For years we’ve talked about traveling full-time. We’re addicted to seeing new places and living new experiences and encountering new people. But our Tucson house had become an anchor, weighing on our conscience and pulling us back from trips so we could clean it and take care of it and make sure our “stuff” was okay.
Our kids were grown and on their own and our four-bedroom house with a pool became unnecessary excess. A few years ago, staring out my home office window, I had an epiphany. I realized that, as a writer, I can work anywhere as long as I can get online. And getting online anywhere was getting easier and easier.
Julie is an artist so she isn’t tied to one spot. Why couldn’t we still work at home, but just have a home that travels?
So began the dream and in November of 2011, almost three years ago to the day, we purchased a 28 foot Class C motor home. During those past three years, we took several trips in it while I ironed out the kinks of working on the road. And on New Year’s Eve we vowed that 2014 would be the year we sell the house and go full-time nomadic.
It’s been a hell of a year.
We began 2014 by leisurely putting together a plan to get the house ready for sale. Those plans got a kick in the ass when I was notified in February that my job was being eliminated. I launched my freelance copywriting business and we put our plans into high gear.
Not only did we need to prep the house for sale, we also had to downsize all of our possessions to fit in our motor home. We had our kids pick out things they wanted. We sold items on Craigslist, held a yard sale (never again!) and gave away hundreds of dollars worth of stuff to friends and charities. It was painful, cathartic and ultimately freeing.
Executing our plans was drastically stressful, much more so than we realized and great story on its own. Of course in typical Travelinas fashion, we still did some traveling which dragged the process out. We traveled to Mexico and Utah, and went to Burning Man 2014 where we renewed our vows after 29 years of marriage.
And finally on October 6, we listed our home for sale.
What’s next?
I’m writing this from our motor home in a northwest Tucson RV park. On November 13 we closed escrow on our home of the past 18 and a half years and officially became nomads. Despite our best efforts at downsizing, this 28 foot rig is not going to be big enough.
So we are in the process of buying a 35-foot Class A from Freedom RV in Tucson. We’ll then find us a tow vehicle, figure out how we’re going to carry our recumbent bikes and head out east to see the country. We love Tucson and the Sonoran Desert so we’ll always come back here — especially in the winter!
It has been one hell of a year. Pivotal for sure, but one we’d rather not repeat.
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