The Big Change Up
The decision to transition to full time RVing with toddlers is not an easy one. While Luke asked me for years to leave my job to live in an RV, I always brushed it off as a joke, and especially once kids came into the picture. It was definitely our dream, but the moment was never ‘right.’ At the same time though, once kids came into the picture, I lost my desire to be a full-time hard-working engineering mama (which I had been for about 15 years) and I realized my heart just really wanted to focus on being a Mom to my sweet babes. I knew the moments were fleeting. Everyday I dropped my kids off at daycare and received pictures of them having fun, laughing, and growing - and I was missing it!
I knew that if I didn’t leave my job, I was going to regret it - even if it wasn’t the best immediate financial decision. We had been working to become financially free for some time - we invested in our financial education and found an investment strategy that worked for us. So, after creating a detailed budget, we made the decision for me to leave my job.
Shortly thereafter, Luke also strongly felt that he hated missing the moments too. I was able to work remotely, so I had a bit more time with the kids, but he’d leave for work at 4:30am (to beat Charleston, SC traffic), return home at 3:30pm ish, we’d pickup kids at 4pm ish, have a couple hours to play, and start bedtime at 6:30pm. He felt like by the time he could enjoy the kids, they were tired and overstimulated - and so was he - and he was just waiting for bedtime to come. After further refining our budget, we decided we could make it work…IF we rented our home and lived in an RV! We still know there is a possibility that we may need to return to work - living on the stock market is, of course, up and down and a bit scary in your 30s - but we figured we could work again when our kids are a little older; school aged and with the desire to be with friends. So, we made the leap!
We found a great property manager, found someone to rent our home furnished, donated/sold a bunch of items, threw the rest in storage, sold two vehicles, bought a truck and fifth wheel that would work for full time travel, packed the camper with items we thought we’d need, said goodbye to sweet friends, left our jobs, pulled kids from our exceptional daycare, and hit the road. The change was a LOT! In fact, our older toddler had a VERY hard time at first.
There were many moments we both questioned what we were doing. It would have been FAR easier to stay home - even if one or both of us still left our jobs. We could paint those porch columns we’d been wanting to paint. We’d have breaks from our kids with our well-loved babysitters. Every time we questioned it, we’d come to the same conclusion. We knew we’d have more regret if we had the opportunity and didn’t try it, than if we did try it, hated it, and needed to come up with a plan B until we could move back into our home.
So here we are now, over five months into this, and while we definitely still have moments of questioning, we are so glad that we pushed through our self doubt and got to where we are. Everyday we are creating memories with our children that we otherwise wouldn’t have. Our hope is that we can provide you inspiration, motivation, and tips to make your dream a reality with your toddlers, whatever that may be.
What is your dream!? Leave us a comment. We’d love to help you make it a reality!
