Rewriting our definition of "RV life"

We ended 2025 with some major whiplash. We began the transition out of full-time RV life when we rented a house in New Hampshire for 7 months, from November 2025 to June 2026. Construction on our mountain cabin was expected to start shortly after that, either in the latter part of 2026 or spring of 2027. Our life as part-time RVers was becoming a reality, but we were hit with a major "Not so fast!" moment. Just 3 weeks into November, we moved out of our rental and back into our RV.

Catch up on our story:

The big pivot

Last year on November 6, we made a huge leap towards our next chapter of life. We bought land in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the place that we always considered end-game. Since then, even though we continued traveling full-time, we stayed honest on the blog. Nomadic life is

Brighter on WheelsNicole Anderson

This was not the Thanksgiving post we thought we would be sharing

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Qualifying items purchased through these links may result in a small commission, which helps us maintain our blog. Our last blog post was full of hope and optimism. After feeling travel fatigue all year, we returned home and settled into our new home state

Brighter on WheelsNicole Anderson

On the surface, it seemed like we resumed our RV life as usual. We stayed stationary on my parents' property to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, just as we had for the past 3 years. Only this time, I wasn't pulling up our trip planners and booking reservations for 2026. We sat in weeks of purposeful non-decision. After the tumultuous end to our year, which came on the heels of many other life transitions such as adopting 2 cats and Anthony losing his job, we were in no condition to plan anything, let alone actually set out on the road. We knew a New Year's launch was out of the question. Beyond that timeframe, we would have to see.

The reality of the non-decision was that it would effectively keep us in Massachusetts into the coldest part of winter. December typically remains relatively mild and snow-free in coastal MA, but this year, we faced early storms, foreshadowing what was to come. We braced for February, the month that usually leaves us frozen, both in our bodies and our RV plumbing. Eventually, non-decision would become the decision. If we remained in MA through February, we'd be through the worst of it, and we could stay put until spring. But would we?

No matter what, the full-time travel life as we knew it was over. We had 4 incredible years traveling to bucket list destinations, having epic adventures, and making fantastic memories. This year, we knew that even if we did travel a bit, things would not look the same. The beauty of RV life is that it's a flexible lifestyle. Some people stay stationary for months or even years. Some people travel quickly, only staying a few days in each place. Some travel slowly, staying for weeks or more. And everything in between. Leaving our rental and returning to the RV, we realized something important: We don't need to actually move out of our RV; we just need to adapt our lifestyle for our current circumstances.

We began then and there to rewrite our definition of RV life. We might not be transitioning out of full-timing just yet, but we are transitioning out of adventure mode into something more routine-friendly, grounded, and stable. In previous years, travel was the main goal and we fit our daily lives into it. This year, we will live daily life in our RV and travel will be secondary.

There was relief in this realization. We didn't need a sticks and bricks this winter to be content. We just needed to structure our lives differently. This was the main take-home message in our Season 4 Recap video, that despite everything that had happened, we were glad to be back in our RV. If you want to hear more about our mindsets in late December, you can catch the recap here.

We have lots of reasons for this lifestyle shift, some more voluntary than others.

1. We battled burnout and fatigue in 2025. As soon as we slowed our travels in the late summer/fall, we began feeling rejuvenated. A big reason why the burnout happened in the first place was that we launched from unstable emotional ground and moved quickly. We don't want to repeat history this year.
2. We still have many RV trips awaiting us, but right now, we are excited for a new chapter: building our mountain cabin and eventually our home. We did exactly what we hoped. We bought an RV and traveled for a few years while we saved up money to buy our dream land. Now, we want to enjoy our land – all it offers us now, and all it will bring in the future. Adding the excitement of grand travel journeys would be overwhelming at this time.
3. We are constantly monitoring our pets' wellbeing as it pertains to travel. Tanner is now 14 years old and has been suffering from cognitive decline for several months and severe hypothyroidism for over a year. He loves his adventures, but they need to be more contained now. We also have our new cats, Mac and Piccolo, who showed much more tolerance for the slower travels around New England than our blitz from Ohio to Massachusetts after we got them. We have no doubt that they would adjust to more travel just fine, but we would rather not force them to dive in the deep end if we can ease them into it instead.
4. Our shifting priorities go beyond our vision for building our house. In prioritizing our travels, other aspects of our lives took a backseat. We did a great job staying healthy on the road. We found natural food stores and took regular hikes and had ample outdoor time. Even still, we both gained quite a bit of weight, much due to not being able to establish consistency in our diet and exercise. We hoped our winter home would provide us stability to nail down healthy routines, and now that we're back in the RV, we're looking to see how we can fit those routines in our smaller space. Fast-paced travel would make the consistency challenging.
5. When we launched into full-time travel, we didn't expect the lifestyle to be a recipe for career growth. Eventually, I became limited in what I could do without a dedicated office and studio space. Anthony was able to get a great remote job a few months into RV life, but he was laid off this past summer. Since November, I've set up an office in my old bedroom in my parents' house, which has been a tremendous improvement in my productivity and has allowed me to make a huge pivot in my business that was a long time coming. Anthony has been able to dedicate his time to networking and job hunting, without the distractions of travel.
6. Our career transitions also mean that we've entered new territory financially. We are trying to stay as frugal as possible, so we can remain on-track with our cabin plans. Travel on the East Coast is not cheap, and if we do travel, the name of the game will not be big destinations and touristy fun. It will be slower paced and sustainable for our budget.
7. Most importantly, we listen to ourselves as best as we can, and we know that big travels would not fill our cups.

All this means that, when and if we do make a decision, it needs to align with our needs and circumstances. If our best choice means getting out of the cold for a while and meandering south, we will do that. If it means battling winter for the benefit of our stable routines and my office space, we will stay. What the RV life gives us is options. We don't feel stuck. We are simply embracing stillness until it's time to spring into action. We trust ourselves to know when it's time to do so.