It’s been a while since we’ve posted here… ok A LONG TIME, but for good reasons. We had our two week trip down south this summer, some major life-changing family events, school starting up again, fixing up the RV, downsizing, and putting our house on the market. But EcoFamilyOdyssey is back and ready to hit the road soon!
Since the beginning of the summer, our plans have changed a bit (actually, several times, and for multiple reasons). Don’t worry, we’re still moving into the RV; In fact, our house was listed and we accepted an offer within a few days, so we are officially under contract and set to close the end of March. Before that, however, we still have a ton to do.
Downsizing and Purging:
We have unloaded a significant amount of “stuff”. Some of it was emotionally hard to get rid of, but most wasn’t; that just goes to show you how much we often have that we A. don’t need and B. doesn’t really “bring us joy” (I’m looking at you Marie Kondo).
We used several avenues to get rid of our “junk”. We donated to local animal shelters, veteran shelters, and other local charitable organizations; we tried to fit the items we had to the best organization so that we were sure they would be put to good use. I also sold A LOT on Facebook Marketplace (and still have more to do), but we also tried to give/sell to family and friends if we thought they could get use out of something. Lastly, we did throw out some stuff, but very little. We purchased one bagster and filled it, but it was honestly filled with mostly RV demolition materials.
We still have some extraneous things left in the house I plan on selling, and ALL of our furniture. We’re going to put together a list of how much we want for each item to see if the buyers are interested; If not, things will get interesting. We also need to get rid of the chickens, since the buyers do not want them; we have a possible interested party, but if you know anyone send us a line (custom built coop included!), and don’t worry, chickens will be in our future again!
But where are all of the items we’re keeping being stored? At the end of the fall, we rented a 10 X 10 storage unit and started filling it up. We guessed on the size, but knew we weren’t planning on keeping any of the furniture, so we went with a 10 X 10. We also didn’t want to get a size that encouraged us to keep more stuff than we needed. As of now, it’s almost full, so I think we’re going to have to go purge even more before we move out of the house. I would have to say, our daughter’s stuff has been the hardest to minimize, at least for me!
Listing the House:
We had been in contact with a real-estate agent friend (shout out to Lisa) since the summer about listing our house. Our goal was to list in January or February so that if we sold right away, we would try to get 60 or 90 days for closing; this way we wouldn’t be in the RV in the worst of winter. Because we had this plan since last spring (at least), we had been slowly working on things around the house to get it “listing ready”.
We had our real-estate agent come by in the fall to give us a market analysis, and she even took some outside pictures so it looked a little nicer than snowy, winter photos. After talking with her, the only thing we wanted to do (and the only thing we hadn’t touched in the house yet – besides the theater) was update the master bath a little. We painted, got a new faucet, light, and mirror. Then, after the new year and after we felt we had enough out of the house, we got in contact again and the paperwork started. On January 22, our house was listed and we had a showing within a minute of listing (actually, we had one before it was even listed as well).
The next few days were a whirlwind… keeping the house clean in the middle of winter with a toddler and a dog was interesting, but we also had several showings in a day (almost every hour), so I had to get out of the house with a toddler and a dog… where do you go in the middle of winter?!? Well, luckily it ended by Monday at noon; we already knew several people were interested, so we said we would accept offers until that time. We ended up with two offers (a third was pulled at the last minute), so we chose an offer and ended the showing madness!
Renovations on the RV:
We will certainly do a whole post on our RV renovations once they are done, or close to done, but for now, an overview. I have spent the last several months painting just about every surface in that RV. They always say, it’s amazing how a bucket of paint can change the feeling in a room, and that is especially true in RV’s. Although they are getting much better, any of you who have been in any sort of RV (with the exception of high-end RV’s), know that the decor is a bit…uninspired. But my biggest complaint about the finishes is that they always leave the interior dark (even if you have a ton of windows, which we have a decent amount of).
(check some before pics and detailed plans after our first trip in the RV)
My original plan was to start painting the RV when we returned from our trip down south this past summer, but some family events occured and our time was filled up with more important things. So, fall and winter came quickly, and I finally had some time to give to the RV. A few hours here and there for several months, and the RV is almost entirely painted (the walls and all of the cabinets).
The only space I haven’t touched yet is the bunkroom, but that shouldn’t take too long. I also had planned on painting the ceiling, and normally I would do that first (before the walls), but I really wanted to get paint on the walls and get the ball rolling, so the ceiling hasn’t happened yet. It is especially intimidating because there are a million things on an RV ceiling (vents, lights, smoke detectors, tv antennas…yup), so the taping alone would take several hours. As of now, it’s one of the last things on my list. At the very least I need to touch up some spots where I was sloppy because I thought I would be painting the ceiling.
We (Ryan) also completely ripped out the bathroom to make it feel a little more spacious; it is currently still gutted, but we have purchased our IKEA bathroom in entirety. Other renovations include: ripping out the backsplash in the kitchen, removing the countertops and sink in the kitchen, eliminating a bunk bed, taking out all of the window coverings, removing the “entertainment center”, creating a cat litter box space under the master bed, replacing the heavy paneling from the refrigerator and freezer doors, putting new floors in the bathroom, adding some wallpaper, and did I mention painting?
We still have several things to finish, but as I write this Ryan is installing the new sink in the kitchen. The bathroom is the biggest thing left to do, but of course the little things add up too. Our goal is to have the RV renovations complete (at least enough to live in it) by the end of February; this way we can focus on the house and moving out in March. All while raising a toddler (me) and working full-time (Ryan)… you know, life!
Our Future Plans:
Ok, now onto the meat and potatoes; what are our plans?!?
In all of these decisions we have been making lately, we have always tried to keep our current beliefs in check; our goal is to minimize our possessions and responsibilities so that we can spend more time enjoying each other and being a family, whether it be on the road, or in one location. We enjoy exploring and being outdoors and would love to do that in new places, but we certainly have plenty more to explore in our own backyard.
No matter how much we LOVE our current house, it was not sustainable for us to live in any longer financially (on 1 teacher’s salary), nor did it match our long-term goal of having a homestead. So moving into the RV remains a goal for us. We don’t NEED to move into the RV; we could buy a smaller house, or even rent, but we are choosing to move into the RV to simplify and to have freedom. Freedom to: move from place to place, go away for a long weekend, visit friends and family, travel for vacation, spend more time together, and for financial freedom. After we sell the house, we will have NO DEBT. This is huge for us, and we would like to keep it that way for the rest of our lives if possible.
Although my dream is to be on the road full-time as a family for the next year or more (our original plan), life happens and things change. We still have every intention on doing this in the near future, and perhaps it would be a little easier and more enjoyable with an older child; but, for now that plan is on hold. We will, however, be leaving on an epic, summer-long road trip to Maine as soon as school is out. Our route is roughly planned (which I’ll share in more detail in another post), and have some campgrounds booked. The plan is to take things slow, and enjoy time at each spot; we even have plans to meet up with some family and friends along the way!
When we return from our summer trip, we will continue to live in the RV and start looking for possible income properties to invest in. Ideally we will find something that we can live in for the winter while we fix it up, then begin renting it in the spring while we move back into the RV. A “rinse and repeat” scenario would be ideal for at least another year.
We are working on building some passive income through several avenues so as to broaden our financial security. If we are successful, perhaps in a few years we will be able to hit the road for longer than a summer. This will also help with our even longer-term goal of building a small house, mortgage-free, on 50 acres of family land; this will begin our dream of homesteading and becoming more self-sufficient.
So, there is a lot going on, and we know that things can change in an instant, but those are our plans for now. We hope to begin sharing our adventures weekly on the blog, so stay tuned for our odyssey! I’ve also been toying with the idea of YouTube for a while now; let me know what you think about the idea… would you like to see videos from us too?… because I need to add one more thing to our plates!
