RV Adventure

New Year, New Adventure

It’s officially the New Year, which means we survived and even celebrated Beau’s tonsillectomy, Thanksgiving, James’ two-day Atlanta Affiliate League Event, Scarlett’s first birthday, Christmas and James Michael’s fourth birthday (in that order) all in a matter of six weeks. But cheers to the New Year and the new adventures it’s bound to bring.

Many of our friends and family have caught wind that we’re planning a big RV trip this year, but I was hesitant to put it in writing until the sale of James’ business went through on Dec. 31. Now that CrossFit Addiction has changed hands, I can hardly contain myself as we’ve checked off another major item on our launch list.

2007 dodge ram 3500 dually

First, we checked off buying a crew cab truck (which safely accommodates three carseats across the back row) to tow our future RV. Most people buy the RV first, but James found a great deal on a older Dodge Ram 3500 Dually, and considering it can tow any size RV, we felt comfortable buying it first. Then on Christmas Eve, James sold his motorcycle, which was another big to-do to get out of the way.

james motorcycle sold

Next up is buying a towable RV (which we’ve been researching for months), purging more of our stuff and eventually selling our house (we’ll put it on the market this spring). Of course, it’s not quite that simple. There’s a lot to consider before toting your family around the country for months on end, and we’re tackling one issue at a time until we launch. With any luck, we’ll be on the road by late spring/early summer, which will give us a year of adventure before our oldest child is due to start kindergarten.

I know it seems like this big news is coming out of left field, but we’ve actually been planning since last June, when James mentioned the idea to me. After slowly digesting this crazy notion of selling everything and traveling around the country as a family of five in a tiny space for a year, I began to feel the excitement growing and realized that it’s now or never. We are trading in our house full of things for a trip full of experiences.

We’ll be sharing our journey here on the blog, and I may even convince James to do a few posts since diesel trucks and the like are not my expertise. Stay tuned for countless pre-launch posts as we whittle our way from 2,400 square feet to less than 400 square feet in a matter of months.

hobsonsnewadventure

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Haley

I'm a full-time wife and semi-stay-at-home mom to four young kids. Day to day, I help my husband with his small business, but when I have any extra time, you can find me cooking or being active outdoors with my family. We live at the foothills of the North Georgia mountains and are embracing modern homesteading month by month.

19 Comments

  1. That is my hubby’s dream truck for pulling our camper. Very wise to get that first so you know you have something that can pull whatever you pick out. We had to get a diesel to pull our 5th wheel more comfortably. It doesn’t have the full 4 doors but it is extended cab. Our kids are really little (now) so it works. Sounds like you guys are getting all your ducks in a row. 🙂

    1. That’s awesome! My hubby did a lot of research before landing on the diesel Ram. I think there is still one model that has an even larger backseat, but this one worked for us so we went with it!

  2. Hey! Just a quick note of encouragement after reading about your in Miss Minimalist. You’re going to have an AWESOME time. I wanted to share our blog for ideas for you. I took our 3 kids out of school in 3-8th grades and we traded RV’s with an Irish family on Part 4 of the trip (the other 3 were National Parks to Alaska, Mexico & Central America, and then Disney to DC with the history along the way. Then 21 countries in Europe in the exchange RV (we’re still good friends with our Irish exchange family)). My husband was still working and would fly in to meet us for a week or two. Have you found the Yahoo Group “Families on the Road” yet? They are all creating “Road Scholars” (haha) on the road with families, so check them out as a great source of inspiration! I would encourage you to not race home for kindergarten. High school, yes, but kindergarten no. Your kids will learn far more on the road with you and will have plenty of time to learn book-schooling on the road if you want to help with that. Also, check out Nomadly in Love blog for terrific inspiration. Stevie had her first child while traveling and they love being on the road. You’re going to have SO MUCH FUN! We are now in Peachtree City if I can help in anyway. Two of my kids are off to college and we look back and are so overjoyed that we took that opportunity by the horns when we could. Congratulations on taking what will be one of the greatest time periods in your life. A defining year in time!

    1. Thank you so much for the tips. I have not heard of that Yahoo group but I will definitely join and will follow Nomadly in Love. We are so excited! Thank you!

  3. I wanted to share one more point: If you find that you want to continue your nomadic wonderful lifestyle but pesky money issues get in the way, there are numerous opportunities for work-camping. In fact, Amazon recruits campers for the Christmas season (you can work 6 weeks-3 months and they provide full hookup campsite and $12.75/hr if I remember correctly) and some couples do that for 3 months (one works nights, the other days) and that supplies them travel funds for the rest of the year. Here’s the link: http://www.amazonfulfillmentcareers.com/opportunities/camper-force/ I heard a recruiter for them at the FMCA rally last month. Also, you can camp-host in many state and national parks. There are several sites that share that info. This is considered the best for all work on the road: https://www.workamper.com Hope that helps! 🙂

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