I thought I’d start this first posting in the RV series on how I even got into this world van life. It might come across as rather pedestrian with no real poignant story of chasing a dream or some heart-breaking event that called for a healing adventure. No, it is probably more a story of an average family, dealing with everyday issues, and trying to seek out fun where we can. It’s a story I have discussed with friends that have had similar responses drawing a parallel life. So, let’s get into it.
Both my wife and I grew up loving the outdoors. We all camped as kids and through much of our early adult life. She grew up in Michigan with me growing up in northern Nevada, and we met overseas when I was in the military. We engaged and settled in Virginia where I finished college and we both ultimately started our careers. Early in our marriage we sought out opportunities to explore and camp where and when we could. From the beautiful Blue Ridge mounts and the Shenandoah valley in western Virginia to the wild burros in Assateague Island on Maryland’s eastern shore, we camped as much as our work would allow.
This type of camping involved the basics. Our ride to the outdoors started out as a Pontiac Grand Prix that we later were able to upgrade to a GMC Jimmy. Shelter was a tent where we slept in sleeping bags on foam mats. Cooking involved a Coleman two burner multi-fuel stove. Round that out with an iced down Coleman cooler stocked with beer, lunch meat, eggs, and the occasional steak. Basically, it was wonderfully rustic. This was our early camping life, and even to this day I look back on it fondly.
Fast forward a couple years and we now have two kids and two careers. Our ability to break away for a weekend of camping was overrun by taking care of the babies. Fun was taking them to one of the near by lakes for a brisk walk and some toddler shenanigans along the water. We moved out to Colorado for a couple of years to get closer to family, and there with the kids a bit older we were able to break out the camping gear and give it a whirl up in Summit County. The gear we used remained unchanged, but we did upgrade the caravan to a Chevy Tahoe.
Camping with smalls kids is really the reason to become a parent. Adventure hikes to collect wood while the kids serve as the pack mules, hot dogs and smores for dinner, and ghost stories fireside seems like something out of a Rob Reiner movie. We eventually moved back to the DC area for work, and we quickly saw the camping gear collecting dust as we filled our free time with simple day trips or the occasional weekend at a local historic site. Our lives became the common family unit balancing work, school, and extracurricular activities. However, we had some much fun camping as a family and making memories that we never lost that desire to get back at it.
A few years later, we found ourselves living in the San Francisco Bay area. For those that have lived in this area any time in the last 10 years, you know it’s not the cheapest place to live. With rent for a 1950’s vintage un-remodeled home going for north of $7K a month, even a small family of 4 with two incomes, one can find themselves hard pressed to splurge on anything other than necessities. It was then, after this move, that we stowed the camping gear up in the rafters in the garage and keep it there.
Kid’s school and sports activities limited the number of free weekends we had to try to break way, and when we did it usually involved places where we booked hotel rooms or stayed with family. Why did we not take the tents and make a go at sleeping in the wild? Any parent can answer that – sheer simplicity. As we’ve gotten older and have many miles of dealing with teenagers and their activities, when we go away the last thing you want to do is rush home from work to load up a car with half a ton of gear, fight traffic to get to a camp site, screw around with setting up the camp, and then hopefully get some hot dogs cooked before the hangry family starts turning on itself. With all the challenges of work and school and general family life, we found ourselves avoiding the whole camping experience because, frankly, it wasn’t worth the hassle. It was easier to book hotel reservations and bring extra closes than go camping.
Years have not gone by now and we’ve spent many more vacations in hotels. Don’t get me wrong, family vacations were still fun. We did trips to Europe, Mexico, and even Cambodia. We saw a lot and had made many great memories and international travelers. Even with all this was going on, my wife and I started to dust off those fond memories of camping and start thinking of ways we could still enjoy the outdoors without the stress and hassle of a traditional camping logistics. And to be honest, a way to not have to sleep on the ground anymore. So, we turned to what everyone else does – the RV world.
We spent a few years casually looking at options that were out there. From towable to motorized rigs, we spent time in between our work calls casually browsing websites and seeing what kind of amazing RV rigs we see ourselves in. The options were endless, and the search was fun but also downright exhausting. Even though we had other considerations of stowing the RV, insurance, and just our available time to use it, we never really gave up on this idea. As this time progressed, we saw ourselves doing well in our careers and disposable income became more available. This crazy idea of becoming RV people was looking more and more doable.
Then when Covid hit, things really started to change for us. Our fist son moved off to college (only to be hermit in a dorm room by himself), our second son was starting his Senior year in high school remotely, and both our jobs moved to remote work. With one child out of the house, and the other not far behind, we became aware that we were stepping into the next stage in life - empty nesters. Like many others during the pandemic, everyone’s plans in life got upended. It also allowed families like ours to sort of reshuffle the deck of cards we were dealt and rethink how we approached life. For us this involved not renewing our rental agreement, buying a house in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and purposely positioning ourselves closer to the beautiful outdoor spaces we have always enjoyed. Seeing ourselves suddenly without kids in the house, this lower cost of living area we are now residents of, and some of the country’s most adventurous parks and open spaces minutes way, this is when we decided to pull the trigger and get into an RV.
So, our path to RV ownership is probably like most. A story of starting out as outdoor enthusiasts, settling down to raise a family, graduating to a house of endless teenager activities, and finally becoming a two-person home with more time on our hands. It might seem scripted, like something out of a “History of Every Parents Life” book. But it’s our story and one that is still being written. Anyway, in the next post I’ll go into the RV we bought and the thoughts we had that drove the decision. I hope you find it useful.