HOW ONE NIGHT IN AN RV CONVINCED ME TO BECOME A FULL TIME RVer
Updated: Aug 29, 2019
I have never met Liz but I have read her book and watched some of her videos and lI have to say I love her. She is funny, real and a go-getter. All things I like in a person. So I reached out to her and ask if she would write a post for you guys on how she got started in the RV life. She travels with her husband and young daughter.
I enjoy her writing style and loved reading her story. I secretly hope we can one day be friends. (I guess the secrets out now.) We are both speakers at the Make Money and RV Summit. A FREE virtual summit with tons of speakers all talking about earning money from your RV. Find out more here.
If you want to see more stories from RVers on how they got started in the RV life leave me a comment below and I will work to find some more folks to guest post. Without further ado how 1 night in a rental lead to full time RVing..
Lix Wilcox of The Virtual Campground
I’m a people person.
I go to farmer’s markets because I love talking with the growers. I chat with strangers until my voice goes hoarse.
And I’m always open to something “against the grain.”
So when my family was moving cross-country a few years ago and the sale of our future house fell through… well I knew I needed to think outside the box.
My husband had just gotten home from a yearlong tour in Afghanistan. He was quickly assigned to a new duty station. It would be a four-day cross-country trek and I was looking on AirBnB for places to stay along the way. Since it would just be me and my daughter on the first night, I was looking for something small and inexpensive.
So there I was, scrolling through the internet when I came across a vintage trailer for rent. It was $30 for the night.
Just the day before, the deal on our house had fallen through. We were moving to … well, nothing.
Our only plan was to rent a hotel until we figured out what to do. Awesome, right?
My husband had joked that we should move into an RV when we got to Alabama. He said lots of people do it in the South. It would be a great way to simplify our life and save money.
Simplification and savings. Hmm, I thought, two of my favorite things.
So I stared at the computer screen, the little RV rent staring right back at me. It was just enough room for my daughter and me, hella-affordable and in a great location to top it off.
The little RV rental also had been booked many times before with rave reviews from both the renters and hostess.
I was sold.
About an hour later, my booking was confirmed by the hostess. She gave me a call and said she was excited to accommodate me the very next day. We chatted for a bit and I felt even more comfortable once the conversation was over. It was nice to hear the enthusiasm in her voice and to learn about her preparations for my stay.
I was curious: Would I actually love my husband’s idea of buying and living in an RV? I had never been inside a camper, but loved the idea of small living. Test driving the lifestyle (even for one night) in someone else’s RV was just the thing I needed to make a decision.
As you can guess, I thought the camper was awesome. It was a super cute vintage travel trailer with all the amenities you would expect. The AC was cold, the bed was comfy and there was even wifi and cable. But it was also so much more than that.
I got to know the hostess. Unlike at a hotel, where the concierge has hundreds of different people to please, my host were there just for me, ready and willing to answer all my questions about RV life.
The more I got to know my hostess and hear her camping stories, the more pleased I was with my idea to rent this thing— and the more I leaned towards buying an RV of my own.
This experience gave me an opportunity to meet someone knowledgeable, stay in an amazing RV, learn its systems, and discover a whole new way of living. It showed me that while the RV was smaller than a traditional house, it was just the right size for me and my family. During that short time in Erie, PA, I fell in love — and decided to become an RVer.
Fast forward three years and I’m still happily living in an RV full time.
We’ve been stationary, traveled full-time, and are now weekend warriors. We’ve really tried all ways of RV life!
It’s crazy to think that it all started with simply renting out someone else’s RV.o
Author Bio: Author of Tales From the Black Tank, Liz Wilcox is an Army wife turned RV entrepreneur. When she’s not out exploring the United States with her family, you can find her telling jokes and swapping campfire stories. She is a firm believer in the power of the campfire. At the end of 2017, she gave up personal space in return for personal freedom, hitting the road in a 2007 Jayco Greyhawk. As a full-time RVer, she has a passion for creating community among campers of all kinds through humor and storytelling. You can learn more and become part of her community at The Virtual Campground.