The Road to Get Here
We have been lucky to have so many advisors as we transition our lives from "sticks and bricks" living to RV living. One thing everyone makes clear is that the transition is not all sunshine and rainbows. We have had a lot of anxious anticipation over the past several months, knowing that once the ball gets rolling, we don't have as much control over its direction as we wish we would. This is a huge commitment, one that we can only hope we're adequately prepared for. It's become clear that, if we didn't really want to do this, life is giving us many, many chances to back out. Our life has been a prime example of Murphy's Law recently. But we keep pushing forward, with faith that, as my fellow RV newbie friend Jessica says, life will be sweeter on the other side.
As production delays caused us to wait four extra months for our trailer to be ready, we have used that time to buy some necessities, do more research, and prepare as much as possible for what challenges we might face. It's a known fact that, even when buying a new RV, there will be some problems with it. We made sure to plan out as many "shakedown" trips as possible, so that we could find any issues, work out the kinks, and make repairs as needed. Most of those shakedown trips needed to be canceled as our delivery kept getting pushed, leaving only 1 trip: our maiden voyage. We purchased our trailer from a dealer in NC, so we will be driving down there to pick it up and then having our first towing experience on the drive back to MA. We expect that drive to be stressful. There's really no getting around it. But what we weren't anticipating was the stress that would ensue even before that trip.
Timing ended up oddly aligning when we realized that we could put the house on the market the same week we'd be heading to NC. So our past couple of weeks have been a scramble to get our house ready for the sale, plus organizing and packing for our first adventure as RVers. We downsized a ton of our stuff through online sales and a 2-day yard sale. We have undergone an unforeseen mini-renovation when we realized that our walls needed to be repainted. The paint job took two days longer than expected, causing us to spend a week sequestered to one room in our house. The mad rush to finish the job also left us with a ton of clean-up. We were cleaning literally up to the very minute the real estate photographer came to take our listing pictures.
As we faced challenges with the house, our RV life was paralleling those challenges. Each step of the purchase process has thrown us a curve ball, whether it's our finance application not being approved despite our finances being in good order, MA insurance and vehicle registration rules forcing us to jump through hoops to even get our trailer into the state, or the trailer shipment being delayed again, meaning we are cutting it very, very close - picking up our trailer on the only handful of days we have free until the end of the year. We have been in a constant uphill battle, with very little time to rest. Our 6-year wedding anniversary came and went without a celebration, and we are seeing our favorite season pass by through the windows, instead of enjoying our annual fall adventures.
We don't say this to complain, but instead to show that any big change means committing hard, and it's imperative to keep pushing forward and muster up all the perseverance, if you're following your true dreams and wishes. Already we have learned a lot. We are taking notes on how we communicate during times of high stress, because we know there will be more on the road. We are monitoring Tanner and Lily, as they are going to be experiencing that stress right alongside us, and we want to make sure they're as comfortable as possible. We have learned more handywork skills in the past week than we had in all 7 years of living in this house. Each day, we are finding more "stuff" we can live without, because we have chosen to prioritize building memories instead. We are learning to ask for help when we need it, from our family, friends, and neighbors. And we are learning to stop and appreciate the little things, even if it's just for a moment. 15 minutes of yoga to start our day of work, or lighting some candles while we scarf down Chinese takeout at 10PM because we haven't eaten all day. And seeing our beautiful home blossom into the comforting, bright, airy dwelling that we hope will make the next owners very happy.
