Mama and Papa aren’t what-if people and never have been. We don’t want to get to an advanced age only to look back and wish we could’ve, should’ve, or would’ve done something differently.
We also see no benefit in putting off for tomorrow what can be done today.
Or putting off for next month.
Or putting off for next year.
Or putting off until retirement.
We believe planning has its place and we do so when and where appropriate.
There are things we’ve said we’ll do “when we retire” or “when the boys have grown.”
Then in January we had a rude wakeup call when Mama went to the ER and almost didn’t come home.
Now we see no point in waiting, namely for one thing in particular.
And we have decided to finally make the announcement public, after talking about this for years and putting our plan into action for months.
Folks, we’re in the process of purging and downsizing…in preparation for selling our house.
Until now only Mama and Papa’s parents and very few friends and family knew of our plans and that we’d been working on making it happen.
But today — May 1st — we’re ready to let everybody know that we will soon be listing our house on the market after we get some work done on the front and back yards. We’ve already started on the inside.
Oh, and we’re not buying another house for one to two years.
Yup, we’ve decided to go for it and get a little crazy. We’re going to live in our beloved fifth wheel June and our address will be that of whatever campground we’re parked at.
When we went on that three-month road trip last year, no one in our family wanted to come home. We can honestly say we only missed our friends and family, but we didn’t really miss our home.
Yes, there’s stability, familiarity, and monotony in living in a house. Yes, living out of our RV is risky, unusual, and unexpected.
That’s exactly why we all want to do this, and that includes our boys.
They loved not knowing what our new yard and their new playground would be like every time we parked at another campground.
They loved the small quarters of our RV and how close we all became, after we didn’t before know we could grow any closer than we already were.
They loved that they were outside more frequently and that we all went on more adventures.
They loved making new friends in each state and that age and education barriers pretty much vanished.
And since they’re already being homeschooled, the transition will be that much easier and smoother.
Yes, Papa will continue working and for the very company he’s been with and loved for more than 10 years now. We have no intentions to leave the area anytime soon, and we have plenty of camping options throughout this county and those counties nearby. Besides, as much as we travel on weekends anyway, why not simply bring our house along every time?
Our sticks-and-bricks (or S&B) home holds countless memories, and ours was the first family to live in it. This is the first house our boys ever knew, and it was also the location of the only school they’ve ever been to. It will be emotional when we do drive out of our driveway for the last time, and it’s been somewhat emotional as we box up stuff and sell and donate things that helped make our house a home.
But it is just “stuff.” They’re material things, most of which can be replaced down the road. Things that hold sentimental value and that we feel are irreplaceable will be in storage until we decide to settle down once again.
Then there are our amazing neighbors, which are also our friends. We love them dearly and we know we could never again find neighbors as wonderful as they are. Fortunately, we also know that we’ll remain in touch and friends, regardless of where we live.
And whoever moves into our house next will be extremely blessed to have them.
In addition to this being another adventure for us, this is also an opportunity to pay off everything and free ourself from debts. We will be able to save money and could potentially pay cash when we do buy or build a house down the road.
Mama loves poetry and one of her favorites is by Robert Frost, in which he concluded:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
And then there’s a quote by Mark Twain, popular especially among RVers:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Those by Frost and Twain are excellent advice and have guided Mama and Papa well for more than 15 years.
All four of us want to do this, and Mama and Papa used to say we would do this one day, perhaps in about 15 years or so.
Then we realized “one day” may never come.
The Nomadic 'Skiys 