Why I Chose to Live Full Time in an RV and What Pushed Me There

Well, happy holidays everyone. Here we are another holiday season. So Merry Christmas Happy Kwanzaa and happy first day of Hanukkah. I just had to look it up I thought I might have missed it, but it's the first day of Hanukkah So happy Hanukkah to all of you who celebrate Hanukkah and for those of you who don't really celebrate anything happy day Happy solstice. Yeah, we just hit winter solstice yesterday So happy winter solstice to you and I was gonna do my normal travel video I'm still working my way back down to the desert in video and What have been work trying to work on that but kind of busy traveling and instead of doing that today, though I thought what better time to tell the story of how I got here than the holiday season who doesn't like a good story During the holidays, right? So I've been getting a lot of I've been getting this question a lot lately a lot of people have been wanting to know What was it like the first few days out as a full-time RVer and what were the days leading up to it like What were those days like as well? And how did I get here? Like what did I do to plan? What was the impetus for getting me out here? And I know I've talked a little bit about that, but I've never really told the full story before so today It's gonna be a story time video and I'm gonna talk all about how I got here because I know a lot of you are Planning are thinking about coming out here Maybe you're even in the final stages and you want to know is this normal? What should I be feeling? What does everybody else feel? Oh my gosh, I'm terrified And so I'm gonna talk about all those things as well as give you a couple updates on some things coming up. Stay tuned Hi friendlies, I'm Carolyn and welcome to my RV life I live in an RV so that I don't have to pay pesky things like rent and mortgage that I can afford to do the Things I love like take off for two months and hike a trail if I want to take off for three weeks and go to New Zealand, which I'm gonna be doing here coming up pretty soon and Just really just be able to live the life. I want to live without having to worry about the cost of living in mainstream society and so that brings me before I get into my story of how I got here and why I'm living in an RV and what It was like to plan and lead up to it Couple announcements or a couple things that a lot of you have been curious about First of all, let me see. What was the first thing New Zealand? Yes. I am going to New Zealand in pretty soon and I Let me see. Oh and I'm gonna be doing a meetup. I have gotten I was really impressed with the the The response that I got about New Zealand. I couldn't believe how many people watch me from New Zealand. So I will be doing a Meetup in Christchurch, New Zealand, and I'm gonna announce those dates later So make sure you stay tuned for that, but I'm really excited. And yes, I'm doing both islands I'm doing nowhere in the North Island and the South Island. I'm doing some backpacking Not a lot like not like not like a month of backpacking. I'm doing a couple shorter trips I think the biggest one is like 24 miles that I have planned so far, but I'm leaving things open I don't like to plan a lot and I'm also gonna be spending about eight days traveling the South Island in a In a camper van and more on that coming up, but I am doing both islands There seems to be some confusion about that. But yes, stay tuned I'm gonna give you more information on that And the other thing I want to talk about is my live stream on Christmas Day as I said in my annual Are you gonna be alone on Christmas video? I'm gonna be doing a live stream on Christmas Day starting at 11 a.m Pacific Standard Time and what is that 2 o'clock Eastern Time a lot of you been asking how to join a live stream Well, I think I created a link So I'll put a link if there is one and if not, I'll tell you there isn't a link I'll put a link to the video in the description of this video So that at the time that I'm going live 11 o'clock Pacific Standard Time 2 o'clock Eastern Time All you have to do is click on the link and it'll automatically take you to the live stream Just like it's a normal video The only difference is on a live stream on the right hand side of the screen You'll see a chat box so you can ask me questions and I thought I thought why not have a little fun Keep it light and for this live stream I think it'll be just ask me anything ask me anything you want to know during this live stream so you can chat up there and And I will answer some of them. I'm not promising. I'm gonna answer every question. I get I probably won't But you can ask it doesn't hurt to ask right, but it can be about RV living It can be about backpacking. It can be about the shoes. It can be about traveling to New Zealand It can even be about me personally if you want to know anything and again I don't I can't guarantee that I'm gonna answer every personal question I get but Never hurts to ask right? You just never know. I've already I've already asked channel members patrons and people on the fan club what questions they might have for me and the fan club is free on Facebook if you want to join and I'm already getting some really really good questions And in fact so that brings me to today's story time one of the questions that I got Oh, I think in the fan club that and I've actually been seeing a lot lately And I think it warrants an entire video so that brings us to today's story time So why how did I get here what led me at I was 48 years old at the time led me to live in an RV and What was the process of giving up my sticks and bricks and giving up everything in the Bay Area to get an RV? What was it like the first you know days out on the road and the weeks leading up to it? I know some of you are really curious if you're thinking about doing this what that was like So I've always wanted to be a nomad I When I was 17 years old my dream was to just jump in the car and wait tables because that's what I was doing I was waiting tables at the time in high school. I ended up dropping out of high school, but what I That was just what I wanted to do, but that's not what you do right I mean it's 17 18 years old you're told no no no you need to get a career You need a job you need to be responsible and all the things that they tell you about chasing the American dream You're supposed to you don't want to succeed. You're supposed to want money. You're not supposed to want freedom. You're not supposed to want You're not supposed to not want things right and so I spent the next three decades of my life chasing the American dream I went back got my GED ended up going to community college graduating from a four-year University got a career got a house got a husband and I was miserable and Drinking myself to death you know in when was that the the big crash? When was that 90 gosh big crash of 2008 right so I was drinking literally drinking myself to death I weighed about 240 pounds. I wasn't happy. I was completely miserable here I had everything I thought I was supposed to want and I was miserable well You know in a lot of ways for a lot of us I think the crash of 2008 was a really good thing because it was a wake-up call Through no fault of my own chasing the American dream sure I could have saved more money I could have had more money in the bank. I could have had less debt. You know blah blah blah But I lost my job. We were all of a sudden overnight upside down in the house by a lot It was the mortgage was three hundred and twenty thousand and all of a sudden it was worth like a hundred and fifty they ended Up when we moved out they ended up reselling it for like a hundred and thirty-eight. I was ridiculous and so That ended up being a good thing I lost my job I decided to start a business and I became a marketing consultant and built a business over the next eight years ten years and left my husband and walked away from the house and When I did all those things I started getting myself back I started getting back the things that were important to me backpacking. I hadn't I didn't backpack the whole time. I was married Travel the first thing I did when I got a divorce is bought a new backpack and got a got a Passport and so over the next couple of years building my business one of the things that being a small business owner gave me was the freedom to start living my life my way if I Was making enough money I could take a month off And I did I took well the first time I took three and a half weeks off and went to Europe and then a few Years later. I took a whole month off and hiked the John Muir Trail And so being a small business owner kind of gave me the freedom to redefine my work life I was no longer tied 9 to 5 Monday through Friday Working my ass off for two weeks a year. I was now in control of my income I was in control in control of my work schedule I was in control of my life in a way that I had never been in control of my life before Now I think was Barbara Corcoran or one of the Sharks they have a Actually, I think it's the other one a QVC later They have a great saying that being an entrepreneur means that you can choose which 80 are you? Being an entrepreneur means you're willing to work 80 hours a week So you don't have to work 40 hours a week, and that's very true the first two years of my business I didn't do anything. I didn't go anywhere I worked my butt off to build a business and then after that when things started Stabilizing a little bit and the money was coming in I was able to start doing some of the things that I loved to do And so it was after I don't know I'd been in business How long maybe eight years and I took a month off to hike the John Muir Trail? And I was out on the trail for 26 days living out of a 60 liter backpack No flash 40 flash something like that 62 liter backpack, and I came back to my little apartment in Concord, California and It was an in-law unit it was about 600 or 700 square feet and in-law So I shared the yard with the owners, and so it wasn't really mine their whole house. They had a pool was glass It's not like I could really hang out out there. In fact. I wasn't even allowed to have friends over in the yard and You know Capone had a little doggy door out to the side with where the garbage goes and the fence And you know he I could leave the gate open so we'd go to the backyard But basically I came back to this Apartment and I looked around and I'm like I just survived lived thrived had a wonderful time Without any of the crap in this apartment I don't need any of this and yet. I just paid fourteen hundred dollars to store it while I was gone and I started rethinking my life in fact after the divorce I had moved like three times and the last time I moved I Didn't I made a conscious effort a conscious decision. I wasn't gonna buy anything new for the apartment I had already started getting more into a minimalist State of mind a more minimalist way of thinking I was like I don't need a new lamp that lamp I have works perfectly fine. I don't need new shelves the shelves. I have worked perfectly fine. I don't need The shoes came later But you know a lot of I don't need new comforter or new new duvet There's nothing wrong with the ones I have and I really started redefining Need versus want I'd find myself saying I need a new lamp, and I'd be like no you don't need a lamp You've got plenty of lamps. There's nothing wrong with this you want a lamp. There is a difference And so I'm not really sure why Maybe because the first time I moved out of the house when I left my husband I moved in a car and I think a pickup truck from a friend the second time it was like three pickup trucks from Friends and the last time I moved it was like a u-haul and a few pickup trucks And I'm like I don't need all this crap And I think that's when I decided that I was gonna stop buying so much So when I came back from my hike and I looked around and realized that I didn't need any of the crap in my apartment I hadn't needed it of course. I was on vacation so things like my computer and my work files and things like that I wouldn't need but it really just something switched something clicked in my head And I think maybe even before the trail, but I don't remember now I was already starting to think that the Bay Area life the rat race wasn't working for me. I had moved closer to San Francisco because I thought that would be better for my business and eventually what I realized was that the incremental Revenue for my business wasn't paying for the cost of living to live there So when I lived 30 miles further away from San Francisco my rent was half literally half as much I wasn't living in the best neighborhood, but my rent was half as much and But I was doing just fine there, and I my reasoning was if I move closer to San Francisco I'll get a a higher profile client I'll be able you know the small businesses that I was working with would be able to pay my rates And and that was my thinking and didn't quite work out that way like I said the cost of living skyrocketed Doubled moving closer to San Francisco But I wasn't necessarily seeing my income double and I just really started questioning everything Here I was spending thousands of dollars to live a standard of living that I needed in order to keep my business Alive or at least I thought I needed here. I was a marketing consultant selling success So I needed to look the part so I wasted a lot of money to look Look the part the mani-pedis the clothes the shoes the hair salons the expensive makeup and I mean just that the the expensive meals out and you know whining and dining clients a little bit and the networking that I was doing and The personal trainer the gym membership the personal trainer the chiropractor the acupuncturist I mean literally those are all the things I was paying for I was spending a lot of money I was making good money and I had no money in the bank and I'm like there is something wrong with this picture when I was looking at my My taxes at the end of the year and seeing how much money I was making I was like there's something wrong here I mean I could be living like a queen somewhere else in the country why am I living paycheck to paycheck and So I don't know my priorities just started switching I started really again thinking need versus want how much of this do I really need versus just a want and I started Fantasizing about living another way I thought I might move away from the Bay Area and just simplify my life downscale my business so that I wouldn't have to work as much to support my standard of living and I thought you know I'll grab my backpack and just disappear into a national forest and live off the land I literally thought about doing that. I think you've heard this so anyway I think a lot of this you've all heard Basically I ended up cashing out what was left of my 401k which was 10,000 well I got 10,000 by the time I paid all the penalties and everything and Bought a an RV a 19. What was it 92 RV for $8,000 I can't remember when I decided to do that I got off the trail in September and by February 1st I had the RV so it happened kind of fast And then from there. I just started putting my belongings on Craigslist The big things you know like I had a nice bed. I had a nice bedroom set I had a nice living room set things like that. I just started putting on Craigslist what I didn't sell on Craigslist I Decided I was gonna have a garage sale So I I bought the RV in February brought it home parked it on the street in front of the house Texted my landlord, and I'm like I have something to tell you Texted back, and he's like if it's about the RV. It's fine. You can park it there, and I'm like no It's a little bit more than that. I'm giving my 30-day notice, and he was like oh okay, and Actually, I think I gave and he's like we will he texted back, and he's like oh shoot. We're going abroad They had planned like a six-week vacation in Italy or something like that And we're gonna be leaving right about that time and so what happened and it actually worked out really well I said you know what I'll stick around. I'll help you move in a new tenant I'll definitely you know make sure it's clean if you want to bring anybody into pain or whatever I'll manage that for you They had a pretty big backyard, and I said I'll just park the rig in the backyard And kind of be your house sitter while you're gone, and so what happened is within 30 days I was out of my apartment. I parked the rig in the backyard and within 30 days. I had sold everything I had a big garage sale. I think one day. I mean and I was selling like Expense it was it was hard. It was really hard. I was selling like my Michael Kaur $200 handbags for like 30 bucks You know some nice and Klein suits and shoes and stuff for like dirt cheap, and that was a little tough That was a little tough, but I didn't care it wasn't about the money really I just wanted to get rid of everything, but what I didn't sell at the garage sale I took to Goodwill there were like two carloads of stuff I literally just got rid of everything that didn't that I didn't need in my RV It was a 29 foot RV So I was able to you know I had quite a bit of storage But I didn't save anything that I didn't absolutely necessarily need I have like a suitcase full of personal items Journals and mementos like literally like one big suitcase full of that stuff And that was about it a few dishes three like three knives three forks three spoons I don't know why three Three plates, so I did bring some of like my glassware and stuff like that which hasn't made it It's gone now, but whatever I didn't need in my RV I got rid of and so I had an empty apartment and for the next two or three weeks They ended up hiring a house sitter a guy a friend of theirs that they knew who pretty much always did the house-sitting for Them because they had a dog and everything to watch the dog so for three weeks I lived in the backyard of their house Which was really good because it gave me the opportunity to learn how to live in my RV with full hookups I mean I had well I had water I had electricity, and then I would take weekend trips out to Campgrounds in the winter I would go out to campgrounds, and I think actually I think only one time I went out on a trip to a campground again Just to learn how to dump my tanks learn how to fill it up learn how to use the electrical outlet in a campground And then I would come back to the safety of the backyard, so it was kind of it was interesting I remember the first time I walked in the RV that I bought and just kind of like looking around and standing there and going I can live in this It's like what 200 square feet 600 square feet my kitchen in the apartment was itty-bitty tiny Actually the kitchen I have now really is not that much smaller than the kitchen I had in that apartment it was a tiny little in-law kitchen and I just looked around and I'm like I think I can live in here I think I can do this after about three weeks. Maybe a month of living in the backyard I decided it was time to go. I was really getting stir-crazy. Just living in the backyard I still did have my car that it was you know a 2006 car that I had bought brand-new that was paid off, and I decided I was gonna put that in storage so I put it in storage and Decided I needed to go I had had enough a couple of the resources that I used in the beginning were Campendium and free campsites net to find campsites. There was also one. That's not around anymore That was like a listing it was almost like a just a plain old spreadsheet of places that you might be able to stealth camp I can't like I can't remember even what it was called now. I wish I could find my notes I have notes and journals it might be on an old computer somewhere But those were my resources and Bob Wells website Bob Wells wasn't making of cheap RV living calm He wasn't making videos yet and so his website I used a lot for a lot of the information on how to do this and and back to Moving into an RV my my really number one Motivator for that was Eric nomadic fanatic He was the only one like really making videos at the time who was of working age Who wasn't retired? Who was just a young guy? Living in an RV going around the country doing his thing and making videos And I was like, oh my god, you can do that. You can live in an RV. Are you kidding me? So it was him it was him and I am I might even have found him first and then through him found Bob Wells of cheap RV living calm website Yeah It must have been because I didn't know you could live in an RV until I stumbled upon nomadic fanatic and I stumbled upon nomadic Fanatic by looking at off-grid living and tiny home living because that's another thing I was thinking about So, um, yeah when I discovered that people live in RVs I was like, oh my gosh, that's brilliant. Yes so When I decided to leave the backyard, I didn't know where I was going. I remember just unplugging the rig You know looking over at Capone and be like you ready? Here we go This is it We're like driving away from our life. Like what am I doing? Oh my god. I'm crazy This is insane. What was I think? You know I mean I remember driving out the backyard and driving up to the gate and having to get out and unlock the gate In fact, I think I may have written a blog about this. I'll put a link down below on my website I think I did and Yeah thinking what am I doing I have a good life this is crazy What have I done people don't do this there's something wrong with me and I had no idea even where I was gonna sleep that night and But I was like, no, I'm doing it my thinking throughout the whole process and especially Sitting in my driver's seat driving out that back gate for the first for the last time. I Thought screw it. You know what if it doesn't work, I'll come back That was part of the reason I saved my car because I was like well I can't show up to client meetings Matilda in case you guys were with me with Matilda She certainly didn't look like the picture of success. Did she? People would be like what the hell nobody would hire me driving up to meetings with Matilda. And so I saved my car Just in case I needed to come back and that was my that was my thing And I think that's my thing with a lot of things if I don't like it I just I won't do it anymore if it doesn't work out. I can go back no harm No foul, especially since I didn't have a house anymore. It was like My thinking was as far as budget. I was paying $1,500 to your 14 or 15. I can't remember now rent for the apartment, but with everything else Let's say $2,000 a month probably more than that even for my standard of living the way I looked at it even with when I cashed out the 401k I was like it'll take me five months to pay back the 401k because that's $2,000 I'm still earning because I still have my clients I think I I think I didn't finish that story about the clients, but I'll get back to that I'm still me. I'm still earning what I was earning before I'm still earning the same amount of money only I don't have to pay 2,000 plus dollars a month for a standard of living you know and I did a spreadsheet And I figured out what's gas gonna cost me at 8 you know 8 Gallons 8 miles to the gallon you know my insurance for the RV other expenses dump station fees and stuff like that and I figured that I Can't remember, but I did a spreadsheet. What are all my costs now? What am I you know my personal trainers my acupuncture my gym membership my my hair? appointments all the things that that I paid were in one column and all of the Expenses for living in an RV, and I think I should have been a thousand dollars ahead Let's say I don't remember I think I should have been about a thousand dollars ahead living in an RV, so I thought okay Well a thousand dollars ahead. Maybe I shouldn't wouldn't be able to pay off my payback my 401k in In a couple of months, but it you know I should be able to pay it off in less than a year That was the thinking and as many of you know who are with me through Matilda I ended up dumping about $20,000 into Matilda So there went all of that But the way I looked at it's like that's what I would have paid for rent anyway And I had a lot more fun I got to go where I wanted and do the things I wanted to do and Really have a lot of adventures back to how I was able to earn a living on the road I my goal was to go back to the Bay Area It as often as I needed to meet with clients And I did do that for a few months or a couple of months, so I left the backyard April 1st and I Really did I got really good within I don't know two or three mile radius of the San Francisco Bay Area not only finding Boondocking, but I did a lot of stealth camping my very first night. I ended up leaving the backyard going. What am I doing? This is crazy, but if it doesn't work out. I can always go back not a big deal No harm No foul with the money you know I can live out in the National Forest for two months to save enough money to Put a down payment on an apartment to get a new apartment. Not a big deal. No harm. No foul, right? I mean, what's the big deal? I can always start all over again didn't matter and So I left Concord, California that night and Drove where did I go? I don't know why I decided like Fairfield, California. That's where I had my house I decided I was gonna go there and drive around and see if I could find some cool stealth Camping spots around there, and I did that's where I spent the night. I ended up finding a New housing development they were building new houses and at the end of a construction road I went out there and parked and I think I spent two or three nights out there before I went I started exploring the Sacramento area the I went even down toward Gilroy area and Just really within probably two or three mile radius of the San Francisco Bay Area I got really really good for the first month or so of stealth camping and going out to El Dorado National Forest in the National Forest in around Sacramento and things like that and in fact, I'll put a link to my blog I do have some blog posts about some of those because when I first started this I had no Intention never thought I was gonna make videos, and I was doing blogs and now I here. I am almost four years later Well, we see where are we December? Yeah? Well two years. No three years at eight months later here. I am Living the dream once I left the backyard and spent the first month or so Traveling around still do I did a lot of stealth camping and that's why a I've said before the first year of my life I had five or the first six months of my RV life I had like five or six knocks on my door because I don't know I thought I was flying under the radar for some reason I thought I was invisible, and I thought you know I mean to give myself a little bit of credit I thought even if I saw a no parking sign on private property I'm like that then I'm not gonna care if I just park my rig here. I'm just parking my rig here Well, I was wrong they do care So I don't recommend parking on private property anymore. I really thought that I could get away with it I really thought you know they're there. Why do they care if I'm just parked here, but They care So I got a lot of knocks on my door, and I don't do as much stealth camping what happened is I? again Bob's website cheap RV living comm website was my kind of go-to source for everything and you know residency and mail and You know even I think I learned about Campendium from him and how to find campsites Campendium was another app or website to help find free camping spots like free campsites net which is what I use now exclusively and And he was having a summer rubber tramp rendezvous in Flagstaff, Arizona And I knew I didn't necessarily want to do this alone I knew that this would be a very isolating life, and I really did want to meet people I wanted community I didn't start out wanting to do this completely alone like I have I don't know how that evolved I don't know how that happened I think what happened is I I went to that that Flagstaff RTR And when was that that was in June so April? Oh, so I was only on the road two months when I went to that and the really the only friend. I made was Bob Actually no, that's not true. I made another friend another guy and We but we never really traveled together But almost everybody else I met weren't full-time Yeah, so most of the people I met were Hoping to get out on the road someday. They weren't on the road yet, and And I don't know I guess I just didn't really connect with anybody else and the RTR got split up early, too That's part of the probably you know what that's probably why I think we were only there two days and the RTR got split up because law enforcement came and kicked us out and so we all split up in smaller groups and But Bob and I became friends, and I left Flagstaff After the RTR I ended up staying there a couple of weeks and then Bob and I Ended up traveling together again like sometime in August I think or late late July or something we saw each other again in Oregon or something But other than that I've been completely on my own for almost four years this year I am making more friends, but that's my story. That's how I got here. That is my story of Selling everything I had in the San Francisco Bay Area and learning to live on the road the other one more thing about work is that When all of my clients so a couple things And I'm gonna talk about this because I know some of you might be you know kind of facing the same situations, but so in addition to the I think I had three clients when I hit the road and My I didn't tell any of them that I was doing this because I didn't think they would I knew one in particular my biggest Client which was you know 60-70% of my income I knew she wasn't gonna get it I knew that if I told her I was living in an RV She would think I wasn't working because I used to work for her And she didn't even like the idea of us working from home because she didn't think that we would really work from home Anybody who works from home knows that you actually work a lot more when you work from home, right? So I knew she wasn't gonna understand me living in an RV and working for her as a consultant And so I didn't tell anybody and I still like three clients and everybody knows like when you own a business You never stop selling and you never never stop marketing what I was gonna. Do is do Contract work. I wanted to work less. That was really my goal I was like, you know, I don't my cost of living is going way down. I don't need to work as much I don't need to get the high ticket, you know, I don't need to get the rates I'm getting now in the San Francisco Bay Area I knew I wouldn't probably And so I was gonna do contract work like up work and some of the other websites that are that are out there for contractors For social media or I even built a couple of websites and you know, just little projects and stuff like that And I was worried though. How competitive are those websites? How easy is it gonna be for me to get work? I did end up getting two or three new clients while I was on the road And then when my contracts came up for my existing clients I changed their contracts and lowered their cost for them to never want me to be there in person I was like, you know what? I want to do all my work remote now and I'll charge you less if that's okay and it worked out and so That's what I continue to do work with my existing clients and bring and do small projects through like up work and other things like that and continue to do that until I started making videos and and we all know the story of the videos things just took off a lot faster than I thought they would and And that became my job and I am so happy I love making videos I get to be a travel vlogger How awesome is travel and lifestyle? I mean, I do think of myself as much more than a travel vlogger I think of myself more as someone who gets to share herself in order to inspire and motivate people with travel is kind of the backdrop and That's my story So I babbled on long enough But I know a lot of you have been really curious about my story and I do think that there's a lot of tidbits In there that could help some of you if you're aspiring to live this lifestyle or if you already do and so that's it I will see you on What when's Christmas Wednesday? Anyway, Christmas Day. I will see you for the live stream I'm gonna put a link in the video description below But if there's not a link there, then all you have to do is go to my channel at 11 a.m Pacific time on Christmas Day and the live stream will be there It'll look just like a regular video and you'll be able to click on the right hand side to comment and ask me your questions Remember, it's gonna be ask me anything. So I'll see you there. Thanks for listening I hope you enjoyed hearing how this all started and I will see you soon Happy holidays Hanukkah Kwanzaa, whatever you celebrate and I'll see you soon in the meantime From my camp my beautiful boondocking spot. I'll see you soon in the meantime be happy be free and be kind I'll see you soon