We moved into an RV!

I don’t know if this is normal. Does everyone’s life feel like it’s moving at a seemingly constant anarchic momentum? Sometimes whimsical…often just freaking bizarre and difficult? You feeling this? I like to try and see it as a cool coming of age- indie short film kind of vibe, lots of tension, good music, and the unexpected. No, we’re not that cool. But our lives have been that eventful.

 We were both ready to nestle into something really picturesque when we got the fortunate opportunity to move back to our hometown after almost 3 years in New York City. We were looking forward to the slow life of suburbia, comfort of old friends and family, and what we thought would be a season of easy living. A nice break from the chaos we had just endured filled with surgery, fertility treatments, bad roads and air pollution. We had finally caught up on the massive debt we had incurred seeing a fertility specialist, and the end was in sight.  Now we would enjoy the fruits of our labor, use our VA loan to purchase our first home, and settle into our new life.

Yeah, things didn’t go like that.

To sum up the last year, we ended up losing the embryo we had invested our lives into creating back in New York, devastating our hopes of a baby on the way and leaving our designated “baby room” feeling really, really empty. So the pursuit continued. More fertility treatments, new hope, more loans, more debt, and ultimately, a baby on the way. Thank God. I also started my Holistic Nutrition practice and stepped right into a booming cliental! So much yin & yang here.

In the midst of all that, we discovered undisclosed black mold on our subfloor, and I got bit by a Lyme infected tick. Both of which knocked me on my ass. I haven’t quite gotten up yet.

Less than a year later from purchasing our house, we found ourselves in so much debt we could barely breathe, in a home we resented for not telling us it had mold (I mean it should have said something), and with apparent unrealized dreams of something more. Something that involved land and room to roam, a reconstructing of priorities and a rolling away of the nouns that aren’t enriching us. We want to own acres littered with eatable life and people to create community with. We want to simplify and let go and make purposeful steps towards goals we assumed would be out of reach for another decade.

What could we do to get out of debt, and at the same time take giant leaps toward our goals as a family? Well, we needed cheaper rent, ideally, no rent. Hence, selling our house was step # 1.

So we spent thousands of dollars to remediate the fungus lurking beneath us and put our house on the market. Luckily it was a great time to sell, the market was high, and we had several offers within a week. Although we are walking away with far less than we put into the house, we are grateful to not be walking away empty-handed.

Step #2- Find somewhere to live that would accommodate the two of us, a 1 year old Australian Shepherd, and soon, a newborn baby. For cheap. Really cheap.

I first considered RV living 6 years ago after reading KatieRiddle’s blog, Riddlelove. Her and her family of 7 moved into a 5^th wheel trailer with the goal of paying off debt and ultimately becoming landowners. I remember really admiring the sacrifice they were making and loving the practicality of making home somewhere a little unconventional for a while as a means to an end.

So when the question of where we would live came about, I immediately presented the idea to my husband. Hey babe let's sell all out stuff and move into an RV! He was sold.

From there things moved at lightening speed, almost strangely so. Within a few weeks of making the decision, our house was in contract, we got approved for a loan to purchase our RV, did a great deal of searching for the perfect abode within our price range, and settled on a 2006 37 ft. trailer with 2 pop outs in Woodland, CA from a really sweet couple that had maintained the trailer beautifully.

We had our new home! Our fifth one in five years of marriage. We were so excited about what it represented for us, and it already had a special place in our hearts knowing we would be bringing our baby home to this place. We had, and still have an incredible amount of peace about the place we have landed, the steps that got us here, and whatever is to precede this season. So much so that we even feel greateful for the hard things. We didnt end up living in an RV because life has been really easy 😉 But when we trace back our steps through every hurdle and "rough patch," we see the purpose. We recognize the value. That has been HUGE for us during those moments when self-pity sets in and thoughts of "are we ever going to catch a break?!" arise. 
When sharing our circumstance with Ryans aunt, and voicing out loud that very thought, she responded with, what is to this day the most helpful thing anyone has said to us in this season, "hey, i'm in my 50's and i'm still waiting for my break." It was harsh and real, and exactly what I needed. Struggling is not unique to us, we didn't pull the short straw or win the crap lottery. Life is hard, and although I welcome seasons of easy living, and I hope we see one soon, we plan on riding whatever wave tries to knock us over and have as much fun as we can doing it. 

And right now, we feel like we are exactly where we are supposed to be, and that feels really good.

More to come on life in an RV, how we are faring in 250 square feet, preparing for a baby in a small space, and what it took to make a 5^th wheel a home (WORK!).