Wait What? How did this happen?

Kind of fitting for today. Today we change to daylight savings time, and also two years ago today, March 10th, is the day we closed on our home and walked out of a real estate office with a nervous and excited skip. A day of change for us. 

Embracing the Leap – I’m not going to say we weren’t nervous. And I’m not going to say we knew what we were doing even. We just knew that life in our dream home wasn’t the same once our daughters moved out. Some people seem to think because we are opting out of their American normal, that we must be looking for something. Trying to “find ourselves”, or fix ourselves. That’s so far from the truth! I’m not even sure what that even means actually. We just want a life that is fulfilling. To give back more. To live and experience life, not just exist. We both actually really loved our jobs. But year after year we found ourselves sinking emotionally. Hoarding our time. Becoming anti-social because .. well … simply there was no time to be social. We worked so hard and never had any time to spend in our dream home.

Our favorite part of our dream home was our wrap-around deck. You can see part of it in the picture above. It overlooked the amazing property we had, a creek running down and under the driveway. We found ourselves never spending time out there. Why? Because there was no time. We lost our precious time on the weekends drowning in chores to get ready for the next week. There had to be a better way! So we tell you this – take the leap. Whatever your leap is, take it. Trust it. Life is so short and so unpredictable, and if today was your last day, would you say you lived? I mean truly lived? Did you spend enough time with your spouse? Your kids? The people who matter? 

Let it go

Let the stuff go! We didn’t even know we had a lot of stuff. Now we have nothing we don’t use on a very regular basis. Getting rid of stuff was the biggest freeing thing ever. I’m going to share a story that I share every now and then with people we talk to.

The advice

When we were in our house, Justin came to me upset about the appraisal coming in just a few thousand dollars higher than what we paid for our house 6 years prior. And that was after sinking over $100k in renovations into it (it was our dream house … we were staying there forever Ha) After a few minutes I realized he wasn’t getting my point, so I told him this (same thing I’ll tell you) It’s black and white – it’s easy. You have exactly 2 choices. In our case, the money was already gone. Spent. Done.

Choice 1

Choice 1 is to stay in your current situation and keep doing what you’re doing.

Choice 2

Choice 2 is to forget about it, realize it’s already in the past and go forward and make the change you want. When I told Justin that, he got very quiet. I finally asked what he wanted to do. I was fine with either. We are a team, either we are both in or we are both out. We opted for choice #2.  So let the stuff go. It’s easier than you think and in the end, you’re going to realize how little the stuff really means. It’s the memories that matter. Memories are not in things. Check out two blogs below on how we handled our sentimental items and also our photos.

• What To Do With Sentimental Items When Downsizing
• What To Do With Photos When Downsizing

Road Family

Road Families Rule! We spent our first year on the road meeting new people and getting our feet firmly unplanted from “normal”. We spent a lot of time learning. The importance of community is priceless. We ended up meeting and joining the Xscapers. The best thing we did in the last 2 years was to join this incredible group of people! They are our road family. Our tribe. Our community. We miss them when we aren’t together. And we are loved and accepted like no time has passed when we come together. No matter what your life-changing event might be, don’t do it alone. Humans aren’t meant to be alone. Our road family is precious to us! 

Growth & Change

Growth is Painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong. 

What do we miss? We often get this question. Once in a while when Justin races me to the bathroom and gets there first, I miss having a 2nd bathroom. Other than that, there is so much satisfaction in our life, we miss absolutely nothing. It was strange going “home” for the last 2 years to spend the holidays with our girls. We drive around a familiar town where nothing has changed. And yet we’ve changed so much. We’ve seen so much. I thought driving by our old house would bring some sort of a feeling. It’s now just someone else’s home. We spent countless hours making our house a home. However, we realize now that we’ve been on the road, the memories made in that home are still our own. We just brought them on the road with us.

Our two years on the road have been truly life-changing. We’ve grown. We’ve learned. We’ve loved and we’ve lost. You know … life. We are so thankful we took the leap! We hope that whatever obstacle you find in the road, you also take the leap. There is a community out there to help you! I promise!

Here are a few more blogs we think you’ll love!

• 10 Myths About Boondocking – Debunked! Yes, We Do Take Showers!
• Boondocking ~ How We Spent $48 on Camping Fees For the Whole Year
• Off the Beaten Path in West Virginia. Unique and Hidden Gems in West Virginia
• 12 Ways To Document Your Travel Memories
• Our Top RV Kitchen Gadgets

Live Simply ~ Give More ~ Expect Less

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