Our friends Travis and Melanie Carr who head up the RV community called Xscapers (Xscapers) posted the following article on their site
Age: 54/53 Travels: Full-time
Traveling Since: August 2016 Business Name: Quest Business & Accounting Services Website: www.quest-cpa.com Occupation: Small Business Accounting/taxes/CPA
Here is Tim & Janette Ewing’s RV Story
The Income
Before trading in our sticks and bricks home for the nomadic lifestyle, I (Tim) approached my employer of almost 10 years for whom I had been the CFO to see if they would be open to the idea of me working remotely. Over the following year, I transitioned from full-time employee to part-time contractor running their e-commerce sites and online marketing as well as my usual accounting and tax services. Connecting with others that I had worked with over the years, I was able to pick up a few more clients before we went full time on the road. Janette homeschools our 14 year-old son as she did our other four (now adult) children and has done some “workcamping” to reduce our expenses at RV parks.
Getting on the Road
We put our house up for sale and began shopping for an RV. The timing worked out perfect…well almost! After 9 months on the market, we closed on the sale of our home on a Friday, spent that night in a hotel, and on Saturday morning completed the purchase of our new fifth-wheel trailer. The only problem was we hadn’t found a pickup truck yet to tow the trailer. So the dealership delivered the trailer to a nearby RV park while we continued to shop for a truck.
The Fears
Saying goodbye to a steady paycheck, employer-paid health insurance and 6-weeks of annual paid vacation was a bit nerve wracking but we slayed our fears knowing we had lowered our “overhead” expenses and simplified our lifestyle.
The Awesome Side
Our parents live in the west and our adult kids (and grandchildren) live in the east so we crisscross the country to get our fix of face time (the real kind) with family. Along the way we are meeting new people and making new friendships. We are adventurers at heart and love to explore the US and look forward to conquering Canada and Mexico in the future.
Challenges
Even though we’ve downsized and simplified our lifestyle we were surprised by the amount of work it takes to keep our RV in good working order. There is a steady stream of maintenance, repairs and tinkering required (even though we bought a brand new RV). Since the RV serves as our home and office we learned quickly that it’s vital to stay on top of even the little things to avoid the big interruptions—like our rig spending a month in the shop!
For the Aspiring
Do your homework and get your ducks in a row but don’t aim for the perfect transition plan. At some point you just need to jump in the deep-end and be willing to get in over your heads. But don’t see that as a scary thing to be avoided. You’ll amaze yourself with how resourceful you can be. The RV community is super friendly…our first day in an RV park our friendly neighbor gave us a couple great tips that we’ve used time and time again. Likewise, we’re always willing to lend a helping hand and share our lessons learned, especially if it involves a campfire.
In the End are we Happy?
You bet. We love the flexibility, freedom and adventure that we have living and working full-time out of our RV.
[this article was originally posted at https://www.xscapers.com/xscapers-on-the-road/inspirational-rvers?id=478]
