How to Make Dreams a Reality

As part of our partnership with CreditWise® from Capital One®, we are excited to share how we made our dream of living in an RV and exploring the U.S. a reality. We always dreamed of moving across the country and exploring new places. Our first year of marriage, we talked about it, dreamed about it, wondered if it would ever be possible. Could we do it? Would we ever be able to make it happen? We love adventure; our vacations have always consisted of long road trips, visiting new destinations along the way. A few years into marriage we talked about it again. This time we discussed getting an RV to explore the country, but we continued to question how we would be able to make it happen.

One of the first steps to making our dreams a reality was transitioning our jobs to work from home. Over the next five years, we slowly adjusted our careers to allow us to work from home. We never take for granted how lucky we are to have jobs that allow us the flexibility to work from anywhere but working from home is hard work. If you don’t think you have a job that allows for remote working, start to think through what skill sets you have and how you could use them in different ways.   

After working from home for over a year, we looked at each other on the couch after a bad case of the stomach bug and said, “Why not? Why not now?” Last December we started looking for a fifth wheel RV and a truck. We researched so many different makes, models and layouts to decide what was best for our family. We looked at the options and prioritized a separate room in the back to make sure the girls had their own space. The actual shopping process happened so quickly. By the third week of January we had purchased our RV and truck and started fixing up our condo to get ready to sell. What? Was this really happening? We spent the next six months remodeling our RV into a modern white and bright home. We put our condo on the market and four days later we had a full price offer.

The next step was to downsize from our condo to the RV. We sold or gave away almost everything in our condo, only keeping a few things in a small storage unit. We moved only our necessities into our beautiful 35-foot fifth wheel RV with our two daughters. Much to our surprise, we still have storage space available in the RV and even have items stored that we don’t frequently use. The hardest part is definitely the small kitchen. We prioritized appliances that can be used for more than one thing and made sure we had the essential items like pots and pans. Definitely an adjustment but we make do!  

Even though we love adventure, we are also extremely logical people who love to plan. We started planning for this adventure eight years ago, slowly taking steps to make it possible. A big part of this process was saving, investing and planning financially. We thought through every decision and thought about the impact on our future. Even after we purchased the RV and truck, we also had to think through saving for repairs along the way. We have broken down so many times already, we are so glad we saved. Fingers crossed we don’t breakdown again!

Although we are currently on this amazing journey exploring the country in an RV, we want to find a new home where we can plant our roots. And because we are planners, we want to make sure we are going to be in the best position possible when that time comes. We use CreditWise® from Capital One® to help us monitor, track and even improve our credit while we are on the road. It is easy to forget to check our credit reports while traveling so we love that CreditWise alerts us when there are meaningful change to our Experian and TransUnion credit reports. It makes it so easy to understand our credit score and even offers suggestions to help us improve our score. We are on this adventure because we love learning and there is nothing that gives you more power than knowledge. Having the knowledge to understand our credit score gives us the confidence that when we find that perfect farmhouse to raise our family, we will be ready to commit because our finances are in order.   

Now, is the RV life for everyone? Probably not. We are so glad for our easy-going personalities, because if we were easily stressed out, this life would be very difficult. We learned firsthand the many challenges that come with RV life, including breaking down countless times. But so far, the challenges have not trumped the amazing experiences exploring with our girls. So, for now, follow our crazy RV adventure on our YouTube channel.