Bye-Bye RV Life

Is the RV life trend over?

I don’t think so. The RV lifestyle is not new. It’s been around for a long time. The pandemic made it popular. People, families, young – older, working, retired you name it those have done it. Living your life in a small movable space has been around since horses and carriages or wagons if you will.

When you want to find a different place to live, but not sure where you want to go, what better way than to wander and discover something new along the way. Afterall, it’s about the journey not the destination. Right?

A lot of YouTubers who made money pushing the RV lifestyle are buying land, buying houses, and coming off the road. Many say, hey it’s over. No, darling it’s called shifting your life. Most had been on the road for 5 to 10 years. As I have written in past posts, It’s not forever. At some point most find a permanent place to call home and shift plans. Some by choice, some not. And it’s been like that for a very long time. Long before the pandemic. Living life on the road is an option. If you can find a way to support your life and make money, it’s great. My greatest memories were made with Wolf on the road. We had some epic adventures in our short 2-year RV lifestyle. I am happy and blessed we did it when we did. I think it was the best time of his life. If he was still with us, I think we’d still be going.

So, what’s MY plan?

I think I’m done with traveling in the RV. At least for now. You know, I did it in 2025, my first year without Wolf. Truth be told. I was bored. I went to a comfortable, familiar place. Richfield, UT. Love that town. I could live there – almost. The Monroe fire broke out and it was miserable. I had to leave. The smoke was just too much. It was bothering me and the dogs. So, we left. I stayed homebound until October of 2025.

I went to my usual winter spot and had a great time. I enjoyed it. Socialized and made new friendships I cherish. After the season was over and everyone departed to their selective summer spots. I came home.

My decision to stay home started out because of the fires of 2026. The places I had “planned” to visit were on fire. I wasn’t going to deal with that again. Not worth it to me. After the fires calmed down, El Niño cropped up a whole new set of weather issues. I wasn’t/am not interested in dealing with crazy weather. The need to travel just wasn’t important. I kind of lost interest in it. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I was perfectly fine at home. I am a homebody at heart. Not really a gotta get out and go type of a gal. Other issues came up with my dogs and I couldn’t go anywhere, even if I wanted to. That’s another post. Long story.

During this time at home base, things changed. My mindset changed. 2025 had been a year of growth, firsts, and coming into my own – my way. Life started coming full circle and it landed at me. Me. Just me. This is the first time EVER in my adult life I had no one to consider about any choice I wanted to make. About anything. It felt fantastic! It felt like I finished writing a book. That book was done. It was time to switch genres and write something new – a life I had never experienced. Ever. My love to do crafty things came back. My love to decorate with thrift store finds came back. Browsing around the thrift store was a blast again. I was having a great time. Of course, buying a bunch of crap I had no clue what to do with – I didn’t have a house to put all this stuff in, but I loved it and had to have it. That’s what it’s about. Nothing like treasure hunting for stuff from the past.

I started building inventory. Haahaa. I needed a place to put my treasured finds. Vintage is hot right now. What’s old is new again. Thrift stores are thriving. After going through some boxes my brother had packed up I found a slew of vintage treasures from my childhood and stuff that was my mother’s. I felt like I had a day at the thrift/antique store. That’s another post.

I had craft supplies I never used that were boxed up and stored in the spare room at my son’s house. It was the place I kept things I didn’t want to get rid of. It was basically a storage room. A few pieces my son didn’t want but didn’t know what to do with them were moved into the room. You couldn’t even walk into that room. It was navigating in a very narrow challenging space. I started buying tubs off Amazon for my treasures and stacking them in the dining room that is never used. Something had to change.

After, weighing my options and having discussions with myself (ha who else am I going to talk to besides the dogs) I realized in my heart. I didn’t want to travel in the motorhome. I can drive it; I don’t have issues with that. It physically takes a lot out of me. With 3 dogs, 2 of them old, one of them crazy. I didn’t want to deal with it. Driving, setting up, dealing with the dogs and other people, and other dogs around. Lost it’s lust. Plus, I can’t really do anything. I have the dogs that I couldn’t leave alone for any length of time, and I don’t have a tow vehicle to go in. Dealing with mechanical issues if they came up would be a challenge with the dogs and a female alone. I felt I was adding too much stress to myself and for what?

Me and Wolf, we were a team. Traveling wasn’t difficult. We did and dealt with everything together. Alone, eh, different story. A lot of females travel alone and they do fine. I applaud them. It’s just not something I want to tackle.

I spoke with my son. I told him I didn’t want to travel anymore, and I was going to stay home. I asked him and said to be honest. I wouldn’t be offended. Would he be okay with me here? I would be OK with getting a place of my own. He said that it’s cheaper for both if I stay here. He is also single and touts it is golden. (His personal choice. No room for drama) With me here it would be easier for him to take road trips (he’s a truck driver) where he makes more money. I can help with his dogs, where before he would have to coordinate with family to come by feed and let them out. Also, this house needs a lot of work. He needs money for that. It was hard for him not having a set work schedule to coordinate appointments for contractors to come by, or for him to plan times to fix things. With me here he could that. If I can fix something I will. If not, I’m here for estimates. It works out, he pays his bills and the house bills. I pay my bills and buy groceries (in today’s economy that’s more than the cost of rent) I cook dinner, keep the house clean and take care of his dogs when he’s working. It’s a win-win for both. He does his thing; I do my thing and no roommates to deal with.

During this conversation I told him I wanted to get a place of my own because I wanted to decorate. He laughed and said I can do whatever I want. Just don’t touch his den or bedroom. Not a problem. I had the green light and I was off! I am having a blast and honestly, it is so liberating to go into a room and decide how I want to arrange or redo something and I don’t have to discuss it with ANYBODY! Seriously, it is the best feeling ever! I am keeping the tone practical; it is his house after all. If it was just my house. It would be pink and glitter! 😉

This part of my book is flippin awesome! I can’t contain my excitement or express it enough. HA!

I started with my spare room. I took everything out. Alone, it took me a month and half? I mentioned to my son. I don’t have the stamina like I used to. I can’t gut, paint and redo a floor in a weekend like I used to. It would take a while. He didn’t care about all the stuff piled up in the living room. He doesn’t use the room anyway. I would clear an area, cut and pull the carpet and padding, paint the wall. Then I would move to the next wall the next day or two and repeat. When the walls were painted and the carpet was all out.I installed tile. I used the 12×12 peel and stick flooring. I had a few boxes laying around and decided to use them up. Plus, I was on a super tight budget and used what was leftover from previous, unfinished and not started projects. The room is 12ft x 12ft. I started at the end of June and finished mid-August. Several rest days in between – and caring for the little one. It took some time to finish. I am so happy to have my craft room back. I’m a doodle crafter. I see something on Pinterest and I make it. I sew, I paint, I craft. It’s fun and I am really enjoying life right now. The room is a complete mess, but actually it’s projects in the works. I’m still going through packed boxes. Some from my brother. Moving things around, organizing – reorganizing. it’s fun. I keep myself busy.

I still want to do road-trips and see places I want to visit. Just not all the time and I’m not sure I want to do it in the motorhome. I do have a phobia of hotels and public restrooms to deal with, there is that. Maybe I’ll get a small Class B van. I really miss my mini van. You have no idea. I have also thought about selling the motorhome and getting a travel trailer and leaving it at the winter spot. Visiting winter friends for a few days. I would have to look at finances if I could afford it. I will have to think it over before making any final decisions. Who knows – next year I may decide to hit the road again.

I have been so occupied with things this past summer I forgot about this blog completely. I have more to share about my fur babies and crafty stuff. It’s possible there might be another blog out this month. If all goes well. No set plans, just doing my thing day by day.