If you’ve been following along with our recent updates, you know our family is about to make a pretty dramatic shift. We’re going from a five-bedroom house to living full-time in a travel trailer. Yep… it’s a big change. Moving to RV life. One that comes with excitement, stress, curiosity, and more than a few “what are we doing?” moments.
A lot of people have asked why we would choose RV life, especially with kids. The truth is, there isn’t just one answer. There are a lot of reasons behind the decision, and right now we’re still very much in the middle of figuring it all out.
Why We Chose RV Life
To be completely honest, the housing market right now is rough. That was definitely part of the decision.
But there was another factor too. I told my husband that I was tired of buying a house, living in it for two to four years, and then packing everything up to move again. We’ve done that cycle more times than I care to count.
At some point I realized something: if moving every few years is going to happen anyway, why not make it easier?
With an RV, the house moves with us. If we want a change of scenery, we pack up and go. My husband loves new experiences and places, so this gives him that dopamine hit he’s always chasing without us having to completely start over every time.
Eventually, he agreed to give it a try.
If you want a laughable look at all our chaos throughout our homeschool journey, check out my book, Schooling At Home with Nerds: Stories of Chaos, Creativity, and Choosing Joy in Homeschool Life
What We’re Keeping, Selling, and Storing
Downsizing from a full house into a travel trailer means making some hard decisions about what comes with us.
Luckily, my mother-in-law has offered to store a lot of our belongings while we test out RV life. That’s been a huge blessing. Most of our furniture and large items will stay with her, and they’ll even be used when we visit.
Right now I’ve been sorting everything into a few categories:
- Store it – furniture and larger household items
- Sell it – things that still have value but we don’t use anymore
- Donate it – items that aren’t worth selling but could still help someone else
For example, we’re selling things like my husband’s hunting equipment and my oldest son’s drum set—items that either aren’t used much anymore or simply won’t fit into RV life.
If it can’t realistically come with us, it has to go somewhere else.
The Hardest Part of Downsizing
The kids’ stuff.
Seriously… how do they accumulate so many toys?
Even with me doing a purge every six months, they still seem to have an unbelievable amount of things. It’s like toys multiply overnight.
Trying to narrow everything down to what can fit into a travel trailer has been… an adventure.
Organizing Life Inside an RV
If there’s one thing I’ve always been good at, it’s organizing.
Maybe that’s partly my OCD showing up, because I’ll admit I get a little irritated when people mess with my organized systems. That will probably be one of my personal challenges during RV life—learning not to let the need for organization turn me into the angry, overly stressed mom.
My goal is to keep things simple and functional.
Right now my plan includes things like:
- Color-coded bins for each child’s clothing
- One small toy basket per kid
- A shared bin for art supplies
Thankfully the 32-foot travel trailer we chose actually has quite a bit of built-in storage, which should help a lot.
Learning to Live More Minimally
Packing up, downsizing, and moving into a travel trailer is a huge adjustment for our family. It’s definitely one of those hard seasons, but I try to keep perspective using strategies I shared in How to Homeschool in Hard Seasons Without Losing Yourself.
At heart, I’ve always leaned toward minimalism… with one major exception.
My books.
Letting go of books has been one of the hardest parts of this entire process.
But I’m hopeful that living in a travel trailer will help all of us learn the difference between needs and wants, especially for the kids and my husband. When space is limited, you naturally become more intentional about what you bring into your home.
Balancing Work, School, and Life in a Small Space
This might actually be one of THE biggest challenges for me.
Even in our five-bedroom house, it’s hard to get uninterrupted work time while homeschooling. I’ve written about how to maintain your own identity and passions while managing motherhood in my post, Motherhood Isn’t All You Are, which has some tips I’m keeping in mind as we move into RV life.
I’ve been writing seriously for almost a year now, and somehow my family still doesn’t quite understand that when I’m sitting at my desk with my laptop open, I’m working.
The moment I open the laptop, it’s like a signal goes out:
“Mom is available. Ask her everything.”
A perfect example happened today while writing this blog post… (keep rest of anecdote about interruptions and distractions)
Doing this in a 32-foot trailer will definitely be a challenge, but I’m hopeful the family will eventually learn to respect when I say I’m working.
Flexible Learning on the Go
School itself probably won’t change much, but one thing I’m excited about is the flexibility. We’ll be able to take schoolwork with us on the go and turn everyday experiences into learning opportunities.
This shift is one of the things I’m most looking forward to with RV life. Learning won’t just happen at the desk—it will happen at the beach, on walking trails, during park visits, and even while helping Dad with his YouTube projects. This flexibility is something I think our kids will really enjoy, and it’s going to make homeschooling feel even more dynamic and fun.
The Lifestyle Adjustment for Everyone
RV life will be a huge lifestyle adjustment for all of us.
The kids will go from a spacious house to a much smaller shared space. They’ll also be leaving behind grandparents who were always nearby to help out.
That means when I run errands or go somewhere, the kids will be coming with me. All the time.
On the bright side, our senior dog will probably love the change. He’s still got plenty of puppy energy when he’s excited, and he’ll get more walks, park trips, and outdoor time than he does now.
What We’re Most Excited About
The beach.
Honestly… that might be enough all on its own.
Even though I’m naturally more of a mountains and woods kind of person, the idea of living near the ocean is exciting. I’m the type who would normally hide away in a cabin far from people, so this will be a bit of an adjustment.
I don’t tan—I burn—so I’ll probably join the ranks of the lobster-colored beach people.
And I don’t handle heat very well either, but maybe living there will help me build some tolerance.
The Fears That Come With a Big Change
Of course, we have worries.
What if this doesn’t work at all?
What if the kids hate it?
What if something goes wrong and we’re far from home without our usual support system?
Those thoughts definitely creep in sometimes.
But at the end of the day, I told my husband something that really sums up how I feel:
It’s better to try and fail than to never try and always wonder what could have been.
Advice for Anyone Thinking About Downsizing
If you’re hoping for a clear list of advice… I’ll be honest.
I’m still figuring that part out myself.
RV life is going to be a huge adjustment for all of us, and we know there will be challenges along the way. I wrote about embracing pauses and giving ourselves grace in The Year of the Breather, which is a mindset I plan to carry into this adventure.
So if you’re curious about RV life, downsizing, or homeschooling on the road, stick around. I’ll be sharing what works, what doesn’t, and everything in between as we learn along the way.
Because right now, this whole adventure is just getting started.
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