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If you’ve followed us for at least a year or so, you know we left the full-time RV life in 2022 to establish a home base. But we’re not the only ones.
Over the last year or so, other influencers have decided a change was in order. While there are several reasons, most of us just knew it was time and longed for a place to call “home.”
Let’s look at the challenges of full-time RVing and seven influencers who have recently left this lifestyle.
What’s the Difference Between Full-Time RVers And Weekend Warriors?
If you’re new to the RV world, you may have heard the terms “full-timer” and “weekend warrior” mentioned in conversation. Most RVers are weekend warriors who head to the campgrounds on the weekends after a long work week. They unwind, relax, and reconnect with nature before returning to their houses on Sunday.
Full-time RVers live in their RVs. They may be stationary in an RV park long-term or move around at leisure. Not all full-timers sell everything to hit the road, though. Some prefer to have a home base to return to for the holidays or for a month to get doctor appointments completed. But most of the time, they’re on the road traveling the country.
Why Do People Travel Full-Time?
Some full-time RVers start as weekend warriors. They fall in love with camping and being in nature and want to enjoy that year-round. Often, they sell their house and possessions to have the money to set out on their adventures. They desire to enjoy the moments and memories and not the stuff of our American culture.
Other full-timers jump in without any experience. They long to replace the daily grind with exploration and adventure. They want to lose the chains of board meetings, kid activities, HOA obligations, and all the other things that keep them from enjoying life to the fullest. They see the RV lifestyle as a way to freedom to live life on their own terms.
With remote work so prevalent in our society, many travelers are younger now than in the past. No longer are campgrounds filled with retirees enjoying the lifestyle. Nowadays, families and children are also roaming the country, spending quality time with each other, and embracing the freedom of full-time RVing.
What Are the Challenges Of Full-Time RVing?
While Instagram feeds and TikTok videos showcase the best of RV life, this lifestyle has plenty of challenges. Some full-timers hit the road only briefly before buying a house and settling down again. There’s nothing wrong with that. This lifestyle isn’t all sunsets and walks on the beach. And sometimes, it doesn’t measure up to expectations.
RVs are constantly breaking. This is one of the biggest frustrations for full-timers. And when something happens to your home on wheels, it’s never convenient. You’re traveling to a campground when a tire blows. You’re bringing in your slides to move to another location, and they won’t retract. You notice a broken seal after a long day of rain. These repairs are costly and time-consuming, detracting from the fun of adventure.
RVs are also tiny. Even the largest fifth-wheel or Class A motorhome doesn’t compare in size to a house. There’s little privacy, and this can cause problems among family members. Spouses and kids need their own space to unwind, and when you’re confined to a small area, you’re limited in “alone time.”
Another challenge is the exhausting nature of constantly traveling. Whether it’s planning six months ahead or moving every two weeks, this lifestyle can cause mental and physical fatigue. When you couple this with repairs and little privacy, it’s no wonder some full-time RVers call it quits after a while.
Full-Time RVers Who Left the Lifestyle
Some of you may follow YouTubers who have been on the road for years. Like us, they’ve enjoyed traveling the country and experiencing new landscapes, cultures, and lifestyles.
But at some point, the full-time journey comes to an end. Let’s look at some of the most popular influencers who have recently left the full-time RV lifestyle.
Keep Your Daydream
With over 503,000 YouTube subscribers, Keep Your Daydream is one of the most influential channels in the RV space. Currently, Marc and Trish Leach travel on their own as empty-nesters. But for years, they traveled with their three kids. Now grown, in college, and living their adult lives, the Leach kids don’t make as many appearances.
While Keep Your Daydream has traveled to four countries, 49 states, and over 200,000 miles, they’re no longer full-timers. Two years after they took off from Arizona on their full-time journey, Marc and Trish bought a cabin in their home state. They wanted a place to return to for holidays, a place where they could host family and friends. Now, they live part-time in the cabin and rent it out while they’re on the road. They still travel most months of the year.
Keep Your Daydream also enjoyed the idea of renting and purchasing a bungalow in Florida as a second home and rental. Currently, they’re finishing renovations.
This second house gives them a home base on the East Coast and a prime rental location for vacationers to the Sunshine State. Even though Keep Your Daydream isn’t full-timing anymore, they’re going on their ninth year of RVing with no plans to stop any time soon!
Crazy Family Adventure
Like Keep Your Daydream, Crazy Family Adventure has traveled North America for more than eight years. They also backpacked through Europe for three months. Craig, Bryanna, and their four kids have seen more of the world than most people see in a lifetime.
After spending 2014-2022 as full-time RVers, Crazy Family Adventure made the difficult decision to settle down. They returned to their hometown, bought a house, and started living the “traditional” life again. The kids were experiencing burnout from the RV lifestyle; they wanted more space and to participate in sports.
In 2014, the kids were six, four, four, and two. Now, they are 15, 12, 12, and 10.
Besides the kids’ desires, Craig and Bryanna also craved more space as their family grew. Six adult-sized people in an RV was becoming difficult. The family was also starting to get more frustrated and annoyed with each other. So, Crazy Family Adventure decided the time was right to make the transition off the road.
Keep in Mind: If you’re still looking for more RVers to subscribe to, here are 40 of the best RV YouTube channels!
Family of Nomads
In September 2020, Family of Nomads – a family of five – sold their house and chose the simple life as full-time RVers. They made this decision following the 5-year battle one of their children had with a serious illness. They wanted to live life to the fullest and experience freedom from the routine.
After three years, Family of Nomads called it quits in September 2023. Although it was the right decision for their family, it was emotional as they closed this chapter of their lives.
There wasn’t one specific reason Family of Nomads left this lifestyle. They just felt it was time. They hit a wall where it felt like RVing was becoming more work than fun. They do have a smaller camper, though, because they want to continue traveling part-time.
Changing Lanes
Chad and Tara are Changing Lanes. This YouTube couple traveled full-time for almost five years before buying a home. Tara has Lyme Disease, and visiting doctors and receiving treatment on the road just became too much.
The logistics were difficult to navigate, and the couple wanted to give Tara time to rest and improve her health. Chad and Tara also had been yearning for a “home” to return to over the last couple of years.
As a result, Changing Lanes had been looking for a home base for a while. They finally found their home in the Smoky Mountains. It’s more of a vacation home, a place where they can get out of the RV for a while, recoup, and rest before the next trip.
Like Keep Your Daydream, Chad and Tara are still traveling much of the year and producing RV content on their YouTube channel. They even partnered with Grand Design to create their own unique Momentum toy hauler in 2023.
RV Miles
The Epperson family is RV Miles, a popular podcasting, blogging, and content-creating family that started traveling North America in 2015. Jason and Abby release weekly podcasts on the RV Miles, America’s National Parks, and See America collections. They also release RV news stories on their YouTube channel and live broadcasts of their RV Miles podcast.
In 2023, the Epperson family took a Baja to Alaska RV trip to end their full-time journey. Like Changing Lanes, the Eppersons needed to address some medical needs, which meant settling down somewhere for a while. And like Crazy Family Adventure, their kids were now much older and yearned for more space and a “traditional” lifestyle. The time was right to buy a home and settle down.
However, their RV journey isn’t over. They plan to continue to travel, but this time, they can do so on vacations. Instead of having to work all the time, they can be fully present in their travels. By establishing a home base, Jason can do more with content creation and work less when it’s time for a vacation.
Keep in Mind: It may come as a surprise, but weekenders are better at than full-timers at certain things. Clink the link to found out!
Eat See RV
Liz and Dennis traveled the country full-time for six years before buying a home. They are known for sharing well-edited travel vlogs that dive into an area’s history and culture.
They frequently RV in Mexico and even spent months there during the pandemic. In May 2023, they announced that they bought a house sight unseen in Florida. They told their viewers that they needed a space to decompress and time to build new routines.
They clarified that they will not stop traveling via RV and will continue to share the renovation process on their YouTube channel.
Getaway Couple
Finally, there’s us! We hit the road full-time in 2017 and loved meeting new people, seeing places we had only heard about, and making unbelievable memories over the years. But we also had setbacks and challenges that just became too much.
We missed the comforts of a house, like a dishwasher and bathtub. We were exhausted from planning, which took our joy away. We were mentally, physically, and emotionally drained. So, in 2022, we knew it was time to find a home base.
We purchased a home, sold the fifth wheel, and bought a truck camper all within a few months! We spent the majority of 2022 renovating the truck camper and turning it into our perfect getaway vehicle.
Now, we look forward to trips in our renovated truck camper. We completed a six-month journey to Alaska in 2023. And we still produce RV content, which brings us joy and hopefully helps other RVers like you on your adventures.
Leaving Full-Time RVing is Different For Everyone
Each influencer listed above left the full-time RV lifestyle for different reasons. None of these families were retired when they started their journeys. They wanted to experience adventure and freedom with their spouses and kids – and they did! But because they’re younger, it was expected that they wouldn’t travel full-time forever.
Whether it’s health reasons, burn-out, a desire for “home,” or something else, every full-time RVer makes decisions that are best for their family. Most of these influencers were on the road for years. For many, it was just time to do something new and different. And who knows? Maybe they’ll hit the road again as full-time RVers later.
You Can’t Expect To Full-Time RV Forever
Have you ever moved from one house to another or one job to another? We’re sure you’ve experienced these kinds of changes at least once. Sometimes, a better opportunity comes about; sometimes, you just need a change; sometimes, you feel a pull in another direction.
The RV life isn’t any different. These influencers traveled for years in a tiny space, several of them with kids. Unsurprisingly, they’ve decided to settle down and create a home base. Whatever the reason, they chose the travel lifestyle years ago and have now chosen a different lifestyle for this season. Some may return to full-time RVing, while others may enjoy part-time travel.
Are you surprised that some of these influencers left the full-time RV life?
