Haley
A mere 24 hours after I posted about us hitting the road on our RV adventure in less than a month, our plans changed. It’s funny how that happens–how life changes, how plans are rerouted, how you can be humbled from a high–literally overnight.
James and I had a long conversation one night last week, talking about his Spider Chalk business and how things would work with our RV trip. Maybe I’ve been a bit naive all along–maybe we both have. Five months ago when he started this little business just days after selling his CrossFit gym, we didn’t know where it would go (and we still don’t, really). But he saw a need and an opening in the market, and he ran with it. In the five months since he began Spider Chalk, his business has grown exponentially, which has been amazing. But the thing is, it isn’t even close to hitting its peak. It’s like a roller coaster that has just begun its ascent.
So we realized that leaving for a yearlong RV trip in a few weeks would be a huge disservice to his business. It would slow down the momentum that he’s put months of work into building. And even though there are components of the business that he can continue to do on the road, there are other key areas that require a home base.
As we’ve gotten rid of lots of things (including our house in suburbia) to prepare for this trip, we will be the first to tell you that life isn’t all about things and money. And though we still wholeheartedly believe that, it is James’ businesses that support our family and determine the future outlook for our family–as in our 5- and 10-year plans. And so being a responsible business owner, but more than that responsible parents, we have made the decision to alter our RVing plans a bit. Though this change in plans leaves me undeniably disappointed, it is without doubt the best move for our little family.
New Summer Plans
So what does this mean? Though our plans can change on a dime (again), we have sketched a new outline for summer. We plan to spend the next 3-4 months taking weeklong trips to sites in Georgia and neighboring states, then returning to our home base for a week to give James the chance to continue to grow his business. So the plan is roughly one week in the RV then one week at home until the fall. James will continue to work in several capacities on our RV trips, but will also get much-needed work accomplished at our home base when we are stationary.
It’s not exactly how I pictured our first summer owning an RV. I thought we’d make our way up the East Coast, enjoying National Parks with views of the beach. Expectations are sometimes so hard to reset, I’m finding. But you know what? God has been so good to us throughout this journey. We sold our house without any problems and found the perfect RV (we think, ha) for our family. He knows much better than I do what our family needs, and He is paving the way for us to have the best of both worlds–a growing business and a family adventure. He is humbling me, bending me to His will and giving me the peace of trust in the unknown.
When it comes down to it, we really can’t complain much at all. We have a roof over our heads, an RV ready to go at a moment’s notice and a lake just down the backyard. Our kids will still have a summer to remember, only they probably won’t remember it, but we sure will.
Fall and Beyond to 2017
It’s hard to say what will happen come this fall and beyond. Based on circumstances now and the little we can anticipate for the future, we plan to take a couple longer trips in the fall and venture farther up the East Coast for a few weeks at a time. Then, if the business is in a good spot, we will head Southwest for the winter in January and make our way north from there as the snow begins to melt. That will give us several months to explore out West, the area of the country we absolutely cannot wait to explore with the kids. If all goes as expected (whatever that means!), we will return in Summer 2017 before it’s time for our oldest to start Kindergarten. So for now, that part hasn’t changed!
My mother always said that God laughs when we start making plans! You are so right to be open to changes, and you will be so much more comfortable with full time RV living when the time comes to cut your ties to a home base. There are definitely challenges and adjustments to be made, and you don’t know what they are until you are actually living the life. I speak from experience after being a full time RV’er for 8 years with small children. I am assuming that the lake house is available for the foreseeable future.
I totally agree! I do think it will be good having shorter runs before setting off for months at a time–and I’m reminding myself it’s ok to go slow at the start. Memories will be made whether we’re gone for a week at a time or months. Yes, thankfully the lake house will be available until at least next summer.
I’ve found God to have quite the sense of humor! We have often be re-routed and reminded that He knows better than we do!
[…] last week. (In case you’re wondering why we aren’t on the road full time right now, read this post.) Because we had yet to tow our fifth wheel more than 20 feet (video), we opted to plan our first […]
[…] trip and celebrating July 4th in another state as we began to make our way around the county. But plans change. One month ago, I thought we’d be spending the long holiday weekend at an RV park in Georgia […]
[…] sunset boat rides, spending the afternoon anchored in remote coves. Even though we’ve had to scale our traveling plans back a bit for now, lake living is a welcome […]