Five Years on the Road

It is hard to believe that it has been a little over 5 years since we started full time RVing. To be honest, I am not sure what date to use for this anniversary. We officially moved into the RV on Labor Day, 9/2/19 but I worked remotely for a couple more weeks and didn’t officially retire until 9/20/19. We stayed at the campground for another couple of weeks finalizing work on the RV before we started traveling on 10/8/19. So, am I a month late in celebrating or do I use the October date? Either way, in a way it seems like yesterday and in another way, it feels like we have always lived this way.

leaving kalyumet campground in pa to start our exploring tomorrows journey

When we planned for our retirement, we said we would spend 5 years traveling the lower 48 states and then decide where to live out the rest of our retirement years. Well, we didn’t quite meet that goal, as we have only traveled to 33 states with the RV so far. That is still quite a few over 5 years and we have certainly enjoyed traveling and seeing many beautiful places in this country.

We have been from sea to shining sea and have seen the purple mountains majesty. I have to say that I have really enjoyed our travels and have loved seeing our beautiful country. I have also highly enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people along the way. One of our favorites things to do when traveling is to visit hidden gems and popular local hangouts. Tim and I both enjoy meeting and getting to know people throughout our travels. To be honest, you don’t need to go to expensive tourist spots to enjoy a different part of the country. Instead, go to a local diner or bar and ask people what the best things are to do in their home town. You will get great suggestions that are often free or much lower cost than the tourist trap areas.

One key to successful RV living is to be flexible and willing to change your plans. As you know, things happen! Take our plans for this fall for example. Our initial plans included taking a different route south to Florida for the winter. We were going to go a little bit west from the more direct route and start in Ohio then down to West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and into North Carolina. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans and after Hurricane Helene, we changed our plans and just headed straight down I-79 instead.

We didn’t have reservations and luckily had no issues getting into Briarpoint Campground at Stonewall Resort. This is a State Park campground that is located on a resort property with a beautiful lake. The initial plan was to stop there for one night, then head on south into Virginia. After we got there, the rains from Helene were expected along our route for the next couple of days so we asked if we could stay a few extra nights. Luckily, that wasn’t an issue and not only did we get 2 more nights, but got them at a discounted rate.

view of the campground across the lake from the resort

This was a quiet campground where you can enjoy the West Virginia mountains, the lake, and of course the resort property. We took advantage of the resort for a few meals and evening cocktails by the campfire. In the local town, we found a pretty cool historic site that was worth a visit. The Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylumin in Westin, WV is a National Historic Landmark that served as a sanctuary for the mentally ill beginning in the mid 1800s. This hospital has a very interesting history and offers many tours, including a ghost tour. We took one of the historic tours and it was quite interesting although the treatments that they felt were humane at the time seemed pretty extreme and brutal to me.

I was glad we stopped for a couple of days so we got to spend a little time in West Virginia. Even though our very first stop back in 2019 was in West Virginia, we only stayed one night that time. The next time through a couple of years later was also only a one night stop. It was nice visiting this time for a few extra nights. West Virginia is a beautiful state and enjoyable even during rainy days. After this stay, we headed further south to North Carolina and stayed east of the area impacted by Hurricane Helene.

when we were traveling in the same vehicle, i took pictures of the welcome signs as we entered a new state. this is the first one that i took.

our first stop on the road; a koa in west virginia.

This lifestyle isn’t all roses though. First there is the stress and worry of impacts from weather, then there is the work. Traveling with an RV is a lot of work, especially on travel days; the tear down, driving stress, and then set up is definitely work . RVs also provide many projects; especially when traveling, stuff breaks and needs to be repaired. There are also challenges living in a small space - little room for your stuff and let’s face it, we all have too much stuff. Also, you had better really like your partner because you are together in that small space all the time.

RV travel can also get tiring after a while. This past year, our fifth on the road, we traveled for 9 1/2 months. In the past 5 years, that was the most we traveled in a 12 month period. Usually we stay in one place for a few months in the winter and then again in the summer. We were both exhausted when we got back to Pennsylvania at the end of May and just wanted to stay still for awhile.

Since our initial plan was to travel for 5 years, we felt it was time to assess if this was the time to quit. Over the 5 years, I have really learned to love the minimalist lifestyle so if we decide to buy a house, I would want something small. I am not sure if Tim agrees; he really misses the homes that we had, especially the one in Zanesville, OH. With the high interest rates, this isn’t the best time to buy so we decided that we need to wait a little while for that.

I also still want to travel a bit and love having an RV. So when I got a call from Thousand Trails Three Flags that an annual site was available to us, I thought was should seriously consider it. We had been on their waiting list for a couple of years and the timing of us coming to the top of the list seemed perfect. We have 2 RVs and already had a lease at Shady Acres in Pennsylvania. This would give us a lease in Florida so 2 home bases, one north for the summer and one south for the winter.

After a bit of discussion of what would be best, Tim and I decided to sign the lease. So we now have 2 home bases and will be snow birds at least for a few years. This allows us to still live the RV lifestyle, do some traveling in the spring and fall, and have spots for longer stays. We don’t know if we will reach the initial goal of visiting the lower 48 in the RV and we are ok with that. Who knows what the future will bring, so for now we will continue enjoying life and taking it one day at a time.

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Exploring Tomorrows

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