Editor’s Note: This is an old article from 2005. Unfortunately, we don’t know (er, remember…) who wrote it for us. If it’s yours, let us know so we can give you credit for it.
How did you tell your friends and family that you were going to become a full-time RVer? What words did you use? What response did you get? Sometimes it takes guts to reveal your dream to anyone else. Well-meaning, usually positive and supportive loved ones will sometimes trounce on them in an attempt to keep you “safe.”
Here’s how I made my own announcement and some of the questions and comments I got:
Me: “I’ve decided I want to travel, so I’m buying an RV and hitting the road full time.”
Them: “Whatttt??? What are you going to do with your house and all your things?”
Me: “I’m going to lease it and store all the stuff I don’t sell and want to keep.”
Them: “Whattt??? Your house is going to get all torn up and what are you going to do when the tenant doesn’t pay the rent?”
Me: “I’ll screen them the best way I possibly can, but I’m not going to forget my dream just because I’m afraid of some of the details and what might happen. I’m going to expect the best, not the worst.”
Them: “Whattt??? But you’ve got to be realistic! And what are you going to do for money?”
Me: “I’m going to take temp jobs in places I want to visit and when I’ve seen everything I want to see there, I’ll move on to the next place I want to see.”
Them: “Whattt??? How do you know you’ll be able to get a job or that you’ll make enough money at it?”
Me: “I’ve never had a problem getting a job before and I’ve got good paralegal and people skills and references. There are temp agencies and lawyers everywhere, so I really don’t think that will be a problem.”
Them: “Whattt??? Aren’t you going to miss your kids and your mom? They need you – this whole thing sounds pretty irresponsible to me.”
Me: “They weren’t thrilled at first to have me so far away so much of the time, but thank God they love me enough to want me to follow my own heart. I believe it’s infinitely more responsible to set an example that shows them dreams can come true instead of an example of accepting defeat before you even try and settling for a life of less than what you can have.”
Over four years later now, I hear more envy in their voices than concern. Especially now that I’m starting a new venture that will allow me to make my living by traveling (my first love) and writing about it (my second love), I even hear my favorite word “inspiration” in connection to what I’m doing now more than ever. I often get emails from complete strangers who have seen my websites telling me how much strength they derived to follow their own dreams when they saw how I managed to find mine.
So, when faced with those doubting Thomas’, hit ’em with a quote from Fay Weldon: “If you do nothing unexpected, nothing unexpected happens.” Bless them and send them lots of updates and beautiful pictures of your adventures on the road. That’ll probably quiet the doubters real quick. Go for the unexpected.
##FT11
It almost sounds like it could have been written by Malia Lane.
Thank you, Angelack. I’ll bet you’re correct. That would coincide with when Malia started full-time RVing. I’ll double-check with Chuck (I didn’t start working for him until 2013, so wasn’t here when we first published that article). If he agrees, we’ll get her name on there. BTW, are you an administrator on the Forever Missed tribute page to her? It’s beautiful! We miss her. Take care. 🙂 –Diane
We have camped since our children were small, so the idea of going fulltime was in our head for years. We started talking about it then, so going fulltime wasn’t too surprising to our family. We were fortunate to be able to retire at a young age and our family just said be safe. They never tried to talk us out of it or call us crazy, but it probably was in their mind.
Peggy, same with us.
My family knew for years that we would go full-time. And our friends are envious. They also say that they want to do it also. I say, don’t wait, before you know it, it’s too late.