HOW I MADE “THE BIG IDEA” BECOME A REALITY
I had been at my job for 14 years when I got The Big Idea to RV around North America. I had been feeling for a while that I needed a change of scenery, and that there was something different that I was supposed to do with the last decades of my life. Previously, I had spent over a year pursuing another “exit strategy,” but it just wasn’t right in the end. I had been waiting for several months for the next inspiration to strike. The Big Idea came Thanksgiving weekend 2016.
I sat with it for a month, and discussed it first with my parents at Christmastime. My entire adult life I have been a bit of a non-conformist and risk-taker, so they were not shocked. They were both intrigued and a little nervous, per usual. But they have always been supportive, and always help me think things through. Once I had spoken The Big Idea aloud, I was off and running.
The keys, I think, were these:
- I was grounded in and committed to my goal, and it kept me inspired even when I felt overwhelmed or progress was slow.
- I gave myself a reasonable timeframe – a year – to do what I needed to do. Since I knew absolutely nothing about RVs, I had a lot of learning to accomplish. I also had to downsize all of my belongings, and fix up my three-bedroom condo in order to rent or sell it.
- I worked on it consistently on the evenings and weekends.
It went something like this:
- Learn about RVs on the internet! There are many websites, podcasts, Facebook groups, YouTube channels, magazines… The ones that I found myself going to consistently were RV Family Travel Atlas, Girl Camper and Heath & Alyssa. Once a started to get a feel for things generally, I searched for specific information often, and got bits and pieces from a lot of sources.
- I had already been saving money for years, but I doubled down on my efforts not to spend money and acquire possessions needlessly. I got off all of the email lists for sales from different stores, and stopped catalogues from coming to my house.
- In February, I flew to Heath & Alyssa’s first “RV Entrepreneur Summit” in Texas to attend workshops, have conversations, and tour RVs. It was very helpful to go beyond online learning to really interact with people – and rigs! – up close and personal. (See the back of my head among the audience members in that photo??)
One of the statements that really impacted my thinking was from a solo female RVer. She said she felt safer in a motorhome because her steering wheel was in her home, and she could just drive away if she felt unsafe, rather than getting out of a camper to get into her truck.
- I drove to Sacramento to go to my first RV show, and get a better feel for the sizes and floor plans of motorhomes.
- I watched the documentary “The Minimalists” and read Marie Kondo’s book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” then downsized and downsized and downsized. I dedicated most of my living room to three areas – 1) recycling, 2) to give to friends or 3) to give to charity. I made a Goodwill run weekly. I gave things to friends as I saw them. My friend Gena put together a fundraising event for a family with a daughter who had cancer, and I provided about 2/3 of the silent auction items. You can see in that photo how happy we are with how well the fundraiser went!
- As the rooms in my condo started to empty of “stuff,” I began selling my furniture on Craigslist. I also kept consolidating what remained of my stuff, like all of my clothes went in the same closet, all books and papers went in the office.
- I repeatedly went back to categories of things I had cleaned out before and downsized even deeper.
- I dedicated a cabinet in the basement to put anything that was going in the RV that I didn’t need to use in my daily life until then.
- At work, I (quietly!) pushed myself to complete several long-term projects I had been working on, and to get other ongoing initiatives to the point where they could go on without me after I was gone. I also went to my office on the weekends when no one was there to clean out and organize my files to make things easier for my colleagues when I left.
- In moments when I needed inspiration to keep going I looked at my travel “vision board.”
- In moments when I wasn’t feeling entirely inspired by the future, I giggled at my adorably cynical Spirit Animal toodaloo-ing its past.
- I explored whether to sell my condo or keep it to rent. I decided that the most important thing was to be truly free and just sell it.
- Once my house was getting close to bare bones, I found a real estate agent. John helped me determine what I needed to do to the condo to put it on the market.
- I scheduled people to come to my condo to do repairs, painting, carpet cleaning, etc.
- In October, I went to another RV show, this time in Pomona. I knew approximately what size rig I wanted, but I was still unclear about manufacturers, and I was checking out floor plans. I also attended a couple of the workshops on maintenance and safety gear.
- Also in October, I went to a “Girl Camper” weekend in Nevada City, California. I rented a 22-foot Class C motorhome through the share-economy website “Outdoorsy,” and picked it up in Sacramento so I only had to drive it an hour to the campground in case I hated it. I drove the RV, backed it in the site (See the photographic evidence!), set it up, slept in it, showered in it, and packed it up – none of which I had ever done before. I paid extra to the guy I rented it from to empty the gray and black tanks because I had learned enough for one weekend.
- In early December, I started looking at RVs at a dealership that my friend Natalie recommended, Dennis Dillon RV. I got terrific education and support from several of the staff there. On December 30, 2017 I bought my used 2018 Winnebago Class C Minnie Winnie 26A, “Minnie.” See how happy we are, posing together for the first time? Minnie stayed in storage at the dealership for a couple of months while I finished preparing for takeoff.
- I met with my accountant and my financial investor to make a financial plan for life on the road.
- I went to the doctor, dentist, eye doctor, got a mammogram, etc.
- I sold my Prius, which could not be “flat-towed” on all four wheels. I flew up to Portland, Oregon to buy a used Ford C-Max Hybrid, “Max,” from my friend Kelly. My friend Brian jumped in on my road trip south and shared the driving with me (see photo!) back down to Los Angeles.
- I had the towing system installed in Minnie and Max.
- I measured everything in Minnie and took photos so I had a final target of how much stuff I needed to get down to.
- My condo sold.
- I drove Minnie towing Max for the first time from one Los Angeles suburb to another, on about six different freeways, in the rain. It was a 90-minute spine-chilling experience, and I should get a medal for it. I parked in my friends Denise and Vaideesh’s driveway, moved into their guestroom, and started unpacking and nesting in Minnie.
- I left my job.
- With the help of my friend Martin, I practiced hooking and unhooking the tow setup between Minnie and Max, moved to a campground, and set up for the first time. The campground was a five-minute drive from Denise and Vaideesh – in case I needed to run back to their house for any reason. After 48 hours of not knowing how to turn on the heat or the hot water in Minnie, (another!) friend Brian came over with a picnic dinner and a bottle of wine, and gave me RV lessons.Over the next six weeks, I moved back and forth between two campgrounds in L.A. County practicing packing up, moving and setting up.
- I rented a post office box. Then I was online and on the phone for days going paperless, and updating my contact information.
- I dealt with the transition of my 401K to an Individual Retirement Account, and researched and signed up for healthcare coverage.
- I had a lot of friends over to get a tour of Minnie and hang out and say goodbye.
And I hit the road on April 30, 2018!
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED ME ALONG THIS JOURNEY!!
HOW I PLAN TRIPS
I gather ideas all the time. I see photos from friends or travelers I follow on social media and take a screen shot. I get a recommendation or invitation from someone, and I take a note in my phone. I think of people I care about who live in North America and I take a note in my phone. Guide books, podcasts, pamphlets, postcards… My eyes, ears, memories and imagination are always open.
The critical step is that I regularly go through those screen shots and notes and put them in… a spreadsheet! Here’s an example:
| Region | State/Prov | City/Town | Friend/Family/Place | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New England | CT | New Haven | (Friend/Family Name) | |
| New England | MA Bos | Lexington | (Friend/Family Name) | |
| New England | MA Bos | Newton | (Family History) | |
| New England | MA Bos | No. Andover | (Friend/Family Name) | |
| New England | MA Bos | Somerville | (Friend/Family Name) | & tour workplace if possible |
| New England | MA Cape | Cape Cod Natl Park | ||
| New England | MA Cape | Hyannis | (Friend/Family Name) | |
| New England | MA So.Bos | Foxborough | (Friend/Family Name) | |
| New England | MA So.Bos | Marshfield | (Friend/Family Name) | |
| New England | MA West | Amherst | UMass | |
| New England | ME | Arcadia Natl Park | ||
| New England | ME | Belfast | (Friend/Family Name) | |
| New England | ME | Lincolnville | (Friend/Family Name) | |
| New England | ME | Kennebunkport | ||
| New England | ME | Portland | ||
| New England | NH | Concord | (Friend/Family Name) | |
| New England | NH | Manchester | (Family History) | |
| New England | RI | LittleCompton | (Friend/Family Name) | |
| New England | RI | Newport | ||
| New England | RI | Providence | (Friend/Family Name) | |
| New England | VT | Burlington | (Friend/Family Name) |
About once a month, I sit down with the spreadsheet, an atlas and my laptop. I circle all of the possible destinations in my atlas so I can see spatially where they are in relation to each other. I check driving times on Google maps. And then I start “budgeting” time in the calendar on my laptop – driving days, touring and/or visiting days, and a some flexibility in case I want to see/do something else or I need an “Admin Day” to pay bills, do trip planning, run errands, do laundry, etc.
| Sun | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 4.5 hrs to Douglas |
||||||
| 2 Friends in Douglas |
3 Friends in Douglas |
4 3 hrs Custer Horse&Rush |
5 Devils Tower NP |
6 Wind Cave NP |
7 6 hrs to Sioux Falls |
8 Sioux Falls |
| 9 4 hrs to St Paul |
10 Friend/Tour Mpls/StPaul |
11 Friend/Tour Mpls/StPaul |
12 Friend/Tour Mpls/StPaul |
13 Friend/Tour Mpls/StPaul |
14 Friend/Tour Mpls/StPaul |
15 Friend/Tour Mpls/StPaul |
| 16 .5 hrs to Stillwater |
17 Friends in Stillwater |
18 Friends in Stillwater |
19 4 hrs to Green Bay |
20 Green Bay |
21 3 hrs to Munising |
22 Painted Rocks NP |
| 23 (Flexible) |
24 2 hrs to St Ignace |
25 Mackinac Island |
26 (Flexible) |
27 3.5 hrs to Flint |
28 Flint |
29 Detroit |
| 30 Detroit |
Once I have a rough idea of my calendar, I start contacting friends to tell them when I expect to be in their area, and finding out when is best for them to get together. I also check with friends about whether I can park in their driveways and stay in their guestrooms. I usually try to give people 3–4 weeks notice. If the friends/family members are not already following my journey closely, I contact them maybe two months in advance to make sure they know I am heading their way eventually.
Making campsite reservations is last. I actually try to put it off as long as I can to give myself the opportunity to stay longer or move on more quickly than I thought. The things I take into consideration for how long- or short- in advance I try to make reservations are roughly…
- Is it Summer or not?
- If it is anywhere between late Fall and Spring, is the campground open?
- Is it a weekend or not?
- Is it Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter or a three-day weekend or a local Big Event or not?
- How close is the campsite to a Big Attraction?
I am nice to the person on the phone at the campsite. I am flexible about taking sites that are water and power only, and just go by the dump station on the way out. I have cheerfully accepted moving my rig from one night in one site to another night in another site within a campground. I have stayed on a Thursday night with no guarantee of more nights and gotten lucky to have a weekend cancellation open up a weekend spot for me. I have asked for recommendations if a campsite doesn’t have a spot. It’s worked for me so far!!
WHAT KIND OF CAMERA DO YOU USE?
iPhone 6S. Yep. So far, so good. The only downside I’ve figured out is that the zoom is pretty crummy.
As far as I’m concerned, the print quality passed the ultimate test. I got a print made and framed of a panorama photo I took of my parents at Grand Canyon National Park. The print is is 35 ½” x 12 ½” and it looks fantastic.
