My RV Life: Why Are We Doing This?
Jeff and I are Mountain Biking in the Rocky Mountains. So much fun to explore. We had just seen a moose right before we took this picture.
I love sharing with you through this blog. I usually write helpful articles about how to get the most out of your next photo shoot or how to use your professional photos to their maximum benefit on social media. But I’m also a fairly unique photographer because I live full-time in an RV with my husband. While I’ve referenced that occasionally here, I’ve never really shared many details, and people always ask me about it.
I thought I’d take a whole month and write a series sharing some of what I love (and don’t) about living the RV life. I’ll start with the basics this week and then delve more deeply into some of the details in the coming weeks.
Here are some of the questions I get about our RV life.
Long Lake hike near near Nederland, CO.
What made you and your husband decide to live in an RV?
My husband, Jeff, and I love nature and finding new places to bike. We owned an RV and really enjoyed using it on the weekends. The U.S. has such an amazing diversity of places to explore, and I knew I’d never see them all in my lifetime unless we lived a mobile life.
We had owned two RVs before we made this decision, and we always knew we wanted to live on the road when we retired. Then COVID hit, and my photography business naturally slowed down.
Even though retirement was many years away, the pandemic had us re-evaluating things. Since our kids were adults and we could work remotely, we realized nothing was holding us back from doing this. We decided to go for it, sold almost everything, and in November 2020, we began our new RV life.
We plan to do this for ten-plus years.
We try to make our time count as we know this is a gift to be able to do this.
Being silly together on Jeff’s 60th Birthday!
Do you and your husband ever get tired of being together all the time?
No, it’s brought us closer. 💕
We’ve been married for 11 years, and we really enjoy each other’s company, which is good because we spend a lot of time together. We’ve discovered that we’re much more of a team on the road because we rely on each other more for the day-to-day basics.
We also meet other happy couples on the road who live in RVs full-time. Couples who decide to do this lifestyle must genuinely like each other.
It’s always special to see friends from the road. I went to High School with Christy. We’ve been friends since 9th grade.
Do you ever miss having friends around?
That’s a great question. Our “home base” is in Richmond, VA. We return to Richmond every other year for a short portion of the year (usually while heading south for the winter), and I go back quarterly to work and stay connected with friends.
The best part about NOT being in Richmond 12 months out of the year is that we feel so loved during the limited time we are there because people don’t put off seeing us. We have many friends and have found that absence makes the heart grow fonder. We don’t ever hear, “We should get together sometime.” Instead, since they know we’re only in town for a short time, people are excited to make plans and spend time with us.
So, now you know why we’re doing this crazy adventure. Next week, I’ll share some of the essentials for successfully living “on the road.”
If you want to “come along” with me on my RV adventure, subscribe to my email list. I sent out weekly updates about our whereabouts and what we’re up to, as well as tips for getting the most out of your professional headshots. Click here to subscribe.