” Obviously, if we wanted to, we would. There are always going to be people who don’t understand why you may do the things you do, and that’s okay if they never understand.
We’re not living our life for them, we living it for us.
And that is the most important reason we decided living in an RV full-time is right for us.
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