Imagine this: You’re working full-time at a 9 to 5 job, driving the same route to the office every morning, coming home to your children (and your spouse!) who can’t wait to have your full attention, and wondering why you waited so long to decide what’s for dinner. You have a mortage, one or two car payments, endless bills to pay. And your paycheck never seems to stretch far enough. Sound like paradise?

Well it didn’t feel like paradise to us. We knew that city living wasn’t for us and dreamt for the day when we could leave the city behind and set up a homestead with everything we could dream of. A garden and greenhouses, fruit trees, plenty of acreage for the kids to run and play in, and the perfect little farmhouse in which to lazily spend our days.

But that dream was years away. We needed time to save for a down payment (or even better, pay cash) on a rural property, and I was getting pretty restless (patience is not something I possess a lot of).

So we started doing some research. How were other people living their dreams? What did they do to set themselves up for success? We came across ideas such as earth homes, tiny homes, container homes, and every other non-traditionaly-built home one could think of. But they all had one thing in common: they needed land to build on. Did I mention we were years away from that?

And then we came across RVs. But surely people don’t actually live in RVs (except for retired people), right? We could never do something like that anyway. I mean, I don’t even know how to drive a bus or pull a trailer. And besides, that would bring us way, way outside our comfort zone and that sounded, well, uncomfortable.

But the more research we did about RV living, and the more praying we did that God would direct our paths, the more we knew that we wanted to give it a shot. We learned about the different types of RVs, who the top manufacturers are, and what kind of floor plans are out there. We watched hundreds of videos on YouTube and read dozens of blogs from other RVers, taking in all the advice we could get. We visited all the RV dealers in our area and asked as many questions as we could get answers for from the more patient salesmen (by the way, our absolute favorite person to work with was Tyler Ktytor over at Capital RV in Bismarck, ND. Even though we didn’t end up purchasing our trailer from him, we’d still recommend giving him a call if you’re in the market!).

Once we decided that we wanted a fifth wheel there was the question of a tow vehicle. What kind of pickup did we need to buy? Diesel or gas? Half-ton, three-quarter-ton, one-ton? SRW or DRW? Would a flatbed work? And where in the world would we find what we needed that was affordable? Because pickups are expensive, y’all. Most importantly, though, what would I do for work? Would I have to find a new job that I could do on the road, or would my current employer allow me to go remote and keep doing what I do? Did I even want to stay with my current employer?

These were questions that nagged at us throughout that first year of preparing for our new journey. As much as we wanted to buy a pickup and an RV and get outta Dodge as soon as we could, we had some things to take care of that would mean the difference between stationary RV living and mobile RV living. Those things took us nearly two years to complete.

But after nearly a year of research and planning, we were ready to start looking for an RV and a pickup that would fit our needs. We knew we wanted a fifth-wheel, and it most definitely needed enough bunks for our kids to sleep in. We didn’t want to convert a table or a sofa to a bed every night. It needed to have enough storage in the “basement” and inside to comfortably fit our entire household (which we had to downsize considerably; more on that in another post), and we had a goal of being able to fit in the majority of state- and federally-owned parks. We knew we couldn’t afford a diesel pickup, so we looked for a three-quarter-ton gas pickup that would sufficiently meet our needs.

Fast forward to late winter of 2018/2019 and things were finally falling into place. The one thing holding us back from moving was finally resolved. We set a goal of moving right after the school year ended, set our budget, and navigated our way through the RV and vehicle buying processes. By the end of March we had our tow vehicle and by the end of April we had our RV. We notified my employer and our landlord and sat down to plan our summer.

And here we are, sharing our journey with you all and making great memories along the way! Do you want to stay connected with us? You can follow us on facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, and subscribe to our blog at the bottom of the page. Have a question or comment? Leave them below! We can’t wait to hear from you!

By the way, that dream we had? We still have it. But the journey we take to achieve that dream will be just as joyful as achieving that dream. We know you have dreams, too. Will you share them with us? We’d love to encourage and pray for you. Just send us an email or drop us a comment below.