As long as I can remember I’ve always been obsessed with living tiny. I wasn’t especially girly growing up but I loved dollhouses. I loved the little spaces, all the miniature furniture, and accessories. I loved playhouses. I loved the kid-size kitchen sets. Treehouses. Seeing the little woodland fairy setups in books. There was something fascinating about living in a small compact space.
I’ve always been obsessed with RVs. I think the initial spark came from cousin Eddie’s RV in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation… Not that his RV was anything to envy but I’ve been watching that movie my whole life and I was intrigued as a child. Pair that with being a true 90s kid who grew up watching Promised Land every week and I genuinely assumed living in an RV full time was the thing to do!
As I got older and the internet became a “thing” I started to browse craigslist and eBay for RVs. Especially vintage Shastas since my little bitty Nissan Hardbody could tow them. I’d look at Pinterest for remodeling ideas and pine for one of my own. I could see myself parked by a lake or river with a cup of coffee journaling to the soft sound of the water. The idea was calming and exciting. I could change my surroundings whenever I wanted! I could park by the mountains one day and the beach the next. I could visit the desert. Stay in the bayou and scout for alligators. The world was my back yard.
The dream was always there but the reality was too…
At the beginning of 2016, I left a very hostile and toxic relationship. The kind you lose everything in. I left with no money, no housing, my hopes, dreams, and self-esteem destroyed. I was determined to rebuild my life and find myself. I made it my goal to save up enough money to buy my little camper and go off by my damn self and do everything I wanted to do.
To tell you the truth I’d sworn off relationships.
Then Mark entered my life. Our relationship was a bit unlikely. There is our age gap and opposite personalities. I’m chaos and he’s calm. But we did have one major thing in common- Wanderlust. I wanted to spend some time in New Orleans. He wanted to spend some time in Key West.
The question was how can we do both?
We’ve learned to channel our differences for good. I’m creative and he’s handy. I write the blog and he does the little modifications on the camper. I cook and he washes the dishes. I pulled him out of a life of boring routines and now we are about to go on the ultimate adventure! We can hook up our little guy max (lovingly nicknamed Cousin Eddie) and make the pilgrimage to Key West for Fantasy Fest and then a couple months later trek on to Mardi Gras.
To me an RV represents freedom. We can live anywhere we want. I’ve always been a dreamer. I’ve always been a little on the impractical side. Mark is practical. I handle the fun stuff he handles the boring stuff. It works for us. So when I pitched the full-time RV idea I didn’t know squat about making it a reality. That’s when we got online and found workamping, Good Sam, Passport America and setting up a domicile. We discovered how to make the dream a reality and we are so close now.
Downsizing, moving, and King Bacchus
I’m sitting here in my nearly empty apartment. The TV is gone, pictures removed from the wall, no chair, books and DVDs are down to the most essential, pots and pans, dishes, clothes and just about anything that was excessive donated or sold.
Everything to get rid of stacked in a pile…
Don’t let anyone lie to you- downsizing sucks!
There’s a full range of emotions that go along with it. Being overwhelmed, not knowing where to start, what to keep and what to let go of. But the faster you get started the easier it becomes as you watch the clutter slowly disappear. You may even realize the things you agonized over giving away you don’t even think about once they are gone. Start by categorizing your belongings. Put all the DVDS together, the books, dishes, documents, clothes in separate piles and go through each pile one at a time.
But on the other side of the coin we have a 2019 little guy max sitting in our parking lot!
Almost everything that made the cut has been moved inside cousin Eddie. A few things had to be sacrificed like my cherished books on true hauntings and ghost hunting, I’m saying goodbye to my vintage Nancy Drew collection, stuffed toys like my mint condition Furby and my husband has sold a ton of tools.
I’m keeping really sentimental things like my signed Rob Zombie CD, signed copy of Sara Dessen’s The Moon and More, my pretty extensive horror movie DVD collection, and my teddy bear I’ve had since I was 3… My possessions are pretty eclectic.
Obviously all the furniture is going. We didn’t have a whole lot but it’s slowly being punted.
But in the end it’s going to be worth it.
I learned last week Jensen Ackles AKA Dean Winchester my hero is being crowned King Bacchus at Mardi Gras this year. I have always wanted to attend Mardi Gras. New Orleans has always held my soul and this year would have been perfect. I’d be able to revel in the spirit of carnival, eat king cake and lose myself in the crowd decked out in beads and be able to see Dean freaking Winchester crowned at Krewe of Bacchus. But I couldn’t because everything in my lifestyle holds me back. My job held me back, my apartment held me back, my income held me back.
I’m left to wonder- If we had gone full time RVing earlier would we have been able to go to Mardi Gras this year? If we had started this a year ago? 6 months? 3 months? The answer is most likely. Because our experiences wouldn’t be limited. We could go where we want to and bring our home with us.
Doesn’t that sound exciting?
What is holding you back? Is it your stuff? Your job? Your significant other? Societial expectations? Or all of the above? We spend our whole lives being told what we are supposed to do and how we are supposed to do it, but are you happy? They never tell you how to be happy just what you are supposed to do and if it doesn’t make you happy to: buy a house, get married, have kids and work 9-5- then something must be wrong with you.
It might suck to let go of some things. It’s a little nerve racking to move away from the town I’ve lived/suffered in for almost 4 year. It’s exciting and scary to jump from security to a little uncertainity.
I left the job I’ve held for 3.5 years. The job I devoted countless hours to, crawled and fought to move up in and dropped everything I was doing for if they needed me. I walked away and you know what? They didn’t even bat an eye. I’m a number to them. I half killed myself for a job that gave me nothing in return. I missed time with family, friends, birthday parties, holidays, worked nights, weekends… and I have nothing to show for it.
All of this might suck. It might even hurt a little bit.
But it really sucks to know I missed a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Jensen Ackles crowned King Bacchus because I let the fear of uncertainity stop me from taking the leap sooner.
Weddings, workamping and Cousin Eddie
We have 3 major developments in our journey!
1: We are now officially married! Our wedding took place in New Orleans at The Starlight in the french Quarter. It was a beautiful music lounge on St. Louis street. They offer a great elopement package starting at $695 and handle everything! All you have to do is show up with your marriage license and bam! They provide your officiant, photographer, cake, champagne, private room for the ceremony, and you can add a private carriage ride for $100 which we did. They have a ton of other add ons that we skipped but I’ll provide a link https://www.neworleans.com/coupon/the-starlight-balcony-room-elopement-package/1463/. They will accommodate up to 10 guests and are welcome to stay, have a few drinks, and enjoy their live entertainment as an impromptu reception.
We had a wonderful birthday trip/vacation/wedding/honeymoon. We drove to Raleigh and stayed the night to to fly out of RDU on the 10th (my birthday). It was my first plain ride. I was a mess and had no idea what to expect. We flew on allegiant airlines. It was small and basic but you can’t beat the $77 round trip ticket price so they get a 5 star from me cause I’m a bargain queen. Once we got in the air and my ears stopped popping it was smooth sailing. And I got the window seat! It was fun.
We spent 3 full days in NO. We stayed at an airbnb in Treme that was about 3 or so blocks from the quarter and and an easy walk so we didn’t have to use Uber that much.
There wasn’t much of a game plan on this trip. We had the wedding scheduled for the 13th and other that we just planned to eat, drink and wander. Last year on our trip to NO we had crammed everything there is to do the city into a 4 day trip and ended up constantly going from tour to museum to park to restaurant and so on and we were so stressed and pressed for time! It was nice to just kick back.
This time we people watched on Bourbon street, drank coffee and stuffed ourselves with Beignets at Cafe Beignet, we ate at any restaurant that we passed by that looked good (I think my favorite was Le Bayou on Bourbon St or Pere Antoine’s on Royal St), we bar hopped down Frenchmen’s street and wound up at a craft fair called the Palace Market that was alive and hoppin’ at 10 pm on a Monday! We got day passes for the streetcar and rode around just getting off wherever it stopped… It was bliss. No where to be and all day to get there.
2: We are officially homeowners! By home I mean a 2019 little guy max. It is blue and silver and we pick it up on the 1st of March. We have named him Cousin Eddie. We purchased our little guy from D&H RV Center in Apex when we got back to NC. Their collection, customer service and prices are good! I can’t wait to pick up our home.
3: We are officially workampers! We move to the campground on the 11th of March. Its a small start because it’s only an hour away but we will be able to kick start our workamping life and I am very grateful to get a foot in the door. 13 months until we can hit the open road officially! The countdown has begun.
Little Guys and Margaritas
Time seems to going by faster these days. I don’t know if it’s the wanderlust or I’m getting older. I like to think it’s the former!
Our journey is continuing but we got the confirmation that my husband-to-be won’t be able to retire for another 14 months. While he can’t leave his job just yet the show must go on. We are still looking at moving out of this town and there are a few options. Right now we have an interview for a workamping situation approximately 1 hour away that would enable us to buy the camper, move in and he can commute to his main job. We aren’t putting all of our eggs in this basket yet but we will know more after Friday. Wish us luck because this would give us a huge head start into the lifestyle!
Regardless of where we are living/working we have decided to buy the camper even if we have to put it in storage and use it on small trips that way we can get started paying it off while we’re still pulling in the “big bucks.”
We’ve looked at and walked through dozens of campers so far. We’ve found some we like and some we don’t. I love the Winnebago micro Minnie and have fallen in love with a little red one sitting in the front of a local dealer in Newport, NC. Unfortunately the weight is just a little high but we have determined we are comfortable with the size and storage it offers.
We took an overnight trip across state lines the other week to look at RV Outlet USA in Longs, SC. They had a huge selection and good prices. We determined on that trip we don’t like the Forest River wildwood but we like the flagstaff mini lite. Obviously we didn’t buy that day as we were not ready but it was nice to get out of town even just for a night. We learned our salesman John also full time RVed for 5 years so we were able to get some tips and pointers on full timing.
We stayed in North Myrtle beach at the Towers. It was a nice hotel and we caught a good booking.com deal for that night. They had a jetted tub and it was my first experience using one. I would say if you ever get the chance to use one add bubble bath and lay back for at least 30 minutes… It’s amazing.
That being said if I had realized North Myrtle wasn’t very close to Myrtle beach I would have booked a hotel there. I’m not very familiar with South Carolina and until this trip had only been through it not to it. We drove the distance of 20 miles and had dinner at Margaritaville to cross off my bucket list item of having a margarita in Margaritaville. The food was good and it’s a nice setting. I didn’t care much for the margarita as it was a little too sour/bitter (I’ve been spoiled by Chico’s in Greenville, NC if you ever go there get the frozen strawberry margarita and thank me later). I’ll admit I’m a margarita snob. But their Havanas and Bananas drink was on point and I had two J. Just out of nostalgia for days when I was young listening to songs about Margatitaville, a magical land where it’s always 5 o’clock I definitely plan to go back on our future travels and maybe the margarita was just a one time let down.
Our online camper shopping has led us to the Little Guy Max. We have fallen in love. We have an upcoming trip next week to look at a couple. We probably won’t buy one until after our wedding in New Orleans in 2 weeks but we will share our camper excursion on here to keep everyone in the loop.
All work and no play
I write this post from my self imposed prison. A 600 SQ apartment in a barren coastal town of North Carolina. I’m not from here. Ironically I escaped the clutches of my hometown about 2 hours inland for fun in the sun at the beach 3 years ago… If only I knew then what I know now
I’m not happy. In fact I am far from happy. I wanted to get away from the city and the only life I knew. I traded a population of 100,000 to a population of 1,100 full time residents in a county with approximately 60,000 total. Small town life has not been kind to me. Everyone knows your business, where you work, where you live, every move you make. It can be maddening. Summer is fun when everyone is out and about but when winter sets in this place turns into The Shining. Subsequently my depression sets in at the same time.
I never really fit into this town. I brought my city ideas, agendas, and the 21st century with me when I moved here. Locals do not take kindly to new comers. This is how they’ve done it and this is how they’re always gonna do it!
I have to admit after 3 years + of local hazing at work, being treated like an outsider, provoked, insulted, I finally snapped. I had had enough. We had to move. No more talking about it, planning, looking I wanted out NOW. I didn’t care where at that point.
We looked at buying a house in my hometown. Oh how I missed it! I missed my friends, my local hangouts, the food, the culture… So we looked at apartments, houses, condos ETC but upon returning to look at places it felt strange. The town had changed, the people, restaurants, shops, where had my town gone???
As the hunt continued my mental breakdown was in full swing. I was still working full time and dealing with the holiday blues while desperately trying to find us a way to move. I was exhausted. Physically and mentally exhausted. There were so many places I wanted to go. But that worry in the back of my mind lingered. What if we move and I end up hating it? I’ll be stuck again!! If only we could move around… If only we could stay long enough to enjoy it and leave before it got boring… Or could we?
And then I remembered my pipe dream when I was younger. Buying a little vintage Scotty or Shasta camper and hooking it up to my equally tiny blue pick up truck and hitting the road. I wanted to travel down to New Orleans, spend a summer in Maine on Old Orchard Beach, explore Acadia, see Niagara Falls, the grand canyon and watch for UFOs in Roswell. But like most dreams it was only a fantasy. Real life set in with its hurdles and responsibility.
But this time I had a partner in crime. Someone who was ready to take on the adventure.
In less than a day we had made up our minds. We are still in the process of working the details out. But we made the first step in buying a new truck to haul our home. We are getting there one step at a time. We still have our jobs but I’m leaving mine in Mid February and currently working 2 days a week and using 2 days of vacation so I can get my mind sorted out.
I’m still feeling like Jack Torrance (minus the attempted murder) but the freedom being so close is comforting. However it is still very true “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”
The Journey Begins
Thanks for joining me!
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Rut 2 Road 