I know, its crazy, quit our jobs and take off across the country. Yet here we are living in George, our motorhome. We made our dream a reality. We always intended to chronicle our journey but time flew by. So where do we begin when we’re 18 months in? Back to the beginning. This is the story of how we quit our jobs to travel and live full-time in an rv.
Step 1: Set a Date
We set our leave date with only a dream when we didn’t know anything about anything. In our first brainstorming session the sheer number of things we needed to sort out felt overwhelming. As a busy, working couple with limited time, a two-year “runaway” seemed realistic. We picked April 15, 2024, tax day, easy to remember. Then we coined our motto “Out the Door in ‘24” and started telling people. We needed the accountability.
Step 2: Make a Plan
We spent many a night making lists: what to do with the house, our belongings, insurance, the pets are coming with us – what does that mean? In what order do we tackle all of these things? So many questions, so many spreadsheets. We watched countless videos and read blogs while researching ways to tackle this transition. Atter tallying up everything we could think of, we set a budget and decided on volunteering with parks and public lands as a way to offset costs on the road initially.
Step 3: Take Action
The next step was to figure out what type of RV set up we wanted to live in. We settled on a 36 to 40 foot Class A diesel motorhome with car in tow. Late summer, we found our home in a 2001 Damon Escaper. The rig was in solid shape, it just needed a little TLC. Before George we had our checklists but not much else was happening. Once he was ours, it was time to get those lists out and start working.
The Marathon that Became a Race
We gave ourselves two years to accomplish everything, thinking extra time would make the list manageable. In practice, that cushion turned into a “there’s always next weekend” mindset. December 2023 came with a long “To Do” list still on the horizon.
The George List:
Remove mirrored wall to create hanging space
Replace 20-year old built in refrigerator
Build new cabinet to fill gap left between old and new fridge
Install solar panels
Upgrade leaky kitchen faucet and put in back splash.
The Cat Factor:
We have 3 cats and re-homing them was not an option. They were coming with us. Making George a pet friendly home only added to our list.
Swap out carpet with faux wood flooring for easy clean up.
Replace faux leather furniture even though it was in great shape, because well, Lunabelle.
Cut hole in floor for litter-box “downstairs” compartment
Build sealed box to contain litter and keep cats out of storage area.
The list was endless. We hit the road with supplies in tow to finish the remaining projects. We’ve been on the road for 18 months now and have completed our initial list but we’ve learned something new always pops up so the project list continues.
While we were fixing up George we also had to deal with everything in our house: what to store, what to trash, and what to keep. Because we planned to rent the house out for income, we tackled a series of fixer upper projects over that two year span. We upgraded kitchen cabinets, repainted every room, installed a wall bed and rebuilt the deck the last week before we left. Those last few months were an exhausting whirlwind.
Did we hit our goal?
We came pretty close. Winter 2023, we landed a volunteer role that began late July and that spring we secured another gig starting June 1, giving us a bit of breathing room. We quit our jobs and left our hometown the last weekend of April, staying with David’s mother for a few days while tying up loose ends. A bucket‑list trip to Peru with friends capped it off and we were officially full-time RV roadies by Memorial Day weekend, only six weeks past our target date.
Lessons Learned
We reached our goal but in hindsight there are a few things we would do differently. First and foremost, don’t pick an RV type and buy without trying out alternatives. Of course we read that advice but we ignored it because we’re used to living in houses and had accumulated a lot of things. Scaling down was intimidating so we bought George based on everything we wanted to bring.
We now own a 27,000 pound, 39 foot vehicle that demands constant attention, so we’ve set a 200 mile daily driving limit. He’s also 25 years old and not well insulated so we only park in full service, big rig friendly campgrounds with plenty of power to keep us comfy. Overall it works for us, but our early dreams of back roads and boondocking have given way to reality. I’m not complaining. We love George. He has a solid engine and makes a great home base but if we had to do it over again we would approached the process differently.
The best advice we followed was to set a date and tell people. Friends and family regularly asked us how it was going and whether we we’re still leaving. It was a constant reminder that kept us focused and on track. When everyone knows you’re leaving, it’s harder to flip-flop or keep changing the timeline. You either move forward or admit it isn’t happening.
As for the two year timeline, we clearly procrastinated but looking back we were locked into that time frame. We both owned homes and were close to paying them off. It made sense to handle that debt before relying on rental income.
Would we do it all over again?
Absolutely! There have been challenges but we’ve met so many interesting and inspiring people and had amazing experiences. I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything.
Why George?
That big green swoosh reminds us of George Jetson’s flying car and that’s exactly what he is for us. Our ticket out of the everyday and straight into the extraordinary.
