It’s probably the first thing you’re wondering about our nomadic lifestyle (right before you might ask: how do we get mail?). Honestly, we’re still not sure the full answer — it happened quickly! But I can tell you what motivated us to move from a beautiful new (to us) condo by the seacoast in New England to a 32-foot travel trailer with about 200 square feet of space: an insatiable quest for adventure and new perspectives.
At least we’re in good company. Shortly before we hit the road, we learned that about 1 million people are full-timers (that what they call us) in this article from the Washington Post. There are many reasons to ditch the “sticks and bricks” of a permanent home in favor of a moving one:
- Financially, depending on how you do it, it can be more affordable. With trailers available for as little as $10,000 or less if used, you can possibly live mortgage or rent-free, depending on your traveling lifestyle.
- Empty nesters or retirees don’t need as much space and are ready to explore after raising children or retiring, so they downsize in favor of a nomadic lifestyle.
- A newer category of RVers is working-age individuals who can either work from the road or find jobs along the way to fund their lifestyle, and see the country or world while earning a living.
There are tons of other reasons as well, but ours is closest to the third. Noah managed a family business for 10 years before getting his MBA and starting his own small-business consulting firm. He worked from home for his business for two years. In summer 2018, I decided to jump back into marketing from being a trademark attorney and started working for him (I still practice trademark law, but part-time), meaning we now both could work remotely.
We both love New England, and had recently moved into a 2,000 square-foot condo right on a saltwater river that leads to the Atlantic. We had two great years there, including exploring the area by boat, but the cold winters and the mortgage made us dream about a more nomadic life, and especially sailing.
At a marketing conference in fall 2018 there was a small Airstream on display. We decided to check it out, and while sitting inside we caught each others’ eye and there was definitely a moment where we agreed, “we could do this.” We had already been trying to figure out how we could one day sail the world in a catamaran. We realized that living in an RV first would be a great way to test out three big unknowns:
- Could we stand living with each other in a small space?
- Could we rent out our condo and maintain it from a distance?
- Could we earn enough money while traveling to make it all work?
Things moved very quickly after our decision to go for it and try full-time RVing. We switched from bingeing sailing YouTube videos to RVing channels. Within a few weeks, I looked at HUNDREDS of different camper brands and layouts online. There were a lot of new terms to learn – from Class A to Toy Hauler and Travel Trailer. We decided on a Grand Design Imagine 2670MK. You can tour our trailer here. This was the best choice for us, because we wanted something that we could tow with a Ford F150, and this was the only layout that had extra closet space in the bedroom and a desk.
By December of 2018, we purchased the truck, trailer, and found tenants to rent our condo. We packed up all of our stuff, using our attic as storage but also donating quite a bit and selling some things as well, including both our cars. It’s amazing that after nine years together, it felt like we had accumulated a lifetime worth of “stuff” already.
After the holidays and just before a big snowstorm, we hit the road and officially became digital nomads. I’m happy to report that so far, so good, despite MANY literal and figurative bumps along the road and about 15,000 miles behind us. I’ll be sure to share how we’re doing with the three big questions above in other posts.
We’re excited to start sharing what we’ve learned (it was a steep curve) and hopefully inspire others to try the nomadic life.
