During the summer of 2013 my wife Meagan and agreed that we were going to chase a shared dream.
- We were going to figure out a way to make money by working remotely,
- We were going to buy a camper to live in, and
- We were going to become fulltime RVers.
It felt like a pipedream at the time, but towards the end of 2013 we put our dream down on paper and taped it to the fridge anyway.
Against all odds. We did it. We didn’t do it in the exact order that it was written on the fridge, but we did it.
- We sold our truck.
- We sold one house.
- My daughter was born and we paid for all the associated medical bills.
- We bought a 2000 Ford Excursion with a 7.3L Powerstroke diesel engine that could hall our entire family and pull a 10,000 lb travel trailer.
- I took a job with the promise of going remote after one year.
- We bought a 2010 Heartland North Trail 32 QBSS travel trailer.
- We saved up some cash.
- We sold our second house (not as glamorous as it sounds, it was upside down–a millstone around our neck we finally cut loose).
- We got rid of most of our stuff and put the rest in storage.
- The job flamed out but I found work as a freelance website builder and writer.
- We hit the road.
We’ve lived in the camper at three different times in the last 6 years:
- We moved into it in November of 2014, and landed back in northeast Georgia with the intention of putting down roots in November 2016. Once we landed back in Georgia it took several months to get out of the camper and into a house. We closed in May of 2017 and in early June 2017 we move out of the camper and into our house. (31 months)
- November of 2017 I discovered some major repair issues that would require that we move out of our house and into our camper once more. It was a good 4 months before we could move back into the house. (4 months)
- February 2020 we sold our house and spent another month in the camper before we were able to move into our next house–the house we’re in now. (1 month)
In total, since November 2014, we’ve spent 3 years living in our 2010 Heartland North Trail 32 QBSS. That doesn’t include the times we’ve taken it on vacation. We spent a few additional weeks in the camper visiting Chattanooga and Hilton Head. Overall, we’ve spent considerably more time living in the camper than not since we first moved into it just shy of 6 years ago.
Today I washed and cleaned out both the camper and truck with the intention of listing them for sale.
Here they are, 6 years ago, the very first time we took them out:
And here they are today, as I parked the camper after cleaning it.
In the past 6 years we’ve seen 27 states and driven thousands of miles together. They feel like old friends. To be fair, they’re old friends that have a tendency to break, cost money, and use up more time than I expect, but old friends with whom I’ve shared a lot of adventures nonetheless.
It’s time to move on. I know it’s time to move on. But I’d be lying if I said it was easy.
Today felt like the beginning of the end of an era.
Selling the trailer? OMG! Say it ain’t so! 😢
That was one heck of a chapter for you all. The good news is now you know how to do it when you inevitably do it again. ðŸ¤
Oh, it’ll happen again. This particular setup doesn’t work for us any more, but there will a second chapter to that story at some point.