Two months ago, we officially sold our house with a postage stamp for property, packed up our RV, and hit the road. As a little insider secret: One of the working titles we had for this blog was, "Our Two Month Not-So-Risk-Free Trial", documenting the process of buying a rig and traveling the country for a few months. With the laws at our old place, it wasn't feasible to do this long of a trip, and now that the house has been sold, there's no turning back. However, do join us as we look back on our incredible adventure.
Thus far, we've been two months, five trips, three time zones, and been through 19 states during that time. Some may remember, from our shakedown posts, that we mentioned how many arguments we had. Believe us when we say it hasn't been the limerence couples experience in the honeymoon phase. We've had our fair share of arguments. Some of the memorable spats include when we were driving in Iowa, realizing we were two days early, and didn't agree on how to use up that time. Also memorable were frustrations out of complications from staying in Missouri. Then there came the time when our connectivity plan went completely out the window. However, no matter the arguments, no matter how much we wanted to give up, we knew the one thing we would always truly have on this adventure is each other, and we can rely and depend on each other to get through this adventure.
In the last two months, there's so much we've seen. Basins, beaches, and bison barely scratch the surface. Rocket launches, river valleys, and the wide open road have been an amazing reward for our travels. Even just learning the history of where we go has provided a story not only to tell you, but also for our potential children in the future. One of our favorites in the last two months had to have been Custer State Park in western South Dakota, driving through to see the wonderful wildlife in their natural habitat. Even one of our most common trips from before the RV that we were able to do this time, Franconia Notch in New Hampshire, provided peace and tranquility in an otherwise bustling time when we had just begun, nearly tripping at the starting blocks.
Two months have given us our fair share of bumps and bruises. Little things like jamming a thumb in the door of the RV, dropping a sway bar on a nearly exposed foot, a hand being stuck in the commode while attempting to flush the black tank, and tripping over our dog fence, to massive sunburns while enjoying the beach. It wasn't limited to our bodies, either. Twice we thought we were going to lose our awning while it was open, rushing to pack it up as quickly as we could, sometimes forgetting steps along the way in a panic. Then came the black tank odors that only seemed to happen on one of our trips, but made our home nearly unlivable. Our little fur baby also had issues of his own, needing several trips to local vets, while finding previous doctors hadn't treated him properly.
Living on the road full-time has meant we had to make some personal sacrifices two months ago. No longer are we near our family and friends from the previous chapter of our lives. Some to which we weren't even able to say "goodbye" due to circumstance. Some were already used to the distance which made keeping in touch easy, while with others, we were able to develop much closer bonds during the transition. With each person, we find our own special way. Some find us through our social media outlets. Others are able to find us on this blog. We've even developed some communication ideas, such as sending postcards from our various destinations to our loved ones. Although we now live just about anywhere on our own, we always remember those special bonds we once had, and enjoy reflecting on those good times.
Many of you may wonder, as you read through our two-month memoir, what we would change if we had to do these two months over again. This question is always difficult, because if we were to visit our past and make a different decision, nearly everything leading to the present would also be affected. The biggest thing we would have changed was our preparedness when we first started. The last couple of weeks were rushing to pack what we still had from the house, constantly making trips to store our possessions, all while grieving the loss of one of our beloved pets. In addition, we would have fared much better had we trusted each other more, and been more understanding of each other's needs. Too many arguments stemmed from the different directions we wanted to take not only day-to-day, but also in our lives as a whole. The good news is, although changing the past is impossible and would otherwise be disastrous, we can use our past to help shape a better future and not only make better decisions, but also hope any future RVers can heed our advice and save themselves plenty of headache.
At the end of the two months, we're still alive, and our relationship has become so much stronger. We know that we can lean on each other and work together to be prosperous. Who knows how we will fare after another few months. We look forward to much more of this adventure, improving our lives as we go, and following our internal compass.
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