Well, we did it! We have spent the last 365 days on the road. We’ve checked off our first nomadiversary, slept in 21 different states, driven 8,198 miles and visited 10 National Parks. Our time on the road has been some of the hardest times as well as the best. RV life is rewarding but can be very taxing. Most people don’t realize that Jason still works full-time so we are bound by “the 9-5” still. We also run a business together and learning to work as a team (we’re both dominant in the workplace) has come with its challenges as well.
Overall, we wouldn’t trade our time on the road for anything! We’ve learned so much about each other and ourselves during this journey. We’ve seen some pretty awesome places, made new friends, and given our dog the trip of a lifetime. If you’re thinking about jumping into this lifestyle, we say do it! But be prepared for some challenges along the way.
Pros
- We get to see things we would never have before! We made it form the massive Redwoods on the coast, past the colorful arches of Utah, survived the swamps of the South and even survived a massive storm on the East coast. Exploring this beautiful country has been eye-opening. The vast difference in terrain, landscapes, people is truly awesome. There’s so much to explore in our own backyard.
- New friends. If you try, it’s not hard to meet folks on the road. We find other RVers/YouTubers to meet up with for lunch/ dinner/ drinks/ campfires/ whatever mostly through Instagram but there are a ton of resources out there for RV meetups. You just have to look!
- If you don’t like something (an area, a campground, your neighbors) you can just leave! Sure you might deal with annoying people or towns here or there, but the true beauty is packing up and leaving if you want to. Definitely can’t do that in a house!
- You’ll learn more about yourself and your partner. I believe that traveling, in general, makes you a better person. Our experience has been that long-term travel and exposing yourself to other ways of life expands who you are. If you’re traveling with someone else, you’re going to learn more about them, no matter how long you’ve been together. This might be a con for some, but for us, it’s forcing us to learn more about each other and how we tick.
Cons
- We’ve discovered that mapping our route and booking campgrounds are extremely time-consuming! It’s been even worse on the east coast since RVing is a big weekend activity out here. You really need to book spots in advance if you want to stay somewhere over the weekend. Planning our route on the east coast has been rough as well. Because our RV is tall, long, and heavy, we need to ensure that we’re staying on roads we can fit on (and under!).
- These might seem petty but they have been big cons for us. The weather and bugs! We are constantly shocked by how many bugs the east coast has and how relentless they are. If we’re not on our game 100% of the time, we can guarantee we’re going to get bit at least 50 times in a ten minute period. Also, the weather doesn’t give a damn if you had plans this week or if you have a long moving day, it’s gonna do what it wants. We’ve had so many rainy days this summer and let’s just say it’s gotten to us.
- There is a steep learning curve for new RVers. We had a rough first 3 months because of all of the new things we had to learn. There is a lot of stress that comes with RVing when you’ve never done it before. Mentally, we weren’t prepared for that so it was pretty shocking and frankly, disappointing. If you’ve RV’d before or at least are ready for the challenges, hopefully
, it won’t be as bad for you.
Future
We’re really excited for year two of this adventure since we’ve gotten a lot of the hard stuff out of the way. Also, we can’t share them yet, but if all goes well, we’ll have some exciting travel plans coming up! Our YouTube and other social media platforms are growing with awesome supporters and we couldn’t be happier. We love sharing this adventure with our Getaway Gang and meeting some of you on the road!
If have any questions for us, please leave them in the comments below! Also, check out our video above as a large portion of it is answering questions that were submitted to us on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks for reading and happy travels!
If you could do it again would you have gotten such a large 5th wheel trailer? Maybe something smaller and not requiring so much planning?
Really enjoy your content and look forward to each video.
Please stay safe and take care, Bill in Utah
Hey Bill, We have thought about that a few times over the last two years. It would definitely make moving easier. However, with our lifestyle of moving once a week it’s not terribly inconvenient. The size, while a Con while moving, is a great Pro while stationary. A smaller rig also opens up the ability to use more campgrounds but we have not found that to be a big issue yet. If we decide to move more frequently though, we will consider a smaller unit.
Thanks Jason for the reply!
We are getting closer to retirement (close but not close enough) and are going to get a bumper trailer in the next few months. I’ve got a lightly used 2015 1/2 ton that should tow part time a smaller unit for my wife and I to get our feet wet.
For decades I’ve seen rigs like yours going down the road and have said, when I retire I want nothing larger that a Corvette and a credit card. Now I’m going to get at least a 3 ton rig and tow it with a 3 ton truck! How times have changed.
Thanks for your content and please stay safe! (The alternatives stink )
Take care, Bill in Utah