We made a bold move...now what?

We've had some stressful trip planning experiences in the past, but this one might take the cake. As we sat down to plan our return to New England for a few weeks, we realized that it couldn't be done. At least not while keeping our sanity. We would have needed to squeeze a whole to-do list into the span of a few weeks and then rush back down to SC to lease a rental cottage. The move would be squeezed into a tight time period, too, because we had a big dot on our travel itinerary for late June – a friend's wedding in Virginia. And then in the midst of all that, hopefully getting our inverter replacement at some point.

In a year of smooth travels, maybe we could swing it. But this year, our travels hadn't been smooth. In just the first month, we faced tornado weather, an evacuation, tire issues on both truck and trailer, and an inverter that literally went up in smoke. When it came to trip planning, we needed to travel lightly.

What's the lightest we can travel? Not traveling at all! We flipped the script and turned our summer plans upside-down.

Despite a few hiccups, Plan B just made good sense. We could lease our rental right away and give ourselves a whopping 7 weeks to move in if we wanted. This was good because, as you know, we rented unfurnished and had nothing to start. Furnishing the cottage from the ground up was quite the undertaking, but also a really fun opportunity. Coastal retreat vibes, here we come!

Our deadline was set for the end of June, so we could get over to VA for the wedding. Fun fact: Before we flipped our plans, we had already booked our first campsite for Plan A, in northern NC as a couple nights' pit stop on our way up to MA. 10 minutes after booking, we realized we needed to cancel it. Facing the potential of not getting a refund on a site we had literally just booked, I told Anthony we should instead just try to switch our dates. Turns out, this RV park was a perfect stop on our way to the wedding – almost exactly halfway. We could have a more leisurely trip to VA and not lose money on that reservation. That's some RV life critical thinking! We called the RV park and changed our reservation without issue.

We were making great progress. We had our plan to lease our rental immediately, and we also now had a mini-trip planned that would get us to the wedding. After that, we'd already be part-way up to New England, so that's when it made sense to head up there. This plan bought us way more time to tackle our to-do list than the mere 3ish weeks Plan A would have allowed. We still didn't know if we'd have our new inverter by then, but we were hopeful. We really wanted to stay on our land!

We also had a big repair appointment looming over our heads. Our roof got damaged during the blizzard back in February, and we put in an insurance claim to get it replaced. We needed to figure out a good time for this appointment, ideally this summer. But all that could come later. Right now, we had a more pressing matter to attend to: where were we going now?

We could have stayed at Ocean Lakes, but our campsite wasn't available anymore, so we'd need to change sites. Also, camping season was picking up and we preferred a little more quiet while we got things together for our cottage. We found a newer RV park in Conway, Crooked Oaks, that was offering a huge discount for monthly stays. The reviews were good and the park looked great. Plus, staying for nearly 50% off would be much appreciated, given that we were taking on a brand new expense with the cottage lease. They made it super easy to book a monthly site online, and I jumped on it. This became our first monthly campsite ever!

Plan B was now in motion. The next day, we called Crooked Oaks and asked if we could check in early, since we were coming from just 20 minutes away. They said to come on by, and they even let us switch campsites when we arrived, because we unknowingly chose one near other people, and we wanted more space. They actually thanked us for being so flexible. No, thank you, Crooked Oaks. We settled into an end-row site with no next-site neighbs. What a relief to know we could start focusing on the cottage without worrying about travel days!

First order of business was buying the essential furniture. Myrtle Beach is a mecca for home furnishing stores, and all our shopping helped orient us better in the area. Of course, we ordered most items online because that's the modern way, but our shopping days immersed us in the community. Telling people our story was weird. "Oh, we just rented a cottage. It's going to be our home-base down here because we're building a cabin in NH, and we also have our RV." People think we're rich. That's ironic, considering where we started this year.

Even empty, our cottage had great energy. We felt no rush moving in because we had a lovely campsite to return to after hours of assembling furniture and organizing. But even at a natural pace, we made quick progress. After a few days, we started bringing Tanner so he could map the layout and be part of the furnishing process. What a huge difference from his demeanor at the NH rental! This cottage was comfortable right away. The floor planks are textured, so even without rugs, he doesn't slip. He met the dogs that live next door. He immediately learned where to find his water bowl. And he has found ample places to rest – some cozier than others.

Best of all, he can read our calmer energy. We've been trying so hard to give him the best end-of-life possible, and we've felt a lot of guilt dragging him through so much stress these past several months. Thankfully, he still loves traveling, but we knew that somewhere out there was a place where he could decompress. Turns out, wherever we can decompress, so can he.

Us having full agency over the furnishings and layout was important for Tanner. But I soon realized, it was for me, too. I love decorating. I love making a house a home, whether it has wheels or a foundation. RV life taught us about environmental flexibility, and renting a furnished house last November didn't allow us that. This time was different.

The goal was to maintain our minimalistic spirit. This doesn't mean leave the place barren, but to be refined in what we bring into the home. Minimalism doesn't need to be extreme; it means that we buy what's practical or what brings us joy. It means not buying something just to fill a space. Aesthetically, I wanted the cottage to feel like a retreat near the beach. Energetically, I was looking for serenity – that same feeling Tanner and I captured during our morning walks along the shore. I also captured that feeling in the Harpscapes I filmed our last time here. In fact, Myrtle Beach Sunset became my muse for both aesthetics and energy.

I think one of the reasons we made such quick progress is because we often saw an item and immediately knew it was a "yes" – like that rippled, sandwashed lamp in the photo above. It sounds strange, but over our years of RV life, we've learned to let places "speak" to us. When you travel to enough places and try to be mindful, this energetic communication just starts happening. When we bought our land, I spent many hours sitting outside, just listening and feeling. Our architectural plans completely changed as a result.

We introduced the cats once things already felt established. Unlike Tanner, who benefits from seeing the process, the cats needed stability upon arrival. We brought some familiar items from the RV, like blankets and toys, and we also bought new cat furniture to get them excited about all the possibilities of their new home.

We chose to have their introduction on Memorial Day Weekend. The RV park was busy with the start of camping season and the "unofficial start of summer" party vibes. We knew the cats would feel relief being somewhere quieter. We also had a bed and mattress by that point, so we could start sleeping there. We didn't want to bring the cats and all their stuff just for the day. We wanted to give them ample time to adjust. On the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, we packed up for everyone's first overnight, and we bid a temporary farewell to Buggy and the crowded RV park.

Like the rest of us, the cats warmed up to the cottage quickly. This says a lot because they've been trailer cats most of their lives. We're sure they could smell our presence in the space – something they couldn't in the NH cottage. Plus we needed to remind ourselves, when we moved into the NH cottage, the cats had only been with us for 2.5 months. They hadn't developed a full trust bond yet. Now we had 10 months of bonding under our belts.

We all had a wonderful long weekend celebrating this big change – even celebrating the circumstances that led us here, as difficult as they were. This weekend kickstarted our part-time RV lives, where we split our time between cottage and trailer. As we finished off May and rounded into June, a lot happened:

1. We finally heard that our replacement inverter had arrived, and EcoEthic Solar agreed to keep it safe until we could schedule a time to get it installed.
2. We penciled our big repair appointment in for the end of August, after our New England trip.
3. We jumped into what was looking to be a very strange Summer to Remember list...but we were pretty sure we'd remember this summer without it!
4. Anthony started his new contract job.
5. We celebrated Tanner's 13th adoptaversary and my birthday.
6. We put the finishing touches on the cottage and dove into the logistics of navigating part-time RV life for the first time.

...and there were a lot of logistics to work out. We needed to make decisions on what belongings should stay in the RV, which should live at the cottage, and which we should bring back and forth. We had a 2-week gap between our Crooked Oaks reservation ending and our VA/New England trip, which we needed to fill either with travel or at the very least a parking spot for Buggy (parking it at the cottage isn't an option). We needed to determine the best states of clean and secure for both trailer and cottage when we're out of them for extended periods of time. We had to figure out a storage solution for Buggy once our camping season ends...whenever that might be, which also wasn't yet decided.

It was a mindset shift we weren't used to, but we trusted that we would find our answers as the weeks progressed. Until then, the most important thing was making sure we all felt settled and happy. We earned it.